Page 13 of My Wife

Only one problem:Itold him.

Why didn’t Tommy?

By the timeI exit the gangplank and take my first steps on the island in more than a decade, I’m not even thinking about that. Maybe it slipped his mind. Maybe he forgot to tell Mulligan. It doesn’t matter. Mulligan promised he’d pick the two of us up at the island’s small dock first thing Monday morning.

Besides, as I look around for Tommy, I see his head bowed toward Summer, listening to something she’s saying to him. Her hand is resting on his bicep, tugging him closer so he can hear her.

Over the waves lapping at the shore, I can’t.

Damn it. I know how handsy Tommy is. He’s just a friendly guy, and he thinks all of his friends are the same. Summer andMadison touching him, grabbing him, pulling him along… that’s just how they are.

I know better.

I like to think I’m not the jealous type. Tommy gives me a lot of grace about our history, and I try to do the same for him. The biggest difference is that Tommy and Summer didn’t have their fling until after I broke up with him. I can’t say the same for how my relationship with Clay began.

It was only a couple of months when they were both seventeen. Tyler was a year ahead of us in school. He’d already graduated, so had Vee, and the only reason they were on Halo Island for the seniors’ trip was because we were all still close and they found their own ferry ride over so they didn’t miss out. We had chaperones, but not as many as we should’ve, and a couple of locals joined us that weekend.

My relationship with Tommy wasn’t the only casualty of my mother’s death. By the time I ended things with him, admitting I was with Clay, Summer and Tyler broke up for the countless time. Only instead of them getting right back together, Summer and Tommy started going out.

It didn’t last. By the time Christmas rolled around, Summer was back with Tyler, and I refused Tommy’s offer to spend the holidays with his family. Me and Clay had our own mini celebration in his dorm room that year, and until his parents’ funeral, we never went back to California.

I shouldn’t be jealous. Summer married Tyler when she was twenty-three—they just celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary last May—and, for the most part, they seem happy enough.

So why can’t I shake the feeling that she’s trying to steal Tommy from me?

Even worse, that old haunting sensation that someone’s eyes are on me has the tiny hairs on the back of my neck standingon end as my sneakers sink into the damp sand. I slap my hand there, trying to quiet the unsettling nerves as they take root in my belly. Glancing around, all I see are the trees rising up from where the sand turns to dirt and grass.

To my right, a path is cut through them, leading to the area where the campgrounds and narrow cabins used to be. According to Tommy, they’re more like mini apartments instead of wooden shacks with bunk beds like they used to be, but I won’t know until I follow that dirt strait to where they are.

To my left, an area is cleared for the bonfire pit that Tommy mentioned. It’s made up of burnt logs and ashes from the last visitors to the island, plus a fresh stack that I saw Mulligan unload himself before setting back off for Cottonwood Harbor to wait for the rest of our group.

And, right in front of them, Summer is still murmuring to Tommy. His duffel bag is strapped to the front of his chest, my flowery pink and peach-colored backpack slung over his arm, while my rolling suitcase and the cooler are by his boot. Summer’s mound of luggage is gone. Knowing her, she probably sent Madison on ahead with it so she could have a few stolen moments alone with my boyfriend before her husband arrives.

I trudge my way toward them, kicking up the compact sand in a tiny hint of rebellion as I go.

Whether it’s the plopping of the sand falling or my shadow stretching out to them that catches her attention, I’m not sure, but Summer’s head pops up. Her lips thin when she sees me. She pats Tommy’s arm before stepping away and turning her back on me. By the time I’m within reach of him, she’s halfway into the woods.

I jerk my thumb in her direction. “What was that about?”

“Just Summer trying to smooth things over. She’s so used to you being the bigger person and not rising to her bait, I think it freaked her out when I lost my temper on the ferry.”

I love how Tommy calls that losing his temper. He’s usually so laid back and chill that, for him, thatwaslosing his temper.

“It’s Summer,” I tell him, like that explains everything. And, well, itdoes. “Once Tyler gets here, she’ll be too busy trying to show us all how happy they are together that she won’t have time to needle me.”

Tommy gives me his crooked grin. “Do we need to put on an act so everyone knows that I’m head over heels for you?”

My heart melts whenever he shoots that smile my way. Though I rarely have anything to smile about when the cloud of grief hanging over my head becomes so thick, I’m nearly choking on it, somehow Tommy manages to eke a tiny returning one from me.

I squeeze his bicep, erasing Summer’s touch from the fabric of his hoodie. “If they didn’t know how crazy I am about you before this trip, they sure will by the end of it.”

Something flashes across his face, darkening his deep blue eyes. His smile doesn’t waver, but I know what I saw. I just… I can’t read it, and that’s not like Tommy at all. I almost get a hint of anticipation. Like he’s looking forward to this weekend in ways I can’t understand just yet, and as his eyelids droops, his gaze going heavy, I remember my suspicion from a couple of weeks ago…

“Ah, Cyn. You have no idea how fucking happy it makes me to hear you say that.”

Well. If he has an engagement ring tucked in his duffel bag, I think I have a pretty good idea, after all.

Letting go of Tommy’s arm, I reach for the handle of my luggage. He makes a noise in the back of his throat, but while he is as gallant as he is kind, and he likes to pamper me like a princess whenever he can, I do have some limits. I’m not about to walk up to our cabin empty-handed while Tommy lugs the cooler, my suitcase, my backpack, and his duffel bag.

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