Page 64 of Love, Morgan

“I did not. Though, it does make sense.” I led her to the boat. “I guess I was just too busy admiring a pretty lady.”

I didn’t know if all of this was going to make things harder or easier in the end, but we’d agreed to enjoy every moment we had together and I didn’t want to do it in half measures. I wanted to hold her hand and compliment her. I wanted to look at her like she made the world turn and say all the cheesy things she’d somehow tapped into in my brain. I wanted to give her the world.

She blushed and climbed into the boat, not letting go of my hand, even when Peni reached out to help her in.

I followed after her, feeling every bit as excited as she looked. I didn’t know who I was around her, but if it made her this happy, I wasn’t going to question it.

“My dad isn’t sad,” she told me quietly as we set off from the shore. “I realize that made it sound quite sad, sorry. He’s very happy with his life. So, you know, I… get it.”

It felt like someone had clamped a vise around my chest. I needed her to understand. It helped that she did. It made everything easier. But it also, inexplicably, made everything harder.

I looked out across the water, back towards the lamps glowing on the beach, and took a steadying breath. “Thank you.”

She nodded, stroking her thumb over the back of my hand. Nobody had ever been this gentle with me before.

“You’re not sad about what happened?” I asked, looking deep into her eyes.

“Not at all, not now. I had everything I needed in my dad. She wasn’t ready to be a wife or a mother. She did destructive things to sabotage it all, and I hated her when he was hurting, but now, we’re both okay, you know? It doesn’t feel like I missed out on anything because I don’t remember what it was like when she was there.”

I nodded. It made a lot of sense. It also brought home how much missing her was going to hurt. I was always going to remember this, but she was all her father had. I couldn’t ask her to leave him. And I didn’t know how to do relationships. I didn’t know how to have another person so involved in my life without it going to shit. I wouldn’t do to her what her mother did to her dad.

“How about you?” she asked, smiling. “How did you and Ripley come to be family?”

I laughed. “So, my whole thing about running far away from my family? That’s mostly an emotional thing. I grew up not far from Jackson Point. Not the same town, but close enough that Ripley and I went to the same regional high school.”

“Oh, wow. You’ve known each other forever.”

“Basically, yeah. I knew her back when she was barely more than a kid, pining after Alicia like she was being paid to do it.”

She laughed. “You talk exactly like siblings. Of course you do, you grew up together.”

I nodded. “In many ways, I guess we still are growing up together. The last couple of years have been a heck of a ride.”

“Family is like that. I don’t know if you ever feel like you’ve grown up. When my dad takes me out to a surprise place, I feel like I’m ten years old all over again. When I came here, he talked to me about making friends and stuff.” She grinned indulgently. “Maybe being a grown-up is just a myth they tell us all. Maybe we spend our entire lives still growing up.”

She was so smart it almost hurt, but in a good way. I wanted to listen to her talk all night.

“Maybe,” I agreed. “Call me when I’m ninety and I’ll let you know how it’s going.”

For half a second she became rigid, and I realized what I’d said, what I’d done. Then, she relaxed and breathed a laugh. “Can’t. I’ll be too busy… playing bridge and eating prunes.”

The discrimination against bridge was absolutely scandalous.

I wondered if I should tell her I already played, but I thought better of it. If she ever found out, it would be funnier this way.

The boat turned and I realized we were coming in towards another beach, this one secluded and lovely. Another member of staff was already there, waiting for us, and the place looked like a dream. Flickering candles and lanterns lit the space as the sun began dipping towards the horizon. Petals lined the way to the table and formed a runner over it, and everything about it looked perfect, looking exactly like the most romantic movie moment I’d ever seen.

I looked at Iona and she looked perfect too, even more so than the beach. Her eyes danced with excitement and emotion. She looked from me to the beach and back again like she was having the best night of her entire life. I really hoped she was. I was having the best night of my life.

We came to a halt and I stood up, leading the way out of the boat. I stood with the warm water just barely reaching my toes and held my hand out to her. “My lady.”

She took it, her breathing uneven. Some part of me knew I’d always think of her as mine, even if I wasn’t supposed to.

I wasn’t sure whether Thalia had been a genius or a monster for this suggestion—much like with the mango. Probably a genius now and a monster later. Though never quite as genius as I was.

I leaned in towards Iona as we walked towards our table. “Let’s hope the meal isn’t tinned prunes,” I said, needing both an escape from my thoughts and to hear her laugh again.

She didn’t disappoint—I didn’t think she knew how to.

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