"You are my dearest friend, my deepest love. You are the very best of me."

- The Best of Me, in theaters today

Chapter 4

Present-2014

“Hello?”

“Ms. Wright, this is Sandy with New Dawn Realty. First off, let me start by apologizing for the late call but I wouldn’t have even considered picking up the phone if it wasn’t important.”

Shayla closed her eyes, silently praying that she wasn’t getting ready to tell her the deal fell through. That was the very last thing she needed right now. “It’s not that late,” she finally spoke. “And yeah, I kind of figured that you would only be calling if it was something important.”

The realtor took her cue and jumped right into the conversation. “So the thing is I got a call from our buyer a few minutes ago. He just so happens to be in the area and asked if it was alright to stop by the house and take some measurements in the living room. He was looking at buying a new entertainment center and wanted to make sure it would fit properly in the new house.”

Thank God! Shayla instantly felt a mountain of relief roll off her back. The buyer wasn’t going to back out of the sale. She was still going to get the proceeds from the house and her fresh start as she previously planned. As usual, she was too busy working herself up over nothing. Life was still good.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Shayla opened her eyes and then ran the words that Sandy just spoke through her head again. There was one word that stood out in particular. He? She hadn’t met the buyer yet. Hadn’t even thought of meeting the buyer actually. Up to this point Sandy handled all the negations and just told her where to sign. When finally she signed the contract she barely even noticed the name of the corporation listed as the buyer—something like SJW, Inc. She hadn’t thought of the buyer as being an individual at all. “Okay?” she asked, wondering where this conversation was leading.

“You are at the house this weekend packing up, right?”

“Yes,” she agreed, still perplexed. “I’m here.”

“Perfect!” Sandy announced. “He’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

“Whoa… wait a minute? Did you just say that he’s coming here?” She glanced down at her dusty yoga pants and the thrift shop tee that’s seen better days she was wearing. “As in right now?”

“Well, technically we’ve been talking for about five minutes so it would be more like ten minutes before he should get there. I remembered you told me you were coming down this weekend and didn’t think it would be a big deal. He’s only going to measure the dimensions in the living room. He should be in and out in no time at all. It’s okay, right?”

Shayla frowned at herself, knowing that she was looking pretty rough right about now. “I guess it’s going to have to be.”

“I’m sorry,” Sandy quickly apologized. “I probably should have called you first. I just didn’t think. Never mind. I can call him back and set a time later when I can meet with him so that it’s not an inconvenience for you.”

“No,” she said, shaking her head helplessly. The guy was already on his way. It would be stupid to tell him to come back another time. Besides, she didn’t want to give him any reason to back out of the sale. “Don’t call him back. I’m already here so it’s no big deal. The house is a mess but most of the living room is packed up. He’s already on his way and I’m already here so let him come on and get his measurments.”

The realtor sounded hesitant. “Are you sure, Ms. Wright? I’m sure he would understand if I called and explained that you are busy and now isn’t the best of times.”

“No, no. It’s fine. I promise. Just let him come on now. All I have to do is let him in. He’ll handle his own measuring. I can do that much at least.”

“Okay, but only if you are absolutely sure,” Sandy hedged.

“Positive!” she told her again with a little more enthusiasm this time. “You’ve handled everything else and made this whole process of selling a house easy for me. I got this.” The doorbell rang, the old bell chimes echoing loudly through the house. “Speak of the devil; it sounds like he’s already here.”

“Alrighty then. If either of you have any questions then give me a call. I keep my cell on 24-7.”

“Will do Sandy. I’ll talk with ya’ later.”

“Have a good evening.”

“You too.”

Pressing end on her phone, she slipped it into her back pocket and started for the door. This wasn’t a big deal she reminded herself. She was professional enough that she figured she could successfully put a fake smile on her face and let the man in long enough to get what he needs. He was doing her a big favor by buying the house. It was the least she could do.

Stopping in front of the door, she hastily ran her hands over the messy bun on top of her head and did her best to straighten out her wrinkled tee shirt. It was a lost cause. She knew there wasn’t much she could do to improve her appearance and said what the hell. The man was here to take measurements of a room for crying out loud, not hit on her. Her looks, or lack thereof, probably wouldn’t even faze him.

The door bell rang again and this time she just made herself quit thinking altogether. Reaching out, she swung the door open and instinctively held out her hand. “Hey, you must be the new buyer…” she started but the rest of her sentence died a painful death on the tip of her tongue.

Her breath caught in her throat. She first saw his silhouette shaded just beyond the porch and froze. He slowly stepped forward so that she could see him better in the light and those stormy green eyes collided with her own. They were unmistakable.

This wasn’t just any man. It was River. River Ferguson.

He leaned casually up against the post of the porch with his hands stuffed in his pockets. Watching her stare at him.

Neither of them said a word as the crickets serenaded them noisily in the night.

Her first thought was that how blatantly obvious that the last few years had been good to him. Real good.

Standing there, she admitted to herself that he looked absolutely perfect. He’d always been boyishly good-looking but now, well now he was so much more. Now, he was roguishly handsome in the sense of a full grown man. His dark hair was longer. He had it pulled back in a ponytail that hung just past his shoulders. His chest had filled out and was considerably broader; the hard muscles covering his arms were much more defined. His face looked harder with the day old scruff peppering his jaw. The only part of River that remained exactly the same was those eyes. Those stormy green eyes that no matter how hard she tried, she could never seem to forget.

There was a moment that she considered slamming the door closed on him and running as far and as fast as she could but that movement was short lived. That’s what she would have done eight years ago after he tore her heart into a million tiny pieces. She was still feeling a multitude of raw emotions after reading her diary.

They were both grownups now. Shayla decided that she would be mature about this. She didn’t care why he had decided to buy the old beach house or why he was here now. She just wanted him to get his damn measurements and disappear from her life the same way that he’d done all those years ago. Silently and without a word.

“You’re the new buyer?” she asked him.

Shuffling his feet, he nodded awkwardly. “I am.”

“Okay then.” She stepped back and opened the door wider to let him in. Steadying herself, she was careful to keep her voice monotone. “Sandy said that you needed some measurements. I assume that you remember where the living room is. Feel free to go on in and get what you need.”

“I remember,” he told her, pushing off the post and straightening up to his full height. It didn’t escape her notice that he’d gotten taller too, in fact about four inches taller.

She spotted the tape measure on the side of his belt. A tinge of disappointment sparked and she immediately regretted it. For a second she thought that maybe River was here some other reason than measuring the living room; like maybe he wanted to see her again. But it was obvious that he came prepared to do just what Sandy had said he was going to do. He probably wasn’t even expecting her to be at the house in the first place.

Once he was inside, she closed the door behind him. Suddenly feeling shy she moved her gaze down at the carpet. “Sorry about the mess,” she said, twisting her hands together in front of her. “I should have everything packed up and out of here before the end of the weekend. I’ll hire someone to come in and clean the place professionally before the closing.”

“I’m not worried about the shape of the house,” he said. “You were always very meticulous when it came to things like that.” He walked over to the bay window in the dining room, pushed the curtain aside and stared out into the night. Hearing his footsteps, she raised her head and studied him. She knew that he had a picture perfect view of the ocean. When she was a teenager it was one of her favorite places to sit and write in her diary for that exact reason. “I always loved the view from here.”

Swallowing hard, she forced herself to look away again. “I once did too,” she admitted softly.

Catching her off guard, River snapped his head around and stared intently at her. “Shay, you know when I left the way that I did, that I did it for both of us. I knew how hard it would be to say good-bye to you and--”

Her temper flared hot. How dare he? How dare he come here and bring up their past now? “No.” She started shaking her head from side to side. “Don’t lay that line of bullshit on me. You don’t get to make excuses for your actions now. You left for yourself,” she pointed her finger at him accusingly. “You ran away from me because you knew that I’d fallen for you. You knew that I’d fallen in love with you and you didn’t care. What you did was selfish, River. Inconsiderate, selfish and—“

Diamond shaped tears started to slowly track a trail of sorrow down her cheeks. He didn’t hesitate. He started moving towards her and stopped when he was just an arm’s length away. “Yeah, I know that now. Believe me. I’ve had to live with that realization for years. I was selfish and I was an asshole thinking that I knew what was best for us. When in truth, I was only thinking of my own feelings. I just couldn’t bring myself to say good-bye to you. That much was my fault. That is all on me.” His voice cracked. “But you have to know that I loved you too. Walking away from you was hard. So hard that it about damn near killed me. But staying away from you, pretty girl, trying to let you grow into the beautiful woman you are now was the hardest damn thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

Lifting his hand slowly, he gently cupped her cheek. “I was the one that screwed up our relationship. I was so scared that it wouldn’t last. That we wouldn’t be able to make it being so far apart from each other for so long. I was scared shitless that I’d go to school, you’d go to school and then we’d both drift apart until there was nothing left salvageable between us. I didn’t want that to be our last memories of each other. I wanted to remember our summer for all that it was. The way that you smiled at me, your soft touch when you held my hand, the way that you loved me so effortlessly for whom I was then.”

“And that’s the root of the problem. I loved you so much that it hurt. It literally ached right here,” she told him, flattening the palm of her hand over his heart. “When you left me without so much as a good-bye, see ya’ later or even a fuck you. You destroyed me River. I couldn’t even bring myself to look at anyone else the same again. And I tried. I tried so many times but every guy that I tried to date I would compare to you and there just wasn’t any comparison. I couldn’t do it. You ruined me!” she screamed.

He pulled her head to his chest and wrapped his arms around her, feeling the wetness of her tears soak through his shirt. “I’m sorry,” he croaked, tightening his hold around her almost as if he was afraid she might run away from him. “I’m so damn sorry.”

“It’s too late for sorry. Can’t you see? You ruined me from loving anyone else,” she whispered again into the material of his shirt. “Don’t you understand, without you, I have nothing.”

Leaning back, he stared down at her. Using the pad of his thumbs, he carefully dried her wet cheeks. “I understand that now. For so long my life was like this big black hole sucking me dry. I felt empty and alone. I forced myself to go to class, followed through all the motions and did what was required of me until I finally got my undergrad degree. After that I went on to med school and it wasn’t until I finished my residency that I finally realized what I’d been missing all this time. It was you all along. You are my one ray of sunshine on a dark and stormy day. You were the light that brightened my summer.” He gave her a half smile and then added. “My beautiful summer light. It was you, pretty girl; you were the one that was missing from my life.”

She dropped her head against his chest. He was killing her. Shayla didn’t think she could handle hearing much more. “You shouldn’t say things like that.”

“Why not? It’s all true. I loved you then.” He took her chin in between his thumb and pointer finger and raised her head so that she was forced to look into his eyes. “And God help me, Shayla, I think I love you now even more if that’s even possible.”

She blinked back the tears threatening to spill. “I don’t know what to say,” she said. But the truth of the matter was she did know. The second she opened the door and saw him standing there, she knew. She loved him too. She’d never stopped loving him.

He bent down and sweetly kissed her forehead. “You don’t have to say anything other than you’ll give me a second chance. I know that I don’t deserve it but I’m asking for a second chance to show you that we were meant to be together. I promise you, if you can find it in you to trust me; I won’t hurt you again.”

She saw the truth of his words written clearly in his eyes. He loved her too. He’d always loved her and time did nothing to diminish their feelings. If anything, it only made their love for each that much stronger.

On one hand her heart knew what it wanted but her mind wasn’t a hundred percent sure. On the other hand she had no doubts that she would never be able to forgive herself if she didn’t take the chance and see where, if anywhere, they could go from here.

Screw it! Throwing caution to the wind, she simply nodded her head.

River’s growing smile split his face wide open. “Is that a yes?”

Another traitorous tear slipped down her cheek. “Yes,” she said aloud this time. “Yes, I love you and I want to do this. With you.”

“Honestly?”

This time she didn’t respond with words. Instead, she stood up on up on her toes, wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his head down to hers until their lips finally met. She then proceeded to tell River everything that he needed to know by kissing him long, slow and deep. It was a kiss full of promises of forever and ever.

This isn’t the end for Shayla and River; this was their new beginning.

The End.