Page 38 of High Season
Her hair is shorter, a bob, and her body has filled out. She’s wearing a one-piece instead of a bikini, and there’s an exhaustion behind her eyes that wasn’t there before, but Josie would recognize her anywhere. Hannah. Hannah, twenty years older than Josie remembers her.
“That was before Isla was born,” Nic is saying. “She hasn’t been here the last couple of years. Said it was too much, with a baby.”
Josie wordlessly passes the phone back to him and he takes it with an affectionate smile at the screen.
“Mason’s fourteen now. I can hardly believe it. And Noah—the middle one—he’s ten. They’re good kids. Really good kids. Her parentsretired a few years ago, and they wanted to keep the shop in the family. Hannah was never that interested, and she’s got enough going on with the kids now, so they asked if I wanted it. And I was hardly going to say no.”
Josie doesn’t say anything. She can’t imagine having a fourteen-year-old. Most of the time, she can’t imagine having children at all. There were so many things taken away from her that early-August day, so many paths that her life could have taken, narrowed down to nothing. Dead ends and roads not taken.
“What are you doing out here anyway?” Nic asks, tucking his phone back into his pocket. “Are you waiting for someone?”
“Not exactly,” Josie says. “I…”
She pauses. Glances back toward the house.
“My brother’s got his girlfriend over,” she says, knowing that she’s blushing. “I figured they could use some privacy.”
“Ah.” Nic’s eyebrows raise slightly. “Yeah. Gabby’s not exactly the quiet and retiring type.”
“You know Gabby?”
“She’s actually my ex. Hence why I’m familiar with your… desire to be out of the house.”
Josie feels her nose wrinkle. She’s always been bad at disguising her thoughts, her face often giving her away. It used to get her into trouble, back when she was a teenager. It still does now, sometimes.
“Gross.”
Nic shrugs.
“Hey, Gabby’s cool,” he says. “We’re still friends. We can joke about it.”
Josie shifts, folding her arms across her chest.
“What are you doing here, anyway? You weren’t… you weren’t looking for me, were you?”
Nic’s face breaks into a grin that shows all his teeth. He has a good smile, easy and open.
“I was actually here to see your brother. He wanted me to drop some stuff before he started work. But it sounds like he’s otherwise engaged.”
“God, everyone around here really does know everyone.”
“Yeah,” he says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “That’s what I like about it.” He swings the door of his car back open. “Calvin can wait for his gear. I’m coming back this way later, anyway. You need a lift? You look like you could do with getting out of here.”
Josie spreads her hands wide, indicating her pajama shorts.
“I’m not exactly dressed to go anywhere.”
He opens the passenger door and starts to sling things into the backseat. A pair of scuba goggles, an armful of wetsuits.
“We’ve got a ton of stuff down at the dive shop,” he says. “Lost property. It’s amazing how many people come to a lesson and manage to leave the clothes that they showed up in behind. I’ll give you a ride down, if you like. You can help yourself. And then you’re a free woman.”
“I—”
He straightens and gestures to the emptied front seat, beaming.
“Come on,” he says. “This car doesn’t get cleaned up for just anybody.”
Josie hesitates. But then she thinks about going back to the house. The awkwardness of drinking coffee at the kitchen table with Gabby and Calvin, still glowing with sex.
