Page 36 of Otter Heart
“Stop being so jealous. Green is a bad color on you.” I turned back to James. “So, he’s single, huh?”
“He was last time he came in,” James nodded. “Why? Are you interested?”
“Eh. He probably wouldn’t go for a guy like me. I’m so annoying and high maintenance. Plus, even Rowan told me thatI’m too mean.”
“I said you were alittlerude now and then! That’s all!”
“Right. Sure,” I sighed, grinning at James. He knew I liked to give Rowan a hard time. “Well, he sounds too pretty for me anyway. And you know me, I’m not big into dogs.”
“Too bad,” James said, giving me a pitiful smile. “Anybody who cares for an animal that much would certainly be a great partner.”
“Maybe,” I nodded.
If only I hadn’t fucked everything up to begin with and asked for afakerelationship, maybe I’d have a chance. But no, I always messed things up. That’s just the kind of guy I was.
“There’s the house,” Rowan said, pointing to a white house with a green roof coming into view.
“Oh Rowan,” I sighed, leaning up against the dash to get a better look. “It’s beautiful!”
Chapter Fifteen: Mateo
Adam had insisted on having dinner at his place. I tried to talk him into letting me get there my own way, but he wouldn’t hear of it. Instead, he was outside my condo a half hour before our dinner date, ready to chauffeur me wherever I needed to go.
The gesture was cute. But I couldn’t deny feeling a twinge of annoyance having been denied my independence. I knew he was picking me up to save me the hassle, but it almost felt like I wasrelyingon him to not only provide the date but do everything else for me too. I’d been thinking in circles about it all day but in the end, I decided just to push it aside for now. It was just a simple car ride after all. It wasn’t like he wouldn’t allow me to use the stove or was fawning over my every step. I was probably just being oversensitive.
So, I let him pick me up. And to my surprise, he’d even made a spot for Bessie in the back seat with a blanket and everything. It was so nice to have someone that not only didn’t mind her being around but went out of his way to make sure she was comfortable. I knew he wasn’t the biggest animal person, but the fact that he treated her with as much respect as he did me said a lot about his character.
Even though everything between us was supposed to befake, he sure was doing a good job of convincing me that he was the best guy I’d ever known.
Sigh.
By the time we got to Adam’s place and situated on the back porch, the air was already starting to take on the night’s chill. But I could still feel the slightest bit of sun in the direction of the wind. The scent of the lake rolled up the dunes, washing away the smoke from the grill as Adam cooked our food. While I was hungry, I was too busy gazing out over the lake that I could hear and smell, but couldn’t see.
“Burgers are ready,” he said, sitting down next to me at the table. “I hope you’re hungry.”
“Adam,” I said, leaning against the railing with my chin resting on my arms. “Is it sunset?”
He shifted in his seat. “It’s close. The sun is getting pretty low. It’s pretty tonight.”
I sighed, wishing I could see it. Then I felt a hand on my arm.
“Do you want me to describe it to you?”
A smile filled my face. “Yes please.”
“Okay.”
He turned his chair, presumably so he could get a better line of sight. I felt his arms come to rest next to mine as he mimicked my pose. Then he took a deep breath.
“We’re about sixty feet up from the beach. Trees sweep in on either side of the cedar porch framing the scenery but stop just far enough back to create a postcard-like view of the scene. A set of stairs surrounded by blooming pink wildflowers leads all the way down to a white sand beach where three-foot waves crash against the shore with rhythmic certainty. Cerulean water drenched in sunlight dances and stretches out to the horizon, growing darker as it gets further away. The sky is dotted with puffy clouds, like cotton candy pulled to pieces. They were white a while ago, but the sun had dipped so low that they’re now stained deep pink and orange. The fluffy sides thrown into shadow are a deep gray purple and lose all their detail. Thesky itself is a blazing orange and red near the horizon, but it turns gold, then green, then blue as it gets closer to us, like a desaturated rainbow that somehow looks more intense than any crayon color I’ve ever seen. In a few minutes the sun will kiss the horizon and then it’ll be gone, and everything will lose its pinkish hue and turn blue, calling to the beginning of night. Everything is steeped in twilight’s mystery, but it’s fleeting and that somehow makes it even more beautiful.”
I let out a long, satisfied sigh. “Thank you, Adam. Thank you for being my eyes. You described it beautifully.”
He made a sort of embarrassed huff, his hand going back to his hair again. “I don’t know about that. I was just telling you what’s out there.”
“No,” I said, putting my hand on his arm and giving it a gentle squeeze. “It was really beautiful.”
“Well… we should probably eat before our food gets cold.”
