“Our groove feels a bit effortless, which is new to me. I’m much more used to watching everything I say.”
“That’s no fun.”
“Not at all, but I thought that was just how it was, you know?”
He was quiet as they got dressed and left his place to head to the lighthouse where her sister and brother-in-law lived for now. Dara had texted to say they’d gotten the house they’d put the offer on and would be moving in after their year at the lighthouse was finished. Monique was thrilled for them.
When they were on the way, he asked, “Are your parents still living?”
“My mother is. She lives in Florida with two of her sisters. They’re having the time of their lives after being married to difficult, exacting men.”
“Were your parents divorced?”
“No, but it might’ve been better if they had. They stayed together for Dara and me, but they really did us no favors. We grew up watching her tiptoe around his mercurial moods, always trying to please him and falling short every time.”
“Why was he like that?”
“I don’t know. He had a lovely wife, a beautiful home, daughters who loved him, but nothing was ever good enough for him. While Dara broke the cycle with her wonderful Oliver, I fell right into the same trap as my mother with a difficult, complicated, hard-to-please husband who went and cheated on me. Everyone we knew said they couldn’t believe it was him and not me who cheated. They said they wouldn’t have blamed me if I’d done it years ago, which was sort of humiliating.”
“How so?”
“It made me realize that everyone else saw him for what he really was, while I was still dancing around him, trying to make it work when it was never going to. Like, how did they see it, and I didn’t?”
“You were in the thick of it. You couldn’t see the forest for the trees, or whatever that saying is.”
“I guess, but I like to think I’m a pretty savvy person. He made me realize I’m not so smart.”
“Knock it off with that crap. It wasn’t your fault. I have no doubt you tried your best to make it work, and he was an asshole for treating you that way. He didn’t deserve you.”
“That’s nice of you to say, but how do you know I wasn’t a nasty bitch of a wife?”
He grinned as he gave her a side-eyed look. “Were you?”
“Not until he gave me reason to be.”
“Well, there you have it. His loss. My gain.”
“Is that right?”
“You know it.” He reached over to put his hand on her leg. “I’m sorry you had to go through such a rough thing, but I’m glad you were free of him when we met.”
“I am, too. I would’ve hated to miss out on this because of him.”
He took the turn onto the lighthouse property that her sister had called home for nearly a year.
Monique eyed the lighthouse. “In many ways, this place saved them. They weren’t doing well when they got here. And now… I’ll always be thankful to Gansett and the people here who helped them get back on track.”
“It’s a special community. I’m not looking forward to getting orders that’ll move me away from here.”
“When will that happen?”
“In the next year or so, probably.”
“Oh. Where will you go?”
“I put in for the West Coast this time, but that was before I met someone who made me want to stay on this side of the country.”
“What’s her name, and where do I find her?”
