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“It’s a nice sentiment,” he said.
“But?”
“But avoiding won’t bring you the peace you’re looking for. You’ll have to confront it head-on at some point.”
“I’m getting there,” she said. “Therapy helped a lot after my divorce.”
“Hey, one thing I’ve learned in a family as big as mine is that forgiveness is a process. Sometimes you can do it in an instant. And sometimes you have to do it over and over again. You’ll eventually get to the point where you can talk about it without getting that look on your face.”
“What look?” she asked.
“Like you’re thinking about using that knife in your hand.” He took the tray of vegetables from her and slid them in the fridge. “It’ll take a bit for the potatoes to cook. Why don’t we take our wine and Chewy and sit out by the lake? You might as well take advantage of that private entrance since you’re paying the HOA fees.”
She looked down at her ratty sweatshirt and leggings and knew her mother would be horrified at the thought of her daughter going out in public dressed like she was.
“You’re fine,” he said, filling up her wine and taking her hand. “Come on, Chewy. Let’s check out the lake.”
“What about his leash?” she asked as they went out the door.
“He’s fine,” Colt assured her. “He’s a Laurel Valley dog. He knows where he can and can’t go. Isn’t that right, Chewy.”
Chewy looked back at them and then used his paw to hit the elevator button.
“I don’t know if I’m comfortable with a dog who has that level of intelligence,” she said. “You remember Planet of the Apes?”
“I don’t think we have to worry about Chewy creating an army of intelligent animals and enslaving humans. He’s a lover, not a fighter.”
Chewy woofed and trotted onto the elevator.
“He is very sweet,” she said. “Sometimes I just wonder if I need to be buying him books to read or turning on educational television programs.”
“It probably wouldn’t hurt.”
He opened the door for her and she breathed in the late afternoon air. The sun was setting behind the mountains and there was a cool breeze dancing across the water.
“Have you been out here yet?” he asked, opening the black iron gate that only the condo residents had access to.
“Not yet,” she said. “My doctor told me I have a concussion and to rest and take it easy.”
“You should always listen to your doctor,” he said. “You’re going to want to take your shoes off and roll up your pant legs. The sand around the lakes is natural around here, but it’s more mineralized than sand on saltwater beaches. That sand has more seashells in it so it’s a different texture. This sand is a little denser and stickier.”
“So it’s mud?” she asked, gasping as Chewy made a flying leap toward the water and splashed along the shoreline. “Oh, Chewy. Now you’ll need a bath.”
“I don’t think he cares,” Colt said laughing. “He’s having a good time. He used to do stuff like that with Lawrence. I’m sure he misses it.”
They put their shoes by the gate and she rolled up her leggings while he did the same with his sweats.
“And no,” he said, “It’s not mud. You’ll see when you put your feet in it. It’s soft and warm and you can make incredible sand castles with it. Better than the beach in my opinion. Come on. I’ll start a fire.”
“Wait—what?” she asked as he pulled her onto the warm sand and toward the Adirondack chairs near the edge of the lake.
“Did you grow up in New York?” Colt asked, finding a stick and throwing it for Chewy to fetch.
“Connecticut,” she said. “But my father worked—works—on Wall Street so we went into the city a lot when I was a kid. And then when I was eleven I was sent to boarding school in Manhattan so I became a city girl pretty quickly.”
“So you never went out on the lake and made terrible decisions?”
Her lips twitched and she sat back in the Adirondack chair while he grabbed a few logs from the firewood rack and tossed them in the fire pit.
