“You’re not leaving already, are you?”
“I have to meet Jared. He has a little time off today and works tonight at the lodge.”
“I see,” he said. “You’re not getting serious, I hope.”
“No, Dad. Not serious,” she said. But yes, she was kind of serious about Jared. They seemed to have a lot in common, spent hours talking, got together whenever they could and had had some very wonderful times making out. Right now one of the best things about Jared was that he let her talk about her confusing and painful feelings toward her father.
“How old is your girlfriend?” she asked suddenly.
“Forty. Why do you ask?”
“Just curious,” she said with a shrug. “Gotta go. I hope your bruises are all right.”
He grabbed her upper arms and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Great seeing you, honey. You’ll have to come back and check out the improvements as they happen.”
“Sure,” she said.
For some reason she didn’t talk to Jared about the bruises, but it troubled her. Instead, she spent her time with him talking about his classes and his job, both of which kept him busy nearly all the time. It was a real challenge for them to find time together. While Olivia wouldn’t even consider working in the kayak shack, she was beginning to see the merits of finding part-time work in Half Moon Bay.
Jared was working on Saturday night. He walked Livvie home, kissed her good-night, promised her they’d have a real date soon and left her to go to work. When she entered the house, she found only her mother in the kitchen, chopping veggies.
“Where’s Amber and Addie?”
“Amber’s going to stay with her girlfriends in San Jose,” Justine said. “Addie is shopping and should be home before long. I’m making us dinner—shrimp lo mein. How does that sound?”
“Good,” she said, though at the moment she wasn’t feeling hungry. “I stopped by that kayak shack today. I saw the woman leaving, and I thought maybe I could see Dad without her. I don’t know why I wanted to.”
“Maybe in time you and your dad will work out the kinks in your relationship,” Justine said, chopping away. “I know he loves you. He must be all messed up.”
“That woman,” Olivia said. “I think she screwed him up.”
“Could be,” Justine said. “On the other hand, he’s an adult and is making his own choices.”
“But he never made these kind of choices before,” Livvie said. “Leaving his family? Moving in with another woman?”
Justine put down the knife. “Let’s be clear about something, Livvie. When I found out how involved he was, I knew it would be a long time before I could trust him again. Maybe never. The divorce was my idea. He agreed pretty quickly, but I was the one who—”
“Mom, he’s really bruised,” Livvie said. “He was hosing down kayaks with his shirt off, and I saw bruises all over him. On his chest, his side, even his arm. He put his shirt on real fast, but he’s banged up. He said he fell down some stairs on the beach.”
“Huh?”
“I asked him how that happened and he said he took a fall. He looks like he’s been beat up.”
Justine was speechless for a moment. “You know how active he is,” she said. “Remember when he took that fall off his mountain bike. That was ugly.”
“Yeah, but then he looked like he’d fallen off a bike—road rash and cuts and stuff. I don’t know, something about this is really screwed up. The way he insists on trying to get us to meet her, the way he’s thrown himself into her business, the way the second you found out about her, he went for a divorce? It’s like he’s not the same man. This just isn’t the Dad I knew.”
Justine sighed. “I’ve thought that a thousand times,” she said. “The hardest part about all this is we might never know the real reasons why. We might never know what happened to him to make him change all his values. I remember when his buddy John got himself mixed up with a younger woman and went off the deep end. Said he’d never really been in love before—after twenty-five years of marriage. He was leaving his wife to move in with her, and your dad begged him to get his head examined. There hadn’t been any real evidence of marital problems. Oh, after the fact, John said he hadn’t been really happy in a long time, but I suspect a revision of history. You know, making an excuse for cheating. Your dad tried to get John to go to counseling or something, but John left his wife. Then a year later, after the younger woman dumped him, he went back to his wife, saying he’d made the biggest mistake of his life.”
“And maybe Daddy will do that.”
Justine smiled sadly. She put her hand against Livvie’s cheek. “I don’t think that will happen, honey. And if it did, I don’t think I’d take him back. See, he wanted to move on. Fantasies of a new woman, a new life, a chance to start over, maybe. But I did move on. I’m starting a whole new life. I wouldn’t have chosen it, but I’m growing to like it. Maybe like isn’t the word... Let’s just say, there are pluses and minuses.”
Chapter Twelve
In the days that followed Adele’s chance meeting with Hadley, she thought about little else. She was distracted, moody and unsure of herself. She found herself remembering the days and weeks of romance they had had. He was twelve years older; she was young and tender. He was something of a poet and managed to say all the right things. I want to give you everything; I want to hold you closely forever. Just your scent makes my head swim and I forget where I am and what I’m doing.
The entire time they were a couple was three months; they professed their love for each other in two weeks. Of course she believed he had an unhappy marriage since they spent so much time together. It could be nothing else.
The landline in the house rang early one evening. None of them used it much, and the line probably should have been disconnected. Adele had it only because of her mother’s ill health—911 on the landline brought instant medical help as the address and name popped up for the dispatcher. Since her mother’s death it seemed to only ring with surveys and robo calls. They rarely answered it and invariably hung up. Justine answered and said, “Sure, hold on.” Then she held the cordless phone toward Adele.
“Hello?” she said tentatively.
“There you are! It’s Hadley. It’s taken forever to find you. But you didn’t change your number after all!”
“Um, can I call you back?” she asked.
“Sure, but when?”
“In just a few minutes. I’d prefer to call you from my cell.”
“Absolutely,” he said. “I’ll be waiting.”
Justine didn’t ask who it was and her nieces were off in their own space, one in the guest room and one curled up in the corner of the sofa. “Let me return this call and then I’ll be back to help clean up.”
“I’ve got it, Addie,” Justine said.
Addie sat cross-legged on her bed and stared at her phone. This was either wonderfully good or horribly awkward; she wasn’t sure which. But she wanted to know—was this what true love felt like or was this just an extension of an earlier mistake. The loving had been so fantastic, the breaking up so painful.
She clicked on his number, stored in her phone.
“Hi,” he said. “How are you?”
“I thought you were going to let me call you?”
“I grew impatient,” he said. “I haven’t thought of anything but you since seeing you.”
“It’s only been a few days,” she said.
“It feels like a hundred days. Listen, jump in the car. I’ll meet you in Half Moon Bay. There’s a nice little sushi bar near the lodge. It’s called...”
“I know what it’s called, but really, I have things to do tonight.”
“Won’t they keep? Can’t we steal an hour? Just to talk about things?”
“You’re in the car now, aren’t you?”
“Yes. Coming to beg, if necessary. Come on, Addie. I’ve missed you so much.”
“I was going to think about this for a while before I got in over my head.”
“I won’t let anything happen to you, Addie. I think we both learned a lot from the last time. And you’re in charge. Just talking to you will help me get through the night.”
“But why? Why me? You’re a handsome and popular teacher. You’re divorced now. You can have any girl you want.”
“It should be abundantly clear there isn’t anyone I want. At least not the way I’ve always wanted you.”
Damn it, she thought. She had needed someone to say something like that. For about eight years, as a matter of fact. She had been so happy, then so devastated, then for a long time, so empty.
“I can tell you’re unsure, Addie. Time to dive in and be sure. This thing we had—it moved mountains. We made some mistakes, but we’re older and wiser now. Let’s not walk away from it until we’re sure. It’s possible we’re those star-crossed lovers who just can’t live without each other. Maybe we’ve always been meant to be. Just had some complications the first time around.”
This once, she thought. Because she’d like to be sure, too. “All right. I’ll meet you. But I’m not promising anything.”
“Just come,” he said in that deep breathy way that had once made her want to take off all her clothes.
She changed, putting on something she considered special but casual. She fluffed up her hair, freshened her makeup and dabbed on a little cologne. When she got back to the kitchen, Justine had nearly finished cleaning up. Addie said she was running out for a glass of wine and would be back in an hour or less.
“You look nice,” Justine said.
“Thanks. Do you need anything, since I’ll be out?”
“Nothing at all. Have fun.”