Page 85 of Don’t Go Breaking My Heart

I stood there, watching her as she carefully examined each piece. Her movements were slow and thoughtful, as though she was taking a moment to appreciate the craftsmanship of each item before moving on to the next.

Finally, after a few more minutes of browsing, she found the one.

“I want this one,” she said, smiling. “This is perfect.”

The vendor looked like she just made his whole day. She handed it over to him and he wrapped it in brown paper and tied a string around it. She handed him a twenty from her purse. The man thanked her, with his broad smile never leaving his face.

We meandered through the boardwalk and stopped to get two churros.

We found a seat on a worn wooden bench. The sound of the sea crashing against the shore filled the silence between us. A guy was busking down the way. His soft guitar was nearly drowned out by the sound of club music bouncing through the area. I took a bite of the churro and nodded. “It’s good,” I said.

“My favorite snack,” Merritt said.

“Do you do the club scene?” I asked. “I know Miami is kind of notorious for it.”

She laughed and shook her head. “No. I’ll admit when I first moved here, I got a fake ID and snuck into a few. When I turned twenty-one, I went more often.”

“But now?” I asked.

Merritt shrugged, a soft smile on her lips. “I’ve outgrown that scene. I’m more into quiet places, cozy nooks where I can sip my coffee and read a book. Mundane things, you could say. What about you? Were you into the club scene in Dallas?”

I laughed. “Definitely not. Riggs’s bar is about as rowdy as it gets for me. After—after I lost Leah, I was done with the bar scene. Riggs’s place is more like hanging out at a friend’s place. It’s not really a bar for me.”

She nodded slowly. “In a way, it’s like we’ve both been through so much. We’ve had to grow up in ways we never expected to.”

Tearing off a piece of churro, she popped it into her mouth. I found myself watching her, completely captivated by the woman she had become. I’d always known there was something special about Merritt. I just hadn’t understood the depth of it until tonight.

She finished her churro, licking the sugar off her fingers with a blissful expression on her face that made me smile. “That was good,” she said. “You know what I want now?”

I know what I want. “Not a clue.”

“A mojito.”

“You want to go to the bar?”

“Hell no. I have a mixer at home. A little rum and it’s perfect.”

I got to my feet and extended my hand to her. “Then let’s go get us a homemade mojito.”

We started the walk back to her building. There were a lot of thoughts running through my mind. For a long time, I thought about coming to visit her. I wanted to see what it was that kept her from me. But now that I was here, I saw it. She built a nice life here and she was happy. That did not make me feel better. But I decided to just enjoy the moment and the time I did have with her.

Temporary as it might be.

34

MERRITT

Apart of me felt like this was a dream, and the rest of me feared for when I would have to wake up. We walked in comfortable silence, although we were both moving a little faster. Both of us were eager to get back to my place. I didn’t want to think too hard about what might or might not happen. I knew what I wanted to happen, but I didn’t dare say it.

I wasn’t superstitious but I didn’t want to jinx myself.

When we got back to my place, I walked to the kitchen while he looked around.

I made two drinks and handed him one.

“This is a really nice apartment,” he said.

“Thank you. I like it.”