Chapter 42: A Day at the Beach

Olivia stepped out of Mark's car onto the beach, the salty breeze ruffling her hair. Waves beat the shore and, to her ears, formed a kind of rhythm—a kind of lullaby that washed her soul of all the stress built over the last couple of months. She closed her eyes to allow the sunbeams to touch her face, and she inhaled deeply. "You're looking like you're soaking up the sunshine like a plant," he chuckled, coming around the car with their beach bags slung over his shoulders. Olivia woke up with her eyes flickering open and a bright smile illuminating her face. "I sense that I am becoming myself again," she confessed as she stared out toward the waves. "I cannot honestly remember the last time I hit the beach." Mark smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners in that way that always made Olivia's heart flutter. "Well, then, we'd better make the most of it. Race you to the water?" Olivia had not even opened her mouth when Mark let go of the bags and took off, running towards the ocean, s