“You don’t have to do this,” I whisper into the dark of the garage.
He cocks his head again, scrutinizing me. “Do what?”
I make a helpless gesture towards the books. “I’m an easy thing.”
Colby grunts in annoyed frustration. “We talked about this already. I thought we were on the same page.”
“Well, even if you were my real husband, I’d say the same thing.”
“And if you were my real husband, I’d buy you whatever your heart desired so that you always knew you were loved.”
I try to hold back my visible flinch. It’s a lovely sentiment but one I don’t need. We’ve already had an argument about this, so I hold my tongue. I follow Colby into the house and into the living room where he lays out the books on the coffee table.
“What will you read first?” he asks me eagerly.
I point at the fantasy novel that’s about eight hundred pages thick. “Probably that one.”
“Alright. Want to head out to the beach?”
“One thing first.”
The copy ofWind in the Willowsreally is beautiful. I position it on the table so it’s alone and snap a quick photo.
thinking of you mama
Mama
love you my sweet boy
where are you this week?
Florida. I’m playing boyfriends.
Mama
be safe.
always! love you!
Mama
love you too
I smiledown at my phone for a moment, then glance up to find Colby watching me.
“Beach time?”
“Yeah,” Colby replies softly.
We change into our swimsuits and I follow along behind Colby out to the private beach. He lays out a large beach towel that’ll fit both of us.
After getting comfortable on my stomach, I open the book up to start reading. Colby lies down beside me, sunglasses over his eyes, and happily stares up at the sky. I try to read, I really do, but I can’t concentrate with Colby beside me. Not with allthe thoughts running through my brain. I keep trying to read for almost thirty minutes but give up with a frustrated huff.
“Not good?” Colby asks, head angled my way.
“I got three pages in the past thirty minutes.”
“So … that’s bad, right?”
