“I’m sitting on this amazing beach. I got this kick-ass house. I have people who say hello to me, and they don’t even know me. Nobody leers at me or gives me a side-eye like I’m yesterday’s trash.” It comes roaring out of me. “And all I can do is sit here and cry.”

“Oh, Savannah,” she says, her voice soft. “Let’s start with the first one. If you think about it, during one day, how many people said hello to you here?”

I watch the waves crash into the shore angrily. “I don’t know. I never really counted,” I tell her. “Plus, it depended on what I did.”

“Let’s just say you went to the grocery store,” she says. “How many?”

“I don’t know.” I watch the white foam absorb into the sand while the water comes rolling in. “There is the butcher that always asks about Ethan. Then the baker always gives me a couple of treats because I helped her sister with a job.”

“Okay,” she says. “And how many leer at you?”

I look ahead, trying to think. “I mean, my neighbors are pretty hard-core I hate Savannah fan club members.” I laugh at this now.

“Those old goats only glare at you because the missus wants your ass, and the man knows he could never get a girl like you even in his prime,” she huffs, and I laugh now. “Let’s be real.”

“Okay, fine. You got me there,” I tell her, and then my tone goes soft. “His mother doesn’t think I’ll be good for him.” I wipe away my tear because the hurt of her words still stings me.

“He chose you,” she says. “You. He knew who you were, and he chose you. He will choose you every single day of every single year because he’s been in love with you since forever.”

“I love him,” I finally say. “I love him so much, and all I want to do is be supportive to him and be there to help him do whatever he wants to do. I don’t want the town to turn their noses down on him because of me.”

“You know that he doesn’t give a shit, right?” she asks. “As long as you are on his side, to him, he’s winning.”

“Have you seen him?” I ask. “Is he okay?” I wipe a tear away from my eye with my thumb.

“He’s hanging in there,” she says. “You can see it bothers him that you aren’t here.”

“I think I’m going to just pack it in and come home,” I tell her.

“Sit out the week,” she suggests. “Make sure that this is really what you want.”

“Thank you, Kallie,” I say softly. “And I mean that in so many ways.”