13 Seascape Lane

It was a gorgeous, warm April afternoon when Madison Marshall stepped off the small ferry and onto the cedar dock in the cove. As happy as she wished she could be to be back home in Cedar Cove, the happiness had to wait. The dark-haired woman rushed through a slew of people along the dock who were waiting for the ferry to head back into Seattle. Madi had one thing on her mind: home. At least, her parents home, anyway.

Upon reaching the street above the marina, she hailed a bright yellow Cove Taxi and slipped into the backseat. “Where to, miss?” The driver questioned to which Madi smiled and replied, “21 Tides Drive.” It wasn’t far from the small marina, but it was certainly far enough that Madi hadn’t wanted to walk, especially not carrying the two duffel bags, purse, and laptop case she currently had in the backseat of the cab with her.

“The Marshall’s? Good people,” said the Cabby. “I know,” she said with a small laugh sprinkled with irony. Why it was ironic; she knew all too well: everyone knows everyone in a small town like Cedar Cove so it shocked her when the driver had no idea whom she was. “I’m Madison Marshall, their daughter.” It took the driver by surprise as he cut his brown eyes back to Madison and gave her a small but pleasant smile. “Pleased to meet you, miss Madison. I’ve been driving your parents around for a couple years now. I’m very sorry to hear about your Grandfather’s passing, he was a remarkable man.”

The first of many condolences, Madi was sure. Her Grandfather had impacted a many lives here in Cedar Cove whether it was through his business, his church-going, or running into them at the local diner. “Thank you very much,” her voice was soft and a hint of awkwardness came over her, she hadn't grown accustomed to the genuine condolences yet. Over the next few days, though, she was certain she would become numb to the 'I'm sorry's,’ and the ‘is there anything I can do for your or you family during this time of hardship?’ They were normal things that everyone went through during times like these but they still took some time to get used to.

As soon as the Cove Taxi stopped outside of her parents home, Madi paid the cabby for his time along with a tip for the conversation and his genuine concern for her during this trying time. Stepping out of the backseat with her things, it wasn’t long before her Father was out of the front door and walking down the steps to greet her and take her bags. “We’ve been waiting for you,” Madison’s Father, Jeff, stated coolly as he lifted the heavy bags from her.

“I had to wait for the ferry in Seattle. It felt like it took forever,” she stated as if the cause of her delay was probably more than obvious. There were only two ferry’s in and out of Seattle and Cedar Cove, they certainly didn’t operate on Madi’s beck-and-call although the thought of that happening was quite a wonderful one. It was a beautiful, sunny day and everyone was out and about, taking the ferries back and forth between the small community of Cedar Cove and the large wonderland known as Seattle. There was so much more to do in Seattle than Cedar Cove and everyone who lived in the tiny community knew that. It was almost second nature to catch the ferry umpteen times a day when you were ‘out and about, having a life on the town.’

There were times where Madi felt like they ought to just put in a large bridge - oh you know the kind - like Florida has that connects itself to the Keys; but Madi knew Seattle, let alone Cedar Cove, would never have such a thing. No, unlike Floridians, Cedar Cove inhabitants would never muddle the beauty of their Cove with such an atrocity even if its functionality would be logical. It would be nice though if they’d put in a bullet train or something similar but, Cedar Cove wasn’t in the 21st century yet, let alone very far into the 20th.

“At least you’re here now,” said her Father who was looking exceptionally tired. It hadn't taken Madi very long to notice that at all. She pondered when the last time her Dad slept was, or her Mom for that matter. Perhaps they could both get a wink or two now that she was back in town. After all, Madi was here for them and for her Grandmother, Glynda; although she loved her Grandpa James and would have come anyway, her needs didn’t outweigh the needs of her family. They needed her more than ever.

Leaving Madi with just her purse and laptop case, her Father headed up the pine steps of the beautiful front deck that adorned their home and Madi followed closely behind. Her Grandfather James had built the deck for her when she was just a baby with the help of her Dad, too. Her parents had wanted Madi to be outside but close to the house so… her Grandpa took it as his personal job to build a beautiful pine deck with a gate and latch. In Madi’s youth, it was her favorite place in the world. Well, one of them at least.

As she walked through the ornate, blue colored front door, she was finally home for the first time in what felt like an eternity. The insides of 21 Tides Drive hadn’t changed at all in the four years she’d been away to school. Sure, she'd been home on holidays from college but this visit felt more permanent than the last. Something about sorrow made things seem more permanent, made time flow slower; this certainly wasn’t Easter, Thanksgivings, or Christmas. My how she wished it was… She’d give anything to head over to her Grandparents place for a marvelous holiday dinner and see her Grandpa heading the table, alive and well.

The now twenty-two-year-old Madison placed her purse and laptop bag on the living room sofa and made her way into the kitchen where she saw her Mother. Madi’s Mom, Tammy, was a 52-year-old leftover from the 60’s, but that was more than alright with Madi. If anything, it had made growing up a much livelier experience.

Tammy fit right into the town of Cedar Cove, and Madi could have never asked for a better Mom. The second she laid eyes on her sitting at the kitchen table with a cigarette in hand, the tears stung at Madi’s hazel eyes, she’d always been so empathetic to her Mother’s pain and now was no different. “I’m so sorry, Mom,” were the first words out of the only child’s mouth as she made her way to her Mother and wrapped her arms around her. “I would have been here sooner if I could have been,” of course her Mom immediately calmed her, being the understanding woman she’d always been.

“You’re here now, that’s what matters.” She was right, of course, that’s all that mattered. Madi didn’t regret her last four years in Boston, not entirely at least. Moments like this, though, she hated ever leaving Cedar Cove. If she’d have never moved, she would have seen more of her Grandpa over the last four years; she would have been here the moment he passed. It’s not that she hadn’t been here for holidays and vacations, but there was a lot of missed time that she couldn’t get back. She should have been like the rest of her classmates and just settled for a school in Seattle or at the very least in the state of Washington.

Regardless of the thoughts that just went through her mind, she could hear her Grandfather now if he knew what she was thinking in that very moment: ‘Don’t you think like that, Madi. You’re a twenty-two-year-old young lady and you deserve to be out there experiencing the world.’ Madi knew he’d be right. There was nothing more that her Grandpa enjoyed than getting a phone call from her and telling him all about her adventures in Boston whether it was going to a new museum, a swanky new restaurant, a dive bar with friends. Her Grandfather loved to live vicariously through his Granddaughter.

James and Glynda were ‘lifers’ in the community of Cedar Cove and neither had been given the opportunity to travel very much. As much as she wished her whole family could have come to Boston, only her parents had made the trip a couple times over the last few years. Her Grandparents never seemed to complain though about not being ‘worldly.’ Madi pondered how anyone could never leave Cedar Cove, sure it was a picturesque town but… there was so much out there to see, to experience, and to marvel at.

Madi sent her parents and Grandparents postcards quite often of different places she’d visit in the New England states with new friends and classmates in college. Museums, art galleries, theaters and more. At Christmas, she’d brought back things from Boston or the surrounding areas as gifts. This last Christmas she’d brought her Grandmother a hand-stitched quilt from an art show and she’d brought her Uncle a signed baseball by his favorite member of the Boston Red Sox. Of course she didn’t tell him that she’d gone out on a date with the pitcher to get the autograph but, a little he didn’t know didn’t hurt him.

As Madi pulled away from her Mother, she sat down beside her at the kitchen table and lit up her own cigarette. “How’s Grandma?” It surprised her that her Grandmother wasn’t here but then again, she was certain her Grandmother must have funeral preparations that she was tending to. “As well as can be expected,” Madi’s Mom replied and she solemnly nodded.

“You aren’t with her making preparations?” Perhaps it had already been taken care of, Madi thought to herself. In today’s day and age when you lived well into your seventy’s, it was a rather common practice to already have your funeral pre-paid, cemetery lot bought, and in fact: some people went as far as erecting their tombstone years before their death.

“I tried,” Tammy barked as she thumped her ashes in the glass Harley Davidson ashtray adorning the kitchen table like a prize-winning centerpiece. “Charlotte insisted on going with her — said Jay and I ought to rest,” Tammy continued. Madi completely understood where Charlotte was coming from. Her Mom looked as if she’d not slept in a week but… as the daughter, Madi could only imagine how her Mom must feel. Madi loved her Grandpa, but her Mother had spent thirty more years with him than she had herself. Thirty more years of memories…

‘It’s my obligation, he was my Dad,’ was what ran through Madi’s mind and surely had already run through not just Tammy’s, but Madi’s Uncle Jay’s as well. They were the only two kids and from them came only four grandchildren — Madi being one of them; six if you counted the step-grandchildren. Solely, though, as a widow, Madi could only imagine what was going through her Grandma’s mind right now. At least she was in the trusted hands of her best friend, Charlotte Jeffers.

Madi had received the news at around seven o’clock Eastern last night, that her Grandpa had passed away at home with his family beside him just as he’d always wanted. Apparently her Great-Grandpa Beldon had passed away peacefully in his sleep years ago and ever since then, her Grandpa had always said it was how he preferred to go as well. As soon as she’d hung up the phone with her Dad, she called the airport and bought a one-way ticket on a morning flight to Seattle, and now she was home. There were so many family members Madi hadn’t spoken to yet or seen. Seeing her Grandma was certainly at the top of her list. Then followed her countless friends and relations…

~*~

Things in Cedar Cove always seemed to be changing, or at least it felt that way for Justine Lockhart. The twenty-six-year-old had been through a lot in the last couple of years, let alone just the last year. Just a little over three years ago now, Justine’s high-school sweetheart, Seth Gunderson, had come back into her life like a sudden storm. He had returned to Cedar Cove after his Father’s death to clean out his house, settle and sell the estate, and of course in a way, check up on Justine herself. Their romance never truly had the ‘closure’ that either one of them needed.

For Justine, it was fate, as she was a large believer in such a thing. Seth had been her twin Jordan’s best friend in their youth; then Seth had gone on to become Justine’s high-school sweetheart. When he moved away shortly after high-school graduation, it had broken Justine’s heart. She, too, though, moved away to pursue college for a short while, even if it was a bit of a guise to mend her broken heart and spirit, but ultimately the strings of Cedar Cove were tied much too tightly around Justine’s being. Before she could achieve her four-year-degree, she had moved back home and all thoughts of college disappeared.

Life was smooth for Justine after moving back home, she fell into an easy routine. She had a steady job waitressing at Moon’s Cafe and couldn’t have asked for more — until she met Warren Saget shortly after she turned twenty-two. The bachelor land developer was quite a charmer in Cedar Cove for a while up until the entire town learned of his ill-tempered, selfish nature. Warren offered Justine something that she desperately needed in life at that time: stability and security. After Seth came back into Justine’s life, with the help of her mother, of course, she broke off the engagement to Warren.

Things were easy with Seth, they were natural and fun, maybe in a way they were too easy. That was until they took the leap of Faith of moving in together and getting ‘engaged,’ and even trying to buy a restaurant! Justine was happy in Cedar Cove, she was happy living in a small apartment, happy working a small job selling artwork at Maryellen’s Art Gallery… but she knew Seth wanted more. Seth was a fisherman and Alaska was his true calling. So as the age old saying goes, ‘if you love them, let them go,’ Justine let him go and she knew it was the hardest, maybe the most selfish yet selfless decision she’d ever made in her life.

For almost a year now, she’s been involved with a retired Navy Seal, Luke Bailey; but even a good thing like that, can’t last forever. Luke was almost a project for Justine - she liked to fix things that were broken and when she met Luke? He was very broken, suffering from PTSD and a number of other things due to the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was refreshing though to be with Luke, he made her feel secure in ways that Warren and Seth never could. Was it the fact he was a Veteran? Perhaps so, but Justine knew she’d never felt so stable and safe a day in her life. But all good things must end — she still couldn’t grasp her head around it.

In the blink of an eye and the snap of a finger, Luke had re-upped in the Navy for another tour in Iraq. Justine had no doubt he was good at what he did, he was a damn fine man and a brave soldier but… why now? She was only twenty-six years old, she didn’t want kids right this second but right after mentioning that they were in her plans, Luke admitted to her that they weren’t in his own plans. Now, instead of talking it out like adults, she was left here to wait for him to come back from tour. If he ever came back, and that thought scared her the most.

“Have you heard from him yet,” the voice of her friend, Cecilia brought Justine out of her own thoughts, thinking back of the last few years. “No,” Justine’s voice was full of discontent and concern. “Sometimes it takes a while for the first contact to be made…” Cecilia’s voice trailed and Justine knew she was right. Cecilia had been through this so many times as her husband, well, soon-to-be ex-husband, Ian Rendall was in the Navy as well. In fact, both were good friends with Luke and it was through them that Justine became acquainted with him in the first place. Had she ever planned to fall in love with the Navy Seal? Absolutely not, then again, most great things in life were unplanned.

“I’d rather not talk about Luke right now, I’d rather talk about you and the baby,” Justine replied and raised her eyes up from her cell phone to look over the picnic table to Cecilia. “I find out next week what the sex is, I’m right around nineteen weeks,” and you could tell there was a part of Cecilia that desperately wanted to be happy but with Ian divorcing her, again, and off on a tour, she was miserable going through yet another pregnancy by herself.

“Is it unkind of me to hope you have a girl? I feel like it’d be your second chance,” Justine’s voice was honest and sincere. Cecilia bit on her lower lip and shook her head, “it’s not unkind. A part of me wants a girl, too; I don’t know if you’ll ever know how happy and excited I was when I was pregnant the first time with a girl. I miss her…” and that was all it took for the waterworks to begin on Cecilia’s end. Justine understood, though; Cecilia and Ian had lost a baby girl together. She was only a couple days old when she passed of a heart defect. It was the death of their baby and Ian’s reaction to it happening while he was on tour that caused them to want their first divorce.

If it hadn’t been for Justine’s Mother, Judge Olivia Lockhart, they probably would have divorced completely. Somehow, someway, her Mom had managed to save their marriage and for a long while, Cecilia and Ian were quite happy. Justine knew what caused Ian’s unhappiness: Cecilia’s pregnancy. Going to school for social work, Justine knew that it was just Ian’s fear of the past repeating itself that made him so scared and unhappy, but it was no excuse for shunning his wife and making her go through a possible divorce all over again. In a way, she and Cecilia were going through something similar. Although, she wouldn’t put herself in Cecilia’s shoes for all the tea in China.

“If Ian could just see that this pregnancy will be different,” Justine spoke softly while Cecilia tried to slow her crying. “I keep telling him that it’ll be different, that it can’t end up like the first but he just won’t believe me. Everything was normal with Allison too, but my mistake was only having the one ultrasound done at around four months along. If I would have went for another ultrasound once she was a bit more developed, they would have spotted the heart defect. I’m further along with this little one now and I’ve had more ultrasounds - everything is ship shape,” Cecilia pleaded her case with Justine.

“Maybe he’ll come around, Cecilia. It’s not like he can divorce you while aboard the George Washington. I know he sounds hellbent on divorcing as soon as the ship docks but, make him go to an appointment with you. Maybe it’ll be all the proof he needs that this is a blessing of a second chance,” she explained to her friend. Maybe it was wrong of her to be so invested in Cecilia and Ian’s marriage and pregnancy but, she loved to fix broken things and right now, Cecilia and Ian were a few inches away from being completely busted.