The Temporary Wife - By Jeannie Moon Page 0,38
onto a smooth patch of road. She settled down when they were off the crowded wharf. They headed up Main Street, pedaling through the village, and the couple of times he glanced back she was looking around and he thought he saw a smile on her face. All he wanted was to make their time together pleasant. It seemed that, finally, he was succeeding.
They made a decision to tour town after they did some sightseeing, and rode for about forty minutes past white fences and stone walls. The foliage and fall flowers gave a warmth to the scene, and Jason remembered why he liked coming here so much. They pedaled past some beautiful homes with weathered gray shingles and cobbled driveways, and he thought he heard Meg sigh on more than one occasion.
Jason had planned on taking them on the loop past the West Chop Lighthouse. The road became less treed as they went north, and when they could finally see the water, Meg moved suddenly and they almost pitched off the bike.
“Stop, stop!”
He pulled to the side of the road and turned around to see her hop off the bike and nearly break her neck climbing on a split rail fence by a grassy clearing that led to a beach.
“What the hell? Meg?”
“Look!” She pointed toward the water, and out in the distant blue he could see what had her so excited. A pod of dolphins was putting on a show, breaching the surface every few seconds. “That’s amazing!” She took her phone from her pocket and took a few photos, and it made Jason happy to see her so happy. It was an improvement from the last month when her moods changed like lightning.
“You might be able to see them up close if you get up early tomorrow morning. We’ll be cruising to the Cape, and they sometimes swim alongside the boat.”
“Really? Oh, I’m so getting up in the morning.”
They watched quietly for a couple of minutes, enjoying the breeze and the sound of the gulls that were circling by the beach. Meg turned and leaned back against the fence before tucking her phone back in her pocket. “Thank you for planning the trip. I’ve never been here before.”
“You’re welcome. What do you think about my buying a cottage up here?”
“To live?”
“Nah, for weekends, vacations.”
Her eyes brightened a little, excited about the possibility, but there was something tentative, and she hesitated before speaking. “If that’s what you want.”
“I’m asking what you want. There’s an open house back the way we came if you’d like to stop in.”
She bit the tip of her thumb and nodded. This was when he felt bad, when he knew she didn’t feel like an equal because of the money. Meg would never ask him for a thing, yet he wished she would.
“Okay, good. Did you see the house?”
“I did, but do you need it?”
Jason smiled and took her hand as they walked back to the bike. “Everything isn’t always about needs, Megan. Sometimes you just want something.”
***
He bought a house.
Jason pulled open the door of the little café on the wharf and held it for Meg, while he thought about the fact that he just dropped millions of dollars on a waterfront “cottage” he might use a half a dozen times a year. He wasn’t sure what made him do it, but watching Meg wander through the rooms, gazing out at the ocean, and seeing her fall in love with everything about the house had him slipping a note to the agent with a very generous offer on the property.
What he didn’t understand was why.
The hostess sat them in a booth that looked out at the water, and Meg was leaning close to the window to look at the waterfront. She surveyed the scene, taking in the fishing boats, the tourists, the townies, and a little to the east it was easy to see his boat at the marina, dwarfing everything around it.
“I like it here,” she said, flashing him a thousand-watt smile. “I’m glad we were able to get away.”
“Me, too, although I think I’m deaf from your screaming in my ear.”
Meg laughed, and Jason let her joy just seep into him. After a rocky start, this had turned out to be a nice day. He got to enjoy Meg’s laugh and he bought a house. He bought her a house.
“So what’ll you two be having?” Jason’s thoughts were interrupted by the waitress, who was somewhere between seventy and a hundred and