Page 75 of The Wild Beneath

“Where were you?” Isaac asks.

“With Annie.”

“What stories did she have this time?” Isaac sets the bourbon bottle down so close to the edge of the counter that Evan worries it will fall. “A sailboat-eating squid? Mermaids building the kingdom of Atlantis?”

“Can we please not, tonight?”

“Did she teach you how to navigate by starlight?”

“Leave it be, Dad.”

“Just trying to keep your head screwed on straight.”

“Maybe you should worry about keeping yours screwed on straight.” Evan points to the bottle.

Isaac ignores him and turns up the radio. “The booms are set for morning. Weather reports are back as of yesterday.”

Evan tries to decipher the muffled voice reporting temperatures and tides. Strong wind coming up from the southwest, heavy rain starting in thirty-six hours. “We wait that out for a few days, then.”

“If you leave sooner, you can beat the weather.” Isaac stares at him with pink-rimmed eyes.

A prickle of anger at the base of Evan’s neck. “You can’t tow logs in that.”

“They offered a higher price if we deliver ASAP. Besides, it was dead calm out there today.”

Evan stands and steps toward his father and sets his jaw but then chooses to retreat to the bedroom upstairs. There’s no reasoning with him when he’s drunk.

He’s at the top stair when Isaac says: “I let you down when your mother died. There’s no excuse for it.”

Evan looks back down the staircase, realizing only now that the redness in his dad’s eyes is not just from alcohol. He’s been crying.

“I was a fucking mess.” Isaac takes another drink and places the tumbler back on the counter so hard that Evan wonders if it cracked.

“Because you loved her.”

“It hurt so bad I let too many things go.” Isaac braces himself against the countertop. “We can’t let things fall apart now.” Static from the radio interrupts him. After several seconds, he starts again: “Everyone left in this town is riding on this. Even that sailboat girl you won’t let go of.”

Evan pushes his palms into his eyes until he sees stars. He isn’t prepared to have his loyalty questioned on top of everything else. “Fine. I’ll go.”

“Good.” The static comes to an abrupt stop when Isaac switches off the SSB. “I’m proud of you, son.”

Crickets play outside the bedroom window in the stillness of night. Evan forces air in and out of his lungs. Staring atthe chips in the twin bed headboard, he slows his breathing as he decides what to do.

Night becomes day soon enough.

He packs a bag, drinks a black coffee, and heads straight to Ruth’s cabin. Three gulls perch on the roof. Songbirds are awake, trilling and whistling in the shrubs. A robin’s nest is taking shape in the rafters.

No one answers the door when he knocks. No smoke from the chimney. Inside, it’s quiet, and the beds are made.

A shiver runs up his spine.

He retraces his steps back to the shipyard, calls out from the warehouse door, and waits. Water drips through a downspout. A rustling noise, then the groan of the boat on the cradle. Eventually, Annie and Walker both climb out ofPolaris, wearing the same clothes as the night before.

“For fuck’s sake.” Evan feels hot anger spill from a thousand cracks in his skin. But he has to keep it contained, to push ahead. He manages to level his voice: “Sorry to interrupt.”

“You’re not,” Annie says, but she doesn’t seem sure.

“Booms are ready and I need to get Ruth in a couple days.” Evan swallows the burning feeling. “Got to leave right away if I want to beat the storm that’s coming.”