I dropped Harry at his house, then stopped by Dani’s home. Beginnings are always easier than endings. But endings are better when you can say you’ve learned something important. We both had that much, at least.
It was twilight when I crossed the bridge to Dauphin Island, the sky near dark, the western horizon painted with crimson. Pulling to my house, I saw Clair on my deck, standing at the railing and watching a flight of pelicans skim the foam at the surf line.
Three hours had passed and I was surprised she’d stayed. I parked, hobbled upstairs, moved straight through the house to the deck. She turned from the railing as I stepped outside, the night breeze rippling over her white sundress, her arms bare. She pushed a tousle of dark hair from her eyes as I crossed the deck.
“I’m surprised to see you here, Clair.”
“You’ve been running, going to meetings, dodging the press. I haven’t had a chance to see you alone, to tell you that…I was so afraid…”
She began blinking away tears and I drew her close. Her head leaned against my chest and the rising moon drew a white line across the water. I suddenly knew the length and breadth of her existence as fully as I knew my own, felt her heart in my chest and my breath in her lungs, as if we had lost our boundaries. The world shivered and eased to a stop. Everything became still and peaceful and silent.
“Clair?” I said.
She leaned her head back, her eyes both frightened and expectant. Her lips were parted. I pulled her close and pressed my lips to hers. It started as a chaste kiss, blossomed into something more. Long seconds passed before she leaned away, her hands on my shoulders, her eyes damp, her head shaking.
“What?” I said.
“We can’t be doing this, Carson. We just can’t.”
“Tell me why.”
“First off, I’m forty-four, you’re…you’re-”
I put my finger over her lips and smiled. “I’m thirty-three, Clair. Forty-four and thirty-three. That adds up to, what? Seventy-seven. Which averages out to, uh, help me here…”
“Thirty-eight and some.”
I said, “So what’s your gripe against two thirty-eight-year-olds kissing?”
I waited for her answer.