Right now, watching him absorb the uniqueness of the island as we hurtle over the path, it would be difficult to believe he’s the same person who had a momentary freak-out on the ferry.
The same could be said of me, too. Chapped lips and cheeks, snarled hair, and happy as can be, nobody would know I’d had to pull the rental car over and have my own meltdown earlier today.
“Here we are,” Grandma announces, driving down the gravel driveway lined in white rocks.
It’s the same home I’ve been coming to since I canremember. The place where I had my first taste of watermelon, where I missed a bottom step on the outdoor stairs and earned the small scar under my chin. My first kiss was on the beach, with a boy who was here for the summer. I passed my driver’s license exam with flying colors because I’d been driving a golf cart for years by then.
Klein carries my overstuffed suitcase up the stairs like it’s made of nothing more than feathers. Grandma leads us into the back entrance, straight into the dining room and adjoined kitchen.
Nothing about this place has changed, and I appreciate that more than my grandmother can know. She could easily update the kitchen, install white cabinets and marble countertops, replace the can lights with rattan pendant lights.
It brings me such joy to know she hasn’t. I do not want fancy new floors. I want wood marked by scooters and roller skates in the house. I want scratchy sisal rugs under bare feet and sand no matter how meticulously we vacuum.
“Your home is beautiful,” Klein comments. It’s not a compliment given because he feels he is supposed to. There is a touch of wonderment in his voice, an undertone of gratitude at being here.
A small thought floats across my mind, opaque and shiny like a bubble.I’m genuinely happy to be here with Klein.
And then, well, there’s what he said to me earlier in the car.I intend to make our first good kiss so unbelievably good, you’ll have trouble remembering we ever had a bad one.
That line has played on repeat in my mind for hours. When does he plan on doing such a thing? How good are we talking?
Grandma accepts Klein’s compliment, showing him around the kitchen. She opens up drawers and cabinets, getting him acquainted with where things are, and showing him how to use the coffee maker.
“I’ll need to know that,” Klein grins teasingly at me. “Paisley’s underpants are in a twist until she is properly caffeinated in the morning.”
I playfully roll my eyes and look away. Grandma swings open the pantry door and steps inside, rummaging through boxes.
Klein comes closer, and I whisper, “Did you just say underpants?”
“Better than saying‘panties’to your grandma.”
“Call them whatever you want. She wears thongs.”
Klein tries not to make a face, but fails.
“Kidding,” I say, to put him out of his misery. “She puts the granny in?—”
Klein’s palm shoots into the air. “Enough.”
Grandma steps out of the pantry. “It’s just the three of us here tonight. Everyone else arrives tomorrow, so we better soak up the peace and quiet while we can.” She sets a few items down on the counter. “You two go to your room and get cleaned up while I start dinner.”
Yourroom?
I shake my head, certain I’ve heard her wrong. “I’m staying in my usual room.” I thumb at Klein’s chest. “Where do you want Klein?”
“Arrangements are different this time. Starting tomorrow, this house will be filled to the brim with people for the next week. Your brother and cousins, and Sienna because she’s doing the old-fashioned thing and not staying with Shane until the wedding. I’m putting you and Klein in the second main bedroom.”
Panic sits at the base of my throat. “But that’s where Mom stays.”
Grandma scrunches her nose. “Not with that boyfriend of hers. I told her to rent her own place.” She throws up her hands. “Why she thinks I want all those details is beyond me.”
“I don’t blame you for that,” I grimace. “The last time we spoke, I hung up wishing for the conversation to have been a dream.”
“A nightmare,” Grandma corrects. “Anyway, you and Klein will share a room. And you can lose the shocked look. I’m sure you’ve already done the horizontal mambo. I’m old, but I’m not that old.”
She crosses her arms, eyebrows raised, daring me to contradict her.
I grab Klein’s arm and lightly shove him toward the exit on the left. “We’re going to get out of here before this conversation devolves any further.”
