“The boys texted—on mom’s phone. Max says my turret was crooked, but otherwise, they gave it a thumbs-up.”
“What did they say about the moat?” Beckett says, leaning forward.
I can’t help but laugh. “They said it was lame.”
And just like that, whatever nerves I’d brought with me dissolve.
We talk about how the sunset, over the ocean, just hits differently.
About parasailing.
About how Max says he’ll try it when he’s older and Blakey insists he’ll “supervise” from the sand.
We talk about places we’ve been.
Our honeymoon in Hawaii.
Family trips, a few long weekends squeezed in over the years.
And places we haven’t been.
As we swap out salad plates for our entrees, both of us now on our second glass of wine, Beckett surprises me.
“I think I’d like to go to Ireland,” he says.
My fork is halfway to my mouth, but I pause. “Why Ireland?”
Beckett’s gaze catches on the pasta I’m rolling around the silver tines, and then moves to my mouth.
He shifts in his seat before answering.
“Why Ireland?” he repeats, then pauses, like he’s never actually said it out loud. “I don’t mean the cities. Not Dublin. I mean the wild parts. The cliffs. The wind. All that green.”
His voice softens, almost wistful.
“It seems simple. Stripped down. Like all that matters is whether you’ve got food, shelter, maybe a fire going. Maybe someone who wants to sit beside you.”
He glances at me. “No reason to pretend. No reason to put on a show.”
Who is this man?
“So, not Dubai?” He’d mentioned the modern city more than once. That he’d wanted to see the tallest building in the world. Experience places leaning into the most innovative technology.
He shrugs. There’s something quieter about him this week.
Less glitter. More grit.
This thing he’s going through—whatever it is—it’s changing him.
Or rather, it’schangedhim.
And I’d missed it somehow.
He glances up, catching me watching him. “What about you?”
My instinct is to say I’m happy at home. That until the boys are grown, I’m most comfortable where everything's predictable, normal. That the boys have their friends and school and routines…
But then I think about flying.
