Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 74467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
“So, this is my outdoor shower.” Eloise pointed to a jut out attached to her home.
“Do you have indoor plumbing?” He looked out for an outhouse and then back at the main house.
“Yes.” Eloise laughed as she opened the door. “I use the outdoor shower after I’ve been in the water. I don’t want to track the sand into my house. It can get into the paint or on my brushes.”
“That’s probably bad, right?”
Eloise nodded. “They can be hard to clean. Sometimes it’s easier to throw them away.” She stepped inside and waited for Kiel to do the same. He looked around and took in her couch, coffee table and television, and then on the back wall—her kitchen. She had a small dining room table that sat two.
“It’s small,” she said.
“It’s perfect.” The statement was out before he could stop it. He didn’t know much about Eloise, but he knew this place was a representation of her. “How long have you lived here?”
“When we first met, I had only been here for a couple of days. This used to be my grandfather’s studio. When he died, my aunt converted it into an apartment. She’d rent it occasionally. Come on, I’ll show you the rest.”
Kiel followed her up the wooden staircase to her bedroom. At the top of the stairs, she moved aside and let him enter. The ceiling was nothing but skylights, letting in so much natural light, Kiel had to squint. Along one wall, racks held her clothes. And against the other was her wrought iron bed, blankets thrown back as if she was in a hurry when she woke.
Eloise carried her bags to her workspace and set them down. She opened the door and stepped out onto her deck. Kiel followed.
“Wow,” he said, as if he was out of breath. “This is your view?”
“Yeah.” She leaned her hip against the railing. “My grandfather spent a lot of time here painting what you’re looking at now. Most of his work was turned into postcards, greeting cards, that sort of thing, after he died.”
“Do you have any of his work?”
She nodded toward the pink house. “In there.”
“And your aunt paints?”
Another nod. “She’s extremely talented. There’s a three-year waitlist for commissioned pieces by her.”
“That’s incredible. I can’t wait to see some of her work.”
Eloise smiled.
“After I see yours.”
Her grin widened. “Maybe someday. I’m not nearly as gifted as she is.”
“Don’t put yourself down.” Kiel reached up and brushed a strand of her hair off her shoulder. She held his gaze for a long moment before catching her breath.
“Are you hungry?”
“Starving. But I have to ask, do you have a bathroom?”
“Yes,” she giggled. “The only thing I don’t have is a light upstairs.”
“You don’t need it with those skylights.”
“Nope, sure don’t.”
Kiel followed Eloise downstairs. She showed him the bathroom and after he took care of business, he came out and found her sitting at her table for two with menus spread out on the table. He took the seat next to her.
“What’s your pleasure?”
“Do you like seafood?”
“I don’t mind it.” Kiel picked up a menu, read it, and then showed it to Eloise. “Tacos?”
“Tacos it is.”
Eloise didn’t live far from the restaurant. On the way, she called and placed an order for pick up. While they walked, she pointed to a couple of the homes and told Kiel the famous people who lived there, most of whom Kiel had never heard of.
“Do you know what you want to do for a career?”
Kiel shook his head. “Nope. You would think four years at an esteemed institution would give you a path, but I’m literally on the path to nothingness.
“What did you get your degree in?”
“I double majored in economics and chemistry.”
“Where did you go?”
“Cornell.”
Eloise’s mouth dropped open. “Wow, brainiac, huh?”
Kiel’s cheeks flushed. “Not always,” he told her. “Science and math come easy for me.”
“Lucky. I wasn’t that great of a student,” she told him. “When you chose your degrees what did you think you’d end up doing after college?”
Kiel thought about it for a minute and then shrugged. “The problem is, I can’t see myself sitting at a desk all day or crunching numbers, even though numbers make sense to me. I excel at science, but the idea of going to med school scares the shit out of me, and again, I don’t see myself cutting people open.”
Eloise shuddered. “I have such a weak stomach. I could never do anything with blood or wounds.”
“See, that stuff doesn’t bother me. Being bored does. I don’t want to waste time and money on a career I’d be bored with.”
“I get it.” They stood at the crosswalk and waited for cars to stop. “The out of staters don’t stop even though it’s a state law.”
“People are always in a hurry,” he added, to which she agreed.
After they got their bag of tacos, they headed toward the beach. The crowd had doubled now—mostly families getting ready to watch the fireworks. Luckily, they found a spot near the water and laid a blanket Eloise had brought with them down onto the sand. They kicked off their shoes before sitting down. Kiel piled the tacos between them and then realized his mistake.