Page 83 of Holding Out

She looked the same as always—still tall, slim, curvy, and beautiful—but when she turned to greet him, her face was different.She was wearing makeup, and it made her look—older.More sophisticated.She was all grown up, but even beyond that, there was a quiet under her skin, a peace, that he’d never seen.

He knew it for what it was: happiness.

She was happy now, and it made him realize, with a sharp twist of regret and remorse, that she hadn’t ever been when they were together.

“Where do you want to go?Bob’s Tavern, maybe?”Marina asked.“That’s a good place to talk.”

“Sure,” Griff said again.It seemed to be the only word he could manage.

Something, a slight sound maybe, drew his attention toward the reception desk, but Becca wasn’t looking at him, and her expression was cool and unruffled.He took a step towards the desk, thinking he’d give her a quick explanation and some reassurance.He’d tell her he’d see her later at Friday Night Dinner.

Before he could speak, the desk phone jangled.She gave him an apologetic look, picked up the phone and put her headset on, pressed a button.“R&R physical therapy offices, can I help you?”

He’d text her as soon as he had a chance, explain what he could, promise to explain the rest later, once he knew more about why Marina was here.

“Lead on,” he said to Marina.

He followed her down to the parking lot to where her car was parked, the same zippy little Mazda she’d driven back when they were together.

“Meet you there?”she said.

“Sure.”He rolled his eyes internally at himself.

Driving down 101, he tried to gather himself, but he felt like a leaky scarecrow, bits and pieces of his straw brains poking out everywhere.What the hell was she doing here?What did she want?What was there to talk about?

For so long, he’d been hoping—not even admitting to himself how hard—for her to realize she’d made a mistake.

Was that what was happening?

If so, she—and the universe—had the world’s most fucking awful timing.Because things with Becca were—

They were going somewhere, somewhere good.Somewhere right.What he’d let himself think and feel last night, that had to mean something.

That’s what you thought once, a long time ago, about Marina,a cruel, tight part of himself chided.

The parking in town was bad—it was Friday and mid-afternoon, and thus peak by beach town standards—but not nightmarish.He found a space on one of Tierney Bay’s little cross streets down by the water and walked back to Bob’s.Marina wasn’t there yet, so he pulled out his phone.

Sorry, that was probably really weird for you.I don’t know why she’s here, but I figured I’d better hear her out.See you at FND?

Becca sent back a thumbs-up.

He wanted to say something more, something reassuring, something likeDon’t worry, this is no big deal, I’m totally over her—

But wouldn’t that be kind of opening a can of worms?Or, like, protesting too much?He and Becca hadn’t talked much about Marina, but it felt like trying to reassure her that Marina wasn’t important to him might make Becca more worried than she would otherwise be.

So he just left it at that.

Marina was watching him, waiting for him to finish, when he looked up.They headed inside and slid into an empty booth along the fireplace side.

“Sorry to just show up like this, but I kind of figured you were never going to respond to my emails and messages,” Marina said, right away.

It appeared they weren’t going to make small talk or anything.

“Probably not,” he admitted.

The waitress set waters down in front of them.“Can I get you some drinks?”

“A Hoptastic,” Griff said.

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