“Why did you get married?”
“Well…” I concentrated on covering the paint samples for a minute. “I think because I watched how happy and in love Nason and Miranda were, and I wanted that. I wanted to be included in date things. Being a third wheel is fun and all, but if I had a partner, then we could do couple-things together. Nason and Miranda were already married when he introduced me to Denise in college, and I think I kind of pushed the idea. Neither of us was ready, nor were we right for each other. She moved to Kala with us, but left shortly after.”
I concentrate on painting for a while.
“Do you regret it? Marrying her? Divorcing her?”
“No. There were times right after she left when I wondered if I should have chased her. If I’d have made more of an effort toshow her that I wanted her here, with me. Maybe we could have made it work.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No. I looked at Nason and Miranda and knew that’s not what we were. We would never share that kind of love because we weren’t in love. We tried this experiment, and it didn’t work.”
“I’m sorry.”
I glance at Lie. He’s watching me, leaning over the top of the ladder. His eyebrows are knit together and he looks sad.
I shake my head. “Don’t be. We got married for the wrong reasons. We divorced for the right reasons.”
“Was it because she thought mustard yellow belonged on all the living room walls?” Lie muses.
I laugh. “She was following the trend. We moved in and painted all the rooms. Redid the floors. Remodeled the kitchen and bathroom entirely.”
“I’m really impressed that you managed to get a house beside Dad,” Lie says. “Especially in the last few years, I’ve seen how scarce property is. How did you manage that?”
Chuckling, I shake my head. “Luck. When we moved to Kala, we moved into your house—all five of us. Conveniently, it had three bedrooms, which was perfect. It was an absolute miracle that the house next door went up for sale three months later. Denise and I were looking at one on Keone Reef, since that’s where all the houses were open at the time. We fought for this house. It came down to Nason talking to the sellers—your neighbors who absolutely adored you—and telling them how important it was for your little family that we lived next door. I probably had the lowest bid on the house, because Denise and I were young and had entry-level positions, but they chose us.”
“I can’t imagine growing up without you next door,” Lie says. “I feel like my entire childhood would be different.”
“I can’t tell you how often I think about how fortunate we were that they were good people and chose the low bid to keep two young families together.”
“The world needs more people like that.”
“Absolutely.”
“Does this mean you’re going to paint all the rooms?”
I nod absently. “A few at a time. I figured the living room is the most offensive and the spare room has the least amount of furniture.”
Lie laughs. “I like that reasoning.”
Have I ever noticed how cute his laughter is? I glance at him over my shoulder. Lie is straddling the top of the ladder, sitting. His body is stretched so he can expertly follow the line of the ceiling. His tee raises, showing me the narrow curve of his waist.
“I only remember you’ve had one boyfriend after Denise,” Lie says. “Or am I missing someone?”
I gather more paint on my roller and turn back to the wall. “Yes. Carter. We dated for four years, which was longer than my entire relationship with Denise.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Denise and I married within six months of meeting and divorced within three years of knowing each other.”
“Wow. Whirlwind.”
“Yep.”
“What happened with Carter?”
“He wanted to move in. I didn’t want to share my space. He broke up with me, thinking that I’d change my mind to get him back, but that backfired on him because it felt like a weight lifted from my shoulders when we split.”
