July

Kitchen Floors and Late Night Talks

Her couch didn't pull out like Kate's, but it was better than the damp beach. Rory called Kate, just in case Isla answered, and told her what was going on. Kate said she understood and told Rory to tell me that she thought I made the right decision. Again, god bless Kate. Rory and I ate food and watched the news. Rory was on the same rocking chair as yesterday. It practically swallowed her small frame whole. There had been too much talking today and I think both of us needed a break from all the noise. I fell asleep on the couch before the sun did.

When my eyes opened it was nighttime. I could hear the wind, even stronger than earlier, rustle the trees that surrounded the little house. I forgot where I was for a second and looked for Isla next to me. Instead I saw Rory. The pale light from her laptop shone on her face and reminded me of the fairy lights on Isla's face as I danced on the fourth. Falling back asleep after I thought she made eye contact with me, I woke for a second time a while later and she was finally asleep. My eyes shut again and wouldn't open until noon the next day.

Everything seemed clear and much simpler in the light of day. I was going to stay here, on Bailey's Island and Isla was going to go back to the city and become a successful editor and marry a rich Wall Street man. And I was content with that. Not necessarily happy, but its what needs to happen if either of us are ever going to get there.

I got up and walked around the house, looking for Rory, ultimately finding her in her studio, pounding a hole in a light blue piece of sea glass. She looked up at me as soon as I entered the room.

"I'm going to Isla."

"What are you going to tell her?'

"That I'm staying here."

Rory smiled just as wide as she did when she danced and danced on the fourth. I didn't realize just how much I missed that smile of hers.

I walked back to Kate's. She let me in with a sympathetic smile.

"How's your mom and Nate?"

"Good. They left early this morning."

"What did you guys tell them?" Kate bit her lip and looked outside to the screened in porch where Isla sat, staring wide-eyes at nothing.

"Isla." She turned around and her eyes met mine. They said the same thing. It's over, isn't it? I walked out to her.

"Don't worry, Adam,"She said as she placed her ring in the palm of my hand. "I didn't tell them about the engagement. I just said we broke up." I put the ring in my pocket where it sat heavy like a led weight. I wrapped my arms around her neck and hugged her one last time. Knowing that this was the last time my chin would be on top of her head, her body against mine, was too much to bear, so I let go.

"Ill get someone to send all of your stuff here." She said.

"You don't mind me living on the same island as your sister?"

She laughed. "I knew you were lying when you said you wanted to live in the city."

I smiled and grabbed her hands. "Goodbye Isla."

"Bye."

I went upstairs to get my suitcase then back down.

"See ya, Kate." I kissed her on her forehead and saw she was tearing up, so I brought her into hug.

"Be careful," She said, "And if you need anything, a place to live, anything-"

"I know, I know."

She sighed. "This is right."

"Thank you for everything." I made my way down the gravel seaside road back to Rory.



"Where are you gonna stay?"

"I haven't worked much of that out yet."

"You'll stay here until you find a place, okay?"

"Thanks." We were standing out on her front porch that faced the ocean. The salty air burned my nose and the wind was no help either. We went inside and sat on the couch.

"What am I going to do?" I put my head in my hands. What was I thinking, throwing away my life in the city?

But I wasn't happy.

I wasn't happy.

And I deserve to find my happiness.

"Dont worry." She said, pulling my hands down, so I was forced to look up at her. "I'm gonna help you, and Kate."

"Thank you, really, I don't think I can say it enough. But I promise Ill be out of your hair as soon as possible."

"Dont worry about it. Like you said, I don't think either of us should be alone right now."

You wouldn't believe how grateful I was to hear her say that.

We talked and laughed long into the night, about small stupid happy stuff that didn't matter. It felt both sick and therapeutic to be laughing at a time like this. I should feel more upset then free right now. My mourning period would come. Probably tomorrow night, alone on the couch, trying to sleep but my mind wont let me. I pushed the indefinite image away for now.

We sat on the floor in Rory's kitchen, a little drunk on homemade cherry wine. We sat on the floor and laughed and talked about our childhoods. Rory grew up in the exact bedroom that she lives in now. Her dad died of Leukemia when she was six. Her mom's still around but refuses to speak to her. Rory wont tell me why. Rory's brother moved away and wont return her calls. She wont tell me why that is either.

"Thats why I make these stupid necklaces. Thats why I take any job someone will offer, because this house is the last semblance of family I have." She laughed a little. "I remember once, Conner, my brother, told me the sea glass was gifts from the mermaids who lived in the ocean. I believed him and went crazy trying to collect as much of it as I could. I would even leave the mermaids little gifts, mints, candies, stuff like that. These days all the mermaids leave me is broken brown glass that looks too much like beer bottles for me to ignore." She smiled and tilted her head back onto the fridge. "What about you? Where'd you grow up?"

"Brooklyn."

"Any family?"

"My mom. She lives in Jersey now. My dad skipped town the minute they found out she was pregnant. No siblings."

"Wow,"

"She's the best though. We never really had much as far as money goes, but she worked her ass of to ensure that I got just as good a childhood as her parents gave her."

"Have you told her yet?"

"Not yet. Ill call her tomorrow." I wish I hadn't called her that night in the city.

"She sounds wonderful."

"She is."

Rory gave a small smile. Her hair was pulled up into a bun, loose from all the laughing we'd done earlier. Stray curls fell onto her face. The first day I saw her was the first day I got to this island, but the first time I noticed her was here now, on her kitchen floor in the dead of night. The first time I studied her face. The first time I saw that her pale cheeks were speckled with freckles. It was also the first time I realized that there was nothing else quite like her. Able to go in and out of reality as a car would weave in and out of traffic, her mind always working, yet she was silent. She had a faraway stare that turned to disappointment when she snapped back into reality. Anyone would think she was the happiest person, but they don't know her all that well.

She giggled, snapping me back into reality. "Like the view?" I smiled back at her. Although not the sole reason for my failing out of love with Isla, this little red head sure as hell played a part. A big one. For a second I had the urge to crawl across the white tile floor and kiss her. I dismissed the idea as quick as it came. Rory and I both had troubles we needed to work out. I looked up and saw that she was asleep, curled up into herself. I looked at the clock and laughed. 4:15.

I picked her up and brought her upstairs to her bed. As I laid her down, i noticed pill bottles on her night stand, sitting in deadly wait next to her stacks of books and notepads. I felt her grab onto my arm as I was about to leave, her green eyes speckled with gold fluttered open.

"Stay."

And I did just that.