Prologue
Is There Life After Love?
She sat with hers knees drawn to her chest, staring out at the ocean. Watching the waves roll and crash against the shore, she wondered, What would it be like? To be carried away on one of those waves? Far away from here. Far away from Harmony.
She'd lived in this New England town tucked away on the Atlantic coast her whole life—all eleven years of it—with her father. Her mother had left them when she was just a baby, barely crawling. If she closed her eyes, she could almost remember her. Almost.
Dad said she had her mother's eyes—chocolate brown eyes, intelligent eyes, eyes that saw all things. She wished she didn't have her mother's eyes. That way she wouldn't be reminded everyday that love wasn't enough. She wasn't enough to keep her mother in Harmony.
She played with the straps on her sandals, a smile on her face as she thought about her dad. She was enough for him. If there were one thing she knew without a doubt, it was that her dad loved her—beyond all rhyme or reason. He more than made up for the absence of her mother.
But still…a girl needed a mom. She loved her dad and all. But…but there were too many buts in her life. Grandma was…well, Grandma. She tried. She really did. But Haley longed for more. She was eleven years old. She was past the dolls and goodnight kisses stage. But oh wouldn't it be wonderful to have the mother that she missed?
That's why she came up with the plan. By the end of the summer, Haley Lopez-Fitzgerald would have a mom. And Dad…well, that part was a little tricky. But hey! She was nothing if not persistent; it came with the family genes. Speaking of family…
"Haley!"
She brushed the sand off the bottom of her denim cut-offs with a smile. This was it. Where to first? Finding a mom was an awesome task to undertake. Cause let's face it, she argued with herself as she wandered down the streets of Harmony beside her dad, not everyone's perfect mom material. But numero uno on her list of desirable traits in mom candidates was make Dad smile again. She was bound and determined to prove to her father that there was life after love, after all.
Decided to tinker around with this little fic (one of my all-time faves), clean it up a bit, and repost it for easier reading.
Slowly but surely I plan to replace all the chapters with newer, improved versions.