Page 74 of Double Apex

After a reflective minute, he says, “I ask a lot of you, chickadee, but it’s always been because I know you can handle it.”

I give him a smile. “I know, Daddy.”

“What I’m going to ask now is big, but you’re socapable.”

My stomach clenches. Is this it—he’s going to tell me his plans for the team? I’m not sure if he’s gearing me up to accept Emerald’s sale gracefully, or become “head honcho,” as he puts it. Or could it be about Cosmin? Mo’s been silent on the issue and hasn’t mentioned the video call with Reece and Klaus, which was over a week ago.

“First of all, the obvious stuff: take care of your mama and baby sister. Your ma will be lonely.” He sighs. “Thirty-six years is a long time to get used to the way things are. The smiles, thecontrol… She gives the impression she’s okay when she’s not. Dig deeper, you hear?”

“I promise, Daddy.”

“Same with your sis. She needs you more’n I reckon you know.”

I scoff. “Idon’tthink Linn needs me. She’s the one who’s perfect.”

He makes a comical raspberry noise. “Because she gets hundred-dollar haircuts, and I taught you how to cut your own backwards in a bathroom mirror? That don’t mean shit. She’s still your baby sister, and she wants your approval.”

I nod, though I’m skeptical.

“Finally—and this is the biggie.” He drops my hand and rubs the scruff on his jaw, staring at the beach. “I’ve made arrangements to be buried at sea. There’s a place at Cape Hatteras that does it. The whole megillah—not just ashes. No embalming, no burning. That’s what I want.”

He folds his arms as if he expects resistance. I admit Iamsort of shocked.

“Where I come from,” he goes on, “they burn trash—not people. But I don’t want to be buried. Out there, you’re right back in the game. Free in a wide-open world, not tied to a little plot of dirt. Fish eat you right quick, and you’re swimming.Aliveagain.”

The thought of not having a fixed place to mourn him is paralyzing, but I recognize how selfish of me that is. Of course he’d want to be out there moving around. Mo’s always been restless.

I gnaw at my lower lip. “That sounds like a good plan. But why’s it a ‘big ask’? Do I have to skipper the boat or something?” I joke weakly.

“Your ma and Linny hate it. They’ll comply, but they don’t understand my reasons. You’re so much like me, I knowyoudo. I hope you’ll help ’em to be at peace with it.”

I join him in his scrutiny of the long, gray horizon. I like the idea of him being a part of something so big—the ocean. Every time I go into the water and float on it, he’ll be carrying me on his shoulders again.

My eyes are full of tears when I finally look at him.

“It’s perfect,” I assure him. “You’ll be with me not only when I’m here, but when I’m across the Atlantic.”

He smiles and stretches his arm to chuck me under the chin. “You wander on down to the water and talk to me any old time, chickadee.”

We watch the waves together for another quiet minute. The whine of seagulls feels like an echo of my anxiety, but I keep a relaxed half smile on my face for Mo’s sake. From inside the house comes the clink of dishes as Linn sets the table and the lilt of Mama’s voice, directing her.

“For a second there,” I say, trying to keep my tone light, “I thought you were gonna tell me about selling the team.”

He swivels to look at me, but I keep my gaze on the shoreline, maintaining the neutral mood I hope will make him feel okay about whatever he needs to say. I know there’s probably no chance he won’t sell to Klaus now, with everything that’s happened. It makes sense—I hate to admit it. Better to take the payout and set up the Morgan family with security after he’s gone, rather than risk having his careless daughter ruin Emerald.

“Sell the team?” he says. “Who to? Is someone buying?”

I meet his eyes, and the shock he sees on my face elicits a laugh from him. He shakes his head as if it’s the silliest thing he’s ever heard.

“O-okay,” I stammer, “but I mean, um—”

“I already talked to your mama about it and made the arrangements with Charlie and the rest of the legal eagles.” Ashadow of worry clouds his expression. “You don’tpreferI find someone to buy us out, do you? I figured—”

“No—Godno. Of course not. I just assumed it’d be, um,Klaus.”

“Klausy?” Mo looks genuinely bewildered. “What would he want with that kind of headache—team principalandfull owner?”

“Wait, for real? You guys haven’t been—?”

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