Page 44 of His Loving Wife

There is a woman sitting beside me, and a man beside her. She has short blonde hair and tan skin. Her husband has silver hair. They appear friendly, but I pause before answering, in a way I probably wouldn’t have before Paul Gunter re-entered my life.

“Yes,” I answer at last.

“It looks like your daughter is cozying up to our girls.”

I turn and look. There are two other blonde teenagers on either side of Willow. They have almost the exact same shade of hair as their mother.

“On vacation?” I ask, trying to return the jovial tone.

“Locals. I haven’t seen you around before. I guess you’re traveling?”

“Yes. We’ve got a house on Emerald Shore Road.”

“Hey, that’s right where we are.” She reaches out her hand to shake mine. “I’m Jan.”

“You must be renting the Billings’ place,” says the man. “White house with red shutters?”

“That’s the one,” I say, then immediately regret it.

“First time here?” asks Jan.

“Yes, actually. We thought we’d try some place closer to home this year.”

“And where’s home?”

I tell them, and we go back and forth talking about superficial stuff. I learn Jan’s husband’s name is Dan, and by all appearances, they live a charmed life. They’re both in the medical field. They have teenage daughters around Willow’s age and an older son in college. Our conversation reminds me most people are only seeking connection, they’re not trying to deceive you. Then I think back to Paul, how our conversation at a restaurant, not dissimilar to this one, opened a door for chaos to ensue.

“Our girls are probably thrilled to have someone down the road. I’m sure you noticed there aren’t many houses our way, which is why we bought the place. When we do have renters in the area, they usually have little kids.”

I look over my shoulder at Willow. “Yeah, it’s probably good for her, too. I think she’s missing her friends back home. We get the worst reception at our house.”

“Same problem for us,” Dan says. “It’s unpredictable, but I guess that’s the price you pay for a little more seclusion.”

“It’s usually worse right before a storm settles in,” Jan adds. “Sometimes if you flick the power, it’ll reset the system and you’ll get better reception.”

“Thanks for the tip,” I say. “I’ll give it a try.”

As I sit alone, waiting for our food to arrive, I wonder what Andrew is doing back at the house. It saddens me that he finds more comfort with his friends online than he does with me. It didn’t always seem to be that way. I glance over at Dan and Jan, watching the subtle ways they interact with one another. The way his hand cups hers on the bar top, the way she throws back her head and laughs with no inhibitions.

Andrew and I used to be like that. I miss it. In recent months, I thought we were getting back to that place, but after what happened on the boat, it’s clear we’re not.

When the food arrives, I motion for the kids to join me. Noah talks a mile a minute about the game he was playing, while Willow pouts and fiddles with her phone.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing.”

“It looked like you were making friends over there.”

“Yeah, they’re cool. We exchanged numbers.” She looks over at the sisters sitting with Jan and Dan. “I’m just bummed because Sonja’s party is tonight, and I’m going to miss it.”

Ah, that’s why her mood dropped so suddenly.

“You have plenty of parties in your future. Don’t let this one get you down.”

I place my hand over hers. I look out at the water, then back at the busying restaurant. That’s when I see him. Paul.

Or at least someone else that looks like him. It’s the same combination of hat and sunglasses, not uncommon at the beach, but it’s his visible features that make me think it’s Paul. I stand, hurriedly walking away from the table.

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