The Redemption of Callie & Kayden

we’ll have had the pleasure of buying a dress.”
    I sigh but don’t argue and he takes that as a yes. He speeds up and weaves us through the people, and I keep my shoulders in to stop anyone from touching me.
    “Hey, where are you two going?” Luke calls out from the sidewalk with his hands cupped around his mouth.
    Kayden’s looking at us like he thinks we’re running away from him. He’s got on a pair of dark denim jeans and a fitted black shirt. His bangs are hanging in his eyes and the ends flip up around his ears and neck. He’s still scruffy on his chin and strong jawline and I wonder how long it will be before he can shave again—be around a razor again.
    He mouths,
Are you okay?
    “Yeah, go get your clothes,” I call out as I wave and then Seth tows me backward and we step up onto the curb of the opposite sidewalk. “We’ll catch up with you.”
    Luke looks puzzled, but then shrugs and heads up the sidewalk with Kayden behind him. I tear my gaze off them and turn around, tripping on my shoelace that’s come untied. I kick up sand as we head to the daisy store. In the distance, there are the whispering sounds of the waves washing up on the sand.
    “And some sandals too,” Seth adds, and he braces me by the arm as I trip over a hole in the sidewalk.
    I nod as I regain my footing. “Sandals do sound nice.”
    We rummage through the racks outside for a while, but don’t find anything that is “Callie first-time-dress-worthy,” Seth tells me. We wander inside, out of the sun and into the cool temperature of the air conditioning. The cashier is reading a magazine behind the counter and she glances up before returning her attention to her reading.
    Seth fans his hand in front of his face. “It’s hot here and it smells like cherries.”
    “I think the temperature is actually normal here,” I point out. “It’s just that we’ve come from one of the coldest places in the world.”
    He shoots me a doubtful look as he starts flipping through a T-shirt rack. “In the world?”
    I walk up to one of the circular racks in the center of the small shop and run my finger along the tops of the hangers. “Okay, maybe in the country.”
    He laughs and I join in as we flip through the hangers. Each time he holds up a dress, I shake my head and decline. It’s not like they’re all ugly; it’s just that I really don’t want to wear one. I want to stay in my clothes and keep covered up, except maybe my feet. It feels like if I put a dress on then I’m going to go back to that day.
    I wander over to the flip-flop section and pick up a pair with pretty purple jewels on the top. I check the size and they’re the perfect fit. I’m about to head up to the register to pay when Seth strolls up with his hands behind his back.
    “Okay, I think I found one,” he says, stopping in front of me. He has a sucker in his mouth and I wonder where he got it from but I don’t ask because with Seth sometimes being confused is better than understanding. “But before I show it to you, I want you to clear your head.”
    “Clear my head.” I riffle through one of the racks holding more sandals.
    He nods, taking the sucker out of his mouth. His lips are stained red and so are his teeth. “Shut your eyes and clear you head of that place you keep going to every time I hold one up, because if you do it, I think you’re going to love this one.”
    The store is vacant except for the clerk, who’s very distracted by the magazine. I’m glad there’s no one, otherwise I’d feel silly. I close my eyes, inhale through my nose, and then exhale through my mouth. “All right, trying to clear head in T minus five seconds.”
    He laughs at me and then pinches my arm. “Don’t just try to clear your head.
Clear
your head.” I feel him shift as he moves closer. “Here, do this. Picture Kayden.”
    I peek one eye open. “I don’t think that will clear my head. In fact, I think it will cloud it even more.”
    He shakes his head and pops his sucker back into his mouth. “No, it won’t. I promise.” His voice sounds funny as he rolls the sucker into the pouch of his cheek.
    I sigh and shut my eyes, picturing Kayden and his gorgeous green eyes. His amazingly perfect smile and his soft, deliciously tasty lips. Yeah, his lips, those might be my favorite part. My head is clearing. “All right, I’m thinking of him.”
    “Now think about how much you trust him.”
    “Okay…” My mind promptly floats back to that night