“Liar,” he says, his eyes shining with laughter.
He looks so relaxed and happy, I’m suddenly desperate to convince him. “Fishing, then. You could get a little wooden boat and go out on days when the water is calm.”
“Fishing, hey?” Isaac tilts his head as he considers it. “I could bring a cooler of beers and stumble home with our supper.”
The image makes me feel almost giddy. “If we could live here, I’d even gut and clean the fish while you shower.”
Isaac lets out a loud laugh. “You really are full of shit today.”
“Am not. I just love it herethat much.”
Looking at me from under his eyebrows, he says, “So much that you’d be willing to gut a fish? With a knife? Your delicate writer’s hands getting all bloody as you reach in and pull out—”
Holding up one hand, I stop him. “Okay, okay. To be completely honest, I may have been too hasty with that offer,” I say, my mouth twisting to one side. “But if it’s a deal-breaker, I’m willing to let youthinkI’ll do it.”
It takes Isaac half a second to sort out what I’ve actually said and his chest starts to shake with laughter. I join in, hope rising as we revel in our amusement.
When the moment passes, he nods once. “Okay, deal. In twelve years, we’ll find a place here.”
“Really?” I ask, tingling with delight all the way through to my bones.
“Really.”
Reaching up, I pull his head closer, furiously planting kisses on his cheek while the orchestra swells to a joyful crescendo. When I let him go, I turn up the music and lean my head against the seatback, utterly content and already dreaming of our new life as I gaze out at the sailboats in the distance.
“Make sure you don’t forget, okay?”
“What?” I ask, sitting up and turning to him.
He turns to me with an expression so piercing, it wipes the smile off my face. Letting go of the wheel, he swivels his body to face me. “You need to remember this when you wake up.”
“What are you doing?” I ask, glancing from him to the approaching curve in the road. My heart speeds up, outpacing the racing bows of the sinister violins. “Isaac, you’re driving!”
He takes no notice, reaching for me instead of the wheel. I push his hands away, furious that he’s risking our lives. “Stop it. This isn’t funny.”
“It’s fine, this is more important.”
The curve is coming fast. Beyond it is a steep drop. I choke out a sob as my entire body freezes solid. But Isaac is stupidly calm. He leans toward me and takes my cheeks in both hands, turning my face to his. “Listen to me, Abby. This is where you belong.”
The clanging of a garbage truck in the alley below wakes me. My heart pounds and I bolt up, panting and trying to slow my breath. When I open my eyes, the sun disappears, replaced by a dark gray winter morning. “It’s okay, it’s okay,” I whisper, clutching for the comfort of my duvet.Thisis real. That wasn’t.
The dream fades quickly, but the unsettled feeling lingers. Reaching for Walt, I pull him onto my lap and run my hands down the length of his body. I had the answer. I know I did. But to what? After another few moments, I accept that whatever brilliant revelation I thought I had is gone forever. “I’m sure it was just nonsense anyway, right?” I say, sliding Walt back over onto Isaac’s pillow.
He answers by opening one eye for a second, then curling himself into a tight ball.
“Exactly. We have more important things to worry about than some stupid nightmare. In a matter of weeks, we’re going to be homeless.” My gut hardens at the thought, and I throw off my covers and get up. As I pad across the cold hardwood to the en suite, my brain still wrestles to remember where I was before I woke up, while my raw nerves fight to forget.
I splash some warm water on my face, and as soon as my palms touch my cheeks, my mind flashes to Isaac holding my face and his earnest eyes pleading with me to understand. Suddenly, it comes to me.This is where you belong.
Not bothering to dry my skin, I hurry back to my bed where my laptop waits on the night table. “I figured it out, Mr. Whitman. The perfect place for us to live. It’s cheap and safe and lovely, and it’ll be just like Isaac is there with us because we were going to move there anyway.”
Walt lifts his head as though intrigued, and I give him a quick scratch behind his ears. “And best of all, nobody will bother us there.”
Chapter Four
Story of my life. I always get the fuzzy end of the lollipop.
~Marilyn Monroe as Sugar Kane Kowalczyk,Some Like it Hot
