Chapter 15 Alex #2
“For sure.” I settled beside her, kicking off my sports sandals to dig my toes into the soft sand, and tried not to stare as she pulled her coverup over her head. But it was hard. She wore a blue bikini, modest, but not enough to hide her spectacular dancer’s physique.
She stretched her long legs out in front of her, sand covering her feet, except for the tips of her toes, painted a coral pink.
We watched in companionable quiet—Grace showing Peter how to time the swell, Bella copying her stance. “Grace grew up doing this,” Gillian said. “So I hope she’s not being too bossy.”
“Nah, Bella and Peter are having a great time.”
“It’s nice, right?”
“Absolutely.” Gratitude thickened my voice. “I didn’t think it was possible just a few days ago. Thank you for hanging in there with us.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “Having you back in my life, it feels … I don’t even know how to say. Wonderful, I guess. Yes, very wonderful.”
“I feel the same.”
I took off my shirt, slinging it over the back of the chair and reached into the cooler for a sparkling water for each of us.
We sipped our drinks and watched the kids, the air scented with sunscreen, seaweed and driftwood drying in the sun.
“This stretch of beach is amazing,” Gillian said.
“It makes me feel guilty at times.”
“You earned it.”
“Not really. I got lucky,” I said.
“Do you remember how broke we were back then?” Gillian asked.
“You remember that five dollar teriyaki special we used to share?” I asked.
“Five potstickers, a soda, rice, and chicken teriyaki.”
“You’d eat about a quarter of it and leave the rest for me.”
“If my dance instructors had known I was eating potstickers I might have gotten thrown out of the program.”
“You were worried about your weight all the time,” I said. “It always seemed hard.”
“That’s ballet. It’s just part of it. But I don’t miss counting every calorie. I still think about it, but not like I used to.”
“Whatever you’re doing, you look amazing.”
She flushed, dipping her chin, her hair falling over her cheeks. “Thanks. You look good too.”
“You can thank my cruel personal trainer for that,” I said.
Squeals carried on the wind as the kids rode their boards to shore again and again. After thirty or so minutes, the three of them ran toward us, dripping and triumphant.
“We’re starving,” Bella declared, as if this was surprising.
“Good thing Sonya packed enough for a baseball team.” I handed out sandwiches and poured lemonade.
“Grace is really good at boogie-boarding,” Bella said.
“I’m not really. You should see Tyler,” Grace said. “And Annie. They can surf too.”
“I’m getting better,” Peter said. “Grady’s a great teacher.”
“I never got the hang of it.” Grace opened her sandwich and took out the tomato before closing it back up again and taking a bite.
“I’ll stick to the boogie board too,” Bella said, smiling over at Grace.
After lunch, badminton erupted—crooked net, more wild laughter as the kids lobbed the birdie back and forth.
“Would you like to take a walk?” I asked, after the picnic food was put away.
“I would love it.”
I offered my hand and Gillian took it. In bare feet, we strolled along the edge of the water, the surf reaching our toes before heading out again.
“Do you want another baby?” I asked.
She stared up at me, as a wave crashed over our feet. “I’ve never thought about it.”
“Why?”
“Because I’ve never had a serious relationship.
Not since you, which wasn’t really serious since we were so young.
Before I adopted Grace and I was so focused on dance, I used to daydream about having a large family.
Not one like mine growing up, but two parents and a gaggle of kids.
But as you know, things don’t always go according to plan. ”
A wave slipped cold over our ankles. I took her hand and we danced in the surf for a second or two before I pulled her closer and kissed her, forgetting about the kids or where we were, just losing myself in the taste of her mouth and the feeling of her lithe body in my arms. When we parted, she laughed, breathless.
“The kids are going to be so grossed out.”
“I’m not sure I care.” I paused, swiping a damp curl from her forehead. “Would you let me take you someplace for a few days? Could Grace stay with one of your friends?”
She hesitated for a second or two and I thought she might say no, but she didn’t. “Yes, any of my friends will take her. But you have to tell me where.”
“No, that won’t do at all. You have to be surprised.”
“I won’t know what to pack,” Gillian said, grinning.
“I’ll send you a list.”
“Okay, well, fine. Then, yes, I’ll let it be a surprise.”
We returned to the kids and the badminton game.
Just as we approached, Grace tripped trying to hit the birdie and pitched forward into the sand.
She rolled into a ball, laughing, sand clinging to her forehead and cheeks.
Then, the way it does with kids, her laughter caught—and the other two collapsed beside her, helpless, as if they'd never stop.
This could be it. Our next chapter. The one I’d promised Mattie I would allow should the right woman come along.
I laced my fingers with Gillian’s. “I’ll pick you up in the morning. For now, can I talk you into staying for dinner?”
“Are you sure Sonya won’t mind?”
“No way. She loves the full house. Told me so just this morning.”
“All right, then. I accept.”
Later, gathered around our outside table, the five of us ate grilled hamburgers and Sonya’s delicious homemade fries as twilight pressed a lavender thumbprint across the sky.
After we’d finished, Sonya brought out the ingredients for s’mores. The kids let out a collective cheer at the sight of peanut butter cups and milk chocolate before we all gathered around the fire pit.
I smiled to myself, watching the different approaches to making the perfect s’more.
Peter was meticulous with his, hovering his marshmallow inches from the flame, rotating clockwise until it was golden brown.
Bella, impatient as always, shoved hers right into the blaze, where it promptly caught on fire.
She squealed as she blew the flames out, leaving nothing but one charred marshmallow in its wake.
“Bella, you have to take time,” Peter said.
“I like them this way,” Bella said, with a haughty tilt of her chin. “I don’t have to do everything your way.”
“Yeah, obviously.” Peter laughed as he put his s’more together, choosing the peanut butter cup.
Bella, probably to be different than her brother, chose milk chocolate, squishing it all together between two graham crackers and taking a big bite. She grinned, crumbs on the sides of her mouth. “Oh yeah. It’s exactly how I wanted.”
Grace, who had not yet toasted her marshmallow, watched the siblings with a delighted smile on her face, seeming to enjoy their banter.
Seeing her innocent joy in such a simple moment touched my heart.
Having been one myself for much of my childhood, I knew that being an only child could be lonely at times.
Grace carefully put one on her skewer and darted it in and out of the flames, so that only one corner caught fire. Instead of putting the marshmallow between crackers, though, she simply popped it in her mouth, before roasting another.
“How about you?” I asked Gillian. “Peanut butter or chocolate?”
“I’d rather have another glass of wine.” Her green eyes glittered in the firelight. Above us, a few stars twinkled from an indigo sky.
Perhaps Gillian had seen my gaze lift upward, because she leaned closer to me, brushing her fingers over my arm. “I love this time of evening in the summers. The color of the sky at this hour—a purple blue that takes my breath away.”
“Indigo is the name of the color.” I rose up to grab the bottle of wine from the table.
She’d told me the same thing all those years ago.
We’d been at a concert in Central Park, and just after twilight the sky began to darken until it was that particular shade of blue.
“Our color,” Gillian had whispered in my ear.
“The color that will make me think of you. Wherever I see it.”
Now, the kids decided it was time to get in the hot tub and ran off to change back into their swimsuits. From inside the kitchen, I heard Sonya tell them to wash their sticky hands before they got into the water and that their suits were in the laundry room.
“Sonya’s a wonder,” Gillian said.
“We’re blessed to have her. She lost her husband a few years back, so she understands more than most about our situation.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Being at loose ends, she welcomed living with us on property. Her daughter and her grandchildren live here in Willet Cove, so she can see them anytime she wants. Sometimes she brings the kids over to swim in the pool. Bella’s really good with them.”
“Not surprising. Bella’s a sweetie,” Gillian said. “Big heart. Sensitive.”
“Impulsive.”
Gillian chuckled. “That too.”
“Her mother was that way. Jumped into whatever she was interested in with both feet.”
“I wish I could be more like that. Instead, I analyze everything to death.”
“Both ways work, depending.”
She curled her legs under her, shifting toward me. “I’ve been wondering how you lived here for a year and we never ran into each other.”
“It’s odd, yes. But maybe the timing wasn’t quite right until now.”
“Maybe so. We certainly didn’t have good timing back when we were young,” Gillian said.
“No, we didn’t.” We were quiet for a moment, gazing into the fire pit. The kids came out in their suits, asking if they could turn on music.
“Go for it,” I said.
Soon, country music piped through the speakers and the kids were in the hot tub with the bubbles going, muting their chatter.
“Do you want to dance with me?” I asked.
“Now?”
I stood, offering her my hand. “Why not?”
She smiled as I helped her to her feet. “Will the kids be disgusted?”
“Let them be.” I drew her into my arms. She rested her head against my chest as we swayed to the music.
“Did you ever tell Mattie about me?” Gillian asked.
“Yes, she used to tease me about the ‘one who got away.’”
“Do you think she knew I was here?”
“Doubtful,” I said.
Still, the idea struck me like a bolt of lightning.
Could she have found Gillian’s dance studio and figured out who she was?
It was preposterous. But then again, that was my Mattie.
She’d always done everything in her own way, without worrying about what was considered normal.
Did you do this, Mattie? Are you up there watching all of this unfold?
But she didn’t answer up there in heaven. Yet, I felt her just the same. A warm, comforting blanket of a thing. She’d given me permission to move on. That was the last gift she’d given me.
I pulled the beautiful woman in my arms closer as another song played through the speakers and more stars dotted the sky and my children laughed and splashed in the hot tub. The sweet world kept turning.