The Guest Book Read Online Free Page A

that. Because no matter what happens with us, Chase, I want you to be here for her.” She thought of the sad dinner sheand Emma had had earlier. She thought of the hole a father’s absence can cause. “She’s important.”
    He chuckled. “I’ll be there for her. Don’t worry so much.” He hugged Macy close again, his chin resting on top of her head, feeling at once familiar and strange, cozy yet frightening. “Trust me,” he added.
    A laugh bubbled up from inside her, uncontained.
    “What?” he asked.
    “I struggle with trusting people,” Macy mumbled into his T-shirt. “And you’re one of the main reasons for that.”
    She pushed away from him, finding it easier now that she’d been without him so long. “Now get back outside and keep your eye on the real reason you’re here.”
    He started to argue but she held up her hand. Chase needed to be here for Emma; but she was realizing she wasn’t sold on the idea of him being here for her.
    After Chase stole back out the door he’d snuck in, re-joining their sleeping daughter in the tent under the stars, Macy congratulated herself for being strong. Once upon a time, she’d been helpless to his charms, but not anymore. She fell asleep making herself promises and slipped into a dream that took her back to Sunset as a child.
    Her dad was holding her high above the waves as she looked down at their foamy tops from her perch on his
shoulders. When her dad set her down on the sand, she ran along the beach, scooping up the tiny, fragile, pastel-colored shells she called butterfly shells.
    “Look, Daddy,” she said, holding them out for him to marvel over.
    “They’re beautiful,” he said. “Just like you.” He tweaked her nose and helped her put the shells in a plastic baggie to carry safely home.
    “I think these are going to win the contest for sure,” she said.
    “I think you’re right,” he said, turning back to begin packing up for the day.
    She studied the shells for a moment—trying to decide if she liked the pink one or the purple one better. When she looked up, her daddy was gone. She scanned the deserted beach, calling for him.
    She woke up to a dark room, her heart racing, the space beside her in bed empty like always. She sat up, gathered the covers close around her, and wished she could close her eyes and return to the dreamworld where her father had been —if only for a few minutes. She had heard his voice, seen his smile, felt his warm hands holding her. In the dream, he had been alive. The talk of Sunset Beach had brought him back to her.
    She smiled as she remembered the contest they’d had years ago, and how mad she’d been when she lost to Max with the shell he’d found. She’d thought of it almost immediately when Brenda had brought up Sunset Beach.
    The year she was five, her dad had thought it would be fun to have a family contest to see who could find the best shell, with everyone voting on the winner. The prize was twenty dollars, and Macy had set her sights on a doll she could buy with the money. She’d scoured the beach daily, submitting several possible shells based on whatever the ocean offered up as she combed the shore for treasures. She’d felt certain that her best entry was the butterfly shells, tiny yet perfect, a trio of pastel colors. Max, being the ornery teenage boy he was, hadn’t participated the whole week, and as the week drew to a close, Macy started counting her money in her mind, dreaming about her parents taking her to get that doll.
    But on their last full day at the beach, Max had snuck out at dawn and found a large, perfect conch shell, its interior a glossy petal pink. Even Macy had had to concede that his shell was the best. But not without tears, and not without an especially emotional outburst at Max. He had waited to enter his shell until the last minute, just to be mean, knowing Macy would think she had won the contest. She’d told him he couldn’t come to her wedding, the meanest thing