Back To The Start (One Tree Hill)

Chapter 20

Julian's POV

We flew to Los Angeles the following day, after Haley had agreed to take Justin in for a couple days. My father had promised to take care of the business in my absence. Everyone, cast and crew, had been shocked to learn of Chelsea's death. But everyone also had been understanding that we had to interrupt the shooting. The funeral would take place in one week, a simple urn burial directly at the cemetery, without a service. Chelsea didn't have many friends in Tree Hill, and those who lived in L.A. were too far away to travel all the way here. This included her father, who had recovered in the meantime, and her mother. Locating Tom Markham's whereabouts hadn't been difficult. He lived in Imperial Beach, a small town near the Mexican border. He had given up his job as a camera operator, turned his back on L.A. and opened a windsurfer shop in the area. Our way led us directly there and Brooke was very tense when we finally parked our rental car in a parking lot near the shop.

"Do you have the camera and your laptop?" She asked nervously as we walked on.

"Everything in here." I pointed to my backpack. "Relax," I said calmly.

"I can't relax," she said, taking a deep breath. "There's just too much at stake."

"I wonder what kind of a guy he is, giving up a well paid job to open a shop somewhere in no man's land." I looked around frowning. "There's nothing going on here."

"Not for people like you who don't care about sports," she said, smiling wryly. "Imperial Beach is well known as a surfers paradise. The beach is beautiful and the waves are gigantic."

I looked at her in surprise. "Have you been here before?"

"No, I've googled it," she admitted sheepishly. "I just wanted to know where we're going."

"Well, if this doesn't work out, then maybe we should think about going surfing," I suggested, grinning.

"We're not here for fun, Julian." She gave me a reprimanding look. "And besides, you better hope that this is going to work out, because I won't go until we have finished this."

The way she stretched her chin in a stubborn way made it clear to me that she would never give up. I pointed to the shop, which was right in front of us. "We're there."

"Okay." She took a deep breath and reached for my hand. "Then let's go inside."

The little shop was crammed with surfboards, clothes, and other accessories that leaned partially against the walls, but also hung on the ceiling or blocked one's way, I noticed as we entered. Brooke squeezed my hand and silently pointed to a tall, muscular man with dark brown, shoulder-length hair that was tied in a ponytail.

"That's him," She whispered to me.

I nodded. "Would definitely fit the description." I pulled her with me and then stood in front of the giant, who was as tall as me. "Tom Markham?" I asked, looking him straight into his dark brown eyes. He scrutinized me from top to bottom, then let his eyes wander to Brooke. I noticed a slight frown as he couldn't take his eyes off her. Apparently he thought Chelsea would stand in front of him. The resemblance was astonishing.

"Who wants to know?" He finally asked, leaning casually against the counter.

That was my keyword. I grabbed my backpack, pulled out the laptop and put it on the counter. It took only a few seconds for me to start it up and for the movie to run, that I had filmed the day before. "May I introduce...," I said solemnly. "This is Justin Cherney, 4 years old. And this is Brooke, my wife. I'm Julian Baker." I watched his reaction as I let the film run that showed Justin playing in the house with us and staring into the camera with wide eyes.