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As she got off the bike and looked out over the gray sandy beach, with itsthe shore, she was assailed by memories

She locked her bike into the rack and thenthe first tiht there …

She walked down to the pebbled beach Here, the stones were polished to glassy perfection by the waves Counting the houses, she knehen she reached her destination

There it was: the old Tamarind cabin There had been a party here once, back in her junior year of high school Jude had never found out about that one

Tall cedar trees ran in a thick line along one side of the property To their right, on the lot next door, she saw a colorful plastic castle/playhouse, coht pink pennant Beside it, perched like a baby bird at the end of the grayed deck, sat a little girl dressed in yellow She was talking to her wrist again

Lexi approached her daughter slowly, taking care to stay hidden by the trees The last thing she wanted was for Zach to coet the hell away frohter

Really, all Lexi wanted was to o on as planned as long as Grace was happy

She started to say, “Hey,” but her voice caught She cleared her throat and tried again “Hey, Grace ”

“I’ers ”

“I’er, Gracie I’ve known you all your life ”

“Oh ” Grace cocked her face to the right, studying Lexi Her lips pursed “I saw you at school ”

“Yes ” It took everything Lexi had inside of her just to stand there She wanted to fling herself at Grace and hold her in her ariveness Still, she took care to stand in the shade of the trees, out of the house’s view

“You waved How come?”

Lexi took a step closer Her heart was taking flight “I knew you when you were a baby ”

“Do you know my daddy?”