AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You’re the type that doesn’t need to fill the silence,” Meara suggested. “People think you’re aloof or disinterested, but that isn’t true. Am I right?”
Constance thought it through before she replied. “I guess I just don’t see silence as empty. Therefore, it doesn’t need to be filled.”
“Huh,” Meara said. “That’s really interesting.” The rise in Meara’s pitch told Constance that she meant what she said, wasn’t being sarcastic or patronizing.
“A physical therapist, huh? That’s great.” Constance felt a surge of pride at starting a new thread of conversation. “I have a lot of background in orthopedic massage.”
Meara made a fist and they bumped them.
The sun was nearly set, but a jogger went by, down by the edge of the retreating tide. He was shirtless and shoeless, wearing only a pair of swim trunks. Meara pointed. “Rhett brought you on a five-hour drive down here to do that, huh?”
Constance nodded. “We’re going to have a beach run in the morning. Then head back to Virginia, later in the day.”
“You two have been running a lot, then? A new program at the gym or something?” Meara crossed her arms over her chest and rubbed her hands over her skin. With the sun almost down, the temperature had dropped and the wind felt colder. “Rhett’s done a lot of running, obviously, but he’s been more into lifting these years past.”
“He taught me how to lift, too. That’s what we did first. We added running to the mix only recently.”
“Training for a race?”
“Sort of. I used to run all the time. Then I...quit. He’s kind of been helping me—” Constance chose her words carefully “—with some running issues.”
At first, she’d thought this a bad idea. A really bad idea. Sunny, on the other hand, had loved it, and couldn’t show up fast enough to collect Fezzi to babysit. Sunny’s eagerness had only made the idea to take a short trip to the Outer Banks seem even worse. If Sunny was on board, it was probably going to be a disaster.
But ever since she’d gotten here, Constance had felt a sort of calm wash over her body that she couldn’t deny. It was like the breeze got inside her, along with the salt and the dry air, and had soaked up some of the heaviness that’d been bogging her down for so long. “He thought the beach was a good idea,” Constance added. “Nothing like running on the beach.”
“He’s right.” Meara nodded. “I’m not a runner, but even a good walk on the beach can cure a lot of ills.” She glanced at Constance, a little grin on her face. “Ever been to Virginia Beach?”
“Sure.” Constance refrained from telling Meara that Rhett had said Virginia Beach was too crowded. Too busy. Too commercial, to achieve what he wanted to achieve. The Outer Banks, he’d said, was special.
“But not this time, huh?” Meara said. “Not for this run?”
Constance laughed softly to herself. She’d been right about Meara being a tiger. One who knew how to move with stealth. “You know, Meara,” she said, “being more of a listener than a talker all my life makes me really good at the subtle art of innuendo.”
A few seconds passed before Meara broke into loud, hearty, natural laughter. Her laugh matched her personality. Big. Bold. Nothing held back. “So you’re on to me,” she said. “I’m usually pretty good at making people talk without them even knowing I’m doing it.”
Just before they lost the last curve of the setting sun, Constance said, “Where did Rhett see the horses? The wild horses playing?” She touched her own arm, where Rhett had the tattoo, eager to see the spot where, as a boy, he’d watched the last of a dying breed frolic in their happy freedom.
Meara turned to her slowly. She planted a fist on her hip and smiled. “Shut your mouth. He told you about that?”
“Sure.” Constance touched her arm again. “When I saw the tattoo.”
Meara gave a deep, motherly sort of laugh. “He always tells people he got that tattoo because he’s a wild stallion. He says it sarcastically, but—” Meara waved a hand “—he never tells anyone the wild mustang story. That’s too...too—” she waved her hand again “—sacred, in his eyes.”
Something funny happened inside Constance’s gut. Not a squeezing, but a tingling, like the sparkles over the ocean were inside her instead, sparking and popping. Constance quickly turned back toward the beach, to avoid Meara’s knowing gaze.
“I’ll let him show you the spot,” she said. “That’ll be important to him.”
The chatter below grew louder, then turned into raucous laughter. Constance had never heard Rhett laugh that loud. She wished she could see his face, the way being with his father might make the skin around his eyes crinkle up and bare all of his teeth into what had to be a huge smile.
“Sounds like they’re going to head inside and start a late dinner.” Meara tucked one corner of her mouth into a guilty smile. “I think. My Spanish is not as good as it should be after being married to Domingo for almost forty years. I don’t cook, by the way. But Domingo is excellent in the kitchen. You’re in luck. He froze a batch of the tamales Rhett missed at Christmas, even though it’s Rhett’s own fault he missed his father’s Christmas tamales. It’s quite the effort. Masa and corn husks everywhere.” She waved a hand.
“Rhett’s crazy to miss Christmas here.”
“Because he gets his dad’s tamales?”
“Because he gets a dad.” It popped out of her mouth before Constance could stop herself. “And a mom,” she added. She suddenly wondered what her mother would have looked like if she’d lived to be Meara’s age. Would she have the same fine lines around her eyes? Streaks of white in her hair, instead of gray? That confident way of speaking, filled with the sort of wisdom and easy love that comes with age?
“Oh, bless.” Meara put her hands on Constance’s shoulders and drew her in for a hug. “That boy missed ChristmasandThanksgiving. And yet, here he is now. Interesting, don’t you think?”
