Page 65 of A Quick Stop in Paradise

“That’s not true,” I said lightly. “Brooklyn and I clean up our own fucking-related messes.”

He was quiet for a second before he said, “I thought you were better than this.”

I laughed. “Well, that’s on you. I’m definitely much worse. Anything else I can help you with?”

“What’s it going to take? What are you going to be satisfied with? What do youwantfrom me? From all of us?”

“From you, to get out of my life and stay out. From my family, mostly some apologies.”

“I used to have a lot of respect for you,” he said quietly, and I snorted.

“You very much did not. If you respected me, you wouldn’t have cheated. And even if you did—I’d rather have my own respect than yours, Shane. I’m hanging up now. Bye.”

“If you were—” he started, but I was a woman of my word—I hung up, slipping the phone into my pocket and turning with a bit more pep in my step, getting back to the computer and sitting down, deleting everything from my little personal update and starting over.

Not to get too much into the details, but my life is a little upside-down right now. Vacation went sideways when my partner cheated on me, and I broke up with him, much to the dismay of my family.

I wrote a few more lines, a nervous bubbling feeling in my chest, and I didn’t think twice before I sent it out. It was Brooklyn’s authenticity that I’d admired so much, and maybe I just wanted to try it out for myself. See where it would get me. I’d almost toyed with the idea of just throwing onby the way, I’m bisexualto the end of it, but I felt like if I did, then people would suspect I was dating a woman, and—well, it wasn’t totally accurate to say Iwasn’t,but it wasn’t totally accurate to say Iwas, either.

I’d cross that bridge when I came to it. For now, I shut my laptop, stretching my arms over my head, and I took the steps down to head in through the back door, making myself comfy in Brooklyn’s bungalow. I’d packed up my things from my barely-used hotel room and brought them here, requiring very little insisting on Brooklyn’s part, and I’d quickly made the space my own—stepped out of my shoes and put on the kettle for some coffee, helped myself to some mixed nuts from her cabinet, and for some reason, I even found myself cleaning her kitchen a little bit, wiping down counters and inside the microwave once I’d heated up the milk for the little instant-coffee flat whites that were fast becoming my favorite coffee, the taste reminding me of Brooklyn. Took the coffee in a travel mug and found myself wandering out the back door, pulling on the flats I had on the back porch next to Brooklyn’s, wandering off through the trees and foliage behind the house and following a little dirt trail.

I strolled for a bit, taking in the fresh ocean air and sunshine that felt different on my neck with my hairstyle different, and I wound up on a little bluff overlooking the ocean, sipping coffee sitting on a smooth stone with a view of the people spread out on the beach below me, and I thought I liked this place a little too much.

I’d probably have liked to come back here, even after we left. I just didn’t know how to justify it. Nor how I would look Brooklyn in the eye after I’d left and come back. She’d said that the most serious thing she’d had was with a woman who’d visited here regularly, but… there wasn’t any reason I was thinking about that right now.

My thoughts were pleasantly diverted when I got back to the bungalow just in time to see Brooklyn’s car pulling into the front, a glimpse of it through the thick foliage at the side of the house, and I diverted to lean against the fence, enjoying the scenery and watching Brooklyn step out of the car, shifting a bag up on her shoulder. Finished off the coffee as she headed into the house, and I heard her call my name from inside, and I waited until she’d shut the front door before I called, “I’m out back.”

The back door slid open, and she hopped off the porch, rounding on me with an incredulous look. “Did you just creep on me the whole way into the house and not say anything?”

I held up the mug. “Not only that, but after stealing your coffee, too.”

“You’re a little monster,” she said, but she didn’t seem that mad, judging by the playful smile on her lips and how she walked up to me, pushed me back up against the fence, and kissed me long and slow, one hand slipping up into my hair and tousling the chopped locks. Her eyes gleamed when she pulled back. “You’re lucky I think you’re cute.”

“Trust me, I feel extremely lucky. Especially given how your bag seemed to have something in it and you’d promised me a surprise?”

“Mm.” She let her hands fall to my hips, resting her forehead on mine. “Glad to know you’ve been thinking about it after all.”

“Did you think I wouldn’t?”

She smiled wider. “No. But I like hearing about it.” She kissed me quickly, stepping back with a more serious look on her face. “I do have something, but… it might not be the time, because I’ve got a bit of a mood kill first. Your mother asked me to pass on a message.”

I wrinkled my nose, something cold coiling up in my chest. “I heard about the police. I plan on telling them I’m here fully of my own volition.”

She raised her eyebrows high. “The police? Did your aunt actually go through with it?”

“Is that not what it’s about?” I slumped back against the fence. “Shane begged me to call him, and for some reason he got through to me enough for me to answer… he said Aunt Helena had the police looking now. But I’m also noticing that he just says things, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he made it up to make me capitulate. Either way, I’m not afraid of them coming around asking about me. I’ve had police in my face before.”

She shook her head, hands in her pockets. “Well, your aunt did come around too, rattling off some vague threats about how I was a criminal mastermind hiding you from your family. I told her to pound sand. But that’s not what it was about.”

I bit down on a smile. “Aunt Helena loved that, I bet.”

“Oh, absolutely. Jumping for joy.”

“What did Mom say?”

She sighed. “That she wants to make things better. That she’s sorry she made you feel this way.”

Ugh… I was probably supposed to feel something big one way or the other. I looked away. “Huh.”

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