Page 75 of Summer Longing
“Well, that’s ancient history, right?” she said.
“Of course it is,” her father said. “Let’s just have a good few days and I’ll get you back to the city.”
Olivia nodded. That was the plan.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Fern’s bedtime routine seemed to be taking an extra-long time. Elise tried to ignore the sense that her wife was hiding out in the bathroom, avoiding her.
When Fern finally appeared, her hair was covered with a terrycloth wrap. Elise smelled the coconut oil Fern used occasionally for deep conditioning. It always reminded Elise of their first vacation together to Negril, where the bedside candles had a similar scent. The hotel, the Rockhouse, was breathtaking. It spanned eight acres of tropical gardens, each “room” a private bungalow perched right on the cliffs of Negril’s West End, overlooking the water. The bungalows were made of timber, thatch, and stone and blended in with the stunning natural beauty of the environment.
Fern was very proud of the fact that her favorite resort was Green Globe–certified. “It doesn’t just look good—it is good,” she’d said. They’d considered having their honeymoon there, but Fern decided they could not celebrate their union in a country that had a major human-rights problem for its treatment of the LGBTQ community.
Six months or so into their relationship, Fern experienced a crisis of conscience about her finance job. She’d reached the point in her life when she wanted to spend her days doing something that “put positive energy” into the world. This talk surprised Elise, because she’d felt that Fern was the focused, practical one of the two of them. But Elise also had a deeply altruistic and spiritual side, and she understood that this was what had drawn Fern to her—Elise was all idealism. In Elise, Fern had found a partner who inspired her to explore the latent side of herself, the aspect that Fern considered the best part of who she was and who she wanted to become.
Away from the day-to-day grind of life in Boston, Elise and Fern saw different sides of each other. Swimming in the turquoise water, dining under the clearest night skies Elise had ever seen, reaching for each other in the middle of the night to the deepest silence and the feeling they were alone at the edge of the world, they realized they were more than a couple: they were soul mates.
Finally Fern climbed into her side of the bed, and Elise reached over and kissed her cheek. “You smell like vacation.” Elise smiled.
Fern looked at her, not smiling in return. “It’s ridiculous to be living in the guest room of this house. I have to go down the hall to use the bathroom.”
“It still gives us more space than the room above the shop.”
Fern said nothing and settled as far on the edge of the bed as possible. She opened the novel she was reading, and Elise reached over to her nightstand for her own.
“Did you just give up on the mosaic class?” Fern said suddenly.
What? Where was this coming from? “No. I didn’t give up. I just don’t have time for it right now.”
Fern shook her head. “I just feel like you made a commitment. You started something, you should finish it.”
Elise sat up straighter and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Well, things are busy around here and I have to prioritize. I’m sure Amelia understands.”
Fern just stared at the page open in front of her.
“What? I can’t believe you’re being so judgmental. I mean, do you want to start an argument over this?”
“No,” Fern said, turning the page. “I don’t.”
Elise opened her own book, but the words swam in front of her eyes. Simmering with anger, she wondered why Fern had to ruin a perfectly good moment with needless criticism. And so she asked her. “What’s with you? Why’d you have to go and bitch at me like that?”
At first, Fern didn’t react. Elise wondered for a second or two if she was just going to ignore her. But then she slowly removed her reading glasses and turned to face her.
“I’m sorry. I just can’t do this anymore.”
Elise froze. “Do what anymore?”
“That situation with Bianca today was very disturbing. If she’s asking questions, other people must be too.”
“Fern, when Bianca was goading me about the house, you said I shouldn’t let her get to me, remember?”
Fern shook her head. “This is different. This is serious. We’ve had that baby for weeks. The mother hasn’t come back for her. It’s time to call the Department of Children and Families.”
Elise’s heart began to race. “They’ll take her away from us.”
“Elise, we have to go through the process.”
“Getting approved as adoptive parents could take months. There will be background checks, financial—”
