Page 105 of Distant Shores
“Excuse me, young ladies,” Miss Lenny said from behind us, her yoga mat under her arm. “Ugh, they didn’t even wait. Good thing I’m more advanced and follow my own program.”
Delly peeled back from the door, her gaze flicking over Miss Lenny quickly before she pushed open the doors.
I pressed my lips together, holding back a laugh. Delly still looked suspicious of our neighbor despite the friendship they’d formed since the incident, as if she was waiting for Miss Lenny to strip down at any moment. Or maybe Miss Lenny’s nakedness was one of her core memories too.
“I’m gonna, umm…. go,” Delly said, grimacing and leaving without another word.
Cheeks hurting from holding back my smile, I looked back out the window. Miss Lenny unfolded her mat beside an empty chair and seamlessly fell into the same pose as the rest of the class.
It wasn’t until everyone sat down in their chairs as they changed poses that I saw him.
Adair, in his usual baggy T-shirt plus a pair of athletic shorts, sitting in front of a row of pink rosebushes.
I shuffled to the side as my heart skipped, then leaned my shoulder against the door as I kept watching.
He was listening attentively to the instructor, his hands resting on his long legs in front of him. His broad chest rose in a deep inhale, and he arched his back. On the exhale, he curled forward, his spine rounding.
Cat-cow poses.
My mouth went bone dry as they went through pose after pose. Adair didn’t look like a beginner at all.
Had he been doing these classes these last few Saturdays? I knew he liked to exercise on the weekends. We usually crossed paths at Zinnia House, but I just assumed he’d been going to the gym.
By the time the instructor directed them into some sort of modified warrior pose, I wasn’t the only one watching him. The women on either side of him were sneaking glances out of the corners of their eyes, and a couple wereflat out sitting back in their chairs, legs crossed like they were waiting for brunch, watching him.
He was completely oblivious, his eyes closed as he focused on his breathing.
God.
My phone buzzed from the pocket of my dance skirt, and I took it out without looking at it, begging that image to make itself another new core memory.
I eventually forced myself to unlock my phone and read the new email from Ari.
To: Ireland Sewell
From: Arizona Thames
Subject: Gala July 5. It’s a GO.
The body of the message contained nothing but her signature.
Love,
Ari
There was my answer. In just five weeks, we’d have our gala.
And now I knew what to tell Adair the next time he asked.
28
IRELAND
Thunder shook the windows of Zinnia House, making the frames rattle as the clouds shifted rapidly, and the smell of the atmosphere was morphing from sea and blossoms to ozone.
That storm Delly was so eager for was slowly rolling in.
We’d thought it might come yesterday, while we were at the beach looking for sand dollars with Adair watching from the pier, but it’d held off. I wasn’t worried, knowing the Live Oak community was prepared.
