Page 99 of The Spirit of Love
“Right.” I nod, ever more confused. “So what were you going to ask me?”
Jude looks over his shoulder at the isthmus we’re pulling away from. “I was going to ask you if you’d take a boat ride with me to another part of the island. But it seems I am too late. If you want to jump ship, you could probably still make it to shore—”
“Why do you want to take me to another part of the island?”
Jude nods. “That’s a fair question I was hoping you wouldn’t ask.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m still working out how to explain it myself.”
Olivia appears before us, four cups of piña coladas on a tray. “A taste test.” Out of the side of her mouth, she whispers, “Mine is on the left, so you know how to vote.” She winks as Jude and I take one of each.
We sip.
“You’re cheating!” Jake cries, appearing before us in a green swimsuit, whisking his glasses out of our hands. “Mine are meant to be served in coconuts. Using a glass is drinking with one tongue tied behind your back.”
“Oh, give us all a break!” Olivia shouts at the sky.
Masha appears between the arguing newlyweds. “Lovers, I need you,” she says, pulling them both away and giving me aYou’re welcomelook. “Let’s give these two a minute.”
“A minute’s all they need to judge the colada-off,” Olivia argues.
As soon as they’re gone, Jude pours both his drinks into the coconut, downs the whole thing, and says to me, “I think they pair especially well together.”
I smile. “That’s it exactly.”
“And, having just shot-gunned a very large serving of rum, I think I’m ready now.”
“For what?”
He points at the island. I hold my breath as Jude reaches for my hand and says, “To tell you the truth.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
An hour later, Jude andI stand at the edge of a trail, staring down a hundred feet into a ravine where the upside-down letters are still visible in the brush:
JEEP
The Midlife Crisisbrought us as far as the cove at Parson’s Landing. Then we borrowed a Jet Ski from the yacht and I drove us to shore. We parked under the serpent head–shaped rock on the beach as gray clouds combed the sky. After that, for reasons Jude has yet to explain but that are making my chest feel like a breeding ground for butterflies, he led me up the path and stopped here.
The wind feels cold and strange, the sky overcast and close. The clouds have turned the sea from turquoise into a treacherous steely blue. It feels like anything might happen, and I need to be prepared.
Jude seems frozen by the side of the ravine. He steps close to the edge and puts out a hand, as if he’s touching something unseen.
“Jude?”
He hasn’t spoken in a long time. Not since we started up the trail together. But I can tell from the manic motion of his eyes,from the tension in his neck, that there’s a lot going on in his head.
“What I’m about to tell you is going to sound…” He shakes his head, closes his eyes. “Completely crazy.”
Well, he’s taken the words right out of my mouth. But at least he’s going to go first.
“I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours,” I say.
“I don’t want to,” he admits. “This is so difficult for me. But I keep thinking, maybe the fact that you showed up—here, now—is a sign.”
“What kind of sign?”
