AllFreeNovel
Share Us
J.R. is lying in a wooden beach chair. His hair is braided, and he’s got a straw hat pulled over his face. I think he’s resting, and it’s nice to see him as relaxed as he is right now.
I spread out a towel across my chair, and I adjust the umbrella that shades my space. Normally, I would take all of the sun’s rays I can handle, but I’m thinking about the baby now. I think I should avoid getting too much sun, although I can’t think of a good medical reason why other than skin cancer. I guess that’s enough reason.
“I’m not sleeping,” J.R.’s voice comes muffled beneath his hat.
“That’s a shame. You look so relaxed,” I say, lying back in my own chair. “You should go down to the water. It’s beautiful.”
J.R. takes his hat from his face, and he turns his head to look at me. He’s got his Ray-Bans on, and I wish he didn’t. I’ve always heard that exotic places like these turn blue eyes into the bluest of blues. I’d like to see that.
“How’s baby?” he asks me.
“Baby is fine,” I tell him. “Aside from making me pay for that stromboli I had in the airport last night. I’ve never had heartburn so bad.”
“You didn’t tell them to leave off the sauce,” he says, and I smile that he still knows these little things about me. Even when I forget them myself.
“Are you happy?” I ask him.
“The happiest,” he says with a smile.
“Me, too.” I lay my head back, close my eyes, and listen to the sound of the ocean. My soul is at ease, and I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.
Night has fallen, and we have pushed back the curtains in our hotel room. We’ve got a front row seat to a full moon hanging over the ocean so perfectly. It’s beautiful—the kind of thing that dreams are made of. Like a painting one might see in an art gallery.
The lights in our room are off, and we’re lying next to each other in the bed. I’m in my usual spot, head nestled against J.R.’s chest. He’s got his arm around me, and he holds me close to him. We’re quiet, enjoying the moment of it being just the two of us without any responsibilities. I like that I can breathe. I’m relaxed. Even with everything that has happened over the last few months and the things that are coming, I’m relaxed right now. I’ll enjoy it.
“Do you think we should move to the farm? Just for a little while until…” J.R. asks me through the quiet darkness. I think this is a question he’s been pondering since Thanksgiving.
Still, I’m sort of shocked by the question. “What?”
J.R. hates his family’s farm. He’s made that clear, and I think maybe he’s entertaining the idea out of guilt. I don’t want to leave Tybee. It’s our home, and to go from the island in Georgia to a farm in Tennessee, well, that will definitely be an adjustment.
“My dad. I just feel like it’s the right thing to do. For him.” He sounds so unsure, and I wonder what he wants me to say.
I think for a moment. “What do you want to do?”
“I don’t want to leave our home. Even if it’s just for a little while. But isn’t that selfish?”
“I don’t think it’s selfish. Can you be happy at the farm? That’s what is important.”
J.R. thinks about this for a minute, and then he speaks. “We lost so much time—dad and me—and now he’s dying. I think I need to go. I want to make up for lost time.”
“What about Knox, the baby, and me?”
“You’ll come, too, of course. If you want.”
I think about this, and I know that we have to go with him. It’s not permanent, but it’s what J.R. feels like he needs to do. I even think that he wants to, and I can’t blame him for that, I guess. A part of me wishes that I had been home with my mother before she died. As horrible as she was, there would have at least been some closure.
“Okay,” I say.
“Okay?”
“We’ll go to the farm.” I force a smile on my face. I’m not sure about this, and poor Knox has already had to adjust to so many things recently. This will be another adjustment, and I wonder if it’s something that will send her to therapy later in life. Me and the farm.
“The baby,” he says. “We’ll have to find a new doctor. We won’t be able to bring baby home to our home.”
“It will be a challenge, J.R. We’ll have to put Knox in a new school. It won’t be easy, but we’ll go. For you.”
J.R. slides his arm from around me, and I slide off his chest onto my back. He’s on his side, propping himself up on his forearm, and he’s looking down at me. I smile softly back up at him as he grazes his fingers across my cheek.
