I abandoned myself to pleasure. Then he turned me around. I opened my eyes, and he was there. Pure, ferocious desire overtook me. The warmth of him. Fire.
My hot Trey, I thought with a smile.
We made love under the water. When it was done, we held each other. Fragile. Invincible. Two hearts together as one.
We packed our bags and took them out to the car. Then we cleaned up inside and turned off the gas and the breaker box. The house was silent, cold, and neat, and looked as if nobody had been there at all.
I felt as if there was a stone in my chest as I heard the lock click and Trey took out the key.
We held hands as we walked to the beach toward Adele’s house. I’ve never liked goodbyes, and that one was going to make me sad indeed. I’d admired her since I was little, and now I adored her as a woman, a real person.
The blue house sat perched like a tiny lighthouse on the cliff. A few minutes after taking the path, we had reached the top. Sid saw us from yards away and raised a hand in greeting.
“What a surprise,” he said.
“We came to say goodbye,” I replied.
“Well, I’m sad to see you go.”
Adele came out with a smile on her face, wiping her hands off with a rag as we approached. She hugged me tight.
“You look gorgeous.”
“It must be the sun. I’ve gotten a little bit of a tan.”
“It has a magic effect on people here on this island.”
She was right, I thought. After standing back to look at me a moment, she turned to Trey with a strange grin on her face, as though she knew something I didn’t.
“We’re going,” I said, unable to hide my sorrow.
“Oh, honey, you say that like you were telling us goodbye forever. Listen, now. You can think of this as your new home, and I hope you’ll come visit as often as you wish. You’ll always be welcome.”
I couldn’t help but feel moved. I hugged her again, catching her off guard and making her stumble, and we both laughed until we had tears in the corner of our eyes. I don’t know why, but I seemed to be special to her, too.
“Come, I have something I want to give you.”
She guided me to her workshop and opened a drawer in a white cupboard, taking out a cardboard box that was tied with a lavender ribbon. She handed it to me with outstretched arms.
“Don’t open it until you’re gone.”
“What is it?”
“A surprise.”
I nodded. “I’ve got something for you, too.” I reached into my pants pocket and pulled out the piece of red glass I’d found just after arriving on the island. “I want you to have this.”
“Harper, it’s yours. I can’t accept that. If you knew how rare they were…”
“I do know, that’s why I want you to have it. I’m sure you’ll do something beautiful with it.”
She looked at me, and then at the carmine tear in the palm of my hand before grabbing it and squeezing it.
“Thank you.”
“Adele, I’m going to miss you. You…you’ve helped me in ways you can’t even imagine.”
“You made your decision, didn’t you?”
