Read In This Life for Free Online Page B

Where are you heading?” And when I didn’t answer: “Do you mind if I tag along?”
    “I’m going to find Dante. You’re welcome to come with me,” I said, starting to walk towards the door.
    He followed right behind and then ended up by my side. No one was at the beach by the time we arrived. We walked further in silence until the stilt house came into view.
    “Hey, I’ve got a few beers in there, do you want to hang out for a while?” His voice cracked. Once again, his movements seemed restrained.
    “Sure. I’m not drinking tonight, though.”
    He took my hand, helping me climb the rickety steps, and led me towards the open area of the hut. He let go just as I bent down to sit right at the edge of the floor, my feet dangling and almost touching the water.
    “This is so beautiful.” I looked up to admire the large speckled moon, hovering close enough for me to touch. Not every situation with him should be this intense. “Look! We can see everything underneath the water,” I said, trying to make light of the moment.
    I wasn’t sure if he’d heard me. He was at the other end of the house with his hands in the cooler. “Water okay with you?” he asked.
    “Yes, thank you,” I answered, taking the water from him. In his other hand was a bottle of local brew. He took a seat next to me and sank his feet in between the swirling fish. We sat quietly, our eyes fixed on the view before us.
    He broke the silence after downing a big gulp of his beer. “Don’t freak out, but I think there’s a spider on the side of your thigh.”
    “Where?” I jerked my feet out of the water.
    He pointed at the pink mark, careful to avoid contact with my skin.
    “Oh!” I laughed. “That’s a birthmark.”
    “Oh, God. I’m so sorry,” he said, flustered. He forced out a cough and cleared his throat as we allowed a moment of silence to pass between us. “So, have you and Leola ever… you know, gotten together?”
    “What? No! Me and him? No! He’s my best friend, we’re not involved.” This wasn’t the first time someone had asked about us, and this wasn’t the first time I reacted this way—incredulous.
    “Seriously, he’s the best friend anyone could ever have. He’s great,” I added.
    Jude remained silent and nodded his head, although I could tell his mind was elsewhere.
    I was curious about him, too. “Enough about me, what about you?” I asked. Technically speaking, I had spent the night with this guy and hardly knew anything about him.
    He placed the bottle of beer on the uneven floor and leaned back on his hands while skimming his feet across the surface of the water. “My family is from New York, Westchester County specifically, and I’m the oldest of seven children.”
    “Wow, that’s a lot! How many boys and how many girls?”
    “Two boys and four girls,” he answered. “My sister, Katie, is married with one baby. Mary is nineteen, Peg and Joe are fifteen, Erin is eleven, and Max is eight. My parents have been married for twenty-seven years. We’re a pretty normal family.”
    “I’ve always wanted to have another sister. Mikey is great, but the age difference between us is just too wide.”
    “Yeah, they’re all right,” he said. “They give me heartburn sometimes, especially Katie. She’s so outspoken that it drives me crazy. But we take care of each other.”
    “I thought we were a normal family too,” I said, “until my mom decided to go mid-life on us.”
    “What does going mid-life mean?” he looked confused. A breeze rushed by and whipped my hair across my face. He watched as I battled with the breeze to keep it from flapping back and forth.
    “Well, one day she woke up and decided to cheat on my dad,” I muttered.
    “There must have been something going on in her life or in her marriage. Sometimes it’s a cry for help. A need for change.” He said this so matter-of-factly that it actually sounded convincing.
    “Where’d you go to school?” I asked.
    “NYU. Philo