Page 141 of Beyond the Stroke

God, I’m single as fuck. But yay for you! Hope your husband can introduce me to one of his hot swimmer friends.

Sorry And yes, if you come visit. Although I don’t know which one. Eli is hung up on his ex. Logan is a player who gets hangry. I swear Charlie has a thing for the team’s publicist, and Xio and Finn are just way too young.

Scarlett

It doesn’t matter anyway. I don’t have time for a guy right now. I’m hell bent on getting this promotion.

You’re going to get it! How was your trip to Fiji?

Scarlett

Amazing! But you’ll never believe it. My publication merged with Adventure Abounds!

Wait. Isn’t that Wilder’s publication?

Scarlett

Yeah.

That’s all you have to say about it?

Scarlett

It’s a huge company. I probably won’t even see him. Btw, how’s your art piece coming? The hot swimmer one that is totally not based off the obsession you have with your fake husband.

Watch it.

Scarlett

So, you’re not denying it?

I leave Scarlett’s message unanswered. My brain has too much going on to form a plausible response.

Then, I text Rory a pickle emoji just to mess with him.

After my shift at the café, I revive my skateboarding skills by taking Paulie and Pearl for a ‘walk’ down the beachfront path and out to visit Cal at his resident fishing spot on the boardwalk.

“You know you don’t have to feed me just to come say hi.”

“I know.”

But I want to. After so many years of others always expecting me to act a certain way or be something for them, I like bringing Cal food because he doesn’t expect it. That’s what gives me joy.

I know if I were to show up empty handed, because I’ve done it before, Cal would smile and we’d talk about his fishing and the weather and something else just as mundane and it would be perfect. Because Cal doesn’t expect me to be anything I’m not.

It’s the same way I feel when I’m with Rory.

The thought makes my chest pinch. For a moment, I feel like the wind has been knocked out of me.

Cal pats my hand.

“You’ll figure it out.”

“What?” I struggle to remember what we had been talking about before my brain took a dangerous turn.

On my way to return Paulie and Pearl home, we walk through downtown Coral Cove so they can get a treat at the pet supply shop. As we’re leaving, the frame store next door catches my eye. Not just the store, but a frame displayed in the window. It would be perfect for Rory’s Covey painting, so I return the dogs home, then head back to the frame shop to make a purchase.

The sound of Edgar’s collar tag clinking from where he was curled up in his bed near the door alerts me to Rory’s arrival.

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