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“I think,” I say, “that I’ve never been happier than I am right now. Can you feel it? What a beautiful night we’re having?”
He’s quiet for so long that I doubt he’ll answer. I rest my head on my knees and look out over the sand. Watching out for stray dogs. Patrolling.
“Yeah,” he says softly. “I can.”
I twist my head to look at him. He’s a dark shadow in the moonlight, thick hair falling over his forehead.
He’s looking back at me. “What’s the plural of mongoose?” he asks.
A slow smile spreads across my face. “You know where my mind goes.”
“Yes,” he says, “I know. And I figured it was the kind of question you’d like.”
“It can’t be mongeese, but oh how I wish it was.”
He takes a sip of his rum-laced coffee. “The world is a non-sensical place.”
“Yes.” I glance at the closest orange flag waving in the wind. “Aren’t you glad you sat at my dinner table?”
“I would have missed out on the high-quality conversation, that’s for sure,” he says. “Not to mention the entertainment on a Hollywood-like level. Do you get up to this much trouble back home? Washington, was it?”
“Yeah, and absolutely not.”
“No falling off boats,” he says, “and no charming strangers left and right?”
“This is my vacation self,” I say. “I can promise you that I’m decidedly less social back home. And a lot more stable on my feet.”
“Your vacation self,” he repeats.
“Yes. Like, I packed a sun hat and a colorful maxi dress for this trip that I’d never wear at home. That’s part of my vacation identity.” I brush his shoulder with my own. “Come on, Phillip. What’s yours?”
“Well, I forgot my sun hat at home,” he says evenly. “My maxi dress, too.”
I chuckle. “What a shame.”
“Very. I can definitely rock a polka dot.” Then, he shakes his head and lifts his coffee cup to his lips. “Fuck, that was stupid.”
I chuckle. “Yes, but I appreciate it.”
“That’s my vacation self,” he says. “I’m doing a shit ton of things I never had any intention to.”
“Enjoying yourselfis a great vacation goal for you.” I touch my cup to his. “Mine is to challenge myself.”
He lifts a dark eyebrow. “Challenge yourself, huh?”
“Yes. I have to start living again, you know? After my wedding got called off, and the relationship imploded, well…” I shake my head. “It took a toll. But even though I love sitting at home in my pajamas most evenings and watching old movies, I can’tonlydo that.”
“Hmm,” he says. And then, says nothing more at all.
I lean back with my hands on the cool sand. Maybe it’s the days we’ve spent together, or maybe it’s the rum. But I can almost feel how he’s thinking.
I tap his foot with mine. “Say it.”
“How do you know I was about to say anything at all?”
“I just do.”
He runs a hand through his hair. “I was just thinking that you wouldn’t like me if we’d met Stateside.”
