Beach Blanket Santa

ended, the ferry would be up and running again the first thing tomorrow. Well, that was something, anyway. He and Sarah would no longer be trapped here together. Given the conversation they’d just had, that was obviously for the best.
    “Who was that?” she asked from the living area.
    “The ferry will back in business tomorrow. I guess I should start packing.”
    “No, don’t,” she said suddenly. “You can stay. I’ll go.”
    And, for the first time since she’d arrived here, Matt didn’t feel any inclination to stop her.

    The next day, Matt sat at the table, watching the waves through the window. The skies had mostly cleared, except for a few dark clouds rumbling above. Scattered showers were predicted, but there were heavier rains raging inside him. He felt all turned inside out, as if someone had extracted his heart and laid it on this very table. And someone had. Her name was Sarah.
    “I’m leaving,” she said, standing by the kitchen door.
    Matt glanced her way and set down his coffee. She’d already loaded her SUV and now held nothing but her small purse and a travel water bottle. “I see.”
    “Matt…” Her cheeks were flushed. “If there was any way to work things out, I’d stay.” Like hell she would. She hadn’t even given them a chance, wouldn’t even tell him what was wrong. She was just playing herself again, calling the shots, and getting to be the one who decided when it was over. “You’re going to miss the boat.”
    She sucked in a breath, and it sounded like she was crying. Matt didn’t dare turn to look at her. He studied the shore instead, watching it take a relentless beating from the waves. His heart knew just how that felt.
    He heard the door creak open as she spoke, her voice shaky. “It was good seeing you again.”
    In a different world, he might have felt the same. At the moment, though, all Matt wanted was for her to go away so that the pain would end.

Chapter Nine

    Sarah waited in line for the ferry, queued up behind two other SUVs and a couple of pickups. These were the greatest signs of life she’d seen in days, and still they were paltry. Few folks ventured to the island this time of year, and those who did were die-hards. Rugged outdoorsmen or property owners, the types not easily put off by a ten-foot storm surge or the occasional nor’easter. She peered through her windshield at the darkening sky. More bad weather was coming, but it could nowhere compete with the storm in her soul. Her parting from Matt had been heartbreaking, yet necessary. Wasn’t it so much better to say good-bye now, when becoming even more involved would only make separating worse? He’d told her just what he wanted: the same thing his parents had. She knew what that was because she’d seen it firsthand. A warm, wonderful family with lots of offspring, and having children was not in Sarah’s future.
    She steeled her heart, worried that she’d always be alone. After rupturing her appendix in college, she’d developed pelvic inflammatory disease, a horrible infection. Its outcome had left her sterile, completely unable to bear children. It was a bitter pill to swallow at age twenty-one and apparently had been too much for her college boyfriend to deal with. They’d talked about graduating and moving to work in the same city. Eventually getting married and raising a family of their own. While he hadn’t left her immediately, receiving news of her medical condition had seemed to change the way he felt about her. Though he denied it, afterward things started breaking apart. They began fighting more frequently, then finally split up the second semester of their senior year.
    Later, Sarah had chalked up her college boyfriend’s reaction to youth and inexperience. Surely a mature man who loved her deeply wouldn’t react the same way. She’d learned differently with her first adult relationship in Maryland. It wasn’t that he hadn’t loved her; it was more that he’d seen a different sort of future for them going forward. Naturally, adoption was an option, but he’d been the only son in his family and had always thought he’d carry on the family line. When he’d also gone away, the breakup had ripped Sarah’s heart to shreds with its haunting déjà vu. Consequently, it had become harder for her to become intimate with a man. She’d surprised herself by falling into bed with Matt at Elaine’s wedding.
    Now that she knew the truth, she could more clearly piece