CHAPTER TEN #2
Jolene made a noise of disapproval in her throat and tugged her pink and blue floral blouse taught. “Parents today are too soft with their children. They let them get away with everything. Let them dictate everything.”
Naomi opened her mouth, but I gripped her wrist to stop her. Of course, the nosy woman in the baby-blue pleated capris zeroed in on my hand and Naomi’s wrist.
“Well, you ladies do work fast, don’t you?” she said gleefully. “Principal Paul hasn’t been here a week. No wonder you were so defensive of him the other day at the bakery.”
What happened the other day at the bakery?
Naomi gasped. “Excuse me?”
Tightening my grip on Naomi’s wrist, I cleared my throat and dryly asked Jolene, “Do you have like a welcome basket or something? As part of the Welcome Wagon? Or did you just come by to be nosy?”
Karen’s eyes widened in surprise, and Jolene made a gargled noise of surprise. “Pardon me?”
“Well, you came to my house—followed me, actually—and insulted my parenting. And insulted my friend here. I’m just wondering when you’re going to let my guest and me be on our way?”
“Why I—” Jolene exclaimed. “This is no way to treat an Island Elder. Do you know who I am?”
“I don’t. No. And I’m sure you are a nice person, but right now, I’m finding this really invasive and as someone who came to the island in search of peace and safety, having you just pop in like this makes me feel neither peaceful nor safe.
So I’m setting a boundary, Jolene. Please don’t show up to my house like this again—particularly with the hopes of meeting my daughter—because I will call the police.
I will erect a gate and install cameras.
My daughter deserves to meet people on her own time and in her own way.
This was a big move for us, and I’m helping her transition in the best way I know how that will be gentle for her.
Please respect that. And furthermore, you don’t need to go around the island telling people that you saw Naomi here and gossiping about what you think we are.
That’s between us. That’s our business, and if there is something to share with the island, we will do so when we’re ready. ”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Naomi’s mouth drop open.
I might only have been twenty-six, but I became a father at thirteen, and that forced me to grow up damn fast. I learned how to set boundaries with people, defend my child and her privacy with my life, and teach her that being nice and being kind are two different things.
I wasn’t being unkind to Jolene, but I also wasn’t being nice.
I was being direct and establishing a clear boundary. Hopefully, she’d respect it.
The Island Mouth’s nostrils flared and her wide eyes kept flicking back and forth between Naomi and me.
This peahen’s feathers were definitely ruffled, but it wasn’t my job to subdue her.
She came to my home expecting to meet my child, and I wasn’t going to let that happen.
Particularly because I already knew someone like Jolene wouldn’t understand Mabel’s autism or idiosyncrasies.
She was probably one of those women who expected parents to just let her hug their children, even as the child struggled to get free.
“He’s been very clear, Jolene,” Naomi said.
“Yes, he has been,” Jolene replied through clenched teeth.
I jerked my head toward the back of the house. “I hope you’ll see yourselves off the property.” Then I tugged Naomi’s wrist, and the two of us left Jolene and Karen standing there, steam practically coming out of their ears.
I released Naomi’s wrist when the slope of the yard got steeper and allowed her to go ahead of me down the narrow path.
“You’ll be brandished as an asshole to the whole island by nightfall,” she said, her long, dark hair now free of her braids—courtesy of me earlier in the truck—and hanging in waves down her back.
It caught the sunlight in just the right way before we entered the shade and shone like dark amber.
“Let her say what she will. Showing up like that—especially following me to my house—is absolutely unacceptable. What’s she going to do next? Show up here when I’m at the school and harass Mabel?”
“She might.” She glanced over her shoulder at me. “Jolene is persistent, nosy, and on a pedestal of her own making.”
“Fuck that. I’ll have a gate installed if I have to. Do it on my own dime if the landlord won’t.”
“Tom might be able to help you with that. He had to have a gate installed on his property because of a similar issue. People thought he ran a petting farm, not an animal rescue, and were just showing up, wandering his property and harassing the animals.”
“You’re kidding?”
“No place is safe from entitled weirdos, not even San Camanez.” I was right behind her, but not close enough to stop what happened next. She must have stepped in a divot and bailed, tumbling the rest of the way down the slope. I ran after her.
“Shit!” I exclaimed, finding her in a heap at the bottom, twigs, moss, and leaves in her hair. “You okay?”
Groaning, she unfurled herself from the fetal position and rolled onto her back. “I might be dead. I don’t know.”
I slid to my knees and started to run my hands gently over her legs, ankles, and feet. “Does this hurt?”
“My ankle might be a little tender, but …” She rotated the left one, and it clicked a few times. “I’m not screaming when I do that. So I don’t think it’s broken.”
“Should I check the rest of you?”
“Mm-hmm.” She nibbled on her bottom lip, and I carefully ran my hands up her legs, her torso and ribs, then down each arm.
“No pain?”
“I’m not breathing.”
“But you’re talk—oh!”
Her smile and the way her eyes lit up were nothing short of extraordinary. Now I was the breathless one.
“Then you probably need mouth-to-mouth.”
“Probably. To survive. To see another day.”
“Anything to help you see another day.” I hovered over her and slowly lowered my head until our lips touched.
I kissed her softly, gently. Nothing but our lips touched, then our tongues.
I had my hands on the grass next to her head and smiled against her mouth when she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me down to her.
Before I knew it, we were on the grass, at the bottom of the slope, with the trees towering above us, making out.
I wasn’t sure how long we kissed for. When I was with Naomi, time seemed to stand still. Hours felt like minutes, and all I could do was count down until the next time I got to be with her, got to touch her.
The alarming caw of a crow nearby overhead disturbed our little make out cocoon, and she broke the kiss. I lifted up so my weight wasn’t on her, and she was smiling up at me. “All better now. Thank you.”
“You’re sure?”
“Well … maybe one more, just to make sure there’s enough oxygen in my lungs?”
I pressed my lips to hers once more, loving how soft they were. How soft she was in my arms. And god, did she ever smell good. Floral and spicy. I couldn’t place the scents, but I liked what I smelled. I wanted to bury my nose in her hair and just inhale all damn day.
I broke the kiss this time. “Will you live?”
“I think so. Thank you for your valiant effort in not only keeping me from dying but also not making me feel embarrassed over such a clumsy fall.”
I sat back on my heels, then helped her sit up. “Everybody trips sometimes. No need to make them feel worse than they already do.” I helped her stand up next, and picked out the twigs and debris from her hair.
“This is why I keep my hair in braids,” she said. “Otherwise, it just gets full of stuff. Do you know where the elastics went?”
Shit. I think I left them in the truck.
She read my expression and shrugged. “No biggie. I normally have at least one on my wrist, but I guess today I forgot.” Then she started scouring the forest floor.
“What are you looking for?”
“A stick.” She reached down and grabbed an off-white twig about the length of a chopstick.
It didn’t have any bark and appeared to be dry.
Gathering all her long, wavy locks, she twisted them and held them against the back of her head before weaving the stick in until the bun stayed.
“Nature always provides. Come on, let’s go. ” She took off down the trail.
I followed her. I’d follow this woman anywhere.
“So you’re okay with the island knowing about us?” I asked as we wound our way through the trees toward the beach.
“No. But now that Jolene knows, it’s inevitable. So we’re just going to have to roll with it.” She glanced over her shoulder at me. “We need to tell the kids.”