She giggled and looked up into my eyes. “They’re so tiny that it felt like I stepped on a sharp edge more than anything. It didn’t even break the skin.”
I took her hand within mine. “As long as you’re all right.”
She kissed the back of my hand. “I’ll always be all right when I’m with you.”
Her words soared my heart into the heavens, but it gave me even more to think about. We spent the day swimming and splashing around with one another, and when our stomachs started growling around four in the afternoon, we swam back to the yacht. We climbed up and smelled the chef already preparing dinner for us, so we parted ways to shower and get changed into fresh pairs of clothes.
But, once we emerged for dinner, I heard my daughter’s snoring echoing down the small cabin hallway.
Eva giggled. “Poor girl wore herself out.”
I placed my hand on the small of her back. “We’ll save her some. I’m sure she’ll be up in a couple of hours with a ravenous appetite.”
“You sure we shouldn’t wake her? Just in case she wants to eat with us?”
I walked her to the stairs. “For all we know, she won’t be up until morning.”
“But, she’s only had one meal today.”
I chuckled. “I promise she’ll be fine. She does this from time to time. Just let her sleep.”
Eva sighed as she walked up the stairs. “If you insist.”
I grinned. “Trust me, I insist wholeheartedly.”
As easy as things felt between us, though, our conversation at dinner was stunted. I had too much on my mind, but Eva wasn’t offering up much discussion, either. I figured maybe she was tired or burnt out from her time in the sun. But, she didn’t even look up at me for much of the meal.
She simply kept her head down, took bites, and only afforded me a head-nod or two whenever I said something.
“So, you have a good day?” I asked.
She nodded and sipped her wine but didn’t say anything back.
“You and Asia have fun?”
Again with a nod, but no words coming forth from her lips.
“You ready to go back tomorrow?”
She shrugged before finally offering up some sounds. “It’s complicated.”
I snickered. “I hear that. Sometimes, I feel like I could live on that island and build myself a little hut and be perfectly happy.”
Her eyes panned out toward the setting sun. “I’d need running water, though. I’m a bit spoiled that way.”
I laughed softly at her statement, but she didn’t laugh back. And I knew then and there that something big was on her mind. I knew how she felt, too. I had way too much to consider concerning my career and this custody-agreement issue I dropped into my lawyer’s lap only yesterday.
I wonder if she’d come to Hollywood if I footed the bill for her trip.
Another option was for the three of us to go to Hollywood together for the two weeks. Granted, Asia would miss the first two days of school, but it wasn’t as if she’d be missing an entire week or something like that. Then, I wouldn’t have to worry about my daughter being alone with Eva for so long, I’d be able to keep “coming home” to them, and we’d all be able to scout out houses together—after talking about it, of course.
It’s not fair of you to ask her to uproot her life after only knowing you a couple of weeks.
Instead of pressing more conversation with Eva, I relegated myself to dinner in silence. I’d had plenty of them while I was still married to Marissa, and I figured one wouldn’t hurt us. At least, I hoped it didn’t. While I wanted to poke around inside Eva’s brain and figure out what had her so preoccupied, it wasn’t as if I weren’t in the same boat with her or anything.
Maybe we just needed a bit of comfortable silence.
You don’t want another situation like your ex-wife, either.
