Chapter Twenty
Reese
“You’re staying?” Beth squealed, moving her toes, then instantly apologized to the poor woman tasked with painting them.
After three long work days, Beth and I were getting pedicures and celebrating her last week before heading back to work.
“I can’t believe it either,” I laughed.
I told Kelly two days ago, exactly when I received the call from my recruiter, Sharon, informing me that my current hospital had agreed to extend my contract.
Sharon and I had worked together for the past four years and had been at a loss for words when I told her I wanted to extend.
It was the first time I had ever extended a contract.
“That Hawaii weather must be even better than I imagined,” Sharon had joked.
“Something like that,” I’d said, knowing full well it might have been a pair of slate-blue eyes that had changed my mind about leaving so soon.
“With you staying, we need to sit down and schedule time to do more things together,” Beth said, pulling up her calendar.
I thought I would have seen Beth all the time since I was living with her, but between my work schedule, Beth’s social life, and Kelly, we had barely spent any time together over the summer. I’d seen Derek even less, not that I was complaining.
“I’m finishing getting my classroom together this week. And we have a teacher workday on Friday. Then I’m getting together with some other teachers on Saturday to celebrate the new school year. You should come!”
“I’m working,” I said apologetically, which I already knew without having to look because Kelly had already asked if I had plans.
“Shoot! Are you free on Sunday?” She kept looking at her calendar.
“No, I’m...I’m going to Kelly’s parents,” I tried to say casually, suddenly very interested in the way my lady was painting my toes.
Beth put her phone down immediately. I had her full attention.
“Kelly, eh?” She wiggled her eyebrows. “The sex must be great. Why else would you extend your contract?”
My face burned, and I started sweating a little as I watched, in horror, as the two pedicurists exchanged a look.
“It’s not like that with us!” I shrieked, louder than intended. I cleared my throat and said, calmer, “We’re just friends.”
Liar. He was my best friend.
I don’t know how or exactly when it happened, but Kelly had become, without a doubt, my best friend. And I knew this deep in my gut because I’d never had a best friend before. Not like this.
Kelly was the first person I thought of when I woke up.
Anytime anything remotely funny or crazy happened at work, I felt compelled to text him.
It was like a physical necessity to tell him about my day.
He listened to me, unlike anyone else in my entire life had.
He made me feel safe—made me feel whole.
“You guys are really just hanging out?” Beth asked, disgusted.
“Is that so hard to believe?” I rolled my eyes.
“I have never had a guy friend where one of us wasn’t interested. At some point, we always end up naked,” she shrugged her shoulders, talking as calmly as if we were just discussing the weather.
“Beth!” I said as my cheeks burned.
“What?” She had no shame. “All I’m saying is that if I had a guy friend who took me on fun adventures in his spare time, I would be climbing that tree.
I’m shocked he hasn’t already tried to climb you.
Trust me, island boys are very good at climbing coconut trees,” she winked at me, and I wanted to die.
“I told you. He doesn’t feel that way about me.”
“Bullshit,” Beth scoffed. “No guy who is as busy and as freaking hot as him would waste their time just being friends with a woman like you.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I could feel my defenses going up.
Beth must have sensed this and softened her tone a little.
“All I’m saying, sweetie, is that you are hot and so is he.
He’s into you. Men talk all day about how much they like you and how much you mean to them.
Blah, blah, blah. Talk means nothing. But this man is showing you how much you mean to him. ”
Her words crept over me, awakening a part of this story I was trying to ignore. Things had been so great with Kelly. So easy. I didn’t want to ruin that with some meaningless sex. So maybe it was easier to pretend that we didn’t see each other in that way.
I could still feel the gentle press of Kelly’s kiss from months ago. We hadn’t kissed since, but boy, had I been thinking about it.
“Take it from me,” Beth cut into my train of thought. “I have dated a lot of different kinds of guys. And I have never had a guy look at me the way Kelly looks at you.”
“There’s no way! What about Derek?” The words left my mouth before I could get them back. We didn’t talk about Derek. It had never been said, but I knew he was off limits.
Beth was quiet for a long moment. “Maybe at one time,” her voice was strained, like thinking about it was painful. “But I haven’t seen him look at me like that in a long time.”
“Beth...” I reached my hand out for hers, and she took it, squeezing tightly.
If I had never come here, I would have never believed that Beth’s life was so.
..lonely. Beth was married with a busy social life.
She posted online several times a day as an influencer.
She posted pictures of her and Derek, though I didn’t know when she had time to take them.
Her life from the outside seemed so perfect.
But I was finding out firsthand that it was far from.
The pedicurist finished our toes and excused themselves to the front, letting us know we could pay up front as soon as our nails were dry.
“Reese,” her teal eyes seemed hollow as she spoke. “I haven’t been happy in a long time.”
“How long has he been working these long hours?” I asked, thinking of all the long ‘hours’ my dad used to pull when he was really cheating on my mom. I was young, but his absence had left a lasting impression on me.
“It’s not even the amount he works. It’s what this job is doing to him. Did you know he used to be the nicest guy? Easily the funniest guy in the room. When we met in college, I just knew I was done for. He was outgoing and ambitious. But now...he’s just changed so much.”
I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t want to bash on the guy, for I didn’t truly know him. I had probably seen him only about five times in the last three months. I had no solid evidence that Derek was being unfaithful, but I had witnessed his emotional abuse.
“I think I need to sit down and talk things out with him soon. Or else I don’t see myself staying here,” she confessed.
“You would leave Oahu?” I asked, my eyebrows touching my hairline.
“If we did separate, there would be no way I could afford to live here on my own.”
“What do you mean? Wouldn’t you guys be splitting things down the middle?” Surely, she could stay here even on half of Derek’s earnings.
“We signed a prenup before we got married. His dad insisted on it, and at the time, I didn’t think anything of it. We were young, and I never thought divorce would even be an option. I looked at the prenup recently, and I would only get 3% of his total wealth.”
“It sounds like you have thought about this,” I said.
“I have. I think we have a lot to work through, but I’m not going to stay with him just because of finances.” Her face was determined.
“For what it’s worth, you deserve to be happy.”
She smiled at this, quiet for a moment. “I also think you deserve to be happy. I think that if you and Kelly want to take things further, you shouldn’t hold back.”
“But what if he—”
Beth interrupted me. “He likes you, Reese. Trust me.”
“Did Kelly invite you to Cousin Richie’s wedding? It’s in two weeks.” Lilly asked as she sipped on her lemon water.
It was my first Sunday dinner back at the Iona’s house, and we were sitting in the backyard after devouring Lilly’s homemade meatloaf. Even the picky-eater grandkids had cleaned their plates.
The rain that had fallen during dinner had passed, leaving the air more humid than usual, but the smell was unbeatable.
It brought all the scents of the flowers to life and made everything feel fresh.
The birds were out, chirping away as the grandkids’ excited screams mixed in.
They were playing some advanced game of tag that I couldn’t keep up with the rules.
“Yeah, Kel. Did you invite your girl to a wedding that’s not yours?” Jeremy, Kalani’s husband, laughed as he leaned back in his rocking chair.
Jeremy was off from the fire station for the next two weeks, so we finally got a chance to meet.
He had greeted me warmly with a hug, mumbling that he was finally meeting the woman responsible for all his misery, thanks to Kalani having shaved her eyebrows.
Jeremy had light brown hair, but his thick Top-Gun-style mustache was a dark copper.
He was loud, opinionated, and he was constantly making fun of Kelly. I liked him immediately.
I hadn’t seen Kalani since her eyebrows were shaved off, which was also the last time Kelly and I had kissed.
Not that I was keeping track. Her eyebrows were patchy, but you could tell they were starting to fill in.
I was expecting her to be cold when we saw each other again, but she was extremely welcoming instead.
“Mom, I can’t just invite her to someone else’s wedding. When I got the save the date seven months ago, I wasn’t given a plus one.” Kelly’s arm casually draped across the back of my chair. We were in a semicircle on the pavers, facing out towards the yard and the monkeypod tree.
“I already spoke with Richie, and he said he would love it if Reese came,” Lilly smiled sweetly.
“I get to be a flower girl!” One of the twins ran up out of nowhere.