Page 148 of Here & There

“She fucking stood him up. That part’s on her.”

Annie nods. “I thought me being here—I thought I could protect you from her.”

Our fight wasn’t good. After Nadine stood Nate up, Annie broke down, saying the only reason Nadine is in our lives is because of her. The only reason she hit on me at that bar that night is because Annie told her where I was. That’s what Nate heard. After the devastation of being stood up by his own mother, he heard Annie saying it was her fault the two of us ended up as unwilling parents.

I was so pissed off at Nadine I couldn’t even see straight. I was so hurt for my son…I blew up on Annie instead, demanding in a low voice that wasn’t as low as I thought, “Why the fuck were you even friends with her in the first place?”

I didn’t know he heard, but of course he did. We were in the kitchen. It was the middle of the night. I thought I heard the click of a door upstairs and checked on him, but when I went in, he had his eyes closed, the light off.

The next morning, Nate left for school without saying goodbye. And he just didn’t come back.

“I’m sorry, Mac,” Annie says now. “I’m so, so sorry.”

I wrap an arm around my little sister. This was a familiar position for us, way back when.

Only this time, we both fall apart. We cry about this, and probably a whole fuckload more.

Then I tell her I need to get to Vancouver.

“What, now?” she asks, wiping her eyes. The rain’s started again.

“Yeah.”

“But the ferry doesn’t go again until tomorrow morning.”

“That’s why I’m calling Stu,” I say, pulling out my phone.

Stu doesn’t pick up, because of course he doesn’t—I don’t even know why I gave him a cell phone.

But he does respond to me throwing rocks at the side of his boat.

“What in the Goddamned hell?” he says as he comes up on deck.

“I need you to take us to Vancouver.”

He eyes Annie and me, then barks a laugh. But when I explain the situation, he fires up his cabin cruiser with no further questions.

After his wife passed, Stu sold their little cottage, which happened to be right on the water. It fetched a good price—I know because I was the one who paid it. He used the proceeds to purchase a mid-sized boat, which he moors down in the public marina.

I made him get a cell phone so he’d be safe in emergencies. I also help him get his boat serviced every spring so I know it’s in good working order.

The trip to downtown Vancouver is just under an hour. If it were daytime, it would be a beautiful trip along the coast, past several coastal communities and gulf islands on the other side. As it is, it’s pitch black, but Stu knows this route like the back of his hand. It’s how he visits his daughter, which he does every few weeks.

“Thank you, Stu,” I tell him as we approach the dock closest to Shelby’s side of town.

“I’ve only got one bed,” Stu says.

I don’t tell Stu that was a scenario in a book of Shelby’s I read a while ago.

“Oh, we can take the ferry back,” Annie says. “Right?” She looks at me.

“No, I need you to stay, actually,” I tell Stu.

They both look at me questioningly. “I’ll explain later, but please, Stu, if you don’t mind. Just until tomorrow afternoon.”

I promise him I’ll explain, but it doesn’t take too much convincing. “You’re interrupting my painting schedule,” he grumbles. But still, he leads us down to the dinghy, mumbling something about visiting his daughter tomorrow morning.

After he drops us off, Annie insists on checking into a hotel. I’d rather sleep outside Shelby’s place, but she rolls her eyes. “You’re a wreck, Mac. Whatever you’ve got planned, it’ll go better if you’re rested.”

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