"Is Blake intending to go back to school? Cooper said something about her taking a break from school but she had to go back."
I stiffened. "She hasn't talked about it as much lately. At one point, she mentioned wanting to host art classes, maybe even go back to school for art therapy."
His brow furrowed. "Are you okay with her leaving to finish her schooling?"
"I'd need to find someone else to watch Lilliana, but I support Blake in whatever she wants to do."
"Does she know this is serious for you and not just a fling?"
It actually started out as a fake relationship, but I wasn't going to tell him that. "We haven't talked much about what comes after. She said she'd be by my side throughout the custody stuff."
"If she leaves, will it have an impact on your case?"
The attorney thought it would be better if I had someone steady in my life, and I needed a sitter to work. "It might."
"You should talk to her about what she wants to do. Don't just assume that it's going to work out and she'll stay on the island and choose you."
"I've been avoiding that conversation." I placed my hands on my hips. I looked out over the stakes and string delineating the paths. I wanted to be able to test the maze before we planted the shrubs.
"You're scared."
I sighed. "I'm scared that she's going to tell me that she doesn't like me as much as I like her. Or that this was just a fling, and now we should go our separate ways. I'm scared to do anything to break what we have."
"You can't just ignore it, and hope everything works out."
But avoidance had worked so far. "I don't know what's going to happen with the custody case, and Blake doesn't know what she wants to do yet."
"How do you know if you haven't talked to her about it?"
"I know I need to." I just kept putting it off. One of us would kiss each other, and then we were lost in each other for the night. We hadn't talked about much beyond Lilliana.
A car parked in the back lot, which was off to the side of the senior center. "Elena's here with lunch."
Elena got out of her car, carrying a carry out bag.
Hudson rushed to take it from her.
Elena looked over our work. "This is really coming together."
I shrugged. "It's a bunch of string and stakes."
She looked at the spec drawing in my hands. "Yeah, but I can totally see how it's going to look."
We moved to the porch and sat in the rockers overlooking the back of the property. There were the gazebo and flower beds, the new butterfly garden near the woods where there was a nature trail. Kingston Construction had built all of it, and I was proud of the work.
The maze would be on the right where there was a huge expanse of grass.
"You've done a great job with this place," Elena said, unwrapping her sub.
"I'm really glad I got to work on this project. I missed out on everything else."
Hudson shot me a warning look. "You had a baby. No one was upset with you about that."
"It feels good to be involved now." To contribute and give back. But that was only possible because Blake was watching Lilliana. What would happen if she left? I'd have to find another nanny or a sitter. It wasn't easy to find childcare on the island. There weren't that many people who weren't involved in the tourist business somehow.
Most locals went to college and stayed in whatever city they landed. There weren't that many job opportunities. Our family was lucky because we were the only construction business on the island.
"It's good to have you back," Hudson said, drinking from his water bottle.
