“Yeah, maybe. We have always just clicked. She’s my favorite person. Besides you, of course.”
Mara rolled her eyes. “Right. So what’s the problem?”
I took a sip of water. My mouth had gone suddenly dry. “We’re just friends. And I’m not sure she’d want anything more.”
“Why?”
“I’m not exactly a grown up. She has two kids and a deadbeat ex-husband.”
“And you teach surf lessons to tourists.”
“And live in a one-room dwelling, as you so kindly pointed out. The choices I’ve made don’t make me an obvious choice for someone like her. She deserves this kind of life.” I gestured around the kitchen. “Instead, she’s facing a ten-thousand-dollar deductible for Madison’s surgery. She broke her arm in two places a couple days ago falling off the monkey bars.”
“Madison’s the little girl?”
“Yeah.” Just hearing her name made me smile. “She’s the cutest. Has a personality just like her mom.”
“So she’s a poor single mom who owns a small business, just like you.”
“That’s right. Only she didn’t make the choice to live a simple life like I did. She married the wrong guy. Had two kids. And now she’s all alone.”
“Oh, Grady.”
“She deserves better than me. Someone who can actually take care of her and her kids.”
Mara was quiet for a moment. “Does she know how you feel?”
“No.”
“Do you know how she feels?”
I thought about what Robbie had said. “We’ve never talked about it but I think—maybe—she might feel the same way. But it doesn’t matter. I have nothing to offer her.”
“Except yourself.”
“That’s not enough.”
“Grady.” Mara reached over and put her hand on my arm. “You’re enough. You’ve always been enough. You just don’t believe it.”
I looked away, throat tight.
“Tell me more about her,” Mara said. “What’s she like?”
Where did I even start? “She rides her bicycle all over town delivering her bouquets. She lives for tacos. Loves the beach.Picked up surfing faster than anyone I’ve ever given lessons to. And loves hanging out with her friends and the kids. She has all these cute vases she’s picked up from various places, and they’re always filled with whatever flowers she has left at the end of the day. She loves romance novels but also Mary Oliver poems. Her laugh is incredible. Reminds me of bubbles in a champagne glass. Oh, and she’s the greatest mother. Mama Bears and her have a lot in common. Robbie’s fourteen and brilliant. Loves documentaries about weird stuff. He’s awesome. The way his mind works. It’s something else. Like I said earlier, Madison is adorable like her mother. I’m crazy about that kid. She’s my Sweet Pea.”
Mara was smiling.
“What?” I asked.
“You’ve got it bad for all three of them.”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“And yet you’re telling me you have nothing to offer her.”
“I don’t. Not compared to what she needs. What she deserves.”
“What about what she wants?”
