The ocean spoke with gentle waves, the tide rising and then reclaiming sand before returning to the water’s edge. Gemma nearly always found herself at the edge, it’s crisp salty texture a sort of massage to her damaged soul.
In her hands tonight she held a simple gold band, smooth to the touch but wore the tear of a broken heart; a shattered promise. Gripping it so tightly it branded her skin with a small red button, tears flowed from her already swollen eyes. He’d had promised to come home.
He’d had promised to stay safe.
Deflated, Gemma collapsed to the ground, the waves tickling the hem of her skirt and shifting the sand beneath her knees. Heavily worked up, she began to shudder and despite hugging herself, the calm never came. “Why!” she shrieked desperately. Her voice matched the roar of the waves and for hours she sobbed, soaked from the knees down but numb to the chill.
By dawn’s early light, Gemma had finally moved up the beach and fallen asleep beside a retaining wall. With a light twist, she’d freed her husband’s band from her thumb and gave it a light kiss and whispered, “I miss you so much.”
With tired, bloodshot eyes, she found her way to her feet and staggered back down to the water. Gemma always wondered what it was about this place that Levi loved so much. He’d never step foot into the ocean but would willingly spend hours scoping out the horizon. Sadly, she’d never know for sure, but there was something about the promise painted in the morning glow that warmed her from within. She couldn’t quite put a finger on it, but for the first time since the accident she felt the one thing she’d thought she’d lost.
Hope.