Chapters (43)
I meet the same dog owners that I’d met earlier that day only this time our interaction is just a cursory wave. I want to kneel down and pet each one but that would make me break momentum and I’ve learned that in this kind of thing momentum is everything.
Back home, sweaty and red-faced, I change into my bathing suit in the master bedroom with a sliding door that faces the backyard and jump into the pool to cool off.
“You swimming again?” Owen walks out with a beer in hand.
“Don’t you just love it?” I ask.
Owen shrugs.
When we first got here, he swam all the time but months later the novelty has worn off.
It hasn’t for me.
Actually, I doubt it ever will.
If I were to buy a house, I now know that a pool and a hot tub are a must.
“Can’t believe that you’re still swimming this much,” he says, shaking his head.
“Can’t believe you’re still drinking this much,” I point out.
When we first got here, we indulged a bit in having a few too many drinks but after a while I got sick of waking up with pounding headaches.
After I quit, Owen started drinking more.
Now, I hardly ever see him without a beer in his hand.
“At least, I don’t drink anything too strong,” he says.
“Yeah, I guess. But I’m not sure it’s such a good idea to drink during the day at all.”
He shrugs and hangs his head.
I know that he hates me bringing this up.
But what else do I do when I see him going downhill? Should I not try to stop him at all? Should I not try to put on the brakes even a little bit?
I climb out of the pool and wrap the towel around myself.
My skin gets covered in goose bumps until I dry off.
“You know that I don’t mean anything by saying that, right?” I ask. “I’m just worried. I don’t want things to get out of hand.”
“Don’t be,” Owen says. “What…do you think I’m going to become an alcoholic or something?”
“It’s possible.” I nod. “It happens.”
“Well, not to me.”
“It’s a disease, Owen. There’s nothing to be ashamed of. And it’s progressive so if you keep this up, after a while you won’t be able to stop.”
His eyes turn ice cold as he clenches his jaw. He’s about to say something back to me but he chooses to keep it to himself.
I head inside through my bedroom, but Owen calls back out to me right before I slide the door closed.
“Oh, hey, I think you might want to come out and see what they’re showing on TV,” he says.
“What is it?”
“It’s about Nicholas.”