Page 118 of Summer Ever After
“Easy, buddy.” Now Walker’s glare lands on Mick. “I can carry my own clubs next week at the British Open.”
Mick scoffs. “I’d like to see you try.” His smile shifts to me. “I’m glad we’re on the same team. It will give me all day to get to know you better.”
I feel Walker’s eyes boring into me, but I don’t meet his gaze. “Great.”
Mick winks on his way out. “See you out there.”
Walker’s eyes drill into the back of his head as he walks toward hole five, where we’ll be starting. “Did he just wink at you?”
“I think so.”
“Real men don’t wink.”
“I’m pretty sure I’ve seen you wink before.”
“Maybeas a joke. Not to seduce a woman.”
“Do you think that’s what he was doing?” I pretend to be ignorant. “He’s kind of cute. Maybe I should add him to my list of men to date this summer.”
“He’s ineligible. He doesn’t live in Sunset Harbor.”
“Maybe he could be persuaded to move here.” I smirk at him as I pass by. “I’ll find out on the course.”
“Really, Jane?” He throws his hands up. “You know, Mick doesn’t even like the ocean,” he calls after me. “So living on an island doesn’t make sense for him.”
I laugh to myself, enjoying every bit of Walker’s jealousy.
Walker
Jane squares up on the tee box at hole nine, looking back and forth between her ball and the line of target. I’m fifteen feet back, silently watching with Pete, when Mick joins us.
His voice is a whisper. “Hey, Jane is really cute. What’s going on between the two of you?”
“We’re just hanging out, having fun together.”
“Aren’t you leaving tomorrow?”
“Yeah.”
“So what’s going to happen between you two once you go?”
“She lives here, and I live in Jupiter. That pretty much solves that.”
I hate that our relationship is boiled down to geography.
“You could do a long-distance relationship, and then, eventually, maybe she could move to Jupiter.”
None of that is what Jane wants. She’s lonely and ready to spend her life with someone. A long-distance relationship isn’t going to meet her needs. I would never ask that of her—like I would never ask her to give up her life in Sunset Harbor to be with me. This island is part of her identity as much as unwavering optimism is.
No, what’s best for Jane is if I just throw in the towel, admit defeat, and walk away before we both get in too deep.
She takes her swing, hitting the ball one hundred yards. Everyone claps, and she spins to me with a smile.
“Nah”—I clap too—“after today, Jane and I are over.”
“You’ll never make the putts you don’t take.” Pete shakes his head, slapping me on the back as he heads to the tee for his turn.
I don’t need a golf metaphor to tell me I’m giving up on the best thing that’s ever happened to me in my life.
