and there it is, a mark of the divine | JENLISA

Chapter 1

She even loves her job when Minnie tries to play matchmaker by sending poor, unsuspecting women into the shop with the false hope that they're going to get a date out of it. She prefers the days when Minnie herself drops by to keep her company, spending hours talking animatedly at the counter about everything and nothing. Not a single town event has gone unexamined at the Superion Books front counter.

Two years ago, when Lisa breezed into town with nothing more than a duffel bag and enough emotional baggage to fill the Pacific Ocean, Minnie became the sister she never had. And honestly, the sister she never thought she wanted as an only child. Patience and care are gifts given freely by Minnie, the kind that wraps around Lisa like a blanket. Minnie doesn't know everything, of course. Some parts she protects, or perhaps holds hostage, in the darkened corners of her mind. She lets the shadows wrap around to obscure them from view, but as she's learned, nothing ever truly vanishes.

But the town of Suncliff Beach is a miracle. At least, to her. It's helped her in immeasurable ways, that she's sure no other town in the world could. Ways she knows would sound ridiculous to anyone she described it to.

Because it's just a town, and it's just the sea, which nobody around here is a stranger to. To Lisa, it's the two arms that carried her when she was made of concrete. It's the oxygen when she was suffocating. It's the warmth that moves through her veins like liquid molten.

And while spectres remain in her periphery, her heart anchored to an immovable beast, Suncliff lifted her from the darkest of parts.

The parts she thought would chain her down to the bottom of the sea for eternity. The parts that might've killed her if she'd remained immobile. And it's not just the people who soothe, but the ocean too. The sea breeze that tickles her spine. The whales breaching off the coast as they return south, calves in tow. The dramatic cliffs that provide a glorious backdrop to any day. The lighthouse at sunset, and the breathtaking view of the stars, the lack of light pollution creating a tapestry across the sky. The salt water stings the burns of her past, and helps her skin grow anew.

It's an atmosphere that can't be fabricated or replicated. It's a tourist town, sure, but she's never been anywhere that felt more authentic. If someone told her it was a living entity, capable of breath and emotion and light, she wouldn't completely doubt it.

She leans over to switch the nearest fan on. Their old air conditioning unit needs replacing, and despite the shop often trapping heat, the weather isn't hot enough to justify running it this time of year. Tourists will think otherwise, of course. Peak whale watching season in Suncliff is before summer arrives, and even then, they think the weather is too hot. She says the word 'humidity' so many times a week that it lost its meaning a long time ago.

Instead, the windows are open, the sweet sea air wafting through, and it feels like floating. The heat is pleasant, like an afterglow. The smell of salt air is a balm that soothes, and Lisa can't ever get enough.

They use both large ceiling fans and portable fans around the shop to keep the air flowing. A small one sits on the counter and points directly at her on the lowest setting, lazily blowing the strands of hair that have fallen from her bun throughout the day.

"I appreciate that you put in so much effort, Minnie, I do." She is as sincere as she can be, which sometimes she feels is not enough. Growing up feeling like you were shoved into a canvas bag to be stifled can do that to a person.

Her fingers drum against the worn paperback novel she'd been reading before Minnie called. She knows Minnie won't take her words personally, and she'll continue to try with unwavering optimism and kindness. Lisa loves her for that, and she'll tell her as much. But it is always the friends who are happily taken that try to play matchmaker.