Tiffy kisses my cheek and squeezes me like we haven’t seen each other in months. It’s been maybe three days?
“Hey cupcake, I’ve missed you so much!”
My eyes shift to Tom. He’s standing just behind me, giving me a smug smile as I’m being squeezed like the lime in the same mojito she’s sipping.
Then she turns to him. I catch the slow flash of recognition, followed by disbelief.
“Oh my God. You’re Tom. Tom McKenna! What the hell, Yosh? You didn’t tell me!”
She slaps my arm and covers her mouth, trying not to scream.
“This is my best friend, Tiffany,” I say, gesturing between them. “And Tiff… this is Tom.”
She grabs Tom’s hand. “Hi! I’m Tiffany, but you can call me Tiffy. Everyone does. That’s my brother Shaylon, and that’s Naomi, my friend and coworker. We’re receptionists at the Emerald Beach Resort.The guy next to her, that’s Zion. Those people over there are his friends.”
She barely pauses to breathe, and she's still shaking his hand.
Definitely starstruck, or maybe she’s nervous because he’s one of Calvin’s best friends.
Had Tom been bracing himself for this moment? Because I sure am.
Part of me is rehearsing the apology for bringing him here, but then I look at him, and I watch him lighting up like a Christmas tree.
He slips back into the charm, the ease, the sparkle he kept caged at Arcadia. This morning, I’d mistaken it for a mask. Now I see it’s him, finally allowed to show up without being managed, without being punished by the past.
He takes Tiffy’s hand, says something that makes her laugh. Then, just like that, he’s mingling in the group like they are his close friends.
I scoff, my vision a little blurry as I watch him pull out his guitar. Within minutes, he has them all wrapped around his finger.
And, as I watch him step into full Tom McKenna mode, I can’t stop thinking about the man he is when it’s just him and me.
The one who lets himself fall apart and trusts me to be there with him when he does.
That’s the Tom I know. The one who rises after the fall.
Every day. Every night.
Silence after silence.
Tiffy joins me on the boulder and passes me a plate.
“Here. I saved the last piece of chicken for you. I know you don’t eat much red meat.”
Her eyes are on the group, just like mine. She smiles as she watches Tom teaching Shaylon a few chords on his guitar.
“So…Tom McKenna, huh?”
I drop my head into my hands, one thought racing through my mind.
What the hell am I doing?
“We went surfing today,” I start, my throat dry. “I took him to my house.”
I’ve never taken anyone there. Not Erin. Not even Tiffy. Showing someone my home has always felt too personal and exposed.
“Tiff, I’ve made such a mess.”
The subtle touch of her palm on my hand is reassuring.
