Four Good

“It’s awfully sunny today,” he says, looking toward the tall windows.

“I’m not a vampire,” I say. “We don’t have to be there long anyway.”

The farmer’s market is held in a park that overlooks one of the island’s namesake points, and the view is beautiful. Jay is grateful that he brought his camera along, and wanders off several times to take pictures.

Roscoe is with us, and he happily trots along beside us on his leash, enjoying all of the new smells and occasionally stopping to meet other dogs.

We end up selecting fish for lunch, clams to make clam chowder for dinner, and a few different vegetables, along with a tray of brownies from a local bakery. Before we leave, Jay positions us with the ocean behind us and takes several pictures before joining us and taking a couple of group selfies.

“Will you send me one of those?” I say, working to keep the emotion out of my voice. The picture will be a perfect memento of a perfect week.

39

A million times harder

Jonathan and I both help Jay cook lunch. We mostly handle the prep, while Jay cooks the fish to perfection and makes a sauce of lemon, wine, and garlic that looks simple but tastes incredible.

“I could eat this every day,” I say, mopping up the last bit of sauce from my plate with a piece of asparagus.

The greater likelihood is that I won’t eat this ever again, not prepared by Jay. And after tonight, I won’t hear the men’s laughter, or feel their arms around me anymore. Probably never again.

They’ve talked about visiting again sometime, and maybe they will, but they all have busy lives. If they visit, I’ll enjoy seeing them, but It’s not something I’m going to sit around waiting for.

When I stand to take my plate into the kitchen, my legs are stiff. My shoulder pain is back, too, making me think it wasn’t an odd sleeping position that caused it.

The face rash, the fatigue, and now body aches. I’ve been ignoring these warning signs so that I could have fun with the men, but it’s all starting to catch up with me. Even though I’ll miss them, it’s probably a good thing that they’re leaving tomorrow. I can’t live life at the same pace they do.

Roscoe and I are probably both going to sleep for days after they go.

Corbin comes up behind me at the kitchen sink, wrapping an arm around my middle as he puts his plate on the stack. “Are you up for another massage after your food settles?” he asks. “We should probably get an early start since it will be our last night together for a couple of weeks.”

I’m starting to melt back against him when his words sink in, and I straighten. “A couple of weeks?”

“Yeah, we think we can make it back here later in the month.”

“What for?” I say.

Corbin takes a step back. “To see you, of course. To be with you.”

Brendan, who’s standing right behind his brother, reaches out to me. “Come in here. Let’s talk.” He leads me into the living room, where he sits next to me on the couch. Jonathan sits on my other side, while Jay takes a chair and Corbin stands nearby.

“Corbin got ahead of himself,” Brendan says. “We were planning to talk to you tonight.”

I look between the men, noticing their earnest expressions. Jonathan smiles at me when I meet his eyes.

Roscoe had been asleep under the dining room table, but he must realize we’re done eating, because he wanders in and nudges Brendan’s leg with his nose, wanting attention.

“We have two trips planned with clients over the next couple of weeks, but after that, we’re hoping to come back,” Brendan says, giving Roscoe a quick rub behind his ears before he takes my hand. “Speaking for my brothers and myself, we’ve never met a woman like you.

“Sometimes our tastes don’t align, but we’re all in total agreement about how much we like you, and how much we want to be with you. We think there’s something really special here, and we want to explore it.”

“What do you mean, be with me?”

“We’d like to explore something long-term with you,” Jonathan says. “Something permanent. We could move here. Maybe get a house like this one, and we could all move in together.”

Jay comes over then, kneeling on the floor in front of me, where Roscoe promptly licks his cheek. I’d giggle if I weren’t in such a state of shock.

My ex-husband takes my free hand and says, “As for me, Christine, I’m still in love with you, and being with you this week has made me realize that I always have been. The reason I’ve never married anyone else is because I’ve never met anyone who compared to you. We belong together, and I’m so glad we found each other again.”