“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Going back to college, getting a degree, finding a job that you really love.”
“What makes you think I don’t love waiting tables?”
“Nothing.” He shrugged. “I was just curious as to what you might be interested in.”
She thought about it. “Growing up, like every other girl I knew, I loved animals and I thought I’d be a veterinarian. But there’s no way I’d be willing to go back to school for that now. It would take too long.”
“There are other ways to work with animals. You could train rodeo monkeys, for instance.”
“I don’t think so. I still haven’t decided whether the monkeys liked it.”
“You’ve got a soft spot for those monkeys, don’t you?”
“Who wouldn’t? I mean, who on earth came up with that idea in the first place?”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think I heard you laughing.”
“I didn’t want to make the rest of you feel bad.”
He laughed again, pulling her even closer. Ahead of them, Josh and Kristen were already slumped against the jeep. She knew they would probably fall asleep before they got back to Southport.
“You never answered my question,” Alex said. “About what you want to do with your life.”
“Maybe my dreams aren’t that complicated. Maybe I think that a job is just a job.”
“What does that mean?”
“Maybe I don’t want to be defined by what I do. Maybe I’d like to be defined by what I am.”
He considered the response. “Okay,” he said. “Then who do you want to be?”
“Do you really want to know?”
“I wouldn’t have asked you otherwise.”
She stopped and met his gaze. “I’d like to be a wife and mother,” she finally said.
He frowned. “But I thought you said that you weren’t sure whether you wanted to have children.”
She cocked her head, looking as beautiful as he’d ever seen. “What does that have to do with anything?”
The kids fell asleep before they reached the highway. It wasn’t a long trip back, maybe half an hour, but neither Alex nor Katie wanted to risk waking the kids with their conversation. Instead, they were content to hold hands in silence as they made the drive back to Southport.
As Alex pulled to a stop in front of her house, Katie spotted Jo sitting on the steps of her porch, as if waiting for her. In the darkness, she wasn’t sure whether Alex recognized her, but at that moment Kristen stirred and he turned around in his seat to make sure she hadn’t woken up. Katie leaned over and kissed him.
“I should probably talk to her,” Katie whispered.
“Who? Kristen?”
“My neighbor.” Katie smiled, gesturing over her shoulder. “Or rather, she probably wants to talk to me.”
“Oh.” He nodded. “Okay.” He glanced toward Jo’s porch and back again. “I had a great time tonight.”
“I did, too.”
He kissed her before she opened the door, and when Alex pulled out of the driveway she started toward Jo’s house. Jo smiled and waved, and Katie felt herself relax slightly. They hadn’t talked since that night in the bar, and as she approached, Jo stood and came to the railing.
“First off, I want to apologize for the way I talked to you,” she said without preamble. “I was out of line. I was wrong and it won’t happen again.”
Katie climbed the steps to her porch and sat down, waving Jo to a spot next to her on the top step. “It’s okay,” she said. “I wasn’t mad.”
“I still feel terrible about it,” Jo said, her remorse obvious. “I don’t know what got into me.”
“I do,” Katie said. “It’s obvious. You care about them. And you want to watch out for them.”
“I still shouldn’t have talked to you the way I did. That’s why I haven’t been around. It embarrassed me and I knew you’d never forgive me.”
Katie touched her arm. “I appreciate the apology, but it’s not necessary. You actually made me realize some important things about myself.”
“Yeah?”
Katie nodded. “And just so you know, I think I’m going to stay in Southport for a while.”
“I saw you driving the other day.”
“Hard to believe, isn’t it? I still don’t feel comfortable behind the wheel.”
“You will,” she said. “And it’s better than the bike.”
“I still ride my bike every day,” she said. “I can’t afford a car.”
“I’d say you could use mine, but it’s back in the shop again. Thing’s always breaking down. I’d probably be better off with a bike.”