Elliott
“How the hell did you find me?” I ask Jake as he walks up the steps to the balcony of my family’s country home in Southampton.
“The hospital told me you left last night. Since you didn’t come home, I took a wild guess.” He sits in the lounge chair next to mine, only separated by a small table. “I’ve never been here off-season. It’s quiet. You know why that is? Because everyone else is in the fucking city this time of year.”
I look over at him and glare. “Why are you here, Jake? Are you not finished with your investigation?”
“Sailor’s been a mess since you left. She was supposed to move to a hotel, but instead she’s been cooped up in her room, waiting for you to come home.”
Hearing that Sailor’s upset makes the wound ooze again. I figured our last conversation would drive her away.
“I came here to think, and you’re disrupting that.”
“Damn, you rich fucks have amazing views of the ocean.” I glance over at him, and he’s seriously smiling at the fucking vast water before us. Why is he even here? He got what he wanted.
“Unless you have something else to say, please leave.”
Jake pulls his gaze away from the view to look at me.
“I overreacted last week when I walked in on you and Sailor. You were both upset, and I was insensitive, but it tore me up to find out you shared a bond like that, and to see her sobbing in your arms, but I had no right to judge you or Sailor for what happened years ago.”
“You and Rebecca fucking is what caused the last decade of misery for Sailor and me, so I don’t give a shit what you think.”
“I’ve apologized enough times for that mistake, and have you ever heard of free will? No one forced Sailor to get in your vehicle and drive that night, just like no one forced you to sleep with her.”
“You don’t know shit about the accident.”
He shakes his head. “You’ve said that before, and I don’t get it. What don’t I know?”
“I want you to leave.”
“Not until I’m sure your ass is headed back to the Village.”
“I’m considering it, and that’s why I’m here. I needed to be alone to decide if I could go back to the life I was living before Sailor was in it.”
“And…?”
“I don’t want to give her up, but she held our dead baby, one she claimed looked just like me. Is that who Sailor would see every day if she was staring back at me?
“The anguish that was written on her face the night we first saw each other in the condo … I get it now. She saw him when she came face to face with me.”
“I hate it for both of you. I do, and I’m sorry for what you’re going through. Your tragic past is why I believe I can give Sailor a happier future. Her grief over Rebecca and the baby will never go away, but with me, she won’t be reminded of it constantly.”
“Where are you going with this?”
“What I believe is for the best doesn’t matter. She told me she loves you, but she wants me, too, so I have a proposition for you. I think we should share her.”
“I thought that’s what we were already doing?”
“I mean indefinitely … possibly forever.”
I cock an eyebrow. “You’re nuts.”
“Sailor’s all I think about day and night. I believe she could be the one, but I’ll never find out as long as she’s wondering what could have been between the two of you.”
“What if I want to go back and fight for her?”
“Honestly, I think we could lose her if we give ultimatums like that. Sailor’s always in her head and hard on herself, so there’s a high probability she’ll leave us both if she can’t decide. The guilt over having to choose will destroy her.”
I shake my head. “You and I are good friends, but I don’t know if we’re capable of sharing a woman. And what happens in the future when it comes to marriage or having children? You haven’t thought this through.”
“The last few weeks have proven that circumstances can change and fast. All those decisions could work themselves out over time, but by making this arrangement now, it could take the pressure off Sailor.”
“I can’t believe I’m entertaining this idea.”
“I know it’s unconventional, and I don’t like it any more than you do, but I don’t want to lose Sailor, and I don’t believe you do, either. Just think about it.”