Page 31 of Not Another Beach Read
"I haven't decided anything concrete," I said. "But I can promise you that I will be careful. And that I will start telling you where I am, just in case."
"So if you're being safe, why would you need to do anything just in case, Elyse?"
"I don't expect to ever need you to come rescue me. I'm just trying to make everybody happy."
"You're never going to make everybody happy, Elyse, especially in a situation like this where you're doing something that you don't need to do and putting yourself in danger. You're making everyone who loves you worried sick for your safety. You just don't seem to care about that and I don't understand why. If you know how much it bothers me, why are you so insistent on continuing?"
"I don't know, Drew, I just know that I love you very much, but I'm not willing to say that I'm not going to do this anymore. It's something that I feel very strongly about, and it's important to me. Doesn't that matter to you?"
"Of course, if it's important to you, it matters. But your safety matters most."
"I'll be fine," I said, my tone a little more sharp than I had anticipated.
Drew seemed to pick up on the fact that the conversation wasn't going to go the way he hoped. Once we reached the tenth hole, he got out to hit his ball. When it flew into the woods along the left side, he swore under his breath and that was the last he spoke for the rest of the round. We drove home in silence. We ate lunch in silence. He cooked dinner in silence. No matter how much I tried to draw him out, I didn't get more than one word answers from him. This was a rare occurrence.Drew was one of the chattiest people I knew and very rarely held a grudge or stayed upset with anyone (especially me) for very long. I figured I would just need to wait him out and hope that he would realize that I meant it when I said that I would be safe.
A month later, it would all come to a head.
14
ELYSE
Eighteen holes of golf at Tuesday's Ladies League went by quickly with Grace. We chatted about Jenna's bakery, Paige's book launch, the new book Grace was working on, and Sarah's son who had drawn a fish on her wall with a Sharpie marker that week. As we pulled up to the cart barn, our phones dinged with a text message at the same time.
Cat: Meet here after close?
Sarah: Sure! Let me get a sitter. Assuming my mom will be there.
I heard Grace chuckle beside me.
"Right. Like I need more decorating tips from a first grader."
Grace: I'll be there.
Jenna: Holly and I will be done by then. I can have her finish up the frosting while I run over.
Paige: See you then!
What'sthe meeting about?
"Do you know what this meeting is about?" I asked Grace.
She slid out of the golf cart and unstrapped her clubs from the back of the cart. "Cat's got something up her sleeve, I'm sure."
I am certain of that.
When I got to Cat's Bites, everyone was already seated around the U-shaped booth where we usually gather. That was not a good sign because it meant they had gotten there earlier and probably spent that time talking about whatever the meeting was actually about. And considering I was the last one to arrive by design, I knew right off the bat that the meeting was about me and that Cat had already shared her concerns with the group.
It was an intervention.
"What's up, ladies," I said as I sat down in my usual spot at the end of the table across from Cat. She put her foot up on the booth along my right leg, as she usually did, but that time it almost felt like I were being locked in.
"Not much," said Grace. "We just wanted to get together to chat about a few things."
"Oh really," I said. "A few things like what?"
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jenna squirming in her seat at the curve of the booth next to Paige, who was looking everywhere but me. Sarah reached her hand out and patted my leg.
"Just keep in mind that we love you," she said in a low voice.
