“Nobody does,” he said. Then, “Do you want me to leave?”
So she could feel achingly, terrifyingly alone? “No. Please. Don’t. Want a beer?”
“Sure,” he said.
She fetched them beers and they wound up sitting on the front porch swing.
“Wish I had something brilliant to say,” he said.
She gave a sad chuckle. “Me, too.”
“I mean, I could say something half-ass like, it’ll be okay, but I don’t know that and I’ve never been able to lie to people.”
“A good quality. More than I can say for my ex,” Arianna added bitterly, and took a guzzle of her beer.
“He sounds like a shit.”
“He is,” she agreed. “I didn’t think he was when I married him.”
“I hope not,” Alden said in mock horror. “I never took you for a masochist.”
“I never took myself for a fool, either. I guess I was.”
He waved that away. “We’re all fools once in a while.”
She smiled at him. “Thanks for that. It makes me feel better.”
But only for a moment. She packed away her smile.
“You’re doing everything you can for your mom and she’s happy. That counts for a lot.”
Arianna bit her lip and nodded. “She’s always been there for me, always been my rock. I don’t know how I’ll go on if....” Her throat closed over the last words, refusing to let them out.
“I get it,” he said. “But I bet you’re stronger than you think you are.”
“I don’t want to find out.” She took a long draw on her beer. “Sometimes I wish I could go back in time.”
“Yeah,” he said slowly. “That show only plays forward. You got a lot of forward left.”
Without her mom? The tears spilled out and down her cheeks. He scooted closer and put an arm around her. “You’ll get through all this.”
“If something happens how am I going to tell my daughter?” she wailed. There it was, the other awful fear. How could she make life okay for Sophie if they lost her mom?
“You’ll get through that, too,” he said.
And that was all he said. They sat in silence, waiting for the night to fall.
Molly was stowing the leftover potato salad in the fridge when Reggie sauntered into the kitchen. “I’m thinking we should get out on the water pretty soon,” he said. “Get our ringside seat.”
He looked so cute in his new jeans and red polo shirt and Santa hat. Her heart fluttered with appreciation.
“I’m ready,” she said. “Sunny will take care of the rest of the cleanup later.”
Back out on the deck, she called to Paisley, who came running, followed by her mother, who was moving at a more reluctant pace.
“I can hardly wait to see this boat,” Ava said under her breath as they made their way to Reggie’s car.
He’d gotten the windshield and the fender fixed, but it wasn’t exactly the car of a rich man. Maybe the boat wouldn’t be, either.
