All Grown Up(18)

After our hour was up, the yoga instructor came over to introduce himself. “We didn’t actually get to meet before.” He extended his hand. “I’m Ty. I haven’t seen you in class before. Are you vacationing in Montauk this week?”

“Actually, I live a few houses away. Well, I have a summer home here. It’s my first week out, and Bella invited me to the class. We’re neighbors.”

Ty smiled at Bella and returned his attention to me. “Did you enjoy the class? We’re out here five days a week.”

“The class was amazing. You’ll definitely be seeing me again.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Something about the way he said that, or maybe it was the gleam in his eye, made me feel good. I might have been thirty-seven, but I liked to think I’d begun to grow old gracefully.

Bella and I shook the sand from our mats and rolled them up. I stared out at the ocean as she tied hers closed. “Remind me not to have coffee right before yoga,” she said. “I’ve had to go to the bathroom for the last seven poses.”

My skin had a layer of sweat on it from the workout, and a warm breeze floated by, leaving my arms with goosebumps. I should have felt grimy, but instead I reveled in the chills, feeling more alive than I had in a long time.

“Thanks so much for inviting me. Let me make you some breakfast after I wash up.”

Bella groaned in response to my invitation. Not exactly the answer I’d expected.

“What’s the matter? Please don’t tell me you’re on a diet. You’re so thin.”

I was still facing the ocean, but I turned toward our houses just as she filled me in on her problem.

“My pain-in-the-ass brother’s here.”





Chapter 7




* * *





Ford



I stood on the back deck watching the yoga class for nearly a half hour before it ended. For the last two days, I’d been telling myself I needed to come out to Montauk to check on Bella, make sure everything was okay—that was the reason I was coming. The only reason. But seeing Valentina walk up wearing tight, black yoga pants and a cropped exercise top that showed off her flat stomach, I realized I wouldn’t have even known if my sister had a giant hole in her face.

“I told you, I’m fine,” Bella whined as she approached, still thirty feet away.

Valentina stared at me, looking nervous. I assumed she hadn’t shared our little Match.com chat and almost-date with my sister, and she was anxious that I might let on. Of course I wouldn’t. I kept my sex life far away from my Bella—not that there was any sex to talk about when it came to Val anyway. Unfortunately.

Reaching the deck, my sister kissed my cheek chastely and then jogged to the back door. “I have to go to the bathroom. I’ll be back in a minute. Do you remember Mrs. Davis?”

“I do.”

Val had been looking anywhere but at me until I began to speak.

“How are you, Mrs. Davis?” I arched an eyebrow and sipped my coffee. Once I heard the back door close and my sister was out of earshot, I took a step closer to Valentina. “You haven’t answered any of my messages.”

“I…I didn’t know what else to say.”

“But yet you read them all. You could have blocked me or just ignored them.”

She looked flustered. “I didn’t want to be rude.”

“Uh-huh. Just rude enough to ghost me, got it.” I took another step closer. “Can I ask you something?”

“What?” She spoke to my shoulder, and I wasn’t sure if she was avoiding eye contact or watching for Bella. Probably both.

“Valentina?” I waited until she looked at me. “Have you thought about me since the night at the restaurant?”

She closed her eyes. “It doesn’t matter.”

“To me, it does.”

“Let’s not make it any more difficult than it needs to be, Ford.”

It was the first time I’d heard her say my first name. And I liked the sound of it… I liked it a lot.

“Why don’t I go first? I thought about you. A lot.”

“Why does it matter if I thought about you if nothing is going to come of it?”

“It just does,” I said.

The sliding glass back door to our house made a high-pitched screech as it slid open. Salt air rusted everything out here.

I lowered my voice. “Tell me the truth, and I’ll keep pretending you’re only Mrs. Davis.”

Valentina’s eyes flared. The door squeaked again as my sister closed it behind her.

I lowered my voice even more. “Come on. Tell me. Did you think about me?”

Her eyes flitted between my sister and me a few times.

I leaned in and whispered, “Say it.”

“No.”

Without taking my eyes off of Val, I spoke to my sister. “Hey, sis. I’ve been meaning to tell you something.”

Valentina looked like she was about to freak out. I smiled and mouthed Say it. The panic on her face was adorable.

“Fine,” she gritted through her teeth. “I did. Are you happy now?”

I grinned from ear to ear. “You hear that, Bell? Even Mrs. Davis says I’m right.”