Page 393 of Seasons of Love
“Oh no, if you’re gonna tell me all the bickering you do at work is foreplay, then I don’t want to know,” I said, covering my ears and closing my eyes.
I heard a faint laugh before she pulled my hands away from my ears, and I opened my eyes.
“Well, sometimes, but it’s more than that. We knew when he took the job that we would have our challenges. It’s hard not to take work home sometimes, but we try to leave it all here. Home is our sanctuary. We pretend we work for different employers, so we’re not tempted to discuss what happens at work. We try to have lunch together here so we can talk about work and not feel tempted to take it home.”
“That sounds very…adult of you. Are you sure that’s what really happens?” I asked, part teasing and part admiration.
“Believe it or not, it works most of the time. Why do you ask? Are you interested in anyone? I didn’t think there was any—”
“Oh no,” I said quickly. “I just wondered. You know, as part of my project. It’s difficult recruiting on the island, and I’m thinking being in a relationship with someone else that works here might stop people from applying because of the no-fraternization rule.”
The way she looked at me told me she didn’t buy my excuse. Fortunately, Pete came into the office, taking Hailey’s attention away from me.
If I were honest with myself, I didn’t even know why I’d asked the question. It wasn’t like I was considering dating anyone that worked with me. The no-fraternization rule applied to me as much as it applied to everyone else working at the resort, and I wasn’t interested in breaking the rules. Well, not again.
My calendar app dinged with a new meeting notification, but it was the date on the corner of the screen that made my blood go cold.
How had I missed what day it was?
Well, that was easy to answer. I’d been so wrapped up in work, wanting to make a good impression on Mal, and just plain excited about working at the resort for more than a temporary assignment, that I’d completely shut off anything else in my life that wasn’t related to work.
I picked up my cell phone to call my uncle but stopped before I tapped on his name. I called Gabe instead.
“Jake, bro, where are you?”
“Hi. I’m at work. Is Uncle Frank at the beach yet?”
“No, he said he’d wait for you.”
I took a relieved breath.
“Okay, I’m leaving now. See you soon.”
I scribbled an apology to Mal on a sticky note and put it on his desk. Not that he’d see it. If today was like any of the other days this week, he’d go straight home from wherever he’d been and wouldn’t even stop by the office.
“Hey, Hailey, I’m heading off now. I just remembered I have to be somewhere this afternoon. I left a message on Mal’s desk, but if you see him, can you tell him I’ll explain tomorrow?”
“Sure thing. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I said, knowing my tight smile wouldn’t convince her. “Just something I do with my uncle every year on this day.”
Hailey nodded but said nothing else, so I grabbed my bag and left.
My uncle wasn’t old by any means, but seeing him sitting at the kitchen table, suddenly his wrinkles seemed more pronounced, his eyes looked a little more tired, and his slim frame looked more like the age he was rather than the one we always believed him to be based on his youthful demeanor.
“Hey, Uncle Frank,” I said, coming into the kitchen.
“Oh, hey, son. I was lost in time just now. Are you ready to go?”
“Yes, let me grab the speaker from my bedroom.”
It was a warm late-spring day, so I quickly changed from my work slacks and dress shirt into jeans and an old college T-shirt before grabbing the bunch of daisies from the kitchen table and walking down to the beach with my uncle.
Thank goodness my uncle had remembered to get the flowers.
“It doesn’t feel like it’s already fifteen years since she’s been gone,” my uncle said, navigating the last few rocks before we arrived at the small sand beach at the bottom of the cliff.
“No, it doesn’t, but some days it feels so much longer. I don’t remember living with her in LA. I don’t know if she took me out for ice cream on the beach, or if she dropped me at the school gate like the other moms.”
