“For the first time ever, you’re going to hear me say this—don’t work,” she laughs. “I want things to get back to normal. Go back to school. Focus on that now. If you lose your job, your dad will pay your rent. It’ll be fine. I just want . . . I want everyone happy right now and I want my kids all at my house today. Call me crazy or call me greedy but I do. I need it.”
“Okay, Mom,” I smile. “I’ll call in again. You twisted my arm.”
“Good girl. I’m making a bunch of food today because I expect we’ll have visitors whether we like it or not.”
“Relax! I’ll come and help you.”
“No, no, you won’t. This is my job. This is what moms do and what I’ve been dreaming of doing for a long time now. But Brynne? I have one question for you?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you with Fenton?”
I bite my lip, unsure as to what her reaction is going to be. “Yeah. I am.”
“Bring him with you today, sweetheart. Okay?”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m absolutely sure. I don’t know what he is to you officially, but he’s a friend of the family at the very least.”
I hesitate and then make a decision. If I’m going to do this, I’m going to do this. “I love him, Mom.”
She doesn’t say anything for a minute. “If that’s the case,” she says finally, “he’s family and I fully expect him here this afternoon unless he has . . . other things.”
“Let’s hope he doesn’t,” I whisper, afraid to even think about that.
“We will pray that he doesn’t,” she says, understanding my fear. “Call me later and let me know. I love you.”
“I love you, Mom.”
When I click the phone off, I hear the door opening behind me. I don’t move, just wait on him to come up behind me.
His hands land on my shoulders and I see the cuffs of a grey robe just like the one I’m wearing on his wrists.
“I like having you out here when I wake up,” he says, his voice heavy from sleep.
“I like waking up and coming out here.”
“We should make this happen more often.”
“Well, my mom just told me to quit my job. So if Presley kicks me out, I’ll be looking for a place to crash,” I joke.
He laughs, coming around and sitting in the chair beside me. We both gaze across the water, watching the waves roll in and out. We are silent for a long while and I wonder what he’s thinking.
“Can I ask you something?” he finally says.
“Sure.”
“What would you say if I asked you to take a few weeks off with me.”
“For what?” I ask, twisting in my chair to face him. He tilts his head and watches me.
“After this whole thing is settled, I want to get away.”
“And go where?”
He shrugs like he’s not thought about it. “I don’t know. Where do you want to go?”
I shrug too. “You sprang this on me. I don’t have a ready-made answer.”
“Let’s just get a boat and go.”
“Are you serious?” I smile.
He nods slowly, a grin slipping across his face like he’s becoming more sure of the idea as the moments pass. “Yeah, actually. I am.” He leans up, the robe slipping and showing a lot of his chest. It’s hard not to be distracted. “Let’s just go. I’ll get a boat and a captain and we can just float away. Eat. Sleep. Fuck. Swim.” His eyes dance like a little boy on Christmas morning. “Come on. Let’s do it.”
“Fenton,” I start, sitting up myself. “I have school. I’m supposed to go back in a month.”
“Think about everything that’s happened, Brynne. With Brady, with me, with . . . life. Everything can be over in a minute. Everything can change. What happens if you never enjoy it?”
“I have to graduate at some point. I’ve already taken a semester off and now I have to basically quit my job. They’ll probably fire me today if I don’t quit anyway. I’m not a stellar employee,” I laugh.
“Fine. Skip a semester and I’ll pay you full-time wages to go with me.”
“We are not back to this again!”
He grins. “It worked for me before.”
“No, that part of it almost got you thrown out.”
“You were always going to go,” he teases.
“I really wasn’t.”
He rolls his eyes. “You’re so full of shit.”
I can’t help but laugh, my heart light with playful Fenton back. “Full of shit or not, I don’t really think I can.”
“Please?”
“Can we talk about it later?”
He shrugs and I can tell he’s disappointed. His shoulders fall forward and his gaze drifts to the sea.
What would happen if I didn’t go back to school? He’s right, I know that. Life is so damn unpredictable. What would happen if something happened to me tomorrow? What would be more important—that I had another history course under my belt or that I spent a month at sea with Fenton?
“Hey, Fent,” I say, licking my lips nervously. I’m not sure this is the right answer, but my heart says it is and I know now, one-hundred percent, that’s the one thing I should trust.
“Yeah?” He draws his gaze towards me and sighs.
“Let’s do it.”
“Let’s do what?”