Sealed With A Vow

Chapter 16- For the First Time

I woke up early the following morning to go on my daily jog and then after that, I went grocery shopping at Ralphs since we were currently running low on vegetables.

Now that September was nearing, the temperatures had gotten cooler, but nonetheless, it was still sunny most days.

What I missed the most about Minnesota apart from my family was the weather. There were four distinct seasons, unlike here in San Diego where it felt like summer year-long.

I hadn't been home in years to see the brilliant fall leaves change color because by the time they did, I'd already be away at Stanford for college. I remembered my first winter there and how weird it had felt not having any snow.

Back in Minnesota, we'd get so much snow to the point where schools and businesses had to close until they could shovel it all. Along with that, our temperatures would occasionally drop to -50 degrees fahrenheit and on those days, nobody dared to venture outside. 

I'd always loved summer the best. My friends and I would spend the weekends at our cabins up in Northern Minnesota. There were plenty of things to do at the lakes there- such as motorboating, tubing or swimming.

And when we were home, we'd throw these huge bonfires in our backyards at night and invite a bunch of people over.

I longed to go back to those carefree days in the past when I hadn't known what grief and pain felt like. But it was tragedies like Nick and my father's deaths that had shaped me into the person I was today.

When I returned home, Derek was nowhere to be found. I put away the groceries then went looking for him. His cars were still parked in the garage, so he had to be here somewhere.

After doing a thorough search of our giant house, I headed out to the backyard and there he was, cleaning up the storage shed where he normally kept the lawn mower, garden tools, and other outdoor equipment.

"Good morning," I greeted cheerfully. Derek spun around at the sound of my voice.

"Oh hey, Claire." He grinned, his eyes lighting up.

"Does your head still hurt?"

"Nope, I'm fine now. Where were you?", he asked, wiping a bead of sweat on his brow.

"I went grocery shopping. What are you doing?"

"I'm just moving some of these things to the garage," he replied.

"I see. I'll go make you some breakfast."

"That's ok, I already ate."

"Oh. Well then you know what, I think I'm gonna swim for a bit," I remarked, glancing over at our magnificent pool that was just beckoning for me to go in.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. The weather's really nice today. I'll join you once I finish," he said with a wide smile.

I went back inside and headed upstairs to my bedroom. I dug in my closet for my hot pink bikini then put it on after changing out of my running clothes.

It was also a perfect day to tan so I decided to do that first once I got outside. I put my sunglasses on then applied some tanning lotion onto my body.

After kicking my flip flops off, I lay down on the poolside chaise lounge underneath the glaring sun, listening to my favorite playlist that I put on shuffle.

Ah, this was so nice.

I closed my eyes and relaxed, soaking up the sun as the cool breeze ruffled my hair. I completely lost track of time when I felt a light tap on my shoulder.