Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 115198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115198 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
“Almost done,” I tell her. “We’ll be home soon.”
“There are people out there who have to choose between buying food and getting their prescriptions filled because money is so tight, and your family is buying an entire house because a pipe burst in the honeymoon rental. It’s gross,” she gasps, looking away so I won’t see her lose the battle against crying.
“It is. I’m so sorry I brought you here.”
“I’m not. Or… I am?” She lets out a coughing laugh, wiping her nose with her free hand. “I don’t even know what to feel after that. I want to have met you again. I want whatever this is between us, and we wouldn’t have it if we hadn’t come here. And truthfully, I let myself enjoy the fairy tale of this. Everything about this experience is seductive—the island, the food, the parties, the spa, these clothes. But is it worth it?” She shakes her head. “I don’t think so. I feel like I lost some innocence here that maybe I shouldn’t have held on to, but even if it made me naive, I’ll miss it. I wish I could still believe somewhere inside me that terrible rich people like this didn’t actually exist. That they didn’t view people like my father and me with such disdain. They would have gotten along swimmingly with my mother.”
This lands a crushing weight in my chest. “I’m sorry.”
Instead of turning toward the bungalow, Anna lets go of my hand and walks straight out to the water, wading in a few yards, until the gentle waves reach her knees. I’m not sure if she needs a moment alone or not, but when she speaks again, it’s quietly enough that I have to follow, letting the water wash over my shins.
“What did you say?”
“I sold my paintings,” she says.
Warmth bleeds into my limbs. Holy fuck, I’d wondered if that had been the call that had sent her up and away from the table. “Anna—yes!”
“All three of them at the exhibit.”
Her joy is palpable, and if it were any other moment, I would be lifting her in the air, spinning her in my arms, joking that no virgin sacrifices were required. “That’s—that’s amazing.”
“Yeah.”
A gull calls overhead, and at the sound of her flat, defeated tone, I lean forward to get a good look at her face. “You don’t look happy.”
“I am. I’m thrilled.” She turns her watery brown eyes up to me. “But it’s depressing, you know? To feel such a victory over a few thousand dollars. The champagne at breakfast was probably more than that.”
I shake my head. “That isn’t—that’s not the point.” Stepping in front of her, I cup her face. “Your paintings—”
“No, no, don’t get me wrong. I’m so happy. It means something huge for me. Even if it’s just a start, it’s wonderful. And I’m not so naive as to think there aren’t enormous divides in income around this world, but I’ve never been so squarely confronted with it. The past three years have been so hard, not knowing, with all the bills….” She swallows, shaking her head and giving me a weak smile. “I just needed a few fall-apart minutes.”
I nod and bend, resting my lips on hers. When I pull back, it’s only so I can meet her eyes. At this moment, we are the only two people on the island. Does she feel that, too? I want to transport her away from here. “Take as many fall-apart minutes as you need.”
“I really do want to enjoy the wedding today,” she says, wiping her face and working to compose herself. “I want to finish what we came here to do. I want to absorb the beauty of this amazing place. I want to let myself enjoy whatever else it has to offer before I leave and return to a life that is wonderful even if it’s sometimes hard.”
I kiss her again. “This is a perfect goal. We’re almost done. We’ll go relax in the bungalow, get changed, attend the wedding, and duck out as early as we can. Tomorrow we can skip the brunch. Tomorrow afternoon, we head home. We’ll leave this beautiful island and the mess of my family behind.”
Anna nods in my hands and stretches to kiss me. “I adore this island. I hate the mess. But I really, really, really like you.”
I smile against her lips. “I really, really, really like you, too.”
* * *
IN THE FINAL FEW minutes before we leave for the wedding, I walk out to the balcony, wanting to soak up the view. For as mortifying as my family has been, the island truly is paradise, and being here with Anna has been one of the most wonderful experiences of my lifetime. After breakfast, we napped for a few hours, then lazily roused ourselves, making love and showering. But our mood dipped again as we began the slow march toward today’s main event. I know I should be happy—it’s my sister’s wedding—but mostly I just want to get it over with. And when I hear Anna’s footsteps approaching, my first thought is that it didn’t take her very long to get ready. My second thought is that I’m glad; she should treat today as a formality.