“Okay,” Sierra whispered into the morning sky filled with dark clouds. “That’s fine. I know I’m not leaving Brazil because of Jordan. That was a separate decision. I believe it’s the right decision. I also feel directed toward Santa Barbara. Is that crazy? Lord, I’m trying to follow You with all my heart because I love You. I trust You. I know You’re going to show me what’s next.”
Sierra felt the raindrops gently tapping on her sweatshirt’s hood. Her years of living in Portland served her well at this moment; Sierra didn’t mind the raindrops. She kind of liked the way they fell on her in a gentle rhythm.
With a deep breath of salty air filling her lungs, Sierra came to a conclusion. If God could direct the rhythm of the raindrops and tell the enormous waves where to stop before returning to the sea, He could lead her in this next phase of her life. And as far as her heart could see through the clouds of this decision, God was leading her to Santa Barbara.
“So be it,” she whispered. Standing and shaking out her beach towel, Sierra walked toward the beach house, her face to the wind.
Chapter Forty
“Are you sure you don’t mind doing this?” Jordan asked Mariana as he handed her the grocery list he had just written.
“Are you kidding? I’m happy to do this and anything else you need. I’m especially glad that you’re making good on your offer to make dinner. I’ll tell Sierra when she gets out of the shower that the competition is on.”
“No, don’t tell her,” Jordan said. “Let me make dinner tonight. She can make it tomorrow night for our final night here. You can compare the two and give your assessment after that. Sound good?”
“Okay.” Mariana moved her empty cereal bowl to the sink. “You sure seem to have come alive this morning. You’re in a much better mood than you were last night. How much coffee did you have?”
“None yet. By the way, would you mind making some? I need to pull my stuff together and get down to the beach early.”
“Sure, I’ll make the coffee.”
Jordan dashed into the bedroom and unplugged his cell phone from the charger. He grinned as he remembered how the buzzing of his phone had awakened him less than an hour ago. He had reached to turn it off, thinking the sound was coming from the alarm. It was an incoming call from Bill.
“Morning, Jordan. I wanted to check in and see how it’s going.”
“It’s going fine.” He sat up in bed and wondered why Bill was calling so early.
“I thought I’d let you know that the whole editorial team has been really impressed with what you’ve sent us.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“We’ve been talking, and we wanted you to know that if you’re interested, we could keep you busy with more assignments.”
Jordan leaned forward and tried to make sure he was catching everything Bill was saying. “Do you mean travel assignments?”
“Some. Not a lot. Mostly up and down the coast. We need a photographer down at Trestles in two weeks.”
“I’ll have to think about it and get back to you.”
“Listen, Jordan, I’ll be straight with you. We heard you’ve been pursued by several key sponsors there, and after seeing what you’ve produced for us, we understand why they’re coming after you. We can’t compete with their package offers. We don’t have those deep pockets of revenue. But we can keep you busy and set up an agreement of some sort if you like. We’re more on a handshake-basis here. You know that. We’re not asking for an exclusive with you. Just a chance to keep working with you, if by any chance you don’t sign with one of the big guns.”
Jordan never expected such a call. He wasn’t sure what to say. “I appreciate that, Bill. I’ll give it some thought.”
“You know my number. Looking forward to what you pull together for us these last few days.”
After he hung up, Jordan meandered out to the kitchen to see if any coffee had been made. He definitely needed some this morning. The coffeepot was dry. Mariana was seated at the counter munching on a bowl of cereal. He heard the shower start and guessed that was where Sierra was.
That was when Mariana managed to elegantly unfurl the second unexpected wave of information on him that morning. “Sierra must have had an inspiring walk in the rain this morning,” Mariana said. “She just came in and told me she’s made her decision. She’s moving to Santa Barbara.”
Jordan froze. “Santa Barbara?”
“She came to the conclusion yesterday that her time in Brazil was over. Done. The dream ran outta steam, or whatever it was that Derek told her. She’s certain that she’s supposed to get a job at a restaurant in Santa Barbara that’s owned by some of her parents’ friends.”
“Sierra just decided this?” Jordan asked.
“Apparently.”
Jordan knew she couldn’t have made that choice based on his living there. He had announced last night that he was moving to Oahu. What was going on?
“You can ask her yourself when she gets out of the shower.”
“I have a better idea.” Jordan grabbed a scrap of paper. That’s when he wrote out the list of grocery items, which he asked Mariana to pick up for him.
Now that he was ready to head for the beach, he felt a little nervous about seeing Sierra on his way out the door. He didn’t want to say anything to her. Not until dinner tonight. He knew if he saw her before then his plan might jump out and frighten both of them.
Sliding out the door, he made his way to the gathering of photographers whom he was coming to know on a first-name basis. He had heard them talking the last few days about whom they worked with and whom they wanted to be sponsored by. None of the politics or competition of that part of the business appealed to him. Jordan just wanted to capture memorable moments in photographs. He wanted to work with guys who could accomplish their objectives with a handshake, not thirty pages of legal wording.
It was all coming into focus. He would stay in Santa Barbara and pick up assignments with Surf Days as well as any weddings that came his way. He enjoyed those. Sierra wasn’t returning to Brazil. He had to keep repeating that to himself. Her living in Brazil had been his mantra from the beginning as the reason he couldn’t consider continuing their relationship. Knowing that she was going to Santa Barbara changed everything.
Jordan wanted to surprise Sierra. He wanted to set up something special for her. That was why he had planned to cook for her tonight. He hadn’t explained his entire plan to Mariana, but he hoped that he could find a way to be alone with Sierra. When he was, he would tell her that he wasn’t accepting the offer from the big bucks corporate sponsor.
For the next few hours Jordan tried to concentrate on taking photos and not on all the places he wanted to show Sierra when she moved to Santa Barbara. He knew his friends would be nuts about her. He even had some ideas of places where she could stay for the first month or so without having to pay rent. It was as if the vista of his future had come into view, and all the details were coming into focus.
In the unfurling of his thoughts, Jordan finally gave himself permission to admit something that had been true from the first time he had seen Sierra. I’m completely taken with this woman.
The only lingering question was whether she felt the same way about him.
Sierra and Mariana were riding the two cruiser bikes back to the beach house after going on an early afternoon run for shaved ice when Mariana told Sierra about the grocery list.
“I thought when we get back I’d take my car to buy the items he needs,” Mariana said.
“Why is he doing all the cooking? I thought we were supposed to be competing.” Sierra leaned forward on her bike and stood to pump the pedals so she could catch up with Mariana.
Mariana called over her shoulder, “He said you can cook tomorrow night, and I’ll be the judge of which meal is best.”
The sun had come out, and the rain clouds had fled. It had turned into a beautiful day.
Sierra decided she was going to do her part to make dinn
er fun. She didn’t want to think about how the relationship with Jordan was about to hit a dead end in a day and a half when their lives would no longer overlap. Why couldn’t it still be just as fun being around Jordan as it had been from the beginning? She smiled to herself thinking that Mariana would be happy to know Sierra was thinking of how to add a little more fun to her life.
Everything inside Sierra felt open and spacious. She felt peaceful about not returning to Brazil, and she had an equally settled feeling about going to Santa Barbara. It made no sense. She knew that. But she had already made some calls that morning on Mariana’s cell phone and sent some e-mails. The waitressing job was looking good. Her mom’s response on the phone had been, “I’m very glad to hear this, Sierra. This feels right to me.”
Even though Sierra hadn’t said anything to her mom about Jordan, she knew that a large part of her reason for selecting Santa Barbara was because of Jordan, even though he wasn’t going to be there. He had been part of the catalyst to launch her into this wide open future. And who knew? Maybe someday down the road he would come back to visit his friends, and she could see him again. Who knew what might happen someday?
While Mariana was at the grocery store, Sierra spent a lot of time online arranging her flight and looking up information about Santa Barbara. When she heard Jordan come back from the beach and start to cook, she decided to let him work in solitude. Even though she was dying to work with him side by side, she opted for taking a shower and putting on her last fresh outfit. It was a summer dress with a flowing skirt and lace around the neckline. She put on her new shell earrings and took a little extra time with her hair.
Mariana came into the bedroom. “I’m going to meet Tianna for dinner. She called and wants to talk about what happened the other night.”
“What about our dinner here?”
Mariana grinned. “Save me a bite of everything.” She grabbed her purse and scampered out the door before Sierra could say anything.
Giving her arms and legs a good slather of her coconut-scented lotion, Sierra decided she had waited long enough. If Jordan didn’t want her hanging around the kitchen while he finished cooking, that was fine. She would wait on the front patio like a woman of leisure.
The sight that met Sierra when she exited the bedroom took her breath away.
The patio beyond the sliding glass door had been transformed into a private dining room. Tiki torches flickered in the corners. A small table with a white tablecloth was flanked by two wicker chairs. A small fire glowed in the outdoor fire pit, and a dozen votive candles were set on the ground, the table, and the chaise lounge. Beyond the patio, past the silhouetted palm trees, the picture-perfect white sand stretched out to where it met the foam-laced blanket of blue ocean. And beyond the sea was a twilight ablaze in streamers of orange, yellow, rose, and apricot. Sierra couldn’t move. The golden sun was slipping into the sea.
“What do you think?” Jordan asked.
“I think that has to be the most amazing sunset I’ve ever seen.” Sierra turned to face him and was surprised to see that he had on a button-down shirt and held a spatula.
“You look gorgeous.” He focused on her and not the sunset out the window.
“Thank you,” Sierra stammered. “So do you.”
“Go ahead and sit down. I’ll bring the food out to you.”
She went to the sliding door, and when she opened it, she saw that the patio had been strewn with hundreds of petals from the tropical flowers that surrounded the beach house. On the table next to one of the plates was a single white gardenia.
Sierra took that seat and tried to figure out what was going on. She lifted the gardenia to her nose and drew in the heady fragrance. Then she tucked it behind her right ear, which she had learned was the side to wear a flower when you’re single and available.
Jordan came out with a plate in each hand. “Chicken Parmesan, steamed zucchini, and jasmine rice.” The presentation was beautiful.
“I’m impressed,” she said.
“Wait till you taste it.”
He sat and reached his hand across the table, offering for Sierra to slip her hand into his. When she did, he bowed his head and prayed a humble prayer of thankfulness for the food, the day, and Sierra.
“Amen,” she agreed and lifted her head but didn’t pull back her hand. “Jordan?”
He covered her hand with his other hand, and she felt like the sun must have felt tonight when it slipped through the beautiful sky to find blissful refuge in the powerful sea. “Jordan, what’s going on?”
Jordan dipped his chin and looked into her eyes. “I’m not going to take the position with the sponsor I met with yesterday. I had what I consider to be a better offer this morning from Surf Days Magazine. I’m going to stay in Santa Barbara and do shoots up and down the California coast.”
Sierra felt her eyes widen. “Did you know that I’m moving to Santa Barbara?”
“Yes.”
Sierra looked at him without blinking.
Jordan grinned. “Do you remember how I said a few days ago that all the coincidences of how we met might not be so odd if God was trying to tell us something?”
Sierra nodded. She felt her heart pounding faster and her face warming.
“Well, I finally started to listen. I have no doubt He’s trying to tell us something.”
They sat there, holding hands, gazing into each other’s eyes in the candlelight, and this time Sierra knew Jordan could see all the way to her heart.
“Our dinner is cooling off,” Sierra said.
Jordan didn’t reply. He rose from the table, inviting Sierra to stand up with him. Then planting his two feet firmly, Jordan cupped Sierra’s face in his hands, focusing on her lips.
Sierra held her breath and closed her eyes as she received the most perfect, tender, affectionate first kiss a young woman of options could wish for. Jordan drew back and let out his breath nice and slow. His eyes seemed to search Sierra’s expression for a response. Her serene smile said it all, and she could tell he got the message.
Jordan slid his arm behind Sierra and held the back of her chair so she could be seated once again. He returned to his chair and picked up his fork. Before Sierra picked up her fork, she reached for the gardenia that she had put behind her right ear.
In one motion, Sierra transferred the gardenia to her left ear. She was taken. She knew it in her heart. This was so right. The most adventuresome, dream-filled season of her life was just about to begin.
Letter to the Reader
The first time my husband and I walked hand-in-hand on Sunset Beach was on our honeymoon thirty-five years ago. That was my first trip to Hawaii, and the beginning of a lifelong affection for the Hawaiian Islands. We now live in Hawaii, and the charm of this tropical paradise hasn’t faded, nor has our love for each other waned. I guess you could say that love really did find me at Sunset Beach.
A few years ago we returned to the North Shore of Oahu for a visit in January. Sunset Beach was a completely different scene from what we first experienced during our August honeymoon. Instead of calm blue waters and gently rolling waves that were typical on this long stretch of white sandy beach during the summer months, the waves rose like great foaming beasts. We stood on the shore holding hands and staring in awe.
One of the many surfing competitions held at Sunset in the winter months was in full swing that day. Daring young men and women from around the world rode those giant waves with astonishing balance and grace.
One of the surfers lost his balance on the edge of a big wave and went catapulting into the deep water. His board shot straight up like a spinner dolphin, did a twist in the air, and dove in after him. We watched to see if he was all right. A few moments later he bobbed to the surface, got on his board, and paddled back out beyond the breakers, willing to give the next indomitable wave a try.
As I was writing this story, I thought about how overwhelming relationships can be during certain seasons of our lives. To conquer the
wipeouts that come to all of us, we must paddle back out and be willing to give it all we have once again. But other seasons are like the summer months at Sunset Beach during which all the ocean has to offer is right there, calm and attainable. You simply need to step into the vastness and start swimming.
That’s where I saw Sierra Jensen in my mind’s eye, as I formulated this story. She was ready to be invited into love so that she could paddle her way into the next season of her life.
Sierra is a character I’ve “known” for many years. I started writing about her in the Sierra Jensen Series when she was in high school. I had fun following her into her college years before I sent her off to Brazil, where I left her for some time, suspended in my imagination.
Jordan Bryce impressed me as a character who was well suited for independent, intensely focused, free-spirited Sierra. Sunset Beach seemed like just the place for the two of them to meet and test the waters of their newly formed relationship.
What happens to Sierra and Jordan after this story ends? I wanted to find out so I included them in a story I wrote about Jordan’s mother, Erin Bryce. That book is entitled Cottage by the Sea and releases in the summer of 2012.
Whether you are in a season of crashing waves and spinning surfboards or a stretch of calm breezes and swaying palm trees, my hope is that this story will provide you with a virtual getaway to Sunset Beach, Hawaii, one of the many beautiful places on God’s amazing planet. May you feel encouraged to know that love is worth the risk and friendships are worth all your faithful efforts.
I’d love to keep in touch. Please come by my website for a visit: www.robingunn.com. You can sign up for my newsletter and find out about new book releases as well as upcoming events and book giveaways. You can also visit my online shop, where you’ll see the entire collection of books about Sierra as well as one special item you’ll recognize from the story that we just had to include: Sierra’s Rancho Corona University sweatshirt! Finally, Facebook is another great way for us to connect. Look me up—I look forward to “seeing” you there!