Amelia started to laugh and ate some dry toast. The rest of us enjoyed a great breakfast before we had to get ready for Jake’s party.

I heard a knock at the door and I knew it was Jacob and Diana. I jumped up from my chair and answered it.

“Hey, little man!” I smiled.

“Hey, Collin.”

I kissed Diana on the cheek as Amelia came walking into the foyer.

“Diana, Jacob, I would like you to meet my girlfriend, Amelia. Amelia; Jacob and Diana.”

“It’s so nice to finally meet the two of you. Collin talks about you all the time.”

“The pleasure is mine, Amelia.” Diana smiled. “You’ve got yourself a great catch here. Collin is an angel.”

“I don’t think I’d go that far, Diana.” My dad laughed as he walked in.

It was good to see Jacob again. It had been a while. “How are you feeling?” I asked as I messed up his hair.

“Knock it off, dude, and I’m feeling fine.”

“Fine enough to maybe do some surfing?”

“SURFING? Are you serious?” he said.

“Sure am. That’s if it’s okay with your mom.”

“Mom, please. Please can I go? Please,” he begged.

Diana looked at me with uncertainty. “I don’t know.”

“Diana, please trust me on this.” I smiled. “He’s in good hands and Jake will be out there with us.”

“Okay, but be very careful,” she said.

“YES!” Jacob exclaimed.

“Let’s go get our bathing suits on and we’ll head down to the beach.” Amelia looked at me and smiled. “Come with us? Please?”

“No. I’ll be more than happy to watch you from the sand.”

I sighed and kissed her on her forehead. While Jacob and I went upstairs and changed into our bathing suits, Amelia grabbed a blanket, a few towels, and headed down to the beach.

“Come on, bro! Let’s get the surfboards from the garage.”

“Be careful out there, Collin. You know how I worry,” my mom said.

“Yep. Don’t worry, Mom. We’ll be fine,” I said as we raced through the kitchen.

I took the surfboards from the wall in the garage and Jacob and I took them down to the beach. When we got there, Jake was already in the water and Julia was sitting on the blanket, talking to Amelia.

“The waves are looking good today,” I yelled out to Jake.

“They’re awesome, dude. Hurry up and get out here.”

I knelt down in front of Jacob and put my hand on his shoulder. “Listen to me, buddy. I want you to breathe in the ocean air, really take it in. Okay?”

“Yeah, sure, Collin.”

“Okay, let’s hit the water.”

I gave Jacob a few tips and, before too long, he was up on the surfboard. He fell a few times, but so did Jake and I. Overall, he wasn’t bad. He took it slow and listened to everything I said. He was happy to be out in the water. Julia called for Jake and told him they had to get back up to the house and get changed for the party. Jacob and I stayed in the water a little longer.

“Come on, buddy. We need to get back to shore. Jake’s party is going to be starting soon.”

We paddled our way back land and, as soon as we emerged from the water, Amelia ran over, handed Jacob a towel, and took the surfboard from him. She walked over to me and kissed my cold lips.

“You looked great out there.” She smiled.

“Thanks, baby. Jacob did pretty well and I think he had a good time.”

The three of us sat down on the blanket and dried off for a few minutes before heading up to the house. “You feeling okay, bro?” I asked.

“I feel great. Better than I ever have.” He smiled.

I placed my hand on his head. “That’s great, buddy.”

Amelia took my hand and held it tight. She looked at me before leaning over to give me a kiss. “You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met.”

“Stop it.” I smiled. “I think you’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met.”

Diana walked towards Jacob and he got up and ran to her. “Mom, it was so much fun. I can’t wait to do it again and guess what?”

“What, sweetie?” She smiled.

“I feel great. I don’t feel like I normally do.”

“That’s wonderful, Jacob. Now let’s go get you out of this wet bathing suit and into some dry clothes. We’ll see you up at the house, Collin.”

Amelia turned and brushed her lips against mine. “How did you know?”

“Know what?” I asked.

“That the salt water would help open up Jacob’s airways.”

“I’ve been doing a little research here and there. No big deal.”

“It is a big deal. A very big deal,” she whispered as she once again kissed me and we both fell back into the sand.

Chapter 23

The guests had started to arrive and the party was under way. My mom had a huge spread of food catered and enough alcohol to quench the thirst of an army. Family and friends were in attendance and, finally, my grandparents arrived. I introduced them to Amelia after my grandmother lectured me about how they don’t see me much. Denny wasn’t able to make it because he wasn’t feeling well again, which had my dad really concerned. As Amelia and I filled our plates with food, I heard a voice behind me.

“Hi, Collin.”

I froze for a moment because of her voice. I took in a deep breath and turned around.

“Hailey. What are you doing here?”

“When my parents told me they were coming, I just sort of tagged along. I need to talk to you.”

I looked over at Amelia as she glared at Hailey. “Hailey, this is my girlfriend, Amelia.”

“Girlfriend? I didn’t know you were seeing anyone,” she said.

“There are a lot of things you don’t know, Hailey. Now if you’ll excuse me, we’re going to go eat.”

I took Amelia’s hand and led her outside to the table where Jacob and Diana were sitting. I noticed my mom and dad staring at us from the corner of the room.

“That’s nice. You didn’t tell me that your ex-girlfriend was going to be here,” Amelia said with a slight attitude.

“That’s because I didn’t know she was coming.”

“I thought she was in Italy,” she said.

“Your ex-girlfriend is here? Not cool, Collin,” Jacob chimed in.

I shot him a look and he smiled. I could tell how upset Amelia was by the look in her eyes.