Page 42 of Here & There

“How often does it happen?” I ask.

“Hardly ever anymore. But it’s hard to tell them apart from normal Mac groupies.”

I laugh softly, even as I feel the slightest twinge of something in my chest. What, jealousy? Ridiculous.

We go all-in on our sandwiches after that. “This is good,” I say. “It’s no Mac club sandwich, but it’s tasty.”

Chris’s smile is genuine now as she settles back into the present. “Mac made you a club?”

“That’s not his go-to?”

“Absolutely not. It’s fancy as hell. He must have wanted to impress you.”

Somehow I doubt that. “He doesn’t seem like the type to want to try to impress people.”

“You’re right.” She laughs. I can’t help wondering if Mac has made Chris a club. I can’t help the twisted sting of jealousy in my chest at the thought of him making that fancy sandwich for anyone.

“Still,” Chris muses as she leans back on the bench, closing her eyes in the sunshine. “It’s not his usual thing to invite his new employees to stay at his place either.”

“Cal says he’s nice to a fault.”

“Yeah. It’s a character flaw for sure.” She meets my eye. “But Shelby, believe me when I say that even this is above and beyond for Mac.”

Just then, Chris’s phone buzzes. She glances at me and grins. “My bike’s ready. Want to come see it?”

Chapter 10

Mac

Luckily going through Annie’s stuff isn’t too painful. Waiting for Shelby to get back is.

As for my sister’s things, most of it’s still stacked in boxes, so it hasn’t been too bad hauling it all to the basement. The hardest part has been not checking my phone for texts.

Cal, luckily, has kept his trap shut almost the whole time.

Nate, not so much.

“Isn’t my aunt in New York or something?” he asked when we were just getting started.

“Who told you that?” I asked, surprised. Maybe Dad mentioned it on our visits to the care home, though I didn’t think he remembered.

Nate shot me a glance that I knew meant it was his mom. Of course. She and Annie were friends once.

“Why would anyone want to move back here from New York?” Nate asked.

I couldn’t keep my hackles from going up.

“Hey, I’ve lived all over the place, and I always come back here,” Cal said, tucking a box under his arm.

Nate looked skeptical. “Still. You could have used this room for something cool.”

I had to pause before answering so I didn’t say something defensive. I know my son misses living in the city.

“Your grandfather wanted to make sure there was always a place for her,” I said.

The truth is, this room has always been more for Dad than for Annie. I always knew she’d never come home. Why would she, when we all but abandoned her after the accident? Dad threw himself headlong into work while I was distracted by all the magazine bullshit and hating everyone, including myself. By the time Annie started acting out, we were too late. She somehow cleaned herself up early, but she left Redbeard Cove at eighteen and never came back. We call and text sporadically, but she lives in New York City now. Has some flashy publishing job.

“She’ll come home someday,” Dad used to say, even after it was clear she wouldn’t. He kept wanting to come over to see the room he helped build to make sure it was ready for her. It’s how I knew his mind was starting to go.She’ll be back, she’ll be back, she’ll be back, he’d say.

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