Our Way

“Eliza.” Neil rushes to hug me. I’ve finally given in and come to visit Nathan’s parents in Vermont. “Come, come in.” He ushers me into the house. “It’s been too long since you came home.”

Home. This isn’t my home, this is Nathan’s. Ugh, this was a bad idea. I shouldn’t have come.

“Come in, love,” Phyllis says as she pulls me in for a hug. “I’ve made us a cake.” She squeezes me in an embrace. “It’s so good to see you.”

I smile into her shoulder. “You, too.” I look around the familiar home. “What’s new?”

“We have three new calves.” Neil smiles proudly.

“You do?” My eyes widen. “Oh, let’s go see them.”

“I’ve been saving their births for your visit.” He gives me a cheeky wink, and I laugh.

“So, you can actually save births now?” I tease as I link my arm through his and we make the way out the back door.

“For you, my darling,” he taps my hand on his arm, “I would do anything.”

It’s late afternoon and nearly time for me to drive my rental car back to New York. Nathan’s parents want me to stay the night but it feels off.

We are sitting around the kitchen island counter, having a last cup of coffee before I leave.

“Oh, you didn’t tell me about your vacation in Hawaii.” I gasp as I remember.

Nathan’s mother’s eyes nearly pop out of her head. “Oh my God, we had the best time, Eliza. Hawaii! You need to go.”

“Yes, I know, I’ve been. Nathan and I went years ago, remember? You went with the Hendersons, right?”

“Yes. Oh, boy, we’re not travelling with them again. All they did was fight and bicker the entire time.”

“Really?” I frown. What in the hell do sixty year olds fight about on vacation?

She rolls her eyes. “Every little thing was a drama.”

“That woman’s a bitch,” Neil admits. “Glad I’m not married to her, that’s for sure.”

“Moaning and whining all the time about every little thing.” Phyllis sighs.

I laugh. Who knew people were still bitching at that age? I learned something today.

“Go get the photos for me to show Eliza, Neil,” Phyllis says. “I just had some developed last week.”

“Where are they?” he asks.

“They’re in an envelope in the top drawer. I haven’t put them in the album yet.”

He toddles off, and I sip my coffee. “We went to this one restaurant one night and it was so good,” Phyllis continues.

Neil passes me the envelope of photos, and I begin to go through them as Phyllis tells me every little detail of their ten-day itinerary.

I look at each photo and turn over to read the back. Phyllis always writes the location and date that the photo was taken on the back of every photo. She’s done it for forever. I keep flicking through the images when I get to one of Nathan. He’s at the beach, wearing only board shorts, standing knee high in the ocean.

My chest tightens at the sight of him. It’s been so long.

Wait. Did he go with them? I turn the picture over and read the back.

Nathan, Ibiza, December 28th

What?