Page 39 of Trick of Light

“Do you still listen to this stuff?”

“All the time,” Rod admitted. “I never really outgrew the songs from back then. Once the year 2000 hit, I was so busy with a toddler that I couldn’t focus on what came next. And once she grew up, I felt so out of touch with modern music.” He laughed. “What I’m saying is that I felt old as heck.”

“But you’re not old,” Bethany said. “You’re only forty-three!”

Rod glanced her way. “Don’t tell me you don’t feel old sometimes, too.”

“You have me there.”

Rod drove them to a little coffee shop near the harbor. He opened the door for her again, and a little bell jangled overhead, drawing them into the cozy interior. Bethany felt so jittery that she ordered a tea while Rod opted for a black coffee. At the last minute, he ordered a very large chocolate chip cookie with sea salt, which sat between them on the table in the corner, begging to be torn apart and shared.

Now that they faced one another like this, without the buffer of the truck’s radio, Bethany’s anxiety mounted. She was grateful when Rod decided to speak first.

“I can’t believe we’re here.”

Bethany smiled. “I can’t either.”

“I can’t thank you enough, you know?” Rod sputtered. “We’ve had such a hard time. It’s been a nightmare.”

Bethany had heard hundreds of parents and family members say just that about her patients. “We have to take it one day at a time,” she assured him.

Rod sipped his coffee and adjusted his expression. He gestured toward his head. “I’m sorry. I just can’t stop thinking about how weird this is. I have so many questions for you. But I don’t know where to start.”

“I have questions for you, too.”

Rod brightened as though surprised she’d thought of him at all. “You start, then.”

Bethany laughed. “Me?”

“I was never as articulate as you.”

Bethany filled her mouth with piping-hot tea and scalded her tongue. “Okay.” She winced. “I heard you went away for a few years for college. How was that?”

“To tell you the truth, it was difficult,” Rod said. “I hated being away from the island for so long. Away from my boat! Away from my house! But every day, I reminded myself how lucky I was to take this chance and go after something.” He raised his shoulders. “You know, you inspired me to do that, in a way. You were always so driven. Always going after what you wanted.”

Bethany sighed. “Too driven, I think.”

“No way. Look at your career. Look at the life you’ve built!”

“How much do you know? About my life, I mean.” Bethany knew there was a great deal of information about her on the internet. She’d married into the Waterstone family, after all—and they were a frequent subject of journalism and the country’s medical narrative.

Rod took the question in stride. “I know you married another doctor. I know his family is quite prominent. But I also know you were recently named the top surgeon at a hospital in Savannah—a position that previously belonged to your father-in-law.”

Bethany raised her eyebrows. “You know a lot.”

“You’ve always been a topic of interest for me.” Rod chuckled. “It’s been amazing to watch your impressive rise.”

Bethany fought the urge to tell him she was nothing or felt like nothing.

Instead, she asked, “What about you? Did you marry?”

“Never.” Rod shook his head.

Bethany was surprised. She’d always imagined him settling down one day, donning a tuxedo, joining his life with another.

Rod palmed the back of his neck. “It makes me feel like I have four heads. Who doesn’t get married? It’s bizarre. Or people around here think it’s bizarre.”

“A lot of people don’t get married,” Bethany offered. “It’s falling out of fashion.”

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