Page 137 of Give & Take

Dolly rolls her eyes. “I swear one day there’ll be only one of us running this shop,” she says. She leans in and whispers to me, “And that’s because I’ll be in jail for attempted murder!”

I laugh out loud at this and we place our order.

The two shop owners get along so poorly the whole town’s been waiting for the day our lone coffee shop closes up when their relationship finally falls completely apart. But somehow, in the three years since Miles’ brother—and Dolly’s husband—tragically passed, transferring ownership to her, they’ve managed to keep the place going.

Maybe when the shop finally shutters and the two sue each other—or something—that’ll be the scandal that distracts from me and Raph?

The thought makes me almost laugh. I admonish myself. Because Redbeard Cove is not going to find out about me and Raph. Me and Raph are nothing more than a secret, lovely fling.

A heart-wrenching, perfect fling with two people that are a decade and a half out of sync.

I’ve done my best not to think of what happens at the end of the summer, taking Raph’s advice that there’s no need to borrow pain from tomorrow when we’ve got today to enjoy.

But in the days since he’s been gone, it’s been impossible to avoid.

Outside, we’ve got the patio to ourselves. The girls and I eat our respective ice creams and talk about my birthday tomorrow. They always get upset with me for not wanting to make a big deal about it, but this time they’re surprisingly laying off. I suspect Raphael has had a hand in that. They still want me to guess what they got me. Another thing Raph has had a hand in I’m sure.

“Duck slippers?” I guess, remembering the pair we saw in the store a few weeks ago.

“Nope,” says Aurora, her face covered in bubblegum ice cream.

“Bubble bath?”

“Mom, please,” Nova says. “You have so much bubble bath already.” Her disdain is pure teen, but the little boop of ice cream on her nose is still my little girl.

We keep playing as we watch the evening traffic go by. It’s nothing compared to the traffic jams back in Vancouver I used to sit in coming home from work. Here, there’s the odd car, plus a pedestrian or two, most of whom we know and some who stop and chat with the girls.

And when we’re at the ends of our cones, a flashy motorcycle I recognize as Cal Howard’s. It roars obnoxiously as he comes to a stop at the red light next to us.

Predictably, Cal’s got a woman on the back of his bike. I’d roll my eyes, except I know for a fact that if you’re going to have a quick fling, Cal’s an excellent choice. He’s a gentleman through and through, even though he’s a bachelor for life. Chris—who tried dating him once and said it was like kissing a brother—says he ends every relationship in a way where he’s actually remained friends with several of the women he’s dated. “I have no idea how he does that when technically he just goes around breaking hearts.”

Cal hasn’t seen me. He’s tipped his helmet in the opposite direction, towards his passenger as he presumably says something to her. But as the motorcycle idles, I can’t help focus on his shoes. Cal’s tall, but not out of the range of normal tall. He’s not size thirteen shoes tall, like Raph.

He also doesn’t have those very recognizable green sneakers I know Raph likes to wear.

The ones on the motorcyclist’s feet right now. Next to that cord on his left ankle…

I barely notice my ice cream cone dropping on the ground. My stomach falls, just like the lump of vanilla. Blood rushes in my ears, my heart thundering as I try to tell myself I’m not seeing what I’m seeing.

“Mom!” Nova says.

I think I’m going to be sick.

“Mom, what’s wrong?”

“Shoes,” I say. My eyes are on the bike. On the man I’m trying very hard not to fall in love with on a motorcycle with a woman wrapped around his back.

“Hey, that’s Raph!” Nova says. “Raph!” she yells.

The light turns green.

“Raph!”The girls yell in unison.

“No,” I croak, my voice too quiet for them to hear.

It’s too late, anyway. Both heads on the bike swivel in our direction.

Raph’s head drops slightly.

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