“How do you know when you’re over someone. Someone who’s gone?” I asked.
I took another drink of wine just to get the aftertaste out of my mouth.
“I don’t know,” said Grace. “I’ll let you know if it ever happens.”
Grace sat up straight against the bridge. Then suddenly she stood.
“Tess,” she said, “if you just want to go home without doing anything here, that’s fine. Just because you came here doesn’t mean you have to go through with something if you’re not feeling up to it anymore. It was brave enough just to do this.”
She looked me in the eye.
“But if you want my help, I’m happy to work with you. Your dad told me you weren’t too excited about us being together. That it felt like a betrayal. But you were my concern from the beginning. Ever since that day at the lake. And if there’s anything I can do to help you through this, I want you to let me know.”
She stood up and swayed in place. For a second, I thought she was going to tip over the rail and fall into the water below. I reached out and steadied her with a hand. Grace tried to take another pull from the wine bottle, but I held her arm.
“I need you to stop drinking,” I said.
“And why would I do that?” she said.
“So you can tell me more about those caves by the ocean.”
37
Daniel was awake when I found him in the hotel room. He was sitting on the double bed in a gray T-shirt and boxers. The curtains were pulled shut and the television was playing an Italian soap opera with no sound. His small duffel bag was packed and sitting on the luggage stand.
I stepped into the room, unsure of his mood, and sat down on the bed. The light of morning was just starting to peek around the curtains and Daniel’s face was softened by it. Still, his dark eyes were fastened on me.
“It’s all over,” he said. “Isn’t it?”
He licked his dry lips.
“No,” I said. “It’s not. Grace is here. We have an idea.”
Daniel said nothing for a moment. He shifted in the bed, smoothing down the sleeves of his T-shirt.
“I meant us,” he said.
He spoke the words quietly, just loud enough for me to hear.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I honestly can’t answer that right now. There’s a new plan, and we have to see it through.”
His hands would not stop smoothing down his sleeves. When I touched his arm, he flinched.
“I thought you were gone,” he said.
I opened my mouth to speak, but Daniel started again.
“I thought you went back to the States and left me here. I dragged us to this place, and I thought maybe you resented that. I had it all figured out. I was sure that’s what happened.”
“But it didn’t,” I said. “I’m here.”
“You’re here,” he said.
I looked him in the eyes.
“I don’t resent you. I had sex with you. Remember?”
“Yes.”
