Chapter 67

Wild

Tonight we've come down to the beach a few hours before sunset because there's something I want to do. Shortcake stands beside me, her arms wrapped tightly around my waist. "I know I promised you a ride through the shallows," I kiss her on the forehead. "But there's something I have to do first."

Letting go of her, I take off the backpack I'm wearing, crouch down and pull out a container. When I stand, I hold it up to her. "When I left Mississippi, this was really the only thing that mattered."

"What is that?"

"My grandfather's ashes. They were the only thing I cared to keep with me. I've debated off and on about what to do with them. Where are they going to go? Am I going to hang onto them forever? Do I want them to be spread in Kentucky, and for a while I kinda though that. But I'm coming to realize something. Kentucky is my home, not his."

"You think of Kentucky as home now?" She puts her arms back around me, standing on tiptoes to kiss me on the cheek.

"Wherever you ar