At the hotel room, Roxanne and Lucian cleaned up the children, helped them to change, and brought them out again. It was already evening. The breeze was slightly chilly, with a faint smell of the sea. It was a comfortable feeling as it blew on their faces.
Roxanne brought the children to the beach as she had promised them that morning. It was extremely different compared to how crowded it was yesterday. There were very few people on the beach, and the whole place looked serene.
The waves crashed gently against the shore, creating a peaceful scenery.
Unable to hold herself back, Roxanne removed her shoes and brought the children for a stroll on the beach barefooted, allowing their feet to feel the soft sand.
Suddenly, Estella shouted with surprise, “Ah!”
Roxanne turned over to look at her, only to find Estella squatting down carefully and picking up a colorful conch from the sand.
“Look, Ms. Jarvis!” Estella brought the conch to Roxanne, looking excited. Roxanne pursed her lips and smiled. “What a beautiful conch! You can keep this, Essie. You can use it for your arts and crafts next time.”
Estella, too, looked really happy with her finding. Carefully, she cleaned the conch and studied it curiously for a long time.
Though the Farwell family was rich, Estella never traveled far due to her autism. Hence, she had only seen things like that in books.
In fact, it was her first time touching a conch. She stroked it lovingly. So, this is a conch!
It’s so pretty! The smile on Roxanne’s face deepened when she saw how much Estella liked the conch. Roxanne took the conch and placed it beside Estella’s ear.
Estella tilted her head and shot her a puzzled look. “Listen. Legend says conches have the sound of the waves. Can you hear it?” Roxanne gazed at Estella with a smile.
When Estella heard that, her eyes lit up, and she listened attentively. After some time, she nodded vehemently. “Yes! I hear it!”
This time, it was Roxanne who was surprised. Roxanne was only playing with Estella. Never did she expect the kid to give her a definite answer.
For a moment, Roxanne could not help but doubt herself. Archie and Benny came over when Estella said she heard the sound of waves in the conch. “We want to listen to it, too!”
Still feeling dubious, Roxanne placed the conch at the boys’ ears.
After some time, Archie and Benny nodded vigorously, their eyes sparkling.
Their reactions filled Roxanne with greater suspicion. Unable to fight her curiosity, she placed the conch beside her ear and held her breath.
However, there was no sound. All she heard was the gentle breeze. Frowning slightly, she then looked at the children, who made it look like a big deal.
Lucian walked up behind them. Seeing her expression, he asked in puzzlement, “What’s up?”
After hesitating for a few seconds, Roxanne was about to dismiss the matter by saying she was fine, but Estella’s voice rang out before Roxanne’s.
“Daddy! A conch!” Estella grabbed Roxanne’s wrist and leaped with all her might, wanting to let Lucian listen to it.
Lucian frowned. “A conch? What about it?”
Estella said seriously, “There’s a sound in it!”
As soon as he heard that, Lucian turned to glance at Roxanne. He figured Roxanne had said something to them.
“Daddy, listen!” Estella was persistent in making Lucian listen to it. After all, Archie, Benny, and Roxanne had listened to it. Lucian was the only one left.
