I gave her a playful nudge. “I didn’t make it easy for you, did I?”
“You saved my life.”
“That’s a nice way of saying I nearly got you killed.”
“No, it means you’re a hero. You just don’t believe it, for some reason. I hope someday you will.”
She stood up and began removing her jacket.
“What are you doing that for?” I asked.
“I feel like I should pack.”
“It can wait,” I said. “Go have dinner with Melissa and Nicole.”
“It doesn’t feel right to just leave you here alone.”
“You don’t need to worry about me.”
Sarah protested awhile longer, but eventually I persuaded her that she needed the company of her friends. There was no rush now that we both understood what needed to happen. Before she left, she kissed me on the lips. I stood in the open door until her little white Subaru disappeared through the trees.
It was a glorious afternoon. The river was high in the tidal marsh, and I could hear the sound of rushing water through the budding alders and the leafing poplars. The beautiful liquid song of a brown creeper carried down to me from one of the pines.
I closed the door, went into the kitchen, and took a jelly glass from the cupboard. I filled it halfway full of whiskey, then added a splash more. Outside, the tide was rising, and a sea breeze drifted in through the open window. The late-afternoon sun caught the amber light of the whiskey as I raised the glass. I saw my beautiful marsh refracted through the tawny color of the alcohol before I dumped it down the drain.
