The silence between them felt awkward. She wondered if it felt that way to him. But then, he had something to occupy him—driving the boat. And he was good at it. Hardly surprising. Was there anything he wasn’t good at? She thought a moment. Yes. Apologizing. He wasn’t very good at that. And drinking. That too. These thoughts made her feel better. The man was not perfect.
She sighed.
How could he sit there this long without uttering even a word?
She needed to fill this silence. And then it came to her.
“Why Inigo Montoya?” she asked.
He turned to gaze at her and blinked. He looked surprised. She was surprised too. The question felt as though it had come out of nowhere. But once she’d asked it, she realized, it hadn’t. She wanted to hear his answer.
He turned his attention back to the lake so that all she could see was his profile.
“Because he’s loyal, trustworthy.”
Good answer.
She could feel her heart begin to throb more insistently. She felt as though it were trying to tell her something. She just wasn’t sure what.
What if it were telling her to stop, she thought, at the very moment she heard the sound of her own voice.
“I suppose you think only animals can be that, and possibly men.”
“Huh?”
“You said as much. You said ‘Animals don’t go around showing you one face and then turn around to show the world another. They don’t make you think you can trust them, only for you to find out you can’t.’”
He turned to look at her. “You remember that?”
Now it was her turn to gaze out at the lake. She shrugged. “I remember lots of things.”
“Yeah, well, that’s true. About animals.”
She gave him a sidelong glance. “And when I went on to ask you whether or not people do that, you said women do.”
She tried to read his profile. It was all she had to go on. The only thing she could make out was that it looked as though his jawline had turned so hard, it looked like stone. It reminded her of the little prince in that fairy tale she had made up.
“Well,” he finally said, “maybe not all women. I was thinking of one woman in particular.”
Nico nodded. “I see.”
She turned her attention back to the lake, figuring that was as far as he would go and thinking she was just going to have to put up with the silence until they reached land. She could see it up ahead, but she couldn’t tell how long it would take them to get there.
And then she heard his voice.
“She’s married. And was married when we were—I was going to saytogether, but that’s not exactly right. But we had a relationship. I didn’t know she was married when I first met her. But I didn’t stop seeing her once I found out. Let’s just say the way I found out wasn’t ideal. Although I suppose there isn’t an ideal way to discover a thing like that. Still, this way was really nasty. That’s why I said what I said about women.”
“Okay.”
“Okay? That’s it?”
“What do you want me to say? So, you had an affair with a married woman. Maybe it’s not the best thing to do, but it happens. She’s the one who made a promise to the man, you didn’t.”
“It isn’t just that.”
He turned and stared at her. She could see he was searching for something, but she couldn’t tell what.
“What?” she asked.
