Page 21 of Summer Escape
"Couldn't sleep?" Marshall asked, and I startled, my hand going to my heart.
"I didn't realize you were out here." I assumed he was sleeping.
He patted the cushion next to him. "I couldn't sleep either."
"Why is that?" I asked him as I sat next to him.
"I'm not used to not having a lot of things to do. I think I'm just not as tired as I normally am."
"That's tough."
"Yeah, and I'm a little worried about what my life is going to look like now. Did I make a mistake in leaving the military? Is there anything else out here for me? Or should I have stuck it out longer?"
"I think you'll feel better once you talk to your family about working for them."
"They relied on me, and I left abruptly. I was young and had this feeling that I wasn't ready to go back to the island and work for the family business. I wanted something else and thought the military could provide it. I think I wanted to travel and see the world. Then Hayden came along, and I felt conflicted. I wanted to be with her, but I couldn't be as much as I wanted to. It was a tough situation. Now I'm out, and she doesn't want to spend time with me. I understand that it technically doesn't have anything to do with me, but it's hard."
With the dark surrounding us, and the sound of the waves, it felt like we were alone in the world. As if nothing else could penetrate this bubble we'd created. I reached over and touched his forearm, the muscles flexing under my palm. "You're doing the right thing. Every time you followed your intuition, you were doing what was right for you. You were led to leave your military career and spend time with your daughter. That's not wrong."
Marshall sighed. "I hope you're right."
"You couldn't be wrong about something like this. It's hard, but I think she'll come around before the summer's over.”
"I think the problem is that everything is so uncertain right now. I don't know where I'll be living and working in September. Or even if I can make a decision. I have to wait this thing out with Hayden."
"You could talk to your family about the uncertainty."
"It's not fair to them unless I know for sure I can work there."
"Aren't they wondering what you're doing here and if you plan to work for them? Don't you think they deserve to know where your head is at?"
Marshall sighed heavily. "I need to go to family dinner. I'm just not sure if they want me there."
"Surely, things can't be that bad."
"No one has reached out to me since I've been home. Not since Ivy and Cooper's party."
"They're probably just giving you space."
"I'll see if Mom wants me at family dinner. Maybe I'll see if you can come too."
"You should go by yourself."
He grinned. "But you'd be the perfect buffer. No one can ask me about my plans with you there."
"You're just putting off the inevitable, but if you need me there, I'll go."
"Yeah?" Marshall asked, his voice low.
"Of course." I felt like this summer was a period of time where anything was possible. There were no rules. Time was suspended while we figured out our lives.
"What about you? Have you made any progress on figuring out your life?"
"You mean if I should move back home where my job is and my friends used to be? Are they still my friends? Do I still want this job?"
Marshall shifted so that his elbows rested on his knees. "Have you thought any more about going out on your own?"
"I liked the security and the health insurance that come with a job."
