Dust & Desire – The Summer Housekeeper

The heat broke with the sun.

By early evening, the air had cooled just enough to breathe again, and Theo stepped outside for his usual walk along the shoreline. The tide was low, the beach glistening with wet sand and broken shells.

He didn’t expect her to follow him.

Selene appeared quietly, barefoot, her long skirt billowing gently in the breeze, hair down and wild from the sea air.

“Is this your ritual?” she asked.

Theo nodded. “Clears my head.”

“Mind if I join?”

They walked in silence for a while, the waves licking at their ankles. Theo caught her glancing at him when she thought he wouldn’t notice. He didn’t blame her, he was doing the same.

Selene kicked at the sand and spoke suddenly, “I used to come to a beach like this when I was little. My mom worked at a motel near the dunes. We lived in a room behind the laundry room. I thought it was paradise.”

Her voice held something raw. Real.

“Was it?” Theo asked.

She gave a sad smile. “Until she met a man who promised her the world, then left her with nothing but debt and bruises.”

Theo stopped walking.

Selene kept her eyes on the ocean. “That’s why I started cleaning houses. It’s honest. Safe. People leave me alone.”

He didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing. Just stepped closer.

“I don’t tell many people that,” she added, softer now. “But you write like you’re already undressing people with your words. Figured you could handle the truth.”

Theo stepped in front of her, blocking the breeze. “What else would you tell me, if I asked?”

She looked up, her eyes catching the last light of dusk. “Depends on how you ask.”

He reached for her hand, barely touched it, but she didn’t pull away.

They stood there, tide rolling around their feet, the space between them a whisper of something neither wanted to say yet.

Not lust.

Not yet.

This was something deeper.