The Last Summer at Palm Terrace

Elena sat on the edge of the infinity pool, legs dangling in the cool water, nursing a gin and tonic that had gone watery twenty minutes ago. Below her, the padel court echoed with the rhythmic thwack of racquets and occasional laughter—her husband Marcus and his business partner, Sarah, playing their usual Saturday morning match.

The palm fronds above her stirred in the gathering breeze, casting dancing shadows across her bare arms. She'd stopped running years ago, first metaphorically when she traded her career for Marcus's ambition, then literally when the hip pain started at forty-two. Now she watched other people chase things.

A flash of lightning split the distant sky, followed almost immediately by thunder. The storm was moving faster than the weather report had predicted. On the court, Marcus and Sarah continued playing, though their opponents—two strangers from the resort—were glancing nervously upward.

"Marcus!" Elena called out, but the wind carried her voice away. She could see him now, his face flushed withexertion and something else as he smiled at Sarah across the net. That smile she'd once believed was exclusively hers.

Another lightning strike illuminated the whole valley. The other couple abandoned the game, running toward the clubhouse. Marcus and Sarah stood motionless, framed in the violet light, their racquets lowered, eyes locked on each other with an intensity that made Elena's stomach turn.

She stood up slowly, water dripping from her legs onto the concrete. The first heavy drops of rain began to fall, splashing into the pool beside her. She didn't run toward the clubhouse. She didn't run toward the court. Instead, she walked to her lounge chair, collected her tote bag, and moved toward the resort exit.

The sky opened up as she reached the parking lot. Behind her, through the curtain of rain, she could see Marcus and Sarah finally moving toward shelter, their hands almost touching as they ran. Elena unlocked her car, started the engine, and backed out of the space. Some storms you waited out. Others you drove through.