Page 47 of The Glass Dolphin

Kristen paced away from him, going past her small galley kitchen to the mouth of the hallway. Her thoughts tumbled, and she’d endured enough surprises in her lifetime to never experience another one. Memories of her life with Joel, at the lighthouse, on this island, streamed through her mind. She’d thought she’d known him. Loved him. They’d spent decades together and raised two children, then had many years together again, just the two of them.

After he’d died, Kristen had learned so much about him. So many things she’d thought were true that weren’t. That would not happen to her again.

She turned to face Theo, heat flowing through her so fast, she probably could’ve shot it out of her fingertips. “Gladys Carole has lived next door to you for over a year?”

“Longer than that,” he said easily. “Rodney lived there with her too, before he passed. It’s probably been three or four years.” He didn’t seem to think this was a big deal at all. Kristen could admit she didn’t spend a lot of time at community events and activities, because she had family and her Seafaring Girls in the cove that took up a great deal of her time.

“What did you tell her?” she asked.

“I said you might have some questions for her about the Coalition,” he said.

“Did you tell her about the lighthouse?” Kristen had trusted him with that information; she hadn’t thought for one moment he’d tell anyone else.

“No,” Theo said, his eyebrows pulling down. “I thought you might want to tell her yourself.”

Kristen took a series of quick steps toward him. “I don’t want to tell them at all,” she hissed. Perfect clarity rang in her ears. “You should just go on your walk with her.”

“Kristen,” he said.

“I don’t feel well,” she said again, though the lie rang in the air between them. She maintained her eye contact with Theo, who continued to watch her back. “I’m sure she’s wondering where her ‘good friend’ is.”

“Kristen,” he said. “It’s not like that.”

“Maybe for you,” she said.

He blinked, then nodded. “All right.” He fell back a step and then turned around. “I suppose I can call on you later?”

Kristen’s memory brought forward another memory. This one from Thanksgiving, when his daughter had asked if Kristen was going to marry her father. “Actually, Theo,” she said. “I need you to answer something for me.”

He faced her again and waited.

“At Thanksgiving, I said maybe we should talk about our relationship, and you asked if I wanted to get married. You seemed very surprised. You were about to say something when your grandchildren interrupted.” It had been a couple of months since then, and neither of them had brought it up again.

He still hadn’t talked to her about any sort of future together. Kristen’s mind had lingered on it, but she’d then had quite a few other things happen that had stolen her attention and mental energy.

“I’d like to know what you were going to say then.”

“I can’t remember,” he said with a chuckle.

“Then tell me if you think you’ll ever get married again.”

The grin vanished from his face, and while he didn’t say anything, Kristen had her answer. She wasn’t sure she necessarily wanted to tie the knot for a second time, especially at seventy-nine years old, but then, what was the point?

“Are we just friends then?” she asked. “Because bringing Gladys over feels like something a friend would do. Like, we’reallwalking together in the morning, not just the two of us.”

“I’d rather have a companion,” Theo said. “But no, Kris. I don’t want to get married again.”

She wasn’t sure why the words hurt—she probably felt the same way. “I wish you’d have told me from the beginning.” There it was—the source of the betrayal. He probably hadn’t meant to hurt her, or hide things from her, or lie to her.

She wasn’t even sure he’d done any of those things, but the hot river of foolishness carving through her sure testified that he had. She couldn’t smile. She couldn’t stand to look at him for much longer, not with that sad look on his face. “I’ll see you later.

Kristen turned and went down the hall, entering her bedroom and closing the door. Theo did not come after her this time, and since these condos weren’t the best build on the island, she felt the slight rattle in her walls when her front door slammed closed.

Sweetie had come into the bedroom at some point, and Kristen lay down on her bed, still fully dressed and ready to go walking, and stroked her cat. “Why does this hurt?” she wondered, because she and Theo had only been together for about nine months. She hadn’t fully engrained her life into his, and she had so much separate from him.

But it still hurt, and she didn’t need an explanation as to why. Some things were simply allowed to hurt, and she’d have to carry this pain with quiet dignity, like a bruise-colored bloom, until it faded and healed.

She’d been through battles like this before, and she’d won. She’d find resilience in the aftermath—if she could survive the turmoil in the present.

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