Paisley blinks in surprise. She stays silent, waiting for me to continue.
“I know you wouldn’t think that considering how much time I spend around books. I worked really hard to overcome it.” I look out at the dark water, easily seeing my dad’s face, feel his presence as he stood over me at my desk. “Overcoming it was the easy part. It was the time leading up to the diagnosis that was painful. It was caught a little late, in the second grade. I’d listen to the people around me and memorize what they were saying about a book. I came up with ways to work around the fact that when I looked at a word, the letters mixed themselves up. But then it started to show up in math, because we had word problems. My grades were really bad, and I remember the way my dad stood over me when I wasdoing homework. He’d watch me attempt the problems, and it made everything worse.” In my mind’s eye I see my small fingers trembling with a yellow pencil in my grip. “He was cruel. He’d ask me if I was an idiot. If I was blind. He once asked my mom why she gave him a son who was stupid.”
Paisley gasps, lifting a palm to cover her mouth.
“I know. It’s terrible. What he said. How he acted. He left soon after that. I felt like it was my fault, but my mom said he was doing us all a favor. Anyway, she’s the real champion in this sad story. She went through the process of getting me an IEP. She got me accepted at a school specifically for dyslexia. It was expensive though, and even with help from the state it was nearly impossible to pay the remaining portion of the tuition. She did it, though. I don’t know how. When I think of what she must’ve went without”—stinging starts in the backs of my eyes—“knowing how she sacrificed? It makes me want to find my father and look him in his eyes and tell him he didn’t win. He’s the loser in all this.”
“He is,” Paisley insists passionately.
“I know.”
“Have you heard from him since he left?”
“Here and there. My mom had sole custody. He paid child support until we turned eighteen.”
“When was the last time you saw him?”
“I ran into him at a high-end car show. He was there with a friend. A woman.” I see him easily now, what he looked like that day. The way the event brochure stuck out of his back pocket, curved inward by his hand before he tucked it away. I’d known it was him immediately, evenfrom the back. “He looked unhappy, and all I could think was that he’d done it for nothing. What was the point of him running out on his family if he wasn’t even going to be happy?”
“Did you speak to him?”
“No. He looked up and saw me. He nodded at me.” I pull the cork from the wine and take a drink from the bottle. “He justnodded.”
To this day, I cannot decide if I’m happy he left me alone, or horrified.
“What the hell is that?” Paisley says, voice raised. “If I thought I was invested in marketing you before? Now I’m doubling down. We’re going to make you a published author, Klein.” She stabs at the ground with a pointed finger. “And I’m going to find your dad’s address, and I’m going to send him a copy of your first book. With a photo of my middle finger.”
I can’t help but smile at her stern eyebrows, her ardent expression. “It’s sweet the way you’re defending me.”
“Nobody gets to treat you that way, Klein. Nobody. And I’ll gladly find your father and tell him he missed out.”
The half-moon sends an arc of light on Paisley’s face. Her eyes steel like a warrior, a woman with internal fortitude and strength, ready to engage in battle. I reach for her, caging her in my arms. She holds onto me, trusting me as I guide her back onto the blanket. Leaning on one forearm, I gaze down at her, drinking in the beauty in her face and in her soul.
“I like the way you want to stick up for me.”
She frowns. “I don’t like the idea of someone being unkind to you, even if it was almost twenty years ago.”
“I didn’t care for how your dad belittled your job tonight. Among other things.”
She nods, and her hair settles on the blanket. “I could see how difficult it was for you to stop yourself from saying something.”
“You stomped on my foot just as I was about to lose it.” Using a fingertip, I brush aside a piece of hair from her forehead. “You did a good job holding your own.”
“It was the first time I stood up to him like that.” Her eyes search my face. “It felt so damn good.”
“I’ll bet.”
Paisley’s head turns, her gaze finding the ocean. The waves lap at the shore, the most soothing of sounds. She’s quiet for a full minute before she says, “How do you feel about kiteboarding tomorrow morning?”
“Kiteboarding?”
“A big kite pulls you over the water while you ride on a board.”
“Hmm.” I don’t love the idea of not knowing what’s underneath me, but I’m fast becoming addicted to Paisley’s smile when she introduces me to another of her beloved island activities. “I’ll do it,” I confirm.
“Klein?”
“Yeah?”
