The Wife Stalker(6)

She smiled at him. “I’ll be there.” She was thrilled to have another excuse to see him, not that these meetings did any good. It was usually just a bunch of bureaucratic blowhards who loved the sound of their own voices. But she would put up with that if it was a chance to spend more time with Leo. The more she learned about him, the more she saw that he was definitely her type. And she intended to make sure she was his.





6

Joanna




The kids and I had been at Compo Beach since midmorning. Though it was still a week before Memorial Day, the sun was shining brightly, and we had camped out near the water’s edge so I could keep a close eye on the children as they played in the water. Even though there were barely any waves in the Sound, they were drifting on their boogie boards back and forth in the shallows, laughing and splashing each other.

“Can we go to Joey’s and get burgers and more fries?” Stelli asked. We’d feasted on the famous French fries and hot dogs at the restaurant next to the pavilion a few hours ago, but they were getting hungry again as three o’clock approached.

“Maybe just some fries. We don’t want to spoil your dinner,” I told him, then held out my hand. “Come on, Evie, we’re going to get a snack.”

I gave Stelli a quarter for the gumball machine and he stood, transfixed as always, as a brightly colored orb journeyed down the spiraled tunnels and landed in his hand.

I turned to Evie. “Do you want one, too, sweetie?”

She shook her head. “No, they’re gross. They’ve been sitting in that thing for who knows how long. Probably since last summer.”

I laughed. “I certainly hope not.”

We got fries for Stelli and an ice-cream cone for Evie, and then found an open picnic table under the pavilion. I shooed a seagull away as we sat. The kids dug in, and I tried hard not to snatch a fry from Stelli’s basket. No matter what I did, I couldn’t seem to get rid of the extra twenty pounds that had been plaguing me for as long as I could remember.

Evie pointed. “Look, there’s Daddy!”

“Where?”

“Right there!” She stood and ran to him. His face broke into a smile when he saw her. Holding hands, they walked over to us.

“What are you doing here? I thought the retreat didn’t end until early evening.” I was happy to have him here, but I had been hoping the workshop would have been useful to him.

He took a seat across from me at the picnic table and shook his head. “If I had to endure another minute of that baloney, I would have gone crazy. I appreciate the thought, but that scene is definitely not my cup of tea.”

But the funny thing was, he looked happier. Maybe he hadn’t realized that it had been a little helpful. I tried to press him gently. “You were there half the day; did you get anything from it?”

“I had a nice chat with Piper, the owner, who, unlike Zodiac, the leader—how’s that for a crazy name?—seems pretty grounded. One thing that did resonate was a quote from Rilke that she wrote down for me,” he said, pulling a card from his pocket. “‘Live the question now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.’”

I stared at him. I almost said, And by then you’ll have forgotten the question, but I could tell he was serious. Maybe you had to have heard it in some kind of context. And if inspirational quotes gave him a foothold on the ladder to health, I sure wasn’t going to question them. “That’s great,” I said, giving him a big smile. “I’m glad you got something good out of it. So, are you hungry?”

He shook his head. “No. I grabbed lunch after I skipped out.” He turned to the children. “Are you little stinkers having fun?”

“Yes!” they answered in unison.

“Are you going to swim with us, Daddy?” Stelli asked.

“You bet, buddy. I’ll go change now.”

The kids finished their snacks and we went back to the beach, where Leo and Stelli splashed around while Evie and I stayed in our beach chairs with our books.

It was good to see Leo laughing and actually enjoying himself. After a while, he swam back to shore and motioned to Evie. “Your brother wants you to go in the water.”

Evie looked at her father over her book. “Okay.”

“Thank you, Evie. You do such a good job of looking after your little brother,” I told her.

Leo ran a hand through his wet hair as he picked up a towel. Beads of water glistened on his toned body, and I had the urge to reach out and touch him. I knew he wasn’t ready for intimacy, though—I’m familiar enough with depression to know it kills sexual appetite along with everything else. I did feel some hope today—his cheery mood was a small glimmer of light breaking through the clouds.

He took the beach chair next to mine, and I handed him a Coke from the cooler. He grabbed the can and took a long swallow. “Thanks, Jo.” Looking straight ahead and keeping an eye on the children, he continued. “I’m going to have to go into the office tomorrow. I hate to work on a Sunday, but you know there’s never enough time to prepare for a trial, and—”

“You don’t have to apologize. I’ve got everything covered. The kids and I will be fine.”

“Are you sure?”