Chapter 1

 "Bring Jake along with you to the cape," suggested Mom. "You're not going to sit around moping the entire vacation and we have the free bed!"

Mom had always been practical, even though it usually came across to others as harshness. She was running around the house, excitedly facetiming with her old college friends for the past hour, packing and repacking her clothes. 

A weekend trip to Provincetown for a College Rugby reun ion had quickly turned into a weeklong family adventure and the itinerary was growing by the moment. Dinners, parties, cocktail hours, even pottery classes were filling Mom's day planner. I'd watched Mom try on some dusty rugby attire she hadn't worn since before I was born and helped her zip the duffel bag with a weeks worth of clothing I'd never seen Mom wear even once before.

My Mum, her ever constant companion and a much more level headed mother - fueled by multiple cups of English Breakfast Tea and general British demeanor - snuck her head into the doorway as soon as Mom had picked up a phone call and started walking away. She was happy to see Mom buzzy and excited, but used a soothing voice to show that she was the follower in this chaos.

"We want you to have a good time, baby" she purred. "I know you're down about your breakup and that's going to take a long time to heal. You need something to take your mind off of her and enjoy a few days of sun and sand. How does that sound sweetheart?"

I was busy not thinking about anything as I tossed my soccer ball up into the rafters and catching it repeatedly. It was the kind of mind-numbing activity that kept me just awake enough to avoid thinking about Stacy. I thought things were great and must have missed the warning signs of the upcoming disaster. It still stung to think about it for too long.

I considered the last time we'd invited Jake to a holiday and wondered if he'd be comfortable going somewhere like ptown for a whole week. It had been years ago when he'd come on road trip up in New Hampshire. We'd spent our days exploring the woods, crawling up huge rocks, forging through snakelike forest streams - he'd even met his first girlfriend while white water rafting. It didn't last long since she lived on the other side of the country, but for months he told everyone he could about the wild girl he'd hooked up with in our tent. I don't know if I believe they actually went further than first base, but the story lost more and more of it's facts as the months had gone by. 

It suddenly sounded like a great idea. A wingman would be perfect for a beach holiday. I hadn't looked into where we were going, but it's where my moms had met, maybe I'd find someone who was also headed to college in Boston. There were dozens of schools in the area, she didn't have to be going to the same one as me, which opened up the dating pool quite a lot. If Jake could find someone along the secluded banks of a river in New Hampshire, surely he could find me a girl to forget about Stacey.