Chapter 12
We walkedalong the beach to the bonfire set up across the road from the shop.
Jasmine gave me a nudge and a grin. “Are you ready for your first small-town bonfire?”
“How’s it different from a normal bonfire?”
“You’ll see.”
Her smirk had me worried. I turned my attention back to the people seated around the fire. I recognised Sara from the café, and Jack and Lily. There were two other men sitting amongst the circle. I assumed they were Ross and Jay.
Rose grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the seated group. I never had time to be nervous with her around.
“Everyone, this is Ethan. He’s living with us. He works with Mum.”
Everyone’s eyes turned toward me.
“Hi.” I shoved my hands in my pockets. I’d rather be studying sea lions than be the one being studied.
Rose dragged me over to Sara. “Miss Sara works at our school. She’s the best teacher we have.”
Sara laughed. “You don’t think that when I give you assignments.”
“That’s because they’re never about mermaids.”
“That’s what creative writing is for.”
Rose rolled her eyes. She turned us to the two men next. “This is Ross and Jay.”
They both stood up to shake my hand. Ross had wild curly hair and Jay short brown hair. They were the opposite of what I would’ve imagined.
“If you’re ever sick, Ross will fix you in a jiffy. Last year I was vomiting and vomiting. He gave me this thing that stopped it.”
Ross ruffled her hair. “It’s called a wafer.”
“Yeah. That.”
Jay was smiling. “Jack tells me you’re doing research on the sea lions.”
There was that small-town thing again.
Bailey came over and stood beside me. “He’s going to write a report that’s going to help save them all over the world.”
They were unexpected words. I hoped they were true.
“I hope to help guide policies to ensure their future.”
Jay grinned. “I’m not sure how you get much work done with these two.” He pulled Rose into his lap and tickled her. She squealed in delight.
“I try to give him some peace in the evenings,” Jasmine said. “While I finish off paperwork, the kids do their homework and Ethan works on his dissertation. Then I send the kids off for some quiet time.”
Rose giggled. “Sometimes we’re not very quiet though. Mum uses her mum voice on us.”
I chuckled. It happened just about every night.
“Are you laughing because she uses the mum voice on you too?” Sara asked.
Everyone’s eyes turned to me, including Jasmine’s. I shifted my feet. She’d used it more than once.
Jasmine raised her eyebrows. I shrugged, returning her smirk from earlier.
Jack joined in. “She used it on him the first day at work. All that poor man wanted to do was go out to see the sea lions. All she wanted him to do was his boring inductions.”
Jay shook his head at Jasmine. “So cruel.”
She clenched her jaw. “Inductions are important.”
“I helped her see the error of her ways,” Jack said.
That explained her changed attitude when she came back from the shop.
Jasmine crossed her arms. “I would have taken him on my own.”
Jack laughed. “Sure you would have. When he’d finished every last bit of your requirements.”
Jasmine turned around and set up her chair. It was unlike her to disengage. That was my job.
Rose took my chair from me and set it up next to Jasmine’s and then hers beside me. I listened to the banter back and forth. Lily was unusually quiet. She spent a lot of time looking between Jasmine and me with a little smile on her face.
“How’s the coffee machine going?” Jack asked.
“Great. It’s just what I need in the morning.”
“Does the coffee smell good, Jasmine?” Lily asked.
“Yes,” she answered curtly. She gave Lily a pointed look.
Lily laughed to herself and sat back in her chair. Jasmine huffed. Because of the smell of coffee?
More people arrived and the conversation changed to general chit-chat. Sara went off to cook the fish and chips. She’d bring out a few parcels at a time and hand them out. When she handed me a parcel, I tore the paper open. I wanted to taste the best fish and chips. I bit into some fish. Saltiness and sweetness spread across my taste buds. The fish melted in my mouth. Not bad at all. The chips were perfectly cooked. They weren’t uniform in shape, which made me think they were homemade. I’d have to compliment the chef later.
Rose and Bailey studied me while I took my first few bites.
“It’s hella good,” I said.
Rose cocked her head. “Is that a word you use in San Francisco?”
I nodded.
The crowd dwindled after dinner, but the townspeople stayed behind. Rose sat on Jay’s lap, yawning before resting her head. He rubbed her back as she fell asleep. Ross shared a look with him, both were smiling and content. I had a feeling that any child they had would be loved beyond measure.
“You two are making me all maternal,” Sara said as she loosened her blonde plait.
“Says the woman who doesn’t want children,” Jay said.
“I don’t need children when I’ll have yours to share.”
“Not everyone wants to have children,” Jack said. “Some people act like it’s defying the world order not to have them.”
“What about you, Ethan? Do you have children waiting for you at home?” Lily asked.
I shifted in my seat. I hated this topic, especially when it came to my lack of parenting. While I was married, people would ask when Audrey and I would be having children. But like Jack said, there was no crime in not having children. And given my past, it was best not to.
So, while I’d rather run away than face the question, I answered instead. “No. Children were never in the cards for me and my ex-wife.”
“How long were you married for?”
Another question I wasn’t too fond of.
“Six years.”
“Ross and Jay have been married for six years,” Jasmine said.
Thank goodness. A change in topic. Jasmine had thrown me a lifeline. I gave her a smile and whispered a thank you to her.
She leant over. Her breath was warm against my skin. The warmth travelled through me. She whispered in my ear, “Welcome to small-town life. You’ll get used to it.”
Would I? I doubt I could get used to it in six months.
“I can’t wait for another six years,” Jay said, breaking into our conversation.
“To another six years.” Ross raised his beer to Jay.
“And many more after that.” Jay clinked his beer with Ross’s.
“Even if you are as bossy as Jasmine sometimes.”
“A woman knows what she wants.” Jay gave Jasmine a wink.
“Lily and I have been married for thirty-one years. We met when we were eighteen.”
“We got married one month later,” Lily said. “Everyone thought we were crazy. We showed them.” She took Jack’s hand. He gave hers a squeeze.
“I think we’re doing well,” Jasmine said to me. “We’ve survived a month.”
“Because of the coffee,” Lily said.
“I’d like to think it was because of our good advice,” Jack said.
“You can think that if you like.” Lily kissed his cheek.
These people were happy. Maybe there was something to this small-town life. They all shared openly, not fearing recrimination. They teased and taunted each other but not in a bitter way. I felt like they supported each other. I didn’t have a circle of friends like this in San Francisco. The only people in my circle were my brother and grandparents.
The way Jasmine had saved me from their questions made me appreciate her even more. Audrey would have left me hanging. Like when people asked the baby question, she would always look pointedly at me, even though it was something we’d agreed on early in our marriage. Jasmine may have been terse at times, but she was a good person. If she wasn’t, these people wouldn’t love and respect her.
I was respected for my work and determination. I’m not sure that equated to being respected as a person though. I guess to be respected as a person, I’d need people to see who I really was. But I was too busy hiding from the world.
* * *
Jasmineand I headed to the tour meeting point. A few guests had gathered.
“I’d like to try something different with the wetsuits today if that’s OK,” I said. I didn’t want her to think I was trying to take over. This was her world, and I was only in it for a short time.
“What do you have in mind?”
“Some guests seem to have difficulty in following the wetsuit instructions. It was the same with some of my students. I found giving them a demonstration helped.”
It also helped keep the distance between me and the students. Some of the females, although fully capable, would ask for help so they could get close to me. I’d begun to wonder if that’s why they took my class. I don’t know. Some students had crushes on their teachers. The wetsuit demonstration helped put an end to it because I often got the students to help each other.
“OK. There’s no harm in trying.”
We waited for everyone to arrive and then I grabbed my wetsuit and gave a demonstration on the easiest way to put it on. When I turned around to show the guests how to pull the wetsuit up, Jasmine was watching my every move, her mouth slightly agape. I paused for a second, heat rushing up my cheeks. My silence must have alerted her that something was wrong. Her eyes rose to my face and when she saw me looking at her, she blushed and her eyes darted away. She spun around and busied herself with checking her list.
I swallowed and got on with my demonstration. When I turned to Jasmine the second time, her eyes were on the guests. I breathed a sigh of relief.
The guests went off to get changed and I approached Jasmine, keeping my wetsuit zipped up tight.
“That seemed to go well,” Jasmine said.
“No one’s called for help yet so that’s a good sign.”
She nodded. “Your demonstration was good. Very thorough.”
“You can give it a go next time.”
“No thanks. I wouldn’t feel comfortable parading myself like that. I don’t have a body like yours.” She blushed so deeply that if I’d touched her cheek, I’d probably burn my hand.
If she touched mine, she would feel the heat from my anger. I clenched my jaw. The word parading cut deep. “I don’t do it to show off.”
“I didn’t mean that you do. I’m sorry.” She sounded genuine, but she was the one who’d implied it. If she didn’t mean it, then why did she say it?
Audrey had accused me of the same thing. Like I wanted the attention, when in fact I wanted the opposite. My father always wanted attention. I learned when I was young it was better to give it to him than draw it to myself.
I nodded and walked away.
She grabbed my arm. “I’m sorry, Ethan. My words were completely inappropriate.”
I faced her but didn’t make eye contact. “It’s easier to show than explain. And it means the guests won’t have to ask me for help.” I shrugged. “Students often asked me. Trying to flirt. It made me uncomfortable.”
“That was a smart way to combat the problem.” She was trying hard to redeem herself.
“I thought so.”
I walked back to the guests who were starting to emerge from the changing rooms. I needed to be far away from Jasmine at that moment. My stomach tightened every time I thought about what she’d said. Parading.
The way she’d compared my body to hers also stirred something inside me that shouldn’t have been stirred. I’d noticed more than once her body’s curves, her tanned legs and other things I shouldn’t have noticed. I’d had to hold my tongue when she’d said her body was nothing like mine. Because if I hadn’t, I would have told her that many a man would have enjoyed watching her put on a wetsuit. Including me.