I wanted to pretend that sentence was directed at someone else. But, alas, I’d know that voice anywhere. I turned to see Meredith and Alice, looking every bit the identical twins they were, arms crossed, glaring at me—identically.
“Girls, I’d like you to meet my friend Miles,” I said sheepishly. “Miles, these are my daughters, Meredith and Alice.”
“Twins,” he said, shaking their hands warmly. “How delightful.”
“How do you do?” Alice asked. Meredith smiled icily.
“You’re early,” I said dumbly, bracing myself for the smart response that might follow.
But Meredith only said, “We wanted to meet with the staff for a bit, but now that we’re all here, we might as well eat.”
“All of us?” Alice questioned.
“Well, we have a reservation for three,” Meredith said stonily.
I could see Miles’s face fall.
“I guess I could see if they could accommodate an extra,” Meredith said in a tone that dared Miles to take her up on that.
“No, no,” he said. “I would never impose on a mother-daughter dinner. I know how important those are.”
I’m sorry, I mouthed to him.
He smiled bravely. That was just like him, always trying to bolster my spirits even if it meant crushing his. We hadn’t discussed any of this yet—meeting the family, what we were. For heaven’s sake, we hadn’t even had a proper kiss. I was making too big a thing of all this in my mind. But as I walked to the edge of the large room, to our table overlooking the ocean, I glanced back at Miles. I saw his pain and—what’s more—his fear. Maybe I was jumping in too quickly; maybe I was diving in too deep. But when I saw his face, I realized I wasn’t the only one.
JULIA A Professional
I woke up to my phone beeping beside me and, as I sat up quickly, almost hit my head on the ceiling. It took me a second to come out of my dream （where I was rebuilding the Empire State Building） and back into the reality of being here, in the BVIs. What the guest rooms had in spades—elegance, light, air-conditioning—the screened bunkhouses did not. If I redesigned them, I would remove the faux ceilings and expose the wooden rafters, take down the outdoor awnings that blocked the light from coming in, and replace the old, torn screens. Easy, inexpensive fixes would make the whole place more appealing.
I looked down from my top bunk to see that Elise, who led “Sunrise Paddles,” was gone. But Jackie and Nina, who were on lunch and dinner service today, were still sleeping. I felt sorry for Elise, who had to get up before all of us. I think we had gone to bed around two after a night of tons of laughter… and even more rum. Although it might have been three. But whatever time it was, these girls were fun. The guys too. It wasn’t only the scenery that was pulling me out of my funk.
I lay back down on my mattress, which was roughly the thickness of a city phone book. I had to admit that, given my current conditions, I was partially glad I had only two more nights here. The resort was a place I never wanted to leave, but the cabins were far from idyllic.
What they lacked in amenities, though, they made up for in something the resort didn’t have: Wi-Fi. It was spotty and slow but it existed, hence my ability to send and receive text messages. Although I was usually grateful for this, it also meant I got messages I’d rather not see.
Hayes: Where the hell are you?
I sighed. Why did he care? I thought I had washed my hands of him when we said our last goodbyes. But, as his text indicated, if he wanted to know where I was, perhaps Hayes still had some hope. I thought about not responding but decided that was immature.
Still in the islands. Never return, remember?
For real? You’re staying there?
I looked down at the concrete floor below my bunk. Just a few more days.
Ah. Good luck with it, Jules. I just wanted to make sure you were okay since I hadn’t heard from you.
Was I okay? I was a little hungover. But otherwise, yup. I felt pretty okay.
Are you okay? I asked.
Sure. Just need to talk to you, but I know you don’t have service there. I’d rather it be in person, but if it can’t, call me when you can.
I sighed heavily again. Did he want me back? Had our breakup been less final on his end? Well, if that was the case, I’d deal with that when I left. For now, two more days in paradise. I sat up again, scrunching my neck so as not to hit the low ceiling. Well, okay… Paradise-ish.
I laughed as a text from Sarah came in. I hate how tan you are.
I haven’t posted any pictures.
Sarah: But I just KNOW.
I missed her so much. We’d been texting like crazy, but I couldn’t wait to actually talk to her in person and give her a big hug.
I climbed down the rough ladder, my feet hitting the polished concrete floor. The warm breeze blew through the screens. The weather here generally seemed to be a perfect 84 degrees with blue skies as far as the eye could see.
I rinsed off quickly in the shower with the plastic floor grate and moldy curtain that smelled vaguely of mildew. It gave me the creeps and, not knowing that I’d be staying here so long, I hadn’t packed shower shoes. I had to push away thoughts of foot fungus at least twice a day. I brushed my teeth in the small sink, which had rust around the drain, and hastily pulled my hair back to complete my morning routine. Makeup felt like something from my old life, where I wasn’t savagely tan and my day didn’t revolve around how many times I could dive into the surf.
The walk down to the beach was about three times as long as it was from the resort, but that certainly wasn’t something to complain about. It was an island paradise, and it gave me time to think. Only, what I had been thinking about seemed too big, too scary to actually put into action. So maybe that thinking time wasn’t so great after all.
As the thatch-roofed water center came into view, I saw Trav. I waved and he waved back, pulling paddleboards out of their storage cubbies. It was really my job. But I got the feeling that Trav thought I was too prissy for manual labor. Let’s just say I didn’t give him any cause to think otherwise.
“Thank you so much for getting those,” I said as I reached him.
He rolled his eyes. “Little thing like you. I don’t know how you’d lift them.”
I just smiled wordlessly. He knew I could lift them.
“You have a private lesson today,” he said.
“No class?” I asked.
He shook his head. “And since tomorrow’s your day off, this is it for you, kid.”
“Do I get paid more for my private lesson?” I teased, since I was getting paid nothing.
“You could practically max out your 401k,” he teased back.
I was kind of surprised that Trav knew what a 401k was. “Are you going to miss me when I leave?” I asked.
He grinned at me. “The islands bring us when we need them, and they send us home when we are ready to go.”
“I don’t feel ready to go,” I said, pouting.
“You can’t argue with the islands.” He cupped my chin in his hand. “I bet you’re more ready than you think.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a familiar figure walking up the dock. It couldn’t be. But it was. My entire body tensed. Conner.