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Ethan
Two weeksafter returning from my clandestine trip to Boston, Rylie and I take Caden to the beach. His mother, not surprisingly, has disappeared to Las Vegas, or was it Reno? Needless to say she didn’t commit to a return date, not that it would have mattered much if she had. My son hunts for his beloved treasure glass along the shore and comes running with the brightest pieces to present to Rylie. His little gifts of affection made her smile, and that in turn makes me the happiest I’ve been as a man and a father in years.
“Can we come to the beach again tomorrow?” Caden quietly asks when Rylie was absorbed in some algae along the shore, just far enough away that we can talk in secret.
“We have a special date tomorrow,” I answer.
“You do?”
“I told you, bud,” I explained patiently, “I’ve got a secret surprise for Rylie. Remember?”
He giggles, and his face blushes with excitement. “Does she know?”
“Shhh,” I whispered. “No, she doesn’t know. If she knew, it wouldn’t be a surprise.”
“Like a birthday.”
“Exactly.”
The three of us finish the day building a sand castle and decorating it with the less worthy pieces of sea glass and broken shells that Caden elects not to take home to his growing collection.
That evening I pick up Rylie at home.
“You look beautiful,” I say as she greets me at the door.
“Thank you,” she replies, smiling with her sparkling brown eyes, so alive they send heated chills right down to my gut. “Good night, Dad,” she calls out over her shoulder.
“Night,” Frank shouts from the kitchen.
He and I had a long talk when I returned with Rylie. In spite of his concerns, he gave her his blessing and threatened to send me on a suicide mission if I mistreated his baby girl. I could promise him with complete sincerity that I would be the kind of man any father would want his daughter to fall in love with. He accepted that and admitted he was ecstatic I’d brought her back to the islands. He missed her more than he could put into words. I had no such trouble.
“I missed you like a fucking desert storm misses rain,” I tell her more than once.
Leaving the house, I take her hand to lead her to the car. I make damn sure we maintain skin contact all the way to the restaurant.
“That was delicious,” Rylie says after the waiter has cleared our plates.
“I’ve taken the liberty of pre-ordering dessert.”
“You have?” she questions in a sultry voice. “I thought I was going to be your dessert.”
“I’ll have you for post-dessert dessert,” I announce. “First one, nowhere near as good as the second, is a double chocolate brownie with freshly made macadamia nut ice cream.”
“I’m already hot,” she whispers.
Winking at her, and then blowing a kiss, I slide my hand up her thigh under the table. I don’t stop until she shivers and her eyes pop wide with shock that I’m going to stroke her folds while she has to sit nonchalant surrounded by patrons.
She sighs, leans back, and reveals enticing glimpses of her cleavage above the plunging vee-shaped neckline in her dress.
“The valley between your boobs is naked,” I say. “I have something to fix that.” Reaching into my pocket, I bring out a small paper gift bag with a little red ribbon. “Caden wrapped it for you.”
She takes the bag with a quizzical smile and opens it. “It’s beautiful,” she says pulling out a necklace with a single pendant. “Wow, this is special.”
I ask, “Do you recognize that piece of sea glass?”
She holds it up. “It’s the color of your eyes,” she observes. “Is this the piece Caden found the first day I took him to the beach?”
“It is,” I confirm. “He wanted you to have something special to remember that day.”
