“Why I—” Jolene exclaimed.“This is no way to treat an Island Elder.Do you know who I am?”
“I don’t.No.And I’m sure you are a nice person, but right now, I’m finding this really invasive and as someone who came to the island in search of peace and safety, having you just pop in like this makes me feel neither peaceful nor safe.So I’m setting a boundary, Jolene.Please don’t show up to my house like this again—particularly with the hopes of meeting my daughter—because I will call the police.I will erect a gate and install cameras.My daughter deserves to meet people on her own time and in her own way.This was a big move for us, and I’m helping her transition in the best way I know how that will be gentle for her.Please respect that.And furthermore, you don’t need to go around the island telling people that you saw Naomi here and gossiping about what youthinkwe are.That’s between us.That’s our business, and if there is something to share with the island, we will do so when we’re ready.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Naomi’s mouth drop open.
I might only have been twenty-six, but I became a father at thirteen, and that forced me to grow up damn fast.I learned how to set boundaries with people, defend my child and her privacy with my life, and teach her that being nice and being kind are two different things.I wasn’t being unkind to Jolene, but I also wasn’t being nice.I was being direct and establishing a clear boundary.Hopefully, she’d respect it.
The Island Mouth’s nostrils flared and her wide eyes kept flicking back and forth between Naomi and me.This peahen’s feathers were definitely ruffled, but it wasn’t my job to subdue her.She came to my home expecting to meet my child, and I wasn’t going to let that happen.Particularly because I already knew someone like Jolene wouldn’t understand Mabel’s autism or idiosyncrasies.She was probably one of those women who expected parents to just let her hug their children, even as the child struggled to get free.
“He’s been very clear, Jolene,” Naomi said.
“Yes, he has been,” Jolene replied through clenched teeth.
I jerked my head toward the back of the house.“I hope you’ll see yourselves off the property.”Then I tugged Naomi’s wrist, and the two of us left Jolene and Karen standing there, steam practically coming out of their ears.
I released Naomi’s wrist when the slope of the yard got steeper and allowed her to go ahead of me down the narrow path.“You’ll be brandished as an asshole to the whole island by nightfall,” she said, her long, dark hair now free of her braids—courtesy of me earlier in the truck—and hanging in waves down her back.It caught the sunlight in just the right way before we entered the shade and shone like dark amber.
“Let her say what she will.Showing up like that—especially following me to my house—is absolutely unacceptable.What’s she going to do next?Show up here when I’m at the school and harass Mabel?”
“She might.”She glanced over her shoulder at me.“Jolene is persistent, nosy, and on a pedestal of her own making.”
“Fuck that.I’ll have a gate installed if I have to.Do it on my own dime if the landlord won’t.”
“Tom might be able to help you with that.He had to have a gate installed on his property because of a similar issue.People thought he ran a petting farm, not an animal rescue, and were just showing up, wandering his property and harassing the animals.”
“You’re kidding?”
“No place is safe from entitled weirdos, not even San Camanez.”I was right behind her, but not close enough to stop what happened next.She must have stepped in a divot and bailed, tumbling the rest of the way down the slope.I ran after her.
“Shit!”I exclaimed, finding her in a heap at the bottom, twigs, moss, and leaves in her hair.“You okay?”
Groaning, she unfurled herself from the fetal position and rolled onto her back.“I might be dead.I don’t know.”
I slid to my knees and started to run my hands gently over her legs, ankles, and feet.“Does this hurt?”
“My ankle might be a little tender, but …” She rotated the left one, and it clicked a few times.“I’m not screaming when I do that.So I don’t think it’s broken.”
“Should I check the rest of you?”
“Mm-hmm.”She nibbled on her bottom lip, and I carefully ran my hands up her legs, her torso and ribs, then down each arm.
“No pain?”
“I’m not breathing.”
“But you’re talk—oh!”
Her smile and the way her eyes lit up were nothing short of extraordinary.Now I was the breathless one.
“Then you probably need mouth-to-mouth.”
“Probably.To survive.To see another day.”
“Anything to help you see another day.”I hovered over her and slowly lowered my head until our lips touched.I kissed her softly, gently.Nothing but our lips touched, then our tongues.I had my hands on the grass next to her head and smiled against her mouth when she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me down to her.Before I knew it, we were on the grass, at the bottom of the slope, with the trees towering above us, making out.
I wasn’t sure how long we kissed for.When I was with Naomi, time seemed to stand still.Hours felt like minutes, and all I could do was count down until the next time I got to be with her, got to touch her.
The alarmingcawof a crow nearby overhead disturbed our little make out cocoon, and she broke the kiss.I lifted up so my weight wasn’t on her, and she was smiling up at me.“All better now.Thank you.”
