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Lucy gasped. “Wow—that’s so scary. Was she okay?”
“Yeah, she was fine. Just scared. Her mother was, too, as you can imagine. Beau handled it so well, though. He even spoke to her in Swiss German. I didn’t know he could speak another language. He got her gelato to help calm her down, and we searched around the nearby shops until we found her mother.”
“That’s amazing, Georgia. That child was lucky she found someone so caring to help her. And it sounds like Beau handled it really well, too. Now, you know how he would be as a dad.”
She had a point. That had crossed my mind as well, and then, Beau had mentioned it would be nice to have a little girl. I wondered if he’d even known whether his baby would be a boy or a girl. I didn’t think it was appropriate to ask.
“What else have you been up to?” Lucy asked.
I told her about the luau in Maui and how beautiful the house was there, mentioning that I’d been bummed when we’d had to leave early. As I spoke, I untied my hiking boots and kicked them off, lying back on the bed. Then, I told her about the hike and how beautiful the mountains were. “The lake was so placid, like a sheet of glass. You would’ve loved it, Luce.”
“I can only imagine how beautiful it was. Tell me what it looked like. I want all the details,” she said in a dreamy voice.
If I hadn’t been talking on my phone, I would’ve pulled up one of the pictures I’d taken so I got everything right when I described it. But then, I rolled over and found myself looking at a picture of the exact spot I’d been in earlier with Beau.
The photograph was of the mountain peaks at the top of Mannlichen Summit, but it wasn’t just a landscape photo. My mouth fell open as I realized what I was looking at. “Holy fuck,” I mumbled.
“What is it, Georgia? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” Lucy said, sounding offended.
“No, no, it’s not that.”
I sat up and carefully picked up the framed photo. Beau smiled back at me, looking slightly younger and unbelievably happy. It was a bright, sunny day, just like today, and the sun glinted off the peaks behind him.
But he wasn’t alone. His arm was around the shoulders of a gorgeous woman with long, curly brown hair and bright blue eyes. I could tell by the way that she was smiling that she was actually laughing, a small crinkle in her nose as she grinned up at the camera. It seemed Beau was the one taking the picture, so the angle was slightly higher for her, though she was tall for a woman.
“What is it?” Lucy asked, jarring me out of my thoughts.
“Oh. Uh, I just found a photograph next to the bed. It’s of Beau and a woman on the same trail we hiked today. I think it must be his wife.” I wasn’t sure what else to say. I could feel myself starting to choke up. Poor Kaylee. She was so young, so full of life. She looked like the kind of woman anyone would want to be friends with.
And Beau looked so happy, too. Sure, I’d made him smile and laugh, but I wasn’t sure I’d ever made him look like that, absolutely giddy with happiness. It was no wonder he was still thinking about her. If this picture was any indicator, she was a pretty amazing woman.
“Oh, Georgia. I’m sorry. That must be a bit jarring. But hey, so what? Everyone has a past. And you’re there with him for a reason, you know? I just know that you being there with him will help him get through this and heal so that he can move on and be happy with someone else. If that someone else happens to be you, and he makes you happy, too, then that’s all that matters, you know?”
I listened to her words and wanted to say she was right, but I wasn’t sure. I needed some time to process this. I’d thought that calling Lucy would help me to figure out what to do and what to think about all of it, but ultimately, I needed to speak to Beau.
“Lucy, I’ll send you some pictures of the mountain, okay? I think I should go now.” I hoped I didn’t sound too depressed.
“Of course. I need to finish getting ready for work anyway. Call me tomorrow if you get a chance, okay?”
“Sure,” I told her, not sure if I’d have a chance or not. I didn’t even know how long we were staying here before we headed to Canada. “Thanks for being there for me, Lucy.”
“Always, girl,” she said. “Take care.”
We hung up, and I looked at the photo one more time before putting my boots back on and leaving the room, taking the photo with me.
I found Beau on the phone in the main bedroom, but when I walked in, he hung up. “Hey,” he said with a bit of concern in his voice. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, fine,” I said with a small smile. “I was just wondering, though. Is this your wife?” I turned the photo around and showed it to him.
I could tell instantly by his expression that it was. He nodded and walked over to me, his hand extended. I handed it to him, and he looked at it for a moment before taking it and putting it in a dresser drawer. “Guess it never got put away.”
“You don’t have to put it away,” I told him. “She was beautiful. I can tell she was friendly and sweet. It’s no wonder you miss her so much.”
Beau had his back to me, but I could tell by the movement in his shoulders that he was breathing deeply. When he turned back to face me, he didn’t acknowledge what I’d said. Instead, he asked, “Do you wanna go get a drink? I could really use one about now.”
As tired as I was, I felt every word of what he’d said. “Yeah,” I told him. “I would love to go get a drink. Do I have time to change clothes?”
“Of course,” Beau said, giving me a small smile.
