Amber at the Beach

"You know, I've been thinking," Amber said to Danny.

"Don't overdo it," he teased. It was in mid-July, and the two of them, along with Trey and Jade, were lying on quilts on the beach beneath a blazing Florida sun. Danny had transported the four of them to Pensacola Beach, and they were enjoying the white sands and the surf.

"Remember that time you took us back to 1978 to watch 'Ice Castles'?"

"Yep."

"Well, why can't we just go back in time to right before your accident, and you could just refuse to get into the car with Hector?"

"It doesn't work that way, Amber." Danny's voice was solemn.

"Why not?"

"We'd have to leave all our loved ones behind and never see them again."

"I don't understand."

"It's hard to explain." Danny pressed his fingertips together into a steeple shape and stared at them. "We could travel to another universe that's just like this one except that my accident didn't happen, and there would be a copy of your Mom and my parents and everybody else, but that's all they would be, because it would be a completely different universe. We would have disappeared from this one. When we went to see 'Ice Castles', that was in another universe too, one in which it was still 1978, but that didn't really matter, because we were only there for a couple of hours. We couldn't have stayed and lived in that universe, because we don't belong there."

"You mean there's more than just one universe?"

"Oh yes! There are an infinite number of universes, because there are an infinite number of ways history could have played out, but humans in their mortal form can never visit them, because they're moving away from us at a velocity faster than the speed of light."

"So when we went back to 1978, we were moving faster than the speed of light?"

"Yep." He grinned.

"But how?"

"An immortal body isn't bound by the space-time continuum of the physical universe."

"But I was still in my mortal body..."

"But you were holding my hand just like you always do when I take you somewhere. Remember?"

"Oh, yeah..."

Amber's eyes were closed, so she didn't see Danny stand up and walk to the water's edge, but a moment later, she felt the wetness as he poured the bucket full of water all over her. "I'm gonna get you!" she cried, jumping to her feet and sprinting after him. His long legs easily outran hers, of course.

Trey and Jade laughed as they looked on. "Is this the first time you've ever visited northwest Florida?" asked Jade.

"Actually, no. A buddy of mine from high school was stationed at the navy base here for a few months. He was in flight school, and I came to see him graduate. Have you ever seen the movie 'An Officer and a Gentleman' with Richard Gere?"

Jade frowned. "I don't think so. It's kind of old, isn't it?"

"It came out in 1983, but it's a really good movie. We should watch it together sometime. Anyway, my buddy was in the same flight school Richard Gere's character was sent to at the end of the movie."

"I didn't even know there was a navy base here."

Trey laughed. "Actually there are several. Would you like a snow cone? I think I'm gonna get one for myself."

"Yeah, I feel like I'm about to catch on fire!"

Trey loped over to the snow cone stand just as easily as any able-bodied man could have. Jade had known better than to have volunteered to go for him, as she knew how angry it always made him whenever anyone even hinted that he might not be perfectly capable of doing anything he wanted to.

He purchased a pina colada snow cone for Jade and a mango one for himself and then walked back to where she was sitting. "Since we're here anyway, it would be nice if we could take in a Blue Angels air show as well," he said once he was seated again.

Jade looked at her snow cone and saw that it was already melting, dark yellow rivulets snaking down the outside of the white paper container. "What's that?"

"They're navy pilots," Trey explained. "They put on these great air shows with all these fantastic maneuvers."

"I've never seen anything like that before."

"You'd love it!"

"Talk to Danny about it. He can take us anywhere, anytime."

They stayed until the sun began to set, and then Danny took them back home. "Want to try the west coast next time?" he asked Amber.

"Sure!"

The following day, Trey, Jade, and Amber were all as red as lobsters, despite having covered themselves liberally with sunblock. Danny, who hadn't even used sunblock, remained completely unaffected.

"Go away," Amber told him when he came to pick her up. "I hate you."

He howled with laughter. "Here, let me help you." He applied aloe vera gel to his hands and rubbed them all over her body, and she instantly felt much better.

"What would I ever do without you?" she sighed in gratitude.

One afternoon, Danny and Amber were strolling together in the mall when Amber saw a girl who looked strangely familiar pushing a stroller that held a baby boy of about six months or so. It took her only a minute or two to remember when she'd last seen the girl. "Paisley!" she called.

Paisley looked confused for a moment, then smiled. "Amber! What a surprise! This is my son, Kenan."

Amber frowned. "But I thought you were gonna give your baby up for adoption."

"I did, but it's an open adoption. That means I've met his parents, and they even let me see him from time to time. They had an appointment to go to this afternoon, so they let me take him for a couple of hours."

"So you're babysitting your own son?"

Paisley laughed. "I hadn't really thought of it that way, but yes, I am."

"This is my boyfriend, Danny."

The other girl gasped. "Oh, you mean...nice to meet you, Danny."

"Nice to meet you too, Paisley." They shook hands.

"And no, he isn't the father of the baby I lost." Amber answered Paisley's unasked question.

"Oh...well..." Paisley blushed but quickly recovered.

"Your son is such a cute little boy," said Danny. "He has blue eyes, just like you do."

"His eyes really look more like his dad's. His are a deep, piercing blue. You could lose yourself in them."

"I take it he's no longer in the picture," Danny remarked.

Paisley nodded. "I thought he really loved me, but it turned out he was only after one thing. I believed his lies and let him take my virtue, and now I can't give it to my husband on our wedding night."

"When you meet the right man, that won't matter to him," Danny told her.

Her eyes widened. "Really?"

"Really."

"You're very lucky, Amber," said Paisley.

"I know I am," Amber replied. She glanced at Danny, and he smiled and took her hand.

The three of them walked up and down the mall and chatted for awhile, and then Paisley said that she had to take Kenan back to his adoptive parents.

"I wonder how she feels when she has to leave him behind and go back home alone," Amber said when Paisley was out of earshot. "I'll bet it makes her really sad." She thought of something. "Why didn't you tell her what you really are?"

Danny gave a short, sharp laugh. "You think she would have believed me?"

"I guess not."

Neither of them said anything for a long time, until Amber finally broke the silence. "What's wrong?"

"I've already stayed here longer than I was supposed to," Danny replied. "I'm supposed to leave for another assignment in Chicago. A young woman who's three months pregnant was paralyzed in the same wreck that killed her husband."

"That's terrible!" Amber gasped. "But what about me? You said you'd stay as long as I needed you!"

"I did," he replied. "Do you still need me? You're doing great in school, you have good friends, you're reconciled with your mother and sister now..."

"But that doesn't mean I don't need you anymore! If you went away again, I'd miss you like crazy!"

"I'd miss you too, Amber." His eyes couldn't meet hers. "Maybe it won't be so bad. I could just split my time between here and Chicago and try my best to leave my weekends open so that we could go out."

"Is that all I am to you, Danny? Just another assignment?"

"Of course not! You're much more to me than that!"

"How old is this young woman?"

"She's twenty-four."

"And her husband's dead?"

"He was killed less than a week ago."

"Is her paralysis permanent?"

"Yes."

"Is it from the neck down or the waist down?"

"From the neck down."

"And she's gonna have a baby."

"Yes. Why all the questions?"

She shrugged. "Just curious, that's all."

"Hey." He touched her chin with his fingertips. "There's nothing to worry about. Whatever was meant to be, will be, but I promise you, everything will work out for the best."

He could tell by her expression that she was still troubled.

"So how was your first day of school?" Danny asked as he and Amber were enjoying their frozen yogurts at Dee-lite. With the exception of a couple of hurried text messages from Chicago, it was the first time they'd spoken in a week.

"I think this year's gonna be harder than last," she replied. "I'm in Advanced Placement English - that's college freshman level English."

"Well, they must think you can handle it, or they wouldn't have let you into the class."

"You wouldn't believe the amount of reading I have to do." Amber rolled her eyes. "And not even that is as bad as geometry. You should see my homework assignments!"

"I wonder what senior year would have been like for me," Danny remarked.

"Were you a good student?"

"Not really. I spent too much time sketching in the margins instead of taking notes."

"How's Ashley?"

"Still depressed. She was really torn up over the fact that she was still too badly injured to attend her husband's funeral, and she's discouraged about starting physical therapy. I've been trying my best to convince her that she can do it, but so far I haven't been successful."

"How's she gonna take care of her baby when it's born?"

"Obviously she'll have to have help. I'm trying to see what I can get lined up. Luckily, there's a few more months before we have to worry about that."

"Do you like spending so much time with her?"

"To be honest, I'd rather be with you, but you're busy with school and other things. You don't need me as much as you did before."

"But I do need you!"

Danny grinned. "You're doing great, Amber. And like I keep telling you, I'll always be here for you when you need me."

"I want you to meet someone important," Trey told Jade as he opened the door to his apartment. They'd just stepped inside when a small white dog bounded up to Trey, nearly knocking him down in its enthusiasm. "Hey there, Lucy!" Trey picked the little ball of fur up. "This is my friend Jade. Jade, meet Lucy."

"Aw, she's cute!" Jade took the warm, squirming bundle into her hands. "Aren't you a little sweetheart! When did you get her, Trey?"

"A couple of days ago. I swung by the pound after work just to see what they had. Guy that worked there said her family had to move and couldn't take her with them. When she saw me, she ran over and just stared up at me with those big brown eyes, and I knew I just couldn't let her be put down."

"And it's OK with your apartment's manager?"

"Sure, since I paid the pet deposit."

"Is she housebroken?"

"Oh, yeah. She just had a couple of accidents the first day or two, but she's been fine since then."

Jade could tell that Lucy wanted to get back down, so she set her on the floor and watched her scamper toward a hot pink bone-shaped pillow in the corner. "That's her bed," Trey explained. He led Jade into the kitchen, where she saw a couple of ceramic bowls with pink bones painted all over them on the floor. "And these are her food and drink bowls. Yes, I'm spoiling her, but it's so much fun!"

"I've never had a dog," said Jade.

Trey gasped. "You're kidding!"

Jade shook her head. "After my Dad died, things were always really tight. Sometimes it was all Mom could do just to take care of Amber and me."

"Oh...well, I don't think Lucy will mind if I share her with you, will you, Lucy?" He picked the dog up, and she licked his cheek. "Of course she won't."

"I don't believe it!" Amber moaned as she stared in dismay at the large red letter 'F' at the top of her geometry exam. "I studied so hard!" Tears filled her eyes as she gathered all her papers together and left for her next class. She could only guess how upset her mother would be when she found out.

Danny wasn't there to meet her after school. She'd known he wouldn't be. Arriving home at last, she entered the house and was about to slink past her mother watching television to her room when she remembered. Plopping her backpack down onto the table, she unzipped it and took out the exam with the strip of paper stapled to it. "You have to sign this," she told her mother.

Helen glared at the big red 'F' on the paper, then got her pen out and signed it. "You're grounded for a week," she told her daughter. "That means no cell phone and no internet, and you stay home this weekend."

Aware that it would do no good to argue with her mother, Amber went to her room and threw herself across the bed. Her eyes filled with tears.

Oh, Danny, where are you?

"I'm right here." She felt his hand on her back as she heard his soothing voice. "You know I'll always be here when you need me, Amber."

She raised her head, and he saw the tears in her eyes. "She grounded me for a week because I failed a geometry test," she told him. "I studied as hard as I could, but I failed it anyway. Maybe I should just use cheat sheets next time."

Danny shook his head. "Cheat sheets won't help you learn geometry."

Amber snorted. "Maybe they'd at least keep me from getting grounded."

"Cheating never solves anything," Danny replied. "What you need is to learn how to study more efficiently, and some tutoring wouldn't hurt, either."

"But I don't know any tutors!"

"I know of one. Her name's Hannah, and she's in your class. She's tall, with blonde hair and glasses. I'll see what I can do."

"That still doesn't solve the problem of this weekend. I'm gonna miss hanging out with you."

Danny covered her hand with his own. "I'll miss hanging out with you too, but it'll pass quickly, and we can make up for it next weekend by doing something extra special." He chuckled. "I'd better leave now before your Mom finds me here." He slipped something into her hand and then vanished.

After he'd gone, Amber looked down at the object in her hand and saw that it was a tiny bottle of perfume in her favorite scent, Gardenia.

"So, how'd you meet him?" asked Trey as he and Jade tossed a Frisbee back and forth in the park. "If you don't mind talking about it, I mean."

"I don't mind," Jade replied. "We were both juniors in high school. One day I was lying in the bleachers and he climbed up and started talking to me. We were pretty much together all the time after that."

"We didn't make love for the first time until April of the next year, though. It was a rainy Saturday, and we were alone in my house, and I asked him if he wanted to. He said he didn't have any protection, and I told him it was fine because Mom had bought me some and showed me how to use them."

Trey gasped. "You mean you actually had her permission?"

"It wasn't so much that as she figured I was gonna do it anyway and didn't want me to get pregnant."

Trey laughed. "I can't even imagine my Mom buying them for Shelby. My Dad would have had an absolute fit."

"Over your Mom buying condoms for Shelby, if she had?"

"That's right!"

"Who bought you your first box of condoms?"

Trey gave a sheepish laugh. "My Dad."

"And you were how old?"

"Sixteen."

"Your family's very traditional, isn't it?"

"They are, and yours isn't, I take it."

"Not hardly. I was raised by a single Mom. Our Dad died when we were small."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"I don't remember it very well at all. I remember when Danny died as if it was yesterday. I called him, and his mother answered the phone crying. She said there'd been an accident."

"That must have been so hard for you." His voice was soft.

"I was devastated. I felt so lost, until Gideon came along."

"Gideon?"

"He transferred to my school my senior year. I wasn't that impressed with him at first, but once I got to know him, I fell for him pretty quickly."

"And then how did that end, if you don't mind my asking?"

Jade fell silent, and a moment later, she felt Trey's arm around her. "You don't have to tell me if it hurts too much." Relief surged through her.

They'd almost made it back to the car when Jade tripped over a tree root and went flying. Trey wasn't fast enough to catch her before she landed on the ground, automatically using an arm to break her fall.

"Are you all right?" Trey grabbed her other arm and helped her up.

"I don't think so." He saw that tears were welling up in her eyes. "My arm hurts, and I can't move it. I think it might be broken."

"I'm taking you to the hospital right away!" Trey exclaimed.

Jade had to wait several hours before her name was called. "You don't have to stay with me, you know," she told Trey. "I could just call you to pick me up when I'm done."

"That's all right. I don't mind waiting. If I left, I'd only drive myself crazy worrying about you."

"But it's just a broken arm. Not that big of a deal."

"To me it is a big deal, because it's your broken arm." Jade felt a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach. Would Gideon have waited with her in the waiting room for just a broken arm? She wouldn't have counted on it. Would Danny have? Danny. She had to swallow a lump in her throat.

"I'll see if I can get you something for pain." Trey had seen her expression and misunderstood.

"That's OK. I'll be all right."

At last she was taken back to have her arm X-rayed. About half an hour later, she returned to the waiting room with a big, bulky white cast on her arm.

"Broken, huh?" asked Trey.

She grimaced and nodded.

"I'm sorry." He reached for her and pulled her into an embrace, and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"I just want to go home."

"Sure." He drove her to her apartment, but instead of dropping her off and then leaving, he entered it with her.

"You must be hungry," he said when they were inside. "Can I fix you something? Soup, perhaps?"

"That would be nice, but what about you? Aren't you hungry, too?"

He grinned. "Nah, I'm all right. I'll just make myself a sandwich when I get home."

He cooked the soup, then stayed with her while she ate it. "It's delicious," she told him. "Don't you want some?"

"Nah, I'm fine."

When she'd finished eating, he helped her with her bath and into her pajamas. "Would you like me to stay the night?" he asked.

"Only if you especially want to. I'll be fine on my own."

"In that case, I'll come back first thing in the morning to see if you need anything." He kissed her good-bye, and as he was walking to the door, she noticed that he was limping and asked him about it.

"My stumps are really sore," he told her. "They get that way from rubbing against my artificial legs sometimes, but I'll be all right. I have a special salve to put on them when I get home."

"How long have they been bothering you?"

"Actually since just before we left the park, but that's OK."

"So you've stayed with me all this time when you were in pain yourself?" Jade felt a stab of guilt.

"Hey." He walked back to her and cupped her face in his hands. "To me, you're worth it."

Too moved to speak, she could only cling to him.

Trey rubbed Jade's back as she clung to him, and after a few minutes, he pulled away from her. "Good-bye, Jade, and remember - if you need me for anything at all, I'm only a phone call away."

"Good-bye, Trey, and - thanks for everything."

"No problem at all." He kissed her lips and then was gone. She went to bed right afterwards but had a very difficult time sleeping, as the large, bulky cast was very much in her way. Toward dawn, she finally drifted off to sleep, only to be awakened around nine the following morning.

Cursing under her breath, she made her way to the door and looked through the peephole to see a smiling Trey holding two large white bags with the name of a nearby deli written on them.

Hating herself for having felt irritated before, she swung the door open with a radiant smile. "Wow! Breakfast delivered right to my door! What more could I ask for?"

Trey laughed. "Did you sleep well?"

Jade shook her head. "Not at all. No matter how many times I turned over, this thing was always in my way."

"You'll get used to it soon, I'm sure." He brought the bags inside and sat them on the table. The aromas emitting from them made her mouth water as she walked toward the kitchen.

"Where ya goin'?" asked Trey.

"To get the plates and silverware -"

"Oh, no, you don't. I'll do that. You sit down and wait to be served."

From the first bag, he retrieved cheese grits, bacon, toast, cinnamon rolls, and a Styrofoam cup of coffee. "Dig in!" he invited her.

"It's delicious," she told him as they were eating. "Amber may have her angel, but I've got mine, too."

"Aw." He blushed deep red but smiled.

The following Monday morning, a tall blonde with glasses came up to Amber after class. "Hi, I'm Hannah," she said. "I heard you could use some tutoring in geometry."

"Big time!" Amber exclaimed. "I can't afford to pay much, though. I don't have a regular job, so I'd have to ask my Mom for the money."

"Oh, don't worry about it!" Hannah smiled and waved her hand. "I'm not doing it for the money. I just want to help."

"Wow, thanks!" Amber exclaimed. "When can we start?"

"Right away, if you want. I'll come over to your place around three. How's that sound?"

"Great! I'll give you directions - "

"That's OK. I know how to get there. See you then!"

Amber just smiled.

Hannah showed up at the agreed-upon time, and after an hour of intense tutoring, Amber thought that perhaps she understood geometry just a smidgen better.

It seemed as if that week would last forever, but Friday finally arrived, and after the final bell rang, she saw that Danny was waiting for her outside the school. "Hey!" she cried as she rushed to embrace him.

"Hey, yourself!" he laughed as he returned the embrace. "So, how's the tutoring going?"

"Fine so far. I think I understand geometry just a little bit better now."

"Glad to hear it. So, what do you want to do this weekend?"

"I was thinking about maybe going to California. I haven't seen Jade in a couple of months."

"Great idea! I'm sure she'd love to see you again. Let's leave tomorrow morning, OK? There's a lovely restaurant I want to take you to tonight."

"Where?"

"It's a surprise!"

Several hours later, they were standing at the entrance of a fondue restaurant. "I've never eaten here before," Amber told Danny.

He smiled. "You're in for a treat!"

The restaurant's interior was dimly lit, the floor was made of hardwood, and the tables were perfect squares that were each surrounded by four black plastic chairs. Danny and Amber were seated, and when the waiter appeared, Danny told him they'd have the 'four-course experience.'

First was the salad, and next was a big pot of melted cheese with many different breads and vegetables to dip in it. "Wow!" Amber's eyes grew round.

Danny laughed. "Save some room for the main course!"

The main course turned out to be boiled lobster with melted butter, which was followed by a dessert of melted chocolate served with strawberries, bananas, pineapple, pound cake bites, and brownies. By the time they'd finished eating, Amber was stuffed!

"How'd you know about that place?" she asked Danny afterwards.

He winked at her. "What do you think?"

Later, the cool autumn breeze ruffled their hair as they approached Amber's doorstep. "Thanks for a wonderful time," she told Danny. "I don't think I've ever eaten so much in my life, and it was all so good!"

"It was," he agreed. He lifted her chin with his fingers and gazed into her eyes. "Thanks for going out with me tonight, Amber. I had a wonderful time."

She closed her eyes as he placed a soft kiss on her lips, and for one brief moment, the world stopped turning.