Page 51 of Close to Falling

“I’m just calling to tell you I’ve received your order, and I’ve emailed you four different design choices to choose from.”

“Okay, I’ll take a look and let you know by Friday.”

“Thank you,” I reply, and then I get an idea. “Mrs. Watson?”

“Yes?” she asks.

“If Mr. Watson were to take you somewhere on a date, where do you think he would choose?”

“Do you have a date?” I can tell she is excited, and I can’t help but grin at the woman old enough to be my grandmother.

“Yes, Mrs. Watson, I believe I do.”

“Do you know her well?”

“I used to when I was younger, but time separated us for a while.”

“Oh, dear, that doesn’t matter. A woman may grow up, but there is still a girl inside waiting for a chance to come out. Take her somewhere that reminds her of that. Those are the best kinds of memories, and you’ll be the one she is sharing them with.”

“Okay, thank you,” I respond, giving her words some thought.

“You’re welcome. I’ll call Friday.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I reply and hang up. I lean back in my chair and look up at the ceiling. We used to go to the beach all the time. Maybe she’d like a picnic there. I could replace the beer with wine and pack the thing we ate the most as kids—barbecue. I shoot Landon a text to see if Sarah knows what kind of wine Maddie likes, and afterward I sit up and go through the rest of my orders. Now that I have a plan, I can get some work in before this evening.

Chapter Twenty-Two

The wind from the ocean lifts my hair as I get out of River’s truck, and I smile.

“I haven’t been down here in so long,” I tell him as I make my way around the truck.

“Good,” he says, grabbing the basket from the back. He walks past me and takes my hand, not even thinking, I believe. I casually let go and rub my face.

“Fuck, I’m sorry, B. I didn’t even think about it,” he says, running a hand over his head.

“It’s not a big deal.” But now things are a tad awkward. “What did you bring to eat?” I ask, looking down at the basket in his hand and trying to lighten the mood. He looks over at me.

“Every restaurant in the city went through my mind, but none seemed right. None seemed like us. So I thought about where we used to spend a lot of our time growing up, and the beach was it. And then I thought we’d have barbecue,” he says, setting the basket down and grabbing a folded blanket out of it. I grip the edges and help him lay it down before we sit on top and he unpacks the basket. We dig into the shredded barbecue after he removes the small buns. I’m wondering what we will drink until he pulls out a bottle of my favorite wine and uncorks it. I try not to smile, because I know he had to have called Landon. I didn’t drink wine back then.

“This is nice,” I tell him as I look out at the water and eat my food. I take a sip of my wine and savor its sweet flavor. After we chat about nothing important, River puts the food up and I lie back on the blanket and look at the sky. I watch as the sun slowly sinks, changing the colors from royal blues and hot pinks to dark gray. It disappears completely, and the moon takes its place along with bright stars. River pulls out a lantern. “You thought of everything,” I say.

“Well, I didn’t want us to be down here in the dark.” He lies down beside me. I look over at him and turn over on my side. Reaching my hand up, I rub his short hair.

“When did you cut all of your hair off?”

“A while back,” he says. His face is covered in a soft glow from the lantern, and his short hair is soft against my palm.

“I like it.” I move my hand away and rest my face on the arm. “How did you get into the furniture business?”

“You’re full of questions.” He smiles. I shrug.

“I feel like we missed out on so many years together. Plus, I talked your head off last night about my life. I want to hear about yours.”

“My buddy, Rozz, and I worked in the wood shop together my second year in prison, and when I got out, we kept in touch. I got some shit job, but I saved up everything I could and bought the shop. When Rozz got out, he came to work for me.”

“Wow,” I reply.What else am I supposed to say?

“Who knew I’d be making furniture?” he says, kind of laughing.

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