“I don’t think I’ve ever seen it with the moon like this, Nate. You’re right—it’s incredible,” John says, bringing Maria in to cuddle against him.
“I didn’t love having to pick a place so quickly to move into last year… but I’m really grateful for this place.” He moves around the room until he’s standing near where I am.
He motions to a console table near me. There’s a beautiful oil painting of the sea hanging above it, and a vase filled with delicate glass flowers—murano Italian glass flowers from the ’70s. They’ve become trendy again recently.
“I didn’t get to keep much of anything in the divorce. This painting and the flowers were the first things I bought to make this house feel like a home and restart my life,” he says thoughtfully.
“That must’ve been hard,” I murmur.
He nods slowly. The room grows quieter for a moment, like everything is suspended in that admission. I know he shared earlier about his divorce, but I’m not sure how much we’ll dive into it now.
“It really was. I’m grateful to have this place. It feels like I’ve got nature on my doorstep without even having to leave my house.”
“Probably a lot of people’s dream,” I say. I imagine waking early just to catch the sunrise here.
“What about you? What would be your dream view?” he asks.
“I don’t know that I have one. The beach has always had my heart though.” I grin at him.
“Then this must be one of your favorites.” His gaze fixes on me.
My stomach flips—sharp and sudden, like I’ve missed a step on a staircase. Butterflies burst alive inside me. My body is doing things without my permission tonight, apparently.
“It really is,” I say, looking straight into his eyes.
We end up chatting a little more—basking in the moonlight glow and laughter between us—because there’s just a feeling of suspended possibility neither of us wants to let go of.
But it’s getting late, and I know Nate’s got to drive us all home.
“Nate, we don’t want to keep you up,” Maria says. “I know you have to drop us all off.”
I’m glad she spoke before I had to.
“I’ve had a great night with you guys. It’s just easy to talk for the whole night,” he replies.
I give the view one last lingering look. We all shift to grab our things and move toward the door. Nate grabs his keys, and we head to the elevator.
We head down to Nate’s car and climb in. I sit in the front this time, with John & Maria in the back since they’ll get dropped off first. Nate’s cologne subtly floats through as the breeze blows in the window and my breath catches a little.
Nate begins driving toward John and Maria’s place, the windows down just a crack to let the fresh salt air in.
We pull into the driveway, and they step out.
“Take care guys, it’s been a great night!” John says, and fixes his gaze on Nate—a silent language that I’m far from being fluent in.
Maria reaches over to kiss my cheek from the back.
“Lizzie, I’m really glad we got to spend so much time together today.”
“It was great to hang out with you, too!” My grin is wide. I’ve loved spending time with her. She’s a real sweetheart.
They shut the doors and head into the lobby of their apartment building. Once Nate sees that they’re safely in the lobby, he pulls away to drive.
I see a book by my feet, and reach to pick it up before asking anything.
“Oh, sorry. I forgot to remove that earlier.” He glances over at me.
This Present Darknessby Frank Peretti,the cover says.
