Chapter Sixteen
Tyler
“I think your dad would benefit from at-home sessions,” Bethany said, glancing around the café. We were at a place called Milo’s, just down the street from Mae’s. Our table overlooked the sidewalk, not the water, but the place swarmed with tourists and locals.
I laughed, shaking my head. “I wouldn’t do that to my worst enemy.”
Bethany smiled and shrugged. “I’ll confess. Your dad is a tough nut to crack, and I tend to ignore everything that comes out of his lips, but it’s my job to make sure he can walk as well as he could before the surgery. I don’t mind throwing in a few sessions at his house since you won’t be around to bring him in.”
I nodded, feeling an uneasiness slide through me. “I changed my flight to next Friday. How about we judge after a few more sessions? It was probably foolish of me to think he’d be ready to do them at home after three sessions.”
My dad had his third session today at Bethany’s office, and she’d suggested a late lunch after I’d dropped my dad off at the house and after her last client.
I hadn’t thought much of it until she showed up in a completely different outfit, ordered wine, and laughed at my lame jokes.
Bethany took a sip of white wine and grinned. “Okay. We’ll regroup after next week.” She propped her elbows on the table, revealing her low-cut dress, and I realized where she saw this heading. “I’m happy you’re staying here on the island.”
I cleared my throat and glanced around the café. The place seemed to be a cross between a café and a bar, but the more I settled in, I realized it was probably a bar.
Judging by where Bethany saw this afternoon going, I didn’t like how close this establishment was to Mae’s, either. This entire encounter was designed to implode.
I brought my attention back to Bethany. “I wish I could say it’s good to be back, but being here under these circumstances hasn’t been the greatest.”
She pursed her lips into a playful pout. “I bet I could make your time here more enjoyable.”
My shoulders slumped with the proposition. The only person who could make it better was tucked away in her coffee shop with a brother who had eyes in the back of his head and a family I didn’t want to make mad.
Not to mention, I knew whatever Mae and I felt wouldn’t be able to move past the caution tape.
“Hey, so I’m not exactly looking.” My lips pressed into a straight line.
Her brows shot up. “I thought you were single.”
“No. I am.” I nodded, thinking about Mae’s beautiful green eyes and how I wish those were staring at me. “I just have a lot going on, and I don’t think I can offer much of anything.”
“What if you don’t have to offer anything, and I just offer a little fun? Make your night less lonely?” A shot of lust sparked through her gaze.
I should be all over this suggestion. Most men would jump over the table and drop to their knees. What was wrong with me?
“I don’t know what to say.” I shook my head, not wanting to embarrass her.
She was a pretty woman, clearly intelligent, and looking for a little fun.
So, what was my problem?
I was single. Mae and I had established we weren’t going to do anything we’d regret, which meant we weren’t going to do a thing.
Here in front of me, I had a completely available, no-strings-attached option batting her lashes, and all I could think about was the woman across the street who I couldn’t have.
“Is there someone else?” She slid back in her chair and stared at me.
“Not really. Kind of.” I shrugged. “It’s complicated, but I just don’t think I need to bring anyone else down in the weeds with me.”
She giggled and threw her blonde hair over her shoulders. “I think slithering with the weeds could be fun. There’s no rules that way.”
Mae would never toss me one-liners like this, and for that, I was grateful.
That was the thing about Mae. We just fit. She didn’t need to sling flirtatious banter in my direction for me to fill up with desire. Just knowing Mae was near lit me up like a firecracker.
I just wanted Mae.
All of her, because of who she was, not because of what she promised.
“Bethany, I really don’t want to make this awkward between us. You’re beautiful, funny, smart… all the things that should check the boxes, but I’m just not in the right frame of mind.”
Her expression dropped, and she grinned with a roll of her eyes. “Shirley warned me this would happen.”
I scowled. “Shirley? Wow. She’s still here? I went to school with her.”
“Yeah. Shirley mentioned that too. Along with the fact that you had some secret crush on Mae Evans but were too chicken to make a move because you were best friends with her brother.”
“Ah, the Marigold rumor mill.”
“Is it true?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I had a crush on Mae.”
“Do you still?”
Scratching my chin, I looked out at the water as the bartender came up to us.
Bethany glanced up and smiled. “Hey, Rick. Can I get another glass of wine? I’m just walking home, so I might as well enjoy the stroll.”
The man laughed, and I pointed to another Coke for me.
“Rick is so sweet. I’m surprised he hasn’t married one of the Evans sisters. We’re down to two now, right? Audrey and Mae.” She let out a sigh. “It will be a momentous day when they finally get hitched. Then maybe the rest of us won’t be left with scraps.”
I chuckled, spinning the ice in my Coke around. “What do you mean?”
“Those sisters are just like perfection tied up with a pleasant bow. They’re so sweet, beautiful, smart. Even if I wanted to be annoyed with Mae over your crush, I can’t be. They’re just too good of people. You know?”
I nodded slowly, understanding exactly what she meant. “They’re a special family.”
The bartender dropped off another glass of wine and did some mild flirting with Bethany before he left to help at another table.
“The bartender seems cool,” I offered.
“Rick is great. He actually owns this place.” She chuckled. “And been there, done that.”
I ignored the last part. “Isn’t it called Milo’s?”
“Yup.” She shrugged. “Anyway, I do still believe your dad could benefit from more physical therapy.”
“It wasn’t just to get me on a date?”
She snickered. “I do have some ethics. If the other happened, then hey. Lucky me.”
I shook my head. “I’m sorry. Had it been any other time, any other place…”
“No. I get ya.” Her shoulders slouched as she reached for my hand across the table and smiled at me, right when I noticed a guy I hadn’t seen for decades.
“Bryce,” I said through the window as if he could hear me. He kept walking with something that kind of resembled a dog, but when it looked at me, the thing had no teeth.
“Ah, Bryce and Herman. I swear that Bryce has nothing else to do in the day other than head to the post office.” Bethany laughed and shook her head. “I don’t know what he expects to arrive in the mail, but he goes more than once a day.”
“Man, it’s like strolling down memory lane coming back here. Bryce looks the same.” I watched him walk down the sidewalk until he was out of view. “So, Herman is his dog?”
She chuckled. “If you can call it that. It’s a Doberman-ish pooch, but the poor thing has no teeth, so his jaw just sinks in. Well, you saw it.”
I laughed, shaking my head. No matter how much I wanted to hate this place or feel like I no longer felt connected here, it was impossible.
Marigold Island had its claws dug deep in me, and there wasn’t a thing I could do about it.
Bethany smiled and shook her head. “May I ask why you don’t just try things out with Mae? I know it’s none of my business, but I don’t understand the… logic… or lack thereof.”
“Sure. It’s simple. I don’t plan on moving here, and she doesn’t plan on moving away from here, so…”
She looked stunned. “Logistics? That’s it?”
“That’s a big thing. Mae just opened up her own business. It would be asinine to think of her moving away from here, and you’ve met my dad. Would you want to live near him?”
Bethany let out a slow breath and reached for the wine glass. “You’ve been crushing on Mae Evans for two decades.”
“Something like that.”
“And rather than see where it goes, you stop it before it has a chance to go anywhere.”
I nodded. “Right. What’s so weird about that? It’s the right thing to do.”
She ran her fingertip along the rim of her wine glass and shook her head. “And why again? Logistics? There’s more to it than that.”
“It’s a big part of it.”
“Really.” Bethany nodded and looked outside. She didn’t sound convinced.
I shifted in my chair. “Of course there’s more to it. If things go south, I don’t want to lose her brother as my best friend.”
“Yet if things go well, you’ll have your best friend as family.”
I narrowed my eyes on Bethany. “Are your sure you didn’t get a Ph.D. in psychology rather than physiology?”
She grinned. “I just don’t believe you.”
“You barely know me.” I chuckled, shaking my head. “What did Shirley go filling your head with about me?”
Bethany smiled. “Not much at all. These are all my own observations.”
“Well, this is the weirdest almost-date I’ve ever had.”
“Exactly my point. Here I am, looking all cute and handing you an all-access pass, which you politely decline.” She flashed a wry grin. “And the reason is because you’re stuck on a girl who is incredibly beautiful, smart, a business owner, loyal, and right across the street. But do you take the bull by the horns?”
“No.”
“Yup. Exactly. You run away.”
“I’m not running away.”
“You’re not running toward her.”
“Seriously. Are you sure you’re a physical therapist?”
“I also happened to major in psychology.” She winked at me.
“Fine. Tell me what it is you really want to say.”
She shook her head. “No-uh. That’s not how it works. I don’t tell or reveal. You have to be the one with the revelations, not me.”
I sighed and closed my eyes for a brief moment before opening them and drinking some more Coke.
“Why aren’t you going after the woman you’ve been wanting for all these years? Why aren’t you using this perfect moment to seize the opportunity with Mae? She’s one in a million, and yet here you are, prancing around with the bachelor title while obviously committed.”
“I’m not committed. I’m responsible. I don’t want to break her heart.”
A smirk covered Bethany’s soft features, and she shook her head. “Are you sure it’s her heart you’re worried will get broken?”