Her upper body grew tired from the angle, so she popped up on her feet with no issue. Before she had a chance to tell Trevor not to stand, he had already splashed into the water. This time he kept hold of his paddle and managed to get himself up onto the board again.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got this.” He waved her ahead since she was already in the center of the Banana River and the current swept her away from the canal entrance ahead.
She managed to row until she reached the other side, hoping he was doing okay. Once across, she turned to find him standing and rowing like a pro. Well, maybe not in stance, but he was standing. He was adorable, the way he wobbled and wiggled to stay on the board and wouldn’t give up.
She waited for him at the entrance to the canal. Her heart fluttered with excitement. This was the spot where all the important things with her friends had happened when they were teenagers. They’d come here for book club, turned boy gossip, turned life-decision-making chats. She hadn’t been here for years, not since she’d taken her daughter out here for a picnic when her first boyfriend had dumped her.
The waves beat against the rocky shore on the exposed side of the island, but she settled into a sweet spot near the overhanging trees. He managed to reach her side, and they rafted up to each other, sitting at the overgrown entrance. “Okay, now you need to pinky swear that you’ll never tell anyone about this place. Not even Dustin. I might lose my friendship membership for even taking a guy here.” She held out her pinky, expecting him to look at her like she’d grown fins, but he locked his pinky with hers.
“I so do swear.”
She blinked at him as if that would help her see him better in an emotional way. “How’d you know how to do that?”
“Sisters. Lots of them. I was the only boy. Pinky swears were commonplace in my house.” He released her pinky but kept hold of her hand so they could remain together. “But I have a question for you.”
“What’s that?” she asked, noticing he’d put back on his serious expression.
“Do you really want to share this place with me? I know I said I wanted to see it, but if it’s important to you and you want to keep it to yourself, that’s okay.” His thumb grazed her knuckles, soothing her into a stupor for a moment.
“I want to share it. Don’t worry. No guilt here. As long as you never share it with anyone else, we’re good.” She tightened her grip so he couldn’t move away. It had been over thirty years since the girls had sworn not to share their hidden oasis with anyone else. Certainly there was a statute of limitations on that rule and it had expired long ago. “You know, if you want to talk about your ex-wife, I’m fine with that. I’m your friend, and I don’t want this to be a one-way thing. You have stuff to get through, too.”
“Listen, that marriage might have been to the wrong person, but—”
“But it still hurts when it breaks up,” she offered, keeping him from belittling his grief.
“To be honest, at this moment, the only thing I’m sad about is upsetting you yesterday.”
“I wasn’t mad at you.” She studied the way his hand felt around her fingers. The strength and tenderness all at once.
“What is it?” he asked in the softest of tones. “I can’t fix it if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”
She let out an uneasy chuckle. “You’re such a man. You can’t fix me like you fix a boat.”
“I can try. That’s why I was giving you space. I thought I’d made you uncomfortable yesterday.”
“Yesterday?” She rose a brow.
“Yeah, you know, when you caught me…showering.”
She laughed, this time with humor. “No. Well, yes, but not for the reason you think. I was uncomfortable because of the way I felt after seeing you. And then when you brought Houdini back to me, it was so kind and considerate. You’re the perfect package for more than friends, but I can’t go there. It wouldn’t be fair to you.”
“Because of my ex? Don’t think about her. I don’t anymore,” Trevor said with such ease, she believed him.
“No. Because of my husband.” She wet her lips, as if to prepare them so the words would flow without restraint. “Yesterday, I was going through his things. Everyone says I need to move on since it’s been three years, and then I met you. And this was the first time I ever thought perhaps I’d want to. But how do I forget a man I spent all those years with, the father of my child?”
“You don’t have to.” He squeezed her hand as if to make her hear his words. “I’m not going to pressure you to do that.”
“I know. That’s not the problem. You don’t make me feel like I want to run from you. It’s just that when you asked for those zip ties, I hit a wall head-on.”
“I should’ve never asked—”
“They’re only zip ties. It should’ve been no big deal, but it was. Those were Joe’s. How do I take something from the man of my past to give to a man of my future?” A realization rattled through her. It was never about the zip ties.
“I didn’t know. I’m sorry if I asked for something of Joe’s. I promise you that I don’t want to replace him.”
“You didn’t make me feel that way at all. It wasn’t you. It’s the guilt. Or the fact that I didn’t feel guilty, which made me feel even more guilt.” It was her turn to squeeze his hand. “Don’t you see? It wasn’t the zip ties I couldn’t
