Page 17

She’s eating at the bar. And so is the guy she’s with. He takes a piece of food off the plate they’re sharing, and every instinct has me wanting to stride over and push him away. They both break out in laughter. I can’t hear it because I’m too far away, but I can see their bodies shaking jubilantly. And then… then he touches her shoulder and my blood boils.
It’s a jealousy I’ve never felt in my entire life. Not even when men used to talk to Stella when we were married. I’ve never felt a need to punch a man in the face more than I do at this very moment.
Every laugh they share is a knife to my heart. Every smile, a bullet to my soul.
For sixteen months I haven’t had to deal with this. Every encounter we’ve had was at the hotel in New York City or at Montana Manor in Calloway Creek. I’ve never had an occasion to see her out and about flirting with other men.
She knew I was coming, yet she’s out with this guy. Perhaps even on a date. With a much younger man than me. Maybe the sex videos were too much. A bridge too far. Or maybe this is just what she does when we’re not together.
No matter how much it hurts to watch, I can’t bring myself to turn away.
Bug finally notices where I’m staring. “Oh, great, it’s Hannah Montana.”
“Would you stop calling her that?”
Ever since the two of them met in Calloway Creek the Christmas before last, Bug hasn’t been silent about her aversion to Allie. She calls her Hannah Montana as a dig at our age difference.
“Allie then.” Her eyes roll defiantly. “And wow, that guy she’s with is hot.”
It’s now when I break my gaze and look back at my daughter. “Hot? I thought you weren’t into guys yet.”
“I’m not. That doesn’t mean I don’t know a hot guy from a dud.” She studies Allie. “They look good together, don’t you think? He even looks younger than she is.” She smiles and says a little louder. “You go, girl.”
“What’s gotten into you? I thought you hated her.”
She shrugs. “Maybe it’s the salty air. I just think she looks happy with him. Don’t you think she looks happy?”
I don’t answer. Instead, I eat another fritter, watching Allie flirt with my new enemy.
Since the day we met, I’ve felt connected to her on some surreal level. As if we were destined to be together. But for months now, I’ve waited and wondered. When will the day come when she doesn’t meet me in the city because she’s met someone new? In the back of my mind, I’ve wondered if maybe I’m a placeholder. The older guy she’s having fun with until she meets Mr. Right. The good-time guy she passes time with while she’s waiting for the one she really wants.
Fuck. I eat my entire dinner wondering if the three days I’ll be here will be pure hell instead of the heaven I was anticipating.
Then Allie sees me. She smiles and bites her lower lip. But then she looks at Bug and her demeanor changes. It’s only obvious to me because I know every nuance of her face. Her body. Her smile. And that smile fades ever-so-slightly.
She picks her phone up off the counter. Seconds later, I get a text.
Allie: Welcome to Antigua!
How can she be so blasé? She’s eating, giggling, and flirting with another man.
I do something totally juvenile and don’t text back. I just lift my chin and order another drink. But then I get another text.
Allie: Bungalow 4. West end of the property. You know, if you can sneak away.
I don’t know whether to be elated or pissed that she’s expecting sex with me after being on a date with the baby-faced moron. But I’m not about to be a doormat. And I damn well don’t want to share her with anyone. Which means I have no choice but to back away.
I shake my head, knowing tonight will consist of a few more drinks and me licking my wounds like a lame puppy.
It’s the last straw when the guy leans in and kisses her cheek. He gets up to, I don’t know, take a piss or something, and Allie looks back over. I can’t hide my disgust. She narrows her eyes. Then she widens them as she looks from me to the guy walking away. Her head shakes from side to side, almost violently. She picks her phone back up.
My phone vibrates a few seconds later.
Allie: Asher, that was my cousin, Storm Calloway.
I’ve been on this earth for forty years, yet I’ve never been more fucking relieved than I am in this moment. All the tension in my body fades as I laugh at myself and how horribly I misread the situation. Allie was eating and laughing with her cousin. Not a random man at a tropical resort.
When I look up and we lock eyes, she smiles and laughs at my visible one-eighty. I pinch the bridge of my nose over my adolescent reaction.