I couldn’t believe what was happening, but I also knew that there was nothing I could do about it. This is what Mr. Reynolds wanted.
Ten minutes later, I walked out of the coffee shop, shaking my head at the fact that I was in Staten Island, New York, and I owned a Bed and Breakfast on the other side of the country.
***
“Wait, like you own it, own it?” Michelle said, a shocked expression on her face.
“Yes,” I answered.
“And it’s in California?” Alicia asked.
I had just finished having dinner with my two best friends, who were also my roommates. I told them about my afternoon, and they were almost as shocked as I was.
Michelle, Alicia, and I had all attended college together Upstate. After graduation, we decided to move to the city and live together. Alicia worked as a nurse, and Michelle and I taught at the same school, although she taught 2nd grade and I taught 5th. We had been living together for six years, and we couldn’t imagine anything different.
“Yes, it’s in California,” I said.
“Near Los Angeles? Or San Francisco?” Michelle asked.
I giggled as I realized that, aside from basic geography, Michelle didn’t know much about California. She had grown up in Florida, went to college in New York, and had never traveled west of the Mississippi River.
“You know there are more cities in California, right?” I asked.
Alicia laughed as Michelle picked up a piece of bread and threw it at me.
“Nice comeback,” I said, grabbing the bread and taking a bite. “But to answer your question, it is about an hour away from Los Angeles. It’s a small town right on the coast.”
“That’s amazing.” Michelle grabbed another piece of bread, but this time she ate it rather than throw it at me.
“That’s so exciting,” Alicia said. “What do you think you’re going to do?”
I shook my head. “I’m not sure, this is so out of the blue.”
“Wait,” Michelle said. “You grew up in that town? You grew up on the ocean?”
I nodded. “Yes, you knew that. We have talked about this before.”
“Not really,” Michelle said. “I mean you talked about growing up in California, but we never talked about the fact that you lived in a little beach town.”
“Really?” I said, looking over at Alicia. “I know I must have mentioned it.”
Alicia shook her head. “No, this is news to me too,” she said.
“Oh,” I answered. “Well, yes. I grew up in a little beach town in California.”
“Do you surf?” they both asked at the same time.
I felt myself blush as I thought back to how obsessed I was with learning how to surf. I was certain that everyone in New York was going to ask me if I knew how to surf, and I had wanted to be able to say yes. Although I had been asked that question a few times, I could not believe that my two closest friends in the world were just now learning that fact about me.
“Yes,” I said, nodding my head. “I surf.”
“That’s so cool,” Michelle said.
“It’s not like I am a really good surfer,” I said. “I learned how to surf my senior year in high school. I went out quite a bit the summer after I graduated, but that was it. My parents moved to Texas after that, and I haven’t been back there since.”
Alicia shook her head. “That doesn’t matter. You surf! And that’s really cool.”
I thought back to the day that I had learned how to surf, and how much fun I had had with Josh. Although he was older than me, we had always gotten along, and I always remembered that day as one of the most fun and relaxed days I’ve ever had.
