Oceans Apart by Karen Kingsbury

Mediterranean.
    How was it possible that everything had worked out so well? Back during those awful days in Los Angeles he’d been convinced life could never be good again.
    But nothing about that time had been his fault. Life had simply formed a conspiracy against him, and in the course of a few months he figured out a way to deal with it.
    83

    – Oceans Apart –
    But here . . . now . . . he was one of the lucky ones. He had it all, and life was bound to keep getting better.
    He stood and stretched. Then without waiting another moment he loped over to the place where Michele was about to signal the start of another race. “Wait a minute, count me in.” Susan and Elizabeth ran to him and grabbed his hands. “Race us, Daddy . . . come on, race us.” Their voices sounded almost the same as they pulled at him and jumped up and down on the sug-ary white sand.
    “Okay.” He winked at Michele. “But be easy on me. Your old man isn’t what he used to be.”
    The girls giggled and lined up on either side of him.
    Michele lowered her voice and leaned first toward Susan, and then Elizabeth. “Beat him good, girls.” Then she grinned at Connor. “On your mark, get set . . . go!”
    Connor intended to let the girls win, but he ran anyway, so they’d think he was trying. He was fifteen feet out when his left foot caught on a string of seaweed. He reached down to free himself, but before he could, he fell smack onto the ground. Without his hands free, his face planted flat against the sand.
    Michele was laughing before he had a chance to sit up.
    “Daddy!” The girls were at his side. Elizabeth knelt near him, her curls falling in a cascade over her shoulder. She helped him to a sitting position. “Are you okay?”
    Susan stayed on her feet, covering her mouth so he wouldn’t see her laughing. “Daddy . . .” A few short bursts of laughter broke free. “You look like a sea creature.”
    “I feel like one.” Connor chuckled as he reached down and pulled the wrap of seaweed from his foot. Sand was in his mouth and he leaned over and spit some of it out. His arms and legs were also covered with sand, and his knees were skinned where they’d taken the brunt of his fall. The picture of competence and dignity.
    84

    – Karen Kingsbury –
    Michele was at his side now. Her entire body shook from the quiet laughter simmering inside her. “Susan’s right.” She laughed out loud this time. “Your face . . .”
    Connor felt his cheeks and chin and forehead. Sure enough.
    He’d picked up an entire mask of sand. His chuckle joined those of his family, and all four of them fell to the ground laughing.
    Almost a minute passed, when Connor gave a flick to Susan’s ponytail. “You still didn’t win the race, you know.” Elizabeth and Susan looked at each other, and in a flash they were up and tearing down the beach to the makeshift finish line—
    a trash can twenty-five yards away. Connor brought his legs up and leaned forward. He could feel Michele near his side as they watched Susan raise a victory hand.
    “I won!” Her voice mixed with the sound of the distant surf and faded in the wind.
    They watched Elizabeth give her sister a high five. The two girls wandered toward the shore and began looking for seashells. The tide was out, and the sand was covered with a hundred different types.
    “We have the best kids in the world.” He leaned against Michele, his eyes still on the girls.
    “Yes.” Michele let her head fall against his. “And they have the best daddy.” She gave him a light elbow in the ribs. “Even if he does look like a sea creature.”
    They laughed and the ring of it mingled with the hush of the gentle waves. A breeze had picked up and the air smelled of early summer and salt water. Connor reached out and took Michele’s hand in his. “Okay . . . so tell me about my phone messages.” Her voice was relaxed and easy, content after their evening together. “The dentist had a cancellation and