22. Twenty-Two #2
I considered it, then sighed. “We’re not thinking about it this weekend. We’re going to come up with a plan to tell them. This weekend, though, it’s just us and this weird place.” I looked around. “Is it true they have a croquet lawn?”
“Yes, and if you really want to have some fun, wait until after midnight and walk up there. You can play strip croquet if you’re really careful. The security guards don’t go in that area.”
“Strip croquet?” It nudged an old memory. “That’s in a movie, although I can’t remember which one.”
“Heathers,” she supplied. “Somebody told us about the scene — after we played the game for ourselves — and we watched the movie. It’s kind of mean and really dark. It’s funny, too.”
“Good tip.” I took a few steps from the swing. “That statue is obscene, by the way. I won’t tell him about the penises carved into the swing, but only because I would be more embarrassed to tell him than he would be to hear about it.”
“Should I take your disdain of this place to mean that you and Huxley won’t be settling here long term?”
That question threw me. “I don’t think we’re anywhere near making that decision,” I said after several beats. “I mean, we’ve barely started dating.”
“Take it from somebody who knows.” She stood with the baby on her hip. “Once you allow yourself to fall, it can happen fast. One second, you don’t think you need anybody, and the next, you can’t imagine your life without them.
“The good thing for you is that I don’t think that Huxley is overly attached to this place,” she continued. “He is, however, overly attached to you. You guys could pull a Bella and Nathan and settle downtown. I can see you being happy there.”
I made a sputtering noise that almost made it sound as if I were choking. “We’re nowhere near that point yet.”
“Never say never.” She started toward her cart. “If Huxley does decide to sell, tell him to talk to me first. I might want to buy the property back.”
I was shocked. “But … what about Brody? I thought you guys preferred his house.”
“We do.” She was rueful. “I just can’t let the HOA win.”
Somebody was going to have to take this decision out of her hands. That was also a problem for the future, though. “I’ll make sure he knows.”
“That’s all I ask.”
HUXLEY WAS UP WHEN I GOT back to the house.
I told him about Bree’s visit, leaving out some of the details just to make things easier.
Once he showered, he took me to The Deck at Franklin Creek, which was a huge two-story building with a breathtaking golf course view.
I didn’t get living on a golf course — to me, that sounded like no fun at all — but if I was going to live on a golf course, this wasn’t a bad one.
Still, the community was bougie. It didn’t seem to fit Huxley’s vibe.
“Did you just buy here because you happened to find out that Bree was selling?” I asked out of the blue.
Huxley slid his eyes to me. “Yeah.” He shrugged. “Why?”
“I don’t know.” I looked around again. There were a lot of white polo shirts and dresses. Nobody was wearing knit leggings, a true sign of comfort. Nobody was wearing Crocs either. I happened to love Crocs. “You just don’t seem to fit in here.”
“No?” He leaned back in his chair. Before we’d parked his cart — he’d promised to let me drive it for the tour later — he’d commented that this was his first time eating at this particular restaurant.
When I’d asked how many restaurants he’d been to, he said two.
That meant that he’d hardly spent any time here since he’d moved in, which was weeks ago.
That didn’t suggest he was getting comfortable in his new environment.
“Where do you think I would fit in?” he asked when I continued studying the other people eating breakfast.
I shrugged. “You have a pretty cool vibe, despite dating a geek,” I replied.
He smirked.
“Maybe downtown,” I added. “I mean, maybe not. It’s your choice. Your house is great.”
He chuckled at my obvious panic. “I like my house,” he explained. “I don’t love it, though. The truth is, I have never loved a house since the one we shared with Mick.” This time, he didn’t apologize for saying the name.
“My mother married so many people and moved me to so many houses that I learned never to get attached to the houses,” he explained. “I didn’t realize I was subconsciously doing the same thing as an adult until I came here and started thinking about Mick again.”
My mouth ran dry. “I don’t … I …” What was I supposed to say here?”
“It’s not your fault, Wylie,” he assured me. “You’re allowed to love him.”
I appreciated the sentiment, but that wasn’t what I was worried about. “You always said you hated him,” I supplied. “Back then, I mean. You said all the time that you hated him.”
“I know, but I’ve had time to reflect on that too, and I know I didn’t hate him. He was the only one who ever gave me rules. I respected him, and I loved him. Losing him the way I did …”
My stomach hollowed out as I lost my appetite. “I’m sorry.”
“Wylie, don’t.” He shook his head. “None of this is on you. It’s just something I’m realizing about myself. I didn’t buy my house to be a home. I bought it knowing I would leave again someday because you’re right. I don’t see myself living here long term.”
That made me both happy and sad. Happy because that meant we could get a house together one day that wasn’t on this island. It wasn’t out of the question. Sad because he’d never had the chance to be settled as a kid. It was unfair.
“Let’s not talk about anything deep this weekend, huh?” I suggested. “Let’s just have fun.”
He beamed at me. “I think that sounds like a great idea.”
“Cool.” I thought about what Bree had told me. “What are your feelings on strip croquet?”
His eyebrows moved toward his hairline. “What now?”
I grinned. “It’s just a suggestion, but Bree told me about a game she likes to play with Brody. I think it sounds fun.”
“There’s no way you’re going to risk getting naked in a spot where other people can see you.”
“Do you want to bet?”
He leaned forward, his eyes never leaving mine. “You’re on.”
I took his hand to shake it, but he tugged me so our lips met halfway over the table.
“The big kids seal it with a kiss,” he whispered.
I was suddenly breathless, again. He always did that to me. “Good to know.”