To put her out of her misery, I start walking away so she’ll follow my lead. She quickly catches up with me. Jason and Justin are razzing each other behind us with the latter calling the former a pussy for not going in. You don’t have to make a big deal about asking people to stop acting like assholes. All you have to do is walk away and act like something else is more interesting. They lose the audience and get the hint.
“So, you like it?” I ask her as we stroll along the path.
“It’s beautiful! I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Stealing a glance from the corner of my eyes, I catch her drinking in the wildflowers and ferns on the forest floor. “Where are you from again?”
“Dublin, a couple hours south of here.” She glances to me and looks quickly up at the trees. “I can see what you’re thinkin’. And yes, I’ve had a sheltered life. Haven’t been many places. We went to Savannah for vacations because of the beach. And Charlestown, too. Edward wasn’t a fan of bigger cities, though. Too many people for him.” She shrugs and meets my eyes. “I think he was afraid of losin’ me, too. I like people. I love festivals. I like the energy and the diversity. I always wanted to live here, but it wasn’t an option.”
“Why didn’t you speak up to him? Tell him what you wanted?”
She stares ahead as we approach the Kendeda Canopy Walk, and her steps hesitate at my tone. Her voice grows quieter. “You think I’m weak, don’t you? I did speak up, sometimes, but…I guess when you’ve grown up with somethin’ it just becomes the way things are. Like you’re trained. I was used to him leadin’” She frowns and shakes her head. “It’s not fun havin’ regrets, Jake. Don’t let that happen to you.”
“I go after what I want,” I confess. We’re quiet for a few steps. “Sounds like this divorce is the best thing that could have happened to you.”
Drew looks at me with a thoughtful expression. A beautiful smile lights her up, and she nods.
“You are getting a divorce, right?”
“Yes! Are you kiddin’? Absolutely.”
“I didn’t know if you were going to be one of the couples who never actually files the papers.”
Drew stops walking. “I’m getting’ divorced. Debra Morales will make sure Edward serves me those papers. Are you askin’ because…” she pauses as a drop of water splashes onto her nose. We both look up as she wipes it away, more raindrops taking its place, falling on both of us. Behind me Justin strolls up saying, “Didn’t even see those clouds come in, did ya? Little distracted?”
I shoot him a look. “You’re gonna mess up your suit, Jus. What’s your maid gonna think when she sees it crumpled up on the floor.”
“Just another day in the Cocker Penthouse,” he smirks.
“You set that right up, Jake. And he just knocked it down,” Jason chuckles, jogging over. He’s got a fucking Hydrangea flower in his hand, the branch stem slivered from where he busted it. “For the lady,” he smiles, rain really starting to pick up.
Drew happily takes it from him, glancing to me like the thing is amazing. She’d pointed out that she liked them earlier, when we first got here. Jason – romantic, charming bastard that he is – took note. As she turns it slowly around raindrops gather both on the petals and in her sweet-smelling hair. I share a look with my brother, one Drew doesn’t see. We know each other so well that I can tell he realizes I am not pleased he made me look bad here. I should have given her that.
Justin is smiling between us, an unspoken ‘Jason, you’re such a dumb-shit’ look all over his face. Behind that there’s also a ‘Jake, you’re not telling us everything…but we know’ smirk.
I put my hand on Drew’s back to guide her. “Let’s keep walking. It’s about to come down hard.”
She says, under her breath. “I hope there’s gonna be lightnin’.”
Justin asks, “Hey Drew, what do you do for a living?” as the four of us head under the protection of an overpass. Before she has a chance to give them more kindling to blast me with, Justin’s phone goes off. “It’s Dad,” he tells us, walking off to the side, rain pounding in the background. Jason joins him. The maneuver isn’t subtle.
Drew is staring at the rain with a strange look on her face. “What are you thinking about?”
Quiet enough that they can’t hear, and with the rain helping that, she tells me, “I saw you didn’t want to tell them where I work.”