Love and the Sea and Everything in Between

chapter fifty-five

We stop in Medford at around 10:30 and find a Starbucks. As we get out of the van, I see Liz shiver against the springtime chill so I take off my denim jacket and hand it to her. The sleeves are too long and the jacket is baggie, but she stands on her tiptoes and pressed her gratitude to my lips anyway.

"Thank you," she says, slipping her hand into mine as we walk toward the Starbucks across the parking lot.

Inside, it's nice and warm so we decide to eat our breakfast here and leave afterward instead of eating in the van. Liz grabs a table for two by the window and I place our order.

"Two Grande Mocha Frappuccino's and two egg sandwiches, please."

"Certainly," the clerk says as she reaches into the case to grab the sandwiches. She hands them to me and I pay. I go sit at the table with Liz while we wait for our drinks.

"Do you remember that game we played at Point Reyes where we made up stories about the strangers we saw?" I ask.

She nods. "Why?"

"Let's play it again. You go first."

She smiles and looks around at the customers and employees. She nods at an older woman sitting a few tables away, sipping on a cup of coffee. Her hair is short, curly, and gray and her skin is pale. Her fingernails are painted a deep purple to match the frames of her glasses. She holds a book in her hands, but I can't see its cover.

Liz begins to imagine a life for the woman. "She's fifty-four years old, widowed, and has three kids who are all married. She's reading a Nicholas Sparks novel because she doesn't remember what it's like to feel the love of a man. Overall, she's satisfied with her life because her kids all live near her and they love her and she gets to see her grandkids fairly often. But she misses her husband and hopes to one day fall in love again."

I smile. "That's a sweet story. Do you think any of it might be true?"

"It's possible," she says. "Your turn.

There's a young man who looks like he might be my age working behind the counter. His brow is furrowed as he mixes the coffee into their respective cups. One of the cups slips from his hand onto the floor and I see him curse to himself. His black hair is a mop on top of his head as he runs his fingers through it, scratching at his scalp. His beard is scraggly and unkempt, in need of shaving and I notice a stain on his black uniform shirt.

"The guy behind the counter," I say. "He's twenty-years-old and his father died when he was just a boy. For a long time it was just him, his little brother, and their mom, but she recently died of cancer, leaving the two brothers alone. Now, he works two jobs just to be able to afford food and an apartment for him and his brother. All the while, he's putting himself through school so that he can get a job that pays better than being a barista does. He's tired today because he was up all night with his brother who suffers from horrible nightmares and he didn't get enough sleep. Sometimes he wonders what the point is in even going on and he thinks often about just quitting everything, but he keeps going for his brother. He doesn't know it yet, but one day he's going to get through this hell and his brother is going to love him for the sacrifices he made. One day, he's going to come out on the other side."

"You have a way with words, you know that?"

"So I've been told." I smile at her just as my name is called. I go to the counter and the guy with the unkempt beard hands me our coffees. I recognize everything that's hidden behind his eyes and even though I can't put a name to it, I understand. Because I've been there before, trying to make it through life and feeling like I'm being crushed under the weight of it all. Before I turn to go back to Liz, I tell him, "Whatever it is, you'll get through it."