A Place in the Sun(77)

I stayed out on the water, rocking in the boat until the sun had started to set. It didn’t seem right to have spent all day on the water with nothing to show for it, but the water was getting choppy, and I knew it was time.

The pastel buildings came into view first. Lights twinkling behind shuttered windows. Clothing hung on lines, flapping in the evening wind. Sound carried out on the water, the usual clinking of glasses and speckled conversation. Tourists were everywhere, filling the tables outside and spilling out onto the breaker to take photos of the sunset. It was right at the beginning of the golden hour and the entire village was basked in gentle, warm light.

I maneuvered my boat around a buoy and looked onto the granite boulders. They formed the first breaker for Vernazza, and they also offered the best view of the setting sun. On them, it felt like you were sitting on the edge of the world with nothing but sea and sky stretched in front of you. There were tourists lingering around them, even a few brave enough to venture out and take a seat.

I’d seen Georgie sitting on them before—the memory was so sharp that as I closed my eyes, I could see it as clear as day.

When I opened my eyes, the image remained: Georgie sitting on the boulder in the very center of the breakers, just a foot or two out of reach of the waves. She was kicking her feet back and forth like a child. I blinked a few times, trying to work out if it was really her or just a figment of my imagination.

My boat brought me closer and she stood, waving to me from her perch.

She was a siren calling out to me. Her brown hair was loose, long, and whipping in the wind from the north. Her blue sundress fluttered around her legs and her lips split into a wide grin when I rounded the side of the breaker and slowed my boat to a crawl. There was a fellow boatman unloading his catches of the day; he helped me anchor and then I jumped back onto land, looking around for Georgie. She was still standing on the boulder, waiting for me to join her. It was a precarious path, with boulders jutting in every direction, but I’d journeyed there enough times to know a quick way to get to her.

I stepped onto the boulder and took her in. The sun was setting behind her and the sea stretched to infinity. Her brown eyes sought mine and I realized we were both standing there silent.

I bent to kiss her cheek, enveloped by her warmth…her scent…her.

God, I missed her. It’d been days since I touched her and I missed her so much.

“I thought you’d left Vernazza for good,” I admitted.

“And leave Mopsie in your care? Never.”

“He likes me.”

“Not without me around—he’s fiercely loyal.”

I grinned.

“Why’d you think I left? For good?”

“Your room was cleaner than I’ve ever seen it before. I thought it was a sign.”

“Ah. I can see how that might have been alarming.”

“It was quite a sight. I didn’t realize you had a proper floor in there.”

She laughed and glanced away; I could feel her nerves radiating off her.

“I was watching you out there,” she continued, pointing out to the patch of sea I’d come from.

“Sorry I took so long.”

She shrugged. “I didn’t mind waiting.”

We weren’t talking about my time on the water.

I wanted to cover her mouth with mine so that the conversation ended there. I didn’t need to hear any of the thoughts swirling in that stubborn head of hers. I didn’t want her to continue to push me away or talk of her plans to leave Vernazza.

She reached for my hands and squeezed. “I actually have something really important to tell you.”

“So do I.” The words came out in a rush, one after another until I couldn’t stop them. I had to speak first. “Stay here with me. Stay in Vernazza and move into the villa. I don’t want to lose you and I should have told you earlier, but I only realized a few days ago. I love you, Georgie. There, see? I love you and I need you to stay. Please say you’ll stay.”

She let out a high-pitched, hysterical laugh.

“Does that villa of yours have a spare room?”

A spare room?

I wrapped my hands around her waist and pulled her into me. “I think we’re beyond having separate rooms. You’ll be in mine. With me. I’ll get used to the clothes on the floor.”

“It’s not for me.”

“For who then?”

She turned to face the sea and it was only then that she let her face start to crumble. She furrowed her brows and tugged her bottom lip between her teeth. Whatever it was she was about to say, she was nervous, maybe even scared of my reaction.

“Tell me. What’s wrong? Are you still thinking of leaving?”

“I’m pregnant.”

The force of those two words nearly sent me flying backward.

“Say again?”

She pinched her eyes closed and turned back to me, letting her forehead drop to my chest.

“I’m…with child. I’ve got your bun in my oven.”

I laughed, though it sounded a bit hysterical. “Georgie. Look at me.”

I tilted her chin up, but she kept her eyes closed.

“Are you serious? Open your eyes.”

“I can’t.”

I laughed and tugged on her eyebrows. Finally, she opened her eyes, but she stared at a spot just to the side of my forehead, refusing to meet my eye.