Page 48 of Parentmoon

We settle in, order drinks, and head toward the ocean. The water is clearer than anything I’ve ever been in before. With my toes in the sandy bottom, slim white fish dart about while yellow and black striped clown fish swim around my ankles. I giggle like a child when I wave my foot and the fish scatter, only to return moments later.

Picnic tables, with barnacles attached to their legs, sit in the shallow water. Within minutes our drinks are delivered shoreside. A short bank of rocks raises the beach from the water and a ladder is needed to enter the ocean, like it’s a giant swimming pool.

Dallas steps away to gather our morning cocktails from the waitress and then returns to where I’m still standing, toes curling in the sand, watching fish dart between my legs.

“To us.” He holds out an hour-glass shaped flute with a large wedge of pineapple on the rim, and I take the glass, thankful he doesn’t toast to our parentmoon.

“Thank you.” The simple words are still not enough. I glide my palm over the surface water as I collect more gratitude. “Thank you for convincing me to stay and introducing me to so many experiences.”

“It hasn’t been a hardship having you here.” He winks before giving me that smirk of his and taking a sip of his beer.

Dallas takes a seat on the top of a picnic table and points out Mexico in the distant where bright colored parasails float in the sky. Then he points in the general direction of an island I can barely make out.

“It’s private. Leonardo di Caprio owns it.”

“Really?” I face Dallas, noting he’s impressed. “Wealth is really important to you, isn’t it?” I’m not being judgmental, just stating a fact about him.

“I’m grateful for what I have. I could have gone down a different path. A much rougher one.” Dallas eyes me over the lip of his beer bottle as he takes another drink. I could ask how rough but decide it doesn’t matter. I’d been down my own jagged path as the wife of an alcoholic.

“Craig and I had it tough in the beginning. We often fought about finances. He was always chasing the next best thing. A new job he didn’t pursue. A new car we couldn’t afford. Suggesting places to visit that we never would. He was easily impressed by expensive toys and exotic travel destinations.” I shrug. When money went unaccounted for in our household checkbook, I eventually learned Craig was using it for excessive amounts of alcohol, among other things. “I just wanted a comfortable home and a vacation once a year.”

The waitress who brought us our drinks calls out to us, asking if we’d like to order food or need a second drink. Dallas answers in Spanish. This is another instance of him communicating with service staff in such a way while Belize is an English-speaking nation.

“You speak Spanish so fluidly. I wish I’d paid better attention in high school or put the language into practice more when I was younger.”

“Many of my employees are migrant workers. Some even illegal immigrants.”

My brows lift.

“Don’t judge. They’re willing workers and we offer the best we can in health care for them. I believe in people who want to get ahead, like I did, and are interested in working to get there.” Passion to help others fills his voice. “Not gonna lie. Many people in our country are lazy as fuck, having never put their hands in the dirt for work. If someone wants a job, I’ll give it.”

I’ve never soiled my hands like him, but I studied hard and put myself through college as a young mother to better myself and my financial situation.

Dallas sighs and rubs a hand over his head. “Jesus, I didn’t mean to get up on a soap box.”

“Or picnic table,” I tease.

“Let’s swim.” Dallas downs the rest of his beer and takes my glass from me although I’m not finished with the fruity drink. He returns them to a waiter on the edge of the water and then walks us deeper into the ocean.

As the area is shallow, it takes a while to reach water that comes to our chests. Dallas tugs me closer to him, holding my hands as my lower body buoys in the light waves.

“A woman could be spoiled by all this.” Sunshine. Crystal-clear water. Drinks on the beach. And a hot silver fox with his hands on me.

“You seem easy to please.”

“Are you saying I’m easy?” I joke, giving Dallas a smile. He pulls me to him, loosely cradling me and spinning us around in the ocean.

“I’d never say that, darlin’.”

I laugh. “My ex would say I’m difficult.” My voice is full of ease despite speaking of Craig.

“Jo, don’t be talking about your ex when I have my hands on you. He sounds like a dick.” His tone twists like a lemon, sour at the mention of Craig.

“I’m only saying, a vacation in Belize isn’t exactly simple.”

Dallas shakes his head, puzzled while a pleased smile curls his lips. “That’s just it. You make it easy.”

“I feel guilty, though. It’s expensive here.”