Page 38 of That Birthday in Barbados
“You have me.”
“And I need to do a better job of showing how much I appreciate that.”
“You show it. I liked my last bonus.”
“Mercenary.”
“Hey, a guy’s gotta eat.”
“You do eat well.”
“So what’d you do last night? Blow out your candles alone?”
“I didn’t have any candles.”
“No one should spend their fortieth by themselves.”
“Actually . . . I didn’t.”
He sits up in the desk chair. “You didn’t?”
“I went out to dinner.”
“With someone you met there?”
I shrug, nod once.
“Well, all right. It’s about time.”
“Oh, don’t get too excited. After I got drunk and made a fool of myself on the beach, I’m sure he’ll do his best to avoid me.”
“I’ve never seen you drunk. Are you a fun drunk or a mean drunk?”
“A sloppy drunk, I’m afraid.”
“Sloppy can be fun,” he says.
“Or just plain embarrassing.”
“I’m glad you decided to take this trip, Cat. It’s definitely time to see what else is out there for you. Life needs to go on.”
“He was just being nice because it was my birthday.”
“Nothing wrong with that.” He hesitates, and I can see there’s something he wants to say.
“What is it, James?”
“Your sister called yesterday and tried to get me to tell her where you are. Of course I didn’t know at the time so I couldn’t tell her, but she seemed upset. And very much wanted to talk to you.”
“Did she say why?”
James shakes his head. “And I would ask where you are, but if you don’t tell me, I can’t accidentally let it slip.”
“Should I come back?” The question is out before I realize I even intended to ask it.
“No,” he says immediately. “We got this here for now. You do some you time. It’s long overdue. If anything catastrophic looks like it’s going to happen, I’ll be the first to call you.”
Part of me wants to protest, insist that I should just get back to real life because we both know this isn’t me. Even so, I don’t want to leave just yet. Something about this place makes me want to forget about the life I’ve made in New York and the never-ceasing demands of an always hungry to grow business.
