“Oh, good god, no!”She laughed.“After living with them again for almost a year, I couldn’t wait to leave.”
“Don’t you get on?”Dan sat in the shallow water and stretched his hamstrings.
“We don’tnotget along,” Libby said, “but they’re hard work.”
“How come?”
“Well, for one, they’re so negative.Like, everything is conspiring against them.Politics, law enforcement, any establishment or figure of authority.Mother Nature.You name it, they’ve got a conspiracy theory for it.”
“Seriously?”This wasn’t what he’d been expecting at all, not when Libby appeared to be so grounded, practical, and so full of positive energy.
“They don’t believe in the moon landings,” she added, “and they literally think the Earth is flat.”
“No way.You’re winding me up.”
“I wish I was, but it’s true.It’s one of the reasons I became…”
“What?”
She shrugged.“Why I became who I am.”Smiling at her son, she placed another stone on their already crumbling tower and added, “I think our parents shape us, one way or another.I just hope I shape Karim in a good way.I’d hate to screw him up.”
“I can’t imagine that you will.You seem like a good mum.”
“Thanks.You really think so?”
“I do.”
Her smile turned up several notches of brightness, lighting up her whole face.Dan smiled back, and a glimmer of that first night when he’d arrived atAre Moanacame back to mind.Old Hehu had been right.Libby was very pretty.Why had she worn those over-the-top, glittery eyelashes on the flight?She didn’t need stuff like that, but before he could ask, she said, “I don’t mean to sound ungrateful to my parents.They took me in and gave me a place to stay when Elliot dumped me and I had to move out of his apartment.”
What?He’d made her move out when she was pregnant?
“Hey, don’t look at me like that, Cranky.I got the prize, remember?”Libby nodded toward Karim, who was now sitting between her legs and throwing his pebbles into the water.“I don’t want anything to do with anyone who rejects my child.”
There was a hint of bitterness there, quickly covered up with that dazzling smile and the obvious joy that lit her face up every time she looked at her son.
But what was it like to live such a nomadic lifestyle as a single parent?How did she support herself and Karim financially?Did her shitty ex pay toward Karim’s upbringing?Seeing as it didn’t sound like that turd was still involved in any way, the answer was probably no.
“So, you see, Cranky, to quote a very famous song, everybody hurts, sometimes.”Her tone was perky, all sunshine and rainbows and a hundred percent Libby Jones.“I hope you deal with your hurt like I dealt with mine.”
“By traveling the world?”
“By getting on with your life.By chasing your dreams.”
He snorted at that.“I’ve already chased my dreams.I became the fastest man in the world.”
“Then maybe it’s time you thought about what comes next.”
Aftertheirswim,Danvisited the island’s three shops and bought a few supplies for dinner while Libby stayed outside chatting with a couple of local women on mopeds.When he joined her again, Karim had fallen asleep in his stroller, which meant they had more freedom to explore on the way back to their hostel.
They visited the Christian church, its cool, echoey interior a welcome relief from the midafternoon heat outside.Then they bought tickets to the charity dinner dance thing that Andrea had told Libby about.
Later that evening, back at their hostel, Dan cooked a stir fry with the vegetables and rice he’d bought.Cooking helped his mind switch off, but it was hard to shake Libby’s words from earlier.
What comes next?
That question had been rattling in his head since he’d woken from his coma.
What was achangedformer athlete to do with the rest of his life?
