This Same Spot

They came back every year to this same spot. This little coffee shop on a corner of Main Street, in the small coastal town where their families vacationed for the summer. Ally had gotten there two days ago and she couldn't wait for Betty to arrive. Their holidays didn't line up perfectly this year, but they had still rented a cabin together.

Betty was supposed to get here in time for lunch, so they had agreed to meet at the coffee shop. While she waited, Ally sat with the sun warming her back, as she looked around the little shop. She remembered the day they had met….

They were little girls. Ally had begged her mom to take her to the coffee shop because they had the best donuts. The family had been in town for 3 days already and they hadn't stopped in yet. Finally, Ally had gotten her mother to agree, and they went, just the two of them! They walked into the shop and the smell was amazing. The place was full, but they got donuts and tried to find a seat. Ally saw a spot there next to another mom and daughter. "Mommy, can we sit with them? We can make friends!" Ally pulled on her mom's hand.

"Well, I suppose we can ask." They walked over. "Hi, would you mind if my daughter and I sat with you? It's rather full and my daughter wanted to make friends with your daughter."

"Oh, of course! We just got here for our vacation and I would love for Betty to make some new friends." So the moms visited while the two girls got to know each other.

“I'm Ally!" She waved.

"I'm Betty! I like your shirt." She took a bite of her donut.

"Thanks, it's Bambi. It's one of my favourite Disney movies." She pointed to Bambi and smiled. "What's your favourite Disney movie?"

"Oh, Mama doesn't like those movies so I haven't seen many.” Betty sighed.

"Well, stay my friend and we'll change that."

Alley laughed at that memory now. She looked around the coffee shop filled with so many memories. They had grown up in this place. They had gone from exchanging letters to emails, to calling and texting over the years. No matter the distance, their friendship only grew.

Ally remembered the summer both girls got dumped on vacation, Ally at the start and Betty near the end….

"Men are officially stupid," Ally sighed as they grabbed their chocolate peanut butter milkshakes and headed out of the coffee shop.

"On that one, I agree." Betty signed just as heavily. "But, you know what helps?"

"What?" Ally looked out at the beach.

"Chocolate and amazing friends." Betty lifted up her shake, and Ally tapped her drink against her friend’s.

"I'll drink to that." They laughed together.

Ally once again realized she’d been lost in a memory. She took a sip of her shake. Coffee was overrated and it was summer; milkshakes were way better.

Before another memory flooded her mind, Betty walked into the shop. Ally waved and Betty's smile was so contagious that some of the other people, who had been vacationing here just as long as the girls had, smiled too. They knew this was the first time the two friends had seen each other in a year. Ally got up from her seat and smothered Betty with a hug.

"Go order your lunch, Gus is waiting to make mine." Alley sat back down.

"Still starting with dessert, I see?" Betty teased.

"Please, this is my drink; a donut will be dessert. Plus, I'm on vacation." Ally stuck out her tongue. "Now go order." Betty laughed and headed off. A few minutes later, Betty returned with her own milkshake.

"And you judged me." Ally objected.

"I never said it was a bad idea," Betty defended herself.

"Sure…. Hey, you know what's crazy?" Ally tossed her straw wrapper at her friend.

"Hey." Betty giggled. "What's crazy?"

“This is year six that we've been coming here alone." Ally pointed out.

"No way! Are we really that old? It feels like only yesterday that we were calling our parents every day with another question about these trips." Betty sat in shock.

"We are 26 and 27 this year. So yep, it's been that long." Alley smiled and took a nice long sip.

Gus brought out their lunch."Have a good visit girls; I know it will be too short. Don't forget, my wife and I are just a few doors down if ya need anything." He smiled and walked away.

"So, what should we do in our few short days together?" Betty asked starting into her salad.

"We could go for a walk?" They always went for walks, sometimes on the beach, some days in the big garden, other times to the little garden. "And it might not be a bad idea to get that in today; it might rain tomorrow or the next day.

"Oh, then we can curl up and read.” Betty clapped her hands.

"Ya like we didn’t see that coming!” Ally teased.

With lunch done, the two girls headed out, stopping by the cabin to drop off Betty's bags. They decided to walk through the garden and then go to the beach for a bit. Ally had brought her newest jean picnic blanket, which they sat on to enjoy the sounds of the beach. They caught up on life, soaking in every moment they could.

The next day it did in fact rain, so the two girls curled up on opposite ends of the couch, enjoying their books. After a while, they switched to their different stitching projects; Ally quilted and Betty embroidered. Finally, they each made a warm drink of choice, and just existed together.

Soon evening rolled in and the rain stopped, so the girls went for a stroll to watch the sunset. They both liked sunrises more, but sunsets were easier to see when they were going to spend the night chatting anyway.

"Hey Betty, let's walk this way." Ally led her friend down a familiar path.

"Hey! Isn't this where our parents rented cabins when we were kids?" Betty started trying to find the old cabins.

"Ya, before somebody bought too many of them. But that's not why I brought you here." Ally stopped in front of one cabin. "Remember this one?"

Betty stared hard at the cabin. "This is that sweet storybook-lady cabin isn’t it?"

When the girls were young, there had been an older lady who lived at the campground most of the year and made her home seem like a fairytale. Looking at it now, the place had faded, but the right people could bring it back to the girls’ childhood memory.

"Yep, this is the one. The lady passed away last year and her son had to sell it." Ally explained.

"Oh, how sad. She was such a sweetheart. And who knows if the new owners would keep her legacy alive." Betty sighed.

"Well, maybe..." Ally pulled a set of keys out of her pocket.

"You didn't?!" Betty couldn't believe it.

"I did. I could afford it. He wanted the place gone so he gave me a good price. So, we have a vacation home to share if you wanna sign some papers. We won't have it till next year. He wanted one more summer with the cabin. So we have time to make arrangements. Come on, he gave me the keys so we could look it over while we’re together." Ally smiled so brightly she thought her face might break.

"Ally, this is amazing! Of course, I'll own this with you. Then, we can always come back to this place every year, no matter what happens."

Ally opened the door for her best friend and the new journey they were about to start. “That was my thought. No matter what, we can always come back to this same spot."

Did you like what you read? Do you want to get notified when I post a new story before my Facebook or Instagram followers do? If you do, click the Login/Sign Up button at the top of the blog post and you will become a site member and get notified when I post a new story every Friday! Or you can follow me on Facebook or Instagram and get updates later on in the day!