Page 63 of Share with Me

Chapter Twenty-One

“What? Twelve dollars per person?” Ivan shoved his hands into his barn jacket pocket. “I can’t believe it.”

They were standing outside what used to be the lighthouse keeper’s dwelling built in 1872, now a museum. Brinley wasn’t sure if Ivan was only joking about the cost of admission. She pointed to the next line in the brochure in her hand. “Free for kids six and under.”

“It’ll be a long time before we—”

Ivan clamped up abruptly.

We?

Brinley dared not look at him so he didn’t feel anymore embarrassed than he probably already was. They had only known each other for three days. Maybe less than three full days.

And he’s talkingwe?

Maybe it was a universalwe, as in “we people at our age.”That must be it.

After all, a kiss does not children make.

“For free, we could walk around the gazebo and along the shoreline. Save us a hundred and twenty-nine steps.” Ivan turned to leave.

“Twelve dollars get you the lighthouse, the museum, and the Coastguard Station.” Brinley reached for his arm. “Come on, Ivan. Let’s do it. Just this once.”

Forty-some steps up the steep spiral lighthouse stairs later, Brinley wondered why she had even insisted. She was a student of Georgian history, yes, but only when it didn’t hurt her calves and thighs this much. Her knees seemed to be holding up, but that was no consolation.

“They did this all the time back in the days.” Ivan reached for her hand. “Imagine the hard life.”

“Hard life? Notharderlife? How ironic.”

Brinley thought Ivan’s life was hard enough. The day before, Yun let it slip that they had multiple mortgages on that dumpy old house of theirs. If Ivan had more income, wouldn’t he have fixed up that house? Replaced the floorboards on the porch, and repainted the interior of the house, at least? Brinley remembered pulling out of that driveway on Friday afternoon, wondering whether their roof also leaked. It had looked old and run-down with a few pieces of shingles missing.

Brinley let Ivan help her up the next steps. She looked down. It looked like a nautilus spiral all the way down to the bottom of the lighthouse. “Did you realize once we reach the top, we have to come back down?”

“We can’t go down now,” Ivan said. “We have six more dollars to go.”

“Are you blaming me?” Brinley stopped at a window to catch her breath. They were about halfway up. That window faced the pools, the park, and the pier where they had kissed for the first time.

Brinley still felt the tingle on her lips from his soft kiss.

It was just a kiss.

And they were both single, unattached, free to date.

Nothing to it.

Right. Keep telling myself that.

Brinley sat down on a cool stone step. There wasn’t anyone else around. “I used to be able to climb these steps. I guess I’d better hit the gym more often.”

“Do you work a lot?” Ivan asked, sitting down next to her.

They were shoulder to shoulder. Brinley welcomed his nearness. He felt comfortable to her.

“I’m in sales,” she said.

“You must work like a dog.”

“And then some.”

---