Page 105 of The Lies I've Told
Looking up at our childhood home, remembering all the crazy moments we’d shared within, I smiled. “Who said you always had to be a nomad to find yourself? Mom and Dad raised us in this unconventional inn, surrounded by strangers, and yet we had a perfectly normal upbringing. Maybe I, the one who couldn’t wait to leave, am supposed to come home to find myself.”
“It sure would be poetic, wouldn’t it?”
“Yeah”—I laughed—“it would. Plus, this island could use some style.”
She grinned. “It really could, and I know I, for one, would really appreciate not having to get on a ferry every time I wanted something cute to wear on a date. Do you think you could do something about that?”
I gave her a once-over. “You’ve always been a work in progress, haven’t you?”
Her eyes widened just before we both stepped out of the car. “I thought my sense of fashion had greatly improved over the last few years!”
“We’ll keep working on it. I’m here now; don’t worry.”
I was pretty sure I heard her mutter something under her breath as she said good-bye and hopped back in the car. Since I’d called her out on her coming over to see how Mom was handling the inn, she knew her plans had been ruined.
I had known maternity leave was going to be hard on my sister, but this was downright ridiculous. Taking a quick look around the street and parking area, I noticed neither of my parents’ cars was around, which meant Aiden was alone.
Finally.
I wanted to go straight to the backyard and tell him all about my day, but I felt like a mess, and I was in desperate need of a shower after the stressful afternoon I’d had. So, rather than heading for the patio, I went toward our suite, loving the fact that it was now ours.
I hadn’t been in the other room in weeks.
Unlocking the door, I set down the papers on the dresser and breathed out a content sigh. Seeing all of our things commingling together in this room filled my heart with joy. It was messy and small, but I didn’t care.
I could spend the rest of my life crammed with this man in the tiny, little suite.
And it’d be the happiest life I could imagine.
Of course, I just spent my life savings on a storefront in a town dependent on tourists, so who knows? I might need to live here the rest of my life, surviving off the kindness of my family.
But it could always be worse.
I could be forced to move in with Molly and Jake… or my parents.
A very real shudder went down my spine.
God, I hoped this dream of mine worked out.
Trying to keep a positive outlook on things, I stripped off my clothes and jumped in the shower, eager to go see Aiden. It had been a few days since I was outside and really took an up-close look at the progress he’d made on the memorial project.
Now that he’d been working on it for several weeks, I was starting to see the progress of it, but it was slow work. I now understood where the need for patience came from. I’d given him a hard time about M&M’s and such, but the work he created was beautiful.
After my shower, it didn’t take much longer to get ready. I threw on a cute dress and a bit of makeup, and with one last look at the contract I’d left on the dresser, I stepped out of our messy suite to go share the news with my man.
And I hoped he’d share in my dreams because there was no one else in the world I wanted to have by my side in this crazy, new adventure but him.
Arching my back, I stretched my sore muscles, feeling the hours of work I’d put my body through today. Glancing up at the granite boulder I was slowly molding into the vision I’d created in my head, I felt a sense of satisfaction, knowing it was heading in the right direction.
Ben would have loved to get his hands on something like this. He would have loved to expand his talent, to let it grow into what I was afforded.
It had always been a dream of mine to start our own business. Two brothers creating art together. We’d have moved out to the country and gotten our own studio. We’d have lived off the meager earnings we made off our work. It wouldn’t have been much, but it would have been a good life.
Two brothers.
Two stone doves.
I remembered telling him all of that out there in our backyard as we’d chipped away at the stone, day by day.
