Page 31 of This Could be Love

“Well, I’m on the side of life not being so difficult.”

“And? How’s that looking?” he asked, a tinge of amusement in his voice.

“Hard to say. But I think a lot of the problems will take care of themselves if the two of them manage to talk to each other more calmly.”

“Yeah, that’s usually the case,” he said, but somehow I got the feeling he wasn’t referring to Kay and Vince.

Chapter 14

I was running late and decided to take the shortest route over the beach. With my shoes in my hand, I trudged through the warm sand and took the stairs up to the Greenfields’. I could feel the day’s training in my bones, and my upper thigh muscles were sore. Reaching the last step, I was hit by the smell of acrylic paint. A part of the terrace was covered in newspaper. On top were a couple of white wooden chairs that looked like they’d just been painted. The balcony door was open. Out of politeness, I knocked on the pane and stuck my head inside. Laurie was belting out Harry Styles’s “Sign of the Times” very loud and very out of tune. With a grin, I rubbed the sand off my feet, slipped into my slides, and stepped inside. My grin turned into a full-blown smile when I came across her in the kitchen, giving all she had to a cucumber mic. Opening her eyes and seeing me, she winced in embarrassment. An instantlater, however, she simply handed me a wooden spoon. I waved it off, shaking my head, while Laurie turned back to her cuke for the grand finale, putting one hand to her heart and balling the other into a fist. I couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst out laughing.

“That was impressive,” I said, clapping.

“Don’t lie. Vince says my singing is a kind of active euthanasia.” She made a face, whereas everything within me reacted to his name. My memory in particular. Images popped up before my mind’s eye. Me and him. Him and me. Naked skin. Water. Caresses. My body responded with a shudder.

“The pizza still needs a sec. You want an iced tea in the meantime?”

“Do you have any water?”

The pizza was already going to be a serious hit to my nutrition plan. “Of course.” She opened the refrigerator and handed me a plastic bottle. “In any event, the pizza is whole grain and vegetarian. And I intentionally used less mozzarella.”

“You’re a sweetheart,” I said, touched. “That wasn’t necessary.”

“It’s no big deal. Tastes good all the same. Vince might complain later though. He’s a total cheese junkie.”

“Is he eating with us?”

“No, he’s over at Pili’s. But there will no doubt be leftovers.”

I remembered her attractive face and long, deep-brown hair.

“Are they together?” I blurted out before considering how I might respond if the answer wasyes.

“Sadly, no.”

I was only aware of having held my breath once I let it out. “What do you mean?”

“Well, she’d be perfect for him. She’s as crazy about surfing as he is, lives just around the corner, friendly and intelligent too.” Laurie peered into the oven, then changed the subject.

“Vince and I sanded and painted the chairs.”

“The ones out on the terrace?”

She nodded. “What all one does to keep one’s brother happy.”

“You’re close. You and Vince.” It wasn’t something I’d just realized. But it was the first time I was saying it out loud.

“All we’ve got is each other,” she said, a tinge of sadness creeping into her voice. “Our folks died a few years ago in a sailing accident. Ever since…” She didn’t finish.

“I’m very sorry.”

“Without Vince, I never would have made it.” Her eyes grew distant. “He suffered just as much as me, but he swallowed it all in order to help me out.”

“I’m happy you have him,” I said. The idea of losing my parents and having to go through it alone made me tremble.

“Yeah. Me too.” A faint smile appeared at the corner of her mouth, and for a second or two, everything was still. Then she clapped. “Right. What do you think? Action? Horror? Sci-fi?”

The change of topic came so abruptly, I didn’t immediately follow.