“I’m not sure I’ll ever have life figured out. And maybe that’s a good thing. If your life plan is too rigid it’s harder to let it go.” When did life ever go according to plan? Rarely. “Control is an illusion, isn’t it?”

“Mostly, although we’re human and part of being human is to believe that we get to control our destiny.”

They’d reached the beach now and she slid off her shoes and left them by the path.

Would people recognize her? Hopefully not.

Joanna Whitman wore black and white and her hair and face were almost always partially shaded by a hat.

Joanna Rafferty wore her hair loose over a floaty, eye-catching green dress.

She didn’t feel like herself, so maybe she didn’t look like herself, either.

The setting sun glowed orange against a sky that was rose gold and red. She stared out across the ocean, past the plunge and tumble of the waves, past the sea spray and the sparkle, to the horizon.

“There’s nothing more beautiful than a Californian sunset.” She walked toward the water’s edge and he walked next to her, just as they’d done so many times when they were young. It felt so familiar her fingers almost sneaked toward his.

He was obviously thinking the same thing because he stopped and looked at her, a strange expression in his eyes. “Joanna Rafferty.”

She didn’t correct him because that was how she felt.

Tonight, she was Joanna Rafferty.

Her heart was thudding. “Is this the point where you tell me I haven’t changed?”

“You’ve changed. So have I. Life does that, doesn’t it? It shapes you, the same way it shapes this coastline. You’re the same, but different.” He slid his hands into his pockets, as if he didn’t trust himself not to touch her, and she felt a moment of disappointment closely followed by confusion because why would she want him to touch her? Didn’t she already have enough complication in her life?

“How am I different?”

“You’re wary. Guarded, although no one is going to blame you for that. I’m guessing it’s hard to know who to trust in your life.”

She’d discovered that early on. She’d trusted, and been let down. She’d had expectations of people and been disappointed. “The safest and simplest way is to trust no one.”

“Is that what you did?”

“Until recently, yes.” She thought of Nessa, and now Ashley. She thought of Mel, Greg and Nate. Rosa handling the photographer. Mary-Lou in the Beach Bookstore treating her like a long-lost sister. Trust could be lost, but it could also be won again. “I didn’t even question the way I was living. It became normal.”

“No one should have to live like that.”