Page 67 of Good Dirt

Robert

M ais oui, Robert thinks as he turns and walks away from the cottage where Ebby is staying. He knew better than to expect anything else. He has been very foolish about Ebby.

This village has too many expats and tourists. People who come for a while, then go. Even the foreigners who own property here tend to call some other place home. The way things work is this: If you find someone who appeals to you, you don’t waste any time. You embrace the opportunity. But then what? What if you want to keep seeing someone? What if you don’t want them to leave? And how is it possible that he feels this way about Ebby after so little time?

Robert isn’t an adolescent. Robert is thirty-two years old. And already a widower. When his wife grew sicker, she made him promise not to close off his heart. But it did not feel as though there could be anyone else for him. Still, after a while, the loneliness came to be too much. It felt good to be around people with open smiles and energy. It felt nice to be held by someone, however fleeting the experience.

Robert has known from the start that Ebby would be here for only three months. But then she talked about, maybe, staying on, and for one entire day, Robert had begun to imagine it. He hadn’t told Ebby about his wife, but Ebby had a way of listening closely when he spoke that left him feeling he could do so. He was thinking to suggest a day trip together. Until he walked by Ebby’s cottage to pick her up for their evening out and saw her standing in the kitchen with a man. A man who clearly knew her very well. And Robert is surprised by how bad that feels. He hasn’t felt this strong a pull toward a woman since his wife.