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“Libby.” I shake her hand and bask in her friendly demeanor hoping maybe she’ll distract me from Casper for a while.

“I see you got Cas as an instructor. How’s that going?” she asks with a strong Dutch accent and a knowing grin that makes me giggle.

Okay, so not the distraction I was hoping for.

“It’s, uh,” I pause looking for the right word to describe what it’s like to be spending the morning in Casper’s company. “It’s okay. He’s a good teacher.”

“Among other things,” she says as she winks. “You say you’re new here?”

I nod as I shove an orange slice in my mouth.

She proceeds to tell me that she’s an instructor here as well, invites me to her gym, and tells me about a couple of girlfriends that she meets there. “It can be hard to making friends on the island because the Dutch kids come here for six months internship and then leave and the others are tourists,” she explains. Her very good, yet still-broken, English is adorable.

Verbs are a bitch in any language.

With Will working so much, Johanna seems exactly like the lifeline I need to get out of the house and start living down here. I accept her offer to meet her and her friends on Monday morning just as Casper comes over to our table.

“Johanna,” Casper says in greeting as he keeps walking past us toward the water.

“Casper,” she replies to his back as she wags her eyebrows at me.

See?Totallynot just me.

Five

I’M BUZZING WITH excitement the whole ride home. I turn the music up loud with the windows down and try my best to navigate these roads hazardously strewn with potholes the size of my car. I only have to make two U-turns though, so I’m getting better.

It’s after one o’clock when I pull up to the house. Three-hour lessons seemed crazy at first, but I can see why a beginner needs that long. There’s a lot that goes into the sport before you even touch the board.

I drop my keys on the table in the foyer and call out to Will. “Hey Will! I’m back!” I don’t hear him answer but I keep talking anyway even though I assume he isn’t home. “Kite surfing was incredible! The instructor said I was a natural!” It was the final comment I got out of Casper today as I made another lesson for next weekend. Since he was full, Jörn put me with a girl whose name I can’t pronounce and when I wasn’t all that bummed to not be placed with Casper, I realized that I actually enjoyed thesportand not just theinstructor. Which was a huge relief, even though Casper hasn’t vacated my thoughts since I left.

I turn into the kitchen to grab a glass of water and something to eat when I notice the patio doors are open. I’m still a little nervous to be here alone because I don’t know the area that well yet and the only number I have for emergencies belongs to Dania, Will’s boss’ wife.

“Will?” I call tentatively.

No answer.

I go outside and faintly hear angry voices.

“Will? Is everything okay?” I shout louder this time. Will may get snippy with me when he’s on stress overload, but in the two and a half years we’ve been together, I’ve never known my fiancé to get blatantly angry, like he seems to be right now. I hear another man’s voice but I can’t see who it is from here.

Afraid that Will might be in danger, I descend the steps toward the voices and the dock they’re coming from. Shrubs separate the view of the dock from the pool and patio above so it isn’t until I turn the corner that I see Will and his boss. Relief floods me as I realize it must be some work issue and at least these two are on the same side.

“Sorry to interrupt. I couldn’t find Will and just wanted to let him know I was back.” I don’t know why I feel the need to offer an explanation to my husband’s boss, but I definitely do. Maybe it’s the cold look in his eyes - like how dare I interrupt their meeting. He’s almost looking at me like I should know my place. It’s possible I’m misinterpreting his expression, but either way, I feel uncomfortable here. “I’ll head back up to the house. Will, could you let me know when you have a second?” I ask.

Instead of speaking, he just nods and turns his attention back to Marcel.

When Willem comes to find me, about twenty minutes later, he already has a gin and tonic in his hand as he runs his free hand through his hair. We’ve been here just over a week and I’m starting to barely recognize him. The lines around his eyes are more pronounced, as are the bags under them, and his hair is longer. He hasn’t shaved in a couple days either and his blond facial stubble makes his chin look dirty. Perhaps I normally wouldn’t notice but my mind immediately compares it to Casper’s five o’clock shadow which happens to suithimvery well. I know I’m heading down a dangerous slope but it seems I’m wearing flip-flops in mud, because I can’t slow my descent.

“How was kitesurfing?” Will asks. To anyone else, it might seem nice that he’s interested, but I hear the tone of boredom in his voice already. He’s asking because he knows he should, not because he cares.

“It was good,” I answer curtly, knowing he won’t push me for details - not that I have a burning desire to tell him about my interactions with Casper anyway. “What’s going on with Marcel? You guys sounded angry. And his look was rather rude toward me.”

Will takes a sip of his drink and I’m fearful that he may become dependent on it before long. “It was nothing. The project was supposed to move quicker than it is. The people are protesting the windmill farm harder than we expected. We had preliminary approval but there is a lot that has to get done between that and construction. The governor is dragging his feet because it’s an election year down here and he doesn’t want to, what do you guys say? Rock the boat? Anyway, I spent the morning listening to complaint after complaint about what the windmills will do to theviewof the coastline but no one gave me a chance to mention how much the windmills will help their energy costs, not to mention the power outages that blast across the island every November through February.”

I listen attentively, trying to make up for my inappropriate flirtations with Casper earlier. “Okay, well why was Marcel chewingyouout? It’s not like you aren’t working yourself to death trying to get this thing done.”

I see Will give me a small smile but it doesn’t reach his tired eyes. “I appreciate you getting pissed on my behalf, Lib, but really, it’s okay. We were just strategizing ways to convince the governor to push this project forward.” He moves to take my hand and sits us down on the couch in the living room, pulling me down with him. “I’m sorry I’ve been so busy. Tell me about your day,” he tries again.

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