Page 4 of Willow in the Wind

“I’m brilliant,” Nancy said. She said it in a fake British accent, which meant she was in the mood to make fun of him. “How’s our girl?”

James swallowed. “That’s why I’m calling.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

James closed his eyes and envisioned the following conversation. He’d tell her Taylor had run off with his sailboat. Nancy would accuse him of bad parenting. James would accuse her of—what? She’d be right, wouldn’t she?

James felt cursed.

But suddenly, there it was—sailing into the glistening harbor. HisStella! It was confident, the sails full. And his daughter was guiding it expertly, just as he’d taught her.

James felt a wonderful wave of pride.

“I just wanted to let you know she’s doing wonderfully here in the Keys,” he explained. “Thanks again for giving us so much time together.”

“Oh?” Nancy’s sarcasm melted. “Oh, well. That’s nice, isn’t it?”

“It really is.” James got up and paid for his beer. “I hope you’re having a good summer. I’ll see you when school starts?”

“September first,” she reminded him. “But she needs to be here a few days before that so we can get everything arranged.”

“Of course,” James said. “As long as it’s safe in Manhattan again.”

“It will be,” Nancy promised.

It was typical of Nancy to think she knew what the future would be. That was how she’d always been when they’d beentogether. Always telling him what was what or what would happen or how to live.

But the truth was, nobody knew what would happen with the pandemic. It had come out of nowhere and completely changed the world.

James stormed down the dock to help Taylor tie up the sailboat. Blond and blue-eyed and almost as tall as him, Taylor finished a perfect knot and waved.

“Hey, Dad!”

James felt his anger melt away. Still, he lent an edge to his voice when he said, “You just took off with the boat without asking?”

Taylor laughed. “I yelled into your office. Maybe you didn’t hear me. You were listening to music really loudly.” She then bent down to show off a bucket of fresh fish. “I got these from a guy on the other side of the island. He said to cook them with garlic butter! So that’s what I’m going to do.”

James’s heart swelled. His daughter had thought of their dinner for tonight. It was touching.

She’d probably had an adventure today. He could see it in the electricity behind her eyes. But her adventure was her secret. He had to allow that.

“You didn’t think I was going to take off for good, did you, Dad?” Taylor asked.

What could James say? That he, himself, had once run away from home? That he knew what it was like to see the open sea and want to keep going?

But instead, he said, “I knew you’d come back. I just had to come into town to get some groceries.”

Taylor snapped her fingers. “Avocados. And limes. For guacamole with the fish.”

“Whatever the chef wants, she gets,” James declared.

Together, they glided down the sun-dappled dock and headed for the grocery store. They smelled of sea salt and sweat and sunshine. And their hearts were bouncy and glad—here in their hiding place from the rest of the world.

But that night, over garlicky fish and guacamole and corn chips, Taylor smiled across the table at him and asked the question he’d been dreading.

“Were you dating anyone back in London?”

James tapped his napkin over his lips and grimaced. Did he want his daughter to think he was a total loser? Or did he want to reveal his own secrets and, therefore, betray something about himself?

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