Page 27 of Serenity at Seagrove
The moment stretched between them until the door opened and Luna’s next clients started wandering in.
"Oh, I should go," he said, backing toward the door. "I’ll see you Thursday."
"I’ll always be here."
CHAPTER8
Luna finished with her last therapy client of the day. It was only a little after two o’clock, and she was happy to have some free time. Maybe she would get some laundry done or make some phone calls. There were still some things around the house that she needed to get done, like a new front flower bed and a spot that needed to be repainted on the outside. There was always something to do, and being a single woman meant she had to do it all. And as much as she wished that she had had children, she was kind of glad in these moments that she didn’t have to care for somebody else while just trying to take care of herself.
"Have you ever been kayaking?"
She was startled to see Archer standing in the front doorway after her last client left. She had apparently left the door open.
"Archer, you scared me to death," she said, putting her hand on her chest as she walked toward the door. "And to answer your question—not since college. Why?"
"Because you’ve been in Seagrove for weeks and you haven’t even seen the marsh yet. It’s a real crime if you ask me."
"And so you came here to offer a remedy to this situation?"
"Well, you can consider it payback for all the breathing lessons," he said, laughing under his breath. "I mean, unless you’re too busy."
She looked at her schedule and then back at Archer, knowing full well there was nothing on it for the rest of the day. But did she want to go kayaking in the marsh or did she want to do laundry? That was a sad question to even ask herself.
"I’m not too busy, though I should warn you—although I went kayaking, I wasn’t exactly graceful at it."
"Well, then, it’s a good thing I’m an excellent teacher, I suppose."
His smile was genuine and caught her off guard. It didn’t have its usual edge of pain.
An hour later, they stood at the edge of the marsh. Archer showed her how to settle into the kayak, his hands steady and sure as he helped her find her balance.
"Ready?" he asked, pushing off in his kayak.
She nodded and followed his lead into the quiet waterway. The afternoon sun had painted everything in a soft gold, and birds called overhead. It was very different from the ocean’s constant motion. Here, everything moved more slowly. The water looked like glass, with only their kayaks breaking it.
"This is beautiful," she said as she watched a heron lift off from nearby reeds.
"Yeah, it’s a different kind of peace than the beach," Archer said. "I like to come out here when the ocean feels a little too much."
She understood what he meant. The ocean demanded your attention, but the marsh invited quiet reflection. They paddled in comfortable silence, following the natural curves of the marsh.
"You’re a natural at this," he said, guiding them into a quieter channel.
"My father would disagree. He tried to teach me how to canoe once. I think I was twelve years old. It didn’t end well."
"No?" Archer slowed his kayak, turning to face her.
"Yeah, we ended up in the water. I lost his favorite fishing hat." She smiled at the memory. "He wasn’t angry with me, just disappointed, and I think that was almost worse."
"Sounds familiar," Archer said. "My dad was the same way about golf. Well, at least in the beginning."
They watched a pair of egrets take flight.
"So do you think that’s why you pushed yourself so hard? To avoid disappointing him?"
He was quiet for so long that she thought maybe he wasn’t going to answer the question.
"I guess maybe I just didn’t know how to be anything else."
