Over the rest of the afternoon, Neal regaled us with tales of their travels. When our grandmother died, she left the two of us, her only grandchildren, a very generous amount of wealth. Neal decided to use some of their fortune to travel the world, and I admired them for it.
I’d only traveled twice. Once to go to school, and then to join my ballet company in Michigan, where we were now settled. I’d wanted to travel, but alas, I didn’t have the courage to go solo like my cousin.
“Let’s go outside,” Neal suggested after dinner. I was grateful that Max had called and lied about working late tonight. I didn’t want to hear his angry, hateful nonsense that would no doubt be directed at Neal on such a happy day. We had a wonderfully light meal and then took our drinks down to the water. Each of us grabbed an extra bottle of wine to take with us.
Tuth brought their speaker and turned the music on. We danced barefoot in the sand as we drank more and more and laughed more and more. Eventually, we collapsed in a fit of giggles, drunk, and absolutely gleeful.
“So, this chick really looks just like you?”
“Not really,” Tuth answered Neal about Skye. “She needs a tan to truly embody her idol. You can’t copy that.”
I reached for the bottle I was drinking from, having completely abandoned the glass. “I doubt I’m her idol. I just think I’ve got something she wants.”
Neal chuckled. “Oh yeah, what’s that?”
Tuth and I exchanged a look, the mood souring. Neal looked from Tuth to me and scratched their head. “What am I missing?”
“Nothing.” I dusted the sand off my dress and stood. “It’s all so stupid. I don’t want to talk about him anymore.”
“Who? I thought we were talking about Skye, the ballerina.”
Tuth’s phone went off and they checked it, their eyes lighting up.
“I gotta take off. That girl I’ve been talking to is off work.” They stood, wiping the sand off their clothes. “I’ll be around tomorrow, regular time. It was nice meeting youNail.” With a smile, they pronounced my cousin’s name with the same fake Australian accent Neal had used when they first arrived.
Once Tuth left, Neal put their head on my shoulder.
“Something’s wrong. This is supposed to be a happy day, and yet, all I’m getting from you is utter sadness.”
I swallowed. “Let’s put our feet in the water.” I reached for their hand and tugged them toward the dock. The sun was beginning to set. We drifted down to the lake and sat on the edge of the wooden dock. I dipped my toes in slowly and sighed, looking out across the water. Just then, the dock light flicked on above our heads.
“Is that a green bulb?” Neal asked.
“Would I be Daisy without a green light?” I smiled.
“I don’t know what that means, but it is your favorite color, so…”
“You never were much of a reader, were you?” I asked, my eyes glossing over.
“No, that was your thing, remember? Nona had that huge library. My dad detested books, probably because of her.” They chuckled.
Slowly, my mind drifted back to my childhood. I hadspent a lot of time in that library. If I wasn’t dancing, I was reading. There wasn’t much else to do when I wasn’t allowed to leave my Nona’s castle.
“Is green important or something? Some symbolism shit?”
“It is,” I said. I didn’t want to share my love for Fitzgerald’s most famous work with Neal. I didn’t want to share it with anyone. It was mine to cherish.
The last time I did, bad things happened.
“Why are you here?”
Neal pulled me from my memories.
“What?” I asked.
“Why are you living in this guy’s house when you don’t even like him? You’re engaged even. Do you really plan on marrying him?”
I bit down on my lip. That was a good question.
