I laughed. “You knew?”
He nodded. “Barbara, the thought of seeing your pretty smile again was the only thing in the world that could make me actually sign up to be a liaison.” He paused. “All these years, we weren’t that far apart, you know. I’ve spent the last twenty-five years, since my wife died, just up the road in New Bern.”
“Oh, Miles,” I said, truly sorry for him. “Twenty-five years alone?”
He nodded. I led him out to the tiny screened-in back porch where the day was beginning to warm. We each sat in one of the standard issue plastic rocking chairs that I would soon be replacing.
“What about you? How long has Reid been gone?”
“Fourteen months,” I whispered. Then I looked up at him and said what I had never revealed to anyone else. “After he died beside me in bed, my house terrified me. I didn’t know how I was ever going to be able to live there again without being afraid.”
He nodded. “I’ve lived with Myra’s ghost for all these years. She follows me wherever I go.”
“What happened?” I whispered.
He looked down at his feet, ashamed. “Suicide,” he said quietly. Then he looked back over at me, his eyes full of pain. “Barbara, I didn’t even know anything was wrong. I’ve been living with the guilt a long time.”
I took his hand and looked out at the lagoon, rocking slightly.It was almost as if we were back on that riverbank at camp all those years ago.
Sitting on the back porch of my new life, holding the hand of a man who wasn’t new to me at all, I realized that, even after all these years, there was still something there. I was too old to play games, too old not to take a second chance if I had one available to me. I turned toward Miles and smiled. He smiled back. “Oh, Barbara.”
That was all it took for me to know that he felt exactly the same.
JULIAA Part of the Sky
It took a day or two for it to sink in: Hayes was gone. Conner, who had been my brief distraction, wasn’t coming back. And I had to fly home to reality, face the music.
I tossed and turned that night, filled with dread. My dream of being an architect was gone. I had no job, little money, and plenty of bills. What was I going to do?
As the sun began to stream through the windows, I started to feel the slightest bit better. I needed a plan. That was all.
I glanced at the alarm clock to see that it was nearly seven. I felt like I could sleep all day or, at the very least, lie in bed all day and cry. But a guided hike was leaving at eight, and even though it was going to take all the effort in my body to get up, put on a brave face, and view the world through this new Hayes-free lens, I was going to go.
I rubbed on my sunscreen, assessing my tan in the mirror of the bathroom, which was made entirely of teak and felt more appropriatefor a yacht than a resort, slipped on a pair of shorts and a jogging top and grabbed a water bottle, a hat, and sunglasses. The sun was low and lovely, as if it was lazily making its way out of bed too. Only a handful of people stood at the base of the mountain trail when I got there. Usually, I would have made small talk, but this morning I just couldn’t.
“Jules!” Trav exclaimed when he saw me. “I’ve missed you at paddleboard yoga!”
“Yes, well, I’ve missed you too. My life crisis got in the way.”
He made a terrified face, and we both laughed.
“Last hike,” I said sadly.
“Of your whole life?” he asked sarcastically.
I smirked at him. “Ha-ha. I have to go home tomorrow—and I’m dreading it.”
“You should just stay,” he said.
I laughed, thinking that the balance in my bank account was roughly the same as one night in this pricey resort. “I wish. I have had a recent reversal of fortune in the financial department.”
“Reversal of fortune. How very Shakespearean of you.” He waved at our small group. “We’re heading up the trail in three minutes! Make sure you have water and sunscreen, please.” Then he turned back to me. “Is this because of the calling off the wedding thing?”
I shrugged. “Well, yeah. That and the dropping out of architecture school thing. Which I’m still paying for, by the way.”
Trav winced, rubbing his chin. “Tell you what. I’m short a yoga teacher the next two weeks. I can’t pay you, but I can house you with us and get you free meals if you could use a couple more weeks to languish in your existential crisis. Would that help you out?”
I gasped, thinking it over quickly. I had enough in my bank account to cover my student loans and health insurance for a little while. It would be tight, but I could stay here two more weeks, soak up paradise, and figure out my next steps in the meantime. And, if I stayed, there was always the chance I might bump into Conner. After island hopping with his friends and parents, would he come back here looking for me?
