Page 74 of Everything You Hate
“Barely. Dean’s boat took a beating.”
“That boat has taken worse.”
Abel and Theodore Merrick drift over to join us.
“Malcolm has been looking for you,” Theodore tells me with pity in his soft eyes.
A spike of nerves shoots through me. “Is he here?”
“Not yet. You’re safe.”
I relax a degree. “Good. I’m not ready to deal with him yet.” I’ve already decided I no longer want to be part of his documentary, but haven’t decided how to break it to him. Corey turns to Abel and pokes him in the ribs. “You know, for a guy who’s been on this island his whole life, you still dress like you’re going to a funeral.”
“Uh, rude!” Abel shoots back, clutching his chest with mock offense. “I’ll have you know this is a very tasteful cardigan.”
“That’s where Captain gets it,” I say without thinking.
Corey blinks at me. “Gets what?”
“Rude.” I mimic the parrot’s squawk, and Abel’s face breaks into a grin.
“Oh, yeah, that’s from me.”
I love discovering where all of Captain’s phrases come from. “Fuck me sideways” from Mimi. “Rude” from Abel. The fog horn.
The bird has been inviting me into their world long before any of the people did.
Theodore slings an arm around his son’s shoulders. “That’s been his catchphrase since he was in diapers. I remember this one time?—”
“Dad. No.” Abel’s face flames and he grabs Theodore, steering him away. “We’re leaving before he starts with the embarrassing stories.”
I watch them go. Abel says something, gesturing with his free hand, and Theodore’s face lights with a grin. He reaches out and adjusts his son’s collar, a gesture so casual and tender it makes my throat tight.
“I’m glad they’re close. When I found out he’s a Merrick, then met Malcolm and Jasper, I was worried he’d been disowned and that’s why he works for the Havens.” I realize too late who I’m talking to, but a quick peek at Corey shows she’s nodding.
“Yeah, Jasper’s not exactly father of the year material. Be glad his son Blake is in San Francisco. He’s worse. And my dad…” She trails off and takes a sip of her drink. “Well, let’s just say Theodore and Abel are the best of us.”
She sounds sad when she says it. “Are you okay?”
She shrugs. “Fine. Just—it’s complicated. Being a Merrick in this town. You’re either with them or against them, and I’ve never been good at picking a side.”
I think about Evangeline, standing on a pier twice a week for years, watching a man she couldn’t have. I think about what it costs to stand in the space between two worlds and belong to neither.
“Maybe you don’t have to pick,” I say.
Corey looks at me. The firelight catches the gold in her eyes. “Easy for you to say. You get to leave.”
She doesn’t mean the words cruelly. She means them as fact. I am leaving. I’ve always been leaving.
Corey sees something on my face and softens. “Sorry. That was—I’m just in a mood tonight. Ignore me.” She tips her cup toward the fire. “Go find your guy. He’s been watching you like I’m going to kidnap you.”
I turn. Dean is watching from across the fire with Bodhi beside him. Both men are scowling. I laugh and turn back to Corey to crack a joke, but she’s gone.
Then I see why.
Malcolm has arrived, Jasper beside him, watch glinting in the firelight. They haven’t spotted me yet, but I don’t want to take the chance. I hurry back toward the safety of the Haven family. Maybe it’s cowardly, but oh well.
As the night deepens, Henry and Mimi have shifted closer toward each other. Henry’s big hand rests on the arm of Mimi’s chair. Not touching her. Not quite. But the space between his fingers and her leather jacket has narrowed to nothing accidental. She leans toward him when she speaks, her wild dark curls catching firelight, and he listens the way men listen when they’ve stopped pretending they’re not invested.
