Page 21 of My Favorite Lost Cause
He laughs under his breath. “Welcome back to the dark side, Maren. There’s so much in store for you here.”
A pleasant shiver runs over my arms and there’s a clench inmy core once again.If I wasn’t married and he wasn’t my stepbrother…
I dismiss the thought before it can keep playing out in my head. I’ve actually had to discard this thought so many times I barely notice I’m doing it anymore.
The pizza arrives. Charlie carries it to the table on the back porch, and we wash it down with wine out of plastic cups as the light dies out over the water. Harvey and I honeymooned in Germany. We stayed at five-star hotels and dined at the best restaurants…but I like this more.
I wasn’t happy there, something I wish I’d admitted sooner. And I’m happy here, which is something I sort of wish I could forget.
Once we’ve cleaned up all our trash, Charlie walks me to my cottage and brushes his teeth at my sink before he goes to the door.
“Lock this when I leave,” he warns, “just in case some weirdo saw you in town. And donotgo on the deck.”
For someone who acts as if he doesn’t care about anything at all, he seems to spend a lot of time worrying about me.
When I climb into bed, I kind of miss having him a foot or two away.
12
MAREN
Before I’ve even looked at my phone, I can tell it’s early—the sun is up, but low in the sky still. I go to the French glass doors and step out onto the deck, though I promised Charlie I wouldn’t. The water moves in gentle ripples from the soft breeze, the marsh grass waving. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. When they open, the first thing I spy is Charlie, running the path around the inlet.
He cleaned up his act here, once upon a time. If we were staying longer than a week, he might manage it again, simply because there’s no one to drink to excess with, no one to sleep with, and nothing else to do.
He’s running hard, drenched in sweat, and a surprising bubble of envy rises in my chest. I used to run. I’d be antsy on the days I couldn’t do it, as if my body was overflowing with energy it needed to expend.
I don’t know what happened to that version of myself. It’s as if I’ve been holding perfectly still, scared to take a breath, while I wait for an outcome that never arrives.
I head to the kitchen. Juicing takes forever—I’ve only justfinished and am in the process of making him some eggs when he enters the kitchen, freshly showered.
“You made eggs?” he asks. “You hate eggs.”
I shrug. “I made them for you.”
His mouth lifts into a quiet smile as he takes a seat at the table. I set the plate of eggs and a glass of green juice before him. He drinks the entire thing with neither complaints nor vodka.
“We should stay,” I blurt. We were supposed to go home next Thursday, the nineteenth. But there’s really no reason we can’t remain through the following weekend, is there?
He glances up from his plate. “Huh?”
“Through the following weekend. I won’t be ready to leave on Thursday, and you can be gone a few more days, right?”
His fork lowers. “What about the dogs? And, less importantly, your spouse?”
“I checked on the dogs this morning and they’re great, and Harvey—” I attempt a nonchalant shrug. “He’ll be fine. He was only going to be home three days next week anyway.”
This is a lie. Harvey will not be fine. In part because of his inexplicable jealousy of Charlie, in part because he’ll view this as a dereliction of duty on my end, though all that duty consists of is patiently waiting to get impregnated and being at home when he calls.
“I don’t know that there’s going to be much for you to do, Maren,” he warns. “Most of the cosmetic stuff is a long way away.”
“That’s okay,” I tell him. “I just want to stay.”
I’m doing it for him, but it wasn’t a lie. I don’t want to go anywhere yet.
We’re still having breakfast when Elijah and his crew arrive. I pour Elijah a cup of coffee while he slaps a notice on the table—a warning that the house is scheduled for inspection.
“This was on the door,” he says. “I don’t know whattriggered it. Maybe me pulling the permits yesterday. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. We’ve made it clear we’re fixing it up.”
