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Elise’s jaw dropped. She glared at Michael, who hurriedly removed his smile and mouthed, “I’m sorry,” for her eyes alone. He knew just how much he’d messed up.
Neither Matt nor Wayne seemed to notice. They remained in a strained, horrible conversation, one that made the air around the table difficult to breathe. They talked about Matt’s career out in LA, about the various jobs Matt and Elise had worked together, and about the island itself, what Matt should catch while he was there.
“I really have to grab you a drink,” Matt said to Wayne, just after he finished his.
Wayne stretched out his hand and said, “No, no. I can’t impose for another. Besides, Michael and I have been awake since six this morning, and it’s wearing on me.”
Elise jumped up from her stool the moment Wayne did. Throughout his conversation with Matt, he had hardly looked at her at all.
“Wayne? Do you mind if I talk to you for a minute?” she asked. She felt Matt’s eyes burning through her skull.
Wayne looked at her, then. His eyes labeled her as a stranger.
“I’m really tired, Elise. Like I said. An early morning.”
Elise’s heart sank deeper. “It’ll only take a second. It’s pretty important.”
But Wayne shook his head. All the color drained from her face. “I really think it’s better that I hit the hay tonight. But I’ll see you around? At least, before you two head back to California.”
“That’s right,” Matt said, his voice bright. “I’ll get her back to California if my life depends on it.”
“I wish you luck,” Wayne said. He wore that cutting smile again. “Good night.”
Elise barely guzzled one-half of her Rum Runner before she suggested that she walk Matt back to his bed and breakfast. His smile waned a good deal—proof that he’d expected a night back at the Bloomingfeld.
“That sounds good,” he said. “Even though it’s really not far. Any mass murderers on the loose on Mackinac?”
“Not that I know of,” Elise said.
Not until I take you out for ruining things between Wayne and me.
Not that I didn’t ruin them myself.
Not that we even had legs to stand on.
Elise walked Matt back to his bed and breakfast. Outside, she shoved her hands in her jacket pockets and watched as Matt rubbed his hands over his cheeks, trying to warm himself up.
“I still don’t really get it,” he confessed, there in the bright moonlight of mid-autumn on Mackinac. “Why you came here. The people? They don’t seem like you, Elise. You’re heads above them.”
Elise rolled her eyes, curled her arms over her chest, and glowered.
“I just don’t know why you abandoned LA,” Matt continued. “This life here? This isn’t the one you’re supposed to be living. You have a life, a career, and—goodness sakes—children back in Los Angeles. I wish I could crawl into that brain of yours and understand. You should be in LA. You should be making magic back there—not scribbling away on your computer here.”
Elise’s lips parted. Every muscle inside her screamed with resentment.
Sean used to talk to me this way. He used to make me think he knew what was best in my life. He used to make me feel weak, even as he ran outside of our marriage and found something better...
Again, Elise remembered the diary.
I’m captivated with the idea of being this other person—captivated with the idea that, with every step you take in this life, you’re given fresh ideas, fresh perspectives and new decisions. Today, I choose to love Dean Swartz with all of my heart. But who knows what will happen tomorrow? All I can know is my current mind. And I must live in the knowledge that I made every choice with the present in mind. – Allison Darby
“I don’t know why you’re here, Matt. But if I’m right about why you came, then I really have to tell you. I can’t be anything more than a colleague and a friend to you.”
As she spoke, all the light came out of Matt’s eyes. It was almost spectacular to watch. Even as the moon hung above, casting them in silver light, Matt’s eyes had nothing but darkness.
“I hope you know that I’ve really appreciated our friendship. Your writing support has been incredibly kind and I...”
Matt held up a palm and shook his head ever-so-slightly.
