“So good. I thought I would miss New York, but, well, I grew up in a small southern town, and it’s home.” She clarified for Calliope. “Nathan’s Uncle Charlie lives on one of the barrier islands, but our home is inland, near the town of Beaufort. It’s right out of a storybook. My best friend Caroline and her husband bought a gorgeous beach house nearby on Kiawah Island. No kids yet, because she’s still lighting the world on fire.”
“Oh, Caroline Fitzhugh! She broke that big story about that movie star murder in the 90s.” Calliope gushed.
“She’s writing a true crime novel about it,” Emily confirmed.
“Cool.” Twitch sipped her wine.
Emily got comfortable in her seat. “Okay, give me the dirt. I spend my days playing peek-a-boo and bathtub games.”
“And what do you do when Nathan leaves for work?” Twitch grinned.
“Boom.” Calliope gave her a fist bump.
“Quit stalling.” Emily scolded through her blush.
After Twitch brought Emily up to speed on the Tox situation, Emily sat back in the overstuffed chair, observing Calliope over the rim of her glass.
“What?”
“It’s just not very you. Long term compatibility doesn’t seem like something you factor into decision making. I mean you hate clocks. You once got lost on a run because you were chasing a stray dog. You eat when you’re hungry and sleep when you’re tired no matter when or where you are. Are you really saying you’re not interested in Tox because you don’t see it lasting?”
No, I’m saying I’m not interested in Tox because I do see it lasting.Aloud, she said, “It’s not that. I can’t be obligated to someone or force someone to be obligated to me. I don’t want someone in my life who thinks of me as their responsibility, their burden. I want, no, I need to be free.”
“Oh, sweetie.” Emily laid her hand on Calliope’s forearm.
“What?”
“It’s just…I don’t think I knew what free was until I found Nathan.”
Twitch sighed and squeezed the baby on her lap.
Calliope set her wine glass down on the floor. “I don’t think that’s in the cards for me. I think I’ll just have to be happy with the moments, you know?”
“That’s just it, though. Loving someone is having those moments. I think a great love story is just the accumulation of shared moments. Some of them are sad, some are funny, some are terrifying, and some are magical, but each of them and all of them are…”
Twitch finished the thought. “Epic.”