Page 13 of Here With You

He knew she had questions and deserved answers, so he put down the fronds and sat on the nearby picnic bench. Emmaline took the seat across from him as he looked at the waves lapping against the shore. The tiny whitecaps bubbled on the sand before they soaked in and disappeared. At least four or five cycles passed before he figured out what to say. “Every window has two views. You’re either looking out or looking in.”

She gathered her long hair on top of her head and somehow skewered it with a pen to stay in place. “I get that we see things through different lenses, but how can you not see what you did was wrong?”

He rubbed the scruff on his face. “You’re right. I was wrong.” He sat with one leg over each side of the bench and swung his outside leg inside to face her fully. This was the conversation they should have had thirty years ago, but they didn’t have the maturity to put what they felt into words.

“I’m glad we agree on something.”

“You made a choice, and I couldn’t understand why you didn’t choose me all those years ago, but I understand now.” He scanned the beach, the bungalows, the main house, the restaurant, and the resort. “In life, there are always choices. Often you have to decide if you’re going to support the devil you know or the one you don’t.”

She shook her head before he finished. “I didn’t even know you were the devil until that day.” She shut her eyes and rubbed her temples. “We could have made that decision together, but you took it out of my hands.”

“It’s not like I went to work and decided I was going to implode my life.”

Tilly walked out with two large glasses of iced tea. “You’ll need this. It’s extra cold and super sweet if anger and bitterness take over your conversation.” She turned to leave but stopped and spun back around. “Welcome back, Miles.”

“Thanks, Tilly.” He brought the glass to his lips and let the sweetness coat the sour and bitterness he felt throughout his body.

They sat silent until Ollie sauntered over, shimmied under the table, and laid on Emmaline’s feet.

“Does he always have to be touching me?” She looked down. “And why is he licking my shoe?”

“Is it the left shoe?”

“Yes. Why?”

He shrugged. “He likes what he likes.”

“He’s a nuisance.”

“He’s loyal, and that counts for something.”

She picked up her cold glass and touched it to her forehead, rolling it back and forth until the condensation dripped from her skin. “Was that a dig at me?”

“I didn’t intend it to be, but I can see how it sounds now that it’s out.”

“Look, what happened was a tragedy, but it was probably for the best.”

That was his thought for years, too. “Was it? Look at us. You’re married to the resort, and I…”

“Got a hairy boyfriend who drools. Does he sleep with you?”

He laughed. “Yes, but I don’t share my pillow.”

Tilly showed back up with a charcuterie board and silverware. “Sorry to interrupt, but Em’s only eaten a quart of ice cream, a pie, and a sticky bun. She needs proper food.” She set it in front of them and pretended to tiptoe away. “I didn’t give you knives. I figured it was safer that way,” she yelled when she reached the kitchen door.

“A quart of ice cream? Because of me?”

She waved her hand in the air. “Don’t be ridiculous. I got over you thirty years ago. Even then, I didn’t eat a bucket of French vanilla and a pecan pie.”

“A whole pie?”

“I had a lot of processing to do.” She unrolled her cloth napkin and pulled out a fork to stab a piece of salami and a slice of cheese. “Did you know a travel critic is coming to town? I’m certain they’ll stay at The Brown.”

“Is that why I’ve got a to-do list you’d only give a bitter enemy?” He pulled it out of his pocket. “Rake the sand? Deadhead the flowers? What does that even mean?”

“You have to pinch the dead bits off to stimulate growth.”

“I didn’t know that. How do flowers survive in the wild?”

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