EVEN THOUGH I’M tempted to leave him outside and drive away, I give in to my guilt and help him out of the truck and up the path to the front door.
Mom opens it and scoops him inside. “Oh, thank the Lord you found him. I’ve been so worried.”
“We’re lucky King found him and didn’t haul him into the drunk tank.” I close the door behind us.
She shuffles a mumbling Dad into his chair and then gestures for me to follow her into the kitchen. Dutifully, I obey.
“Have a seat. I’ll put on the pot.” She busies herself around the small space.
“Isn’t it too late in the day for coffee?”
“Not for you.” Oh, right.
“Any idea what set him off this time? He’s been doing pretty well for months.” I absently pick through the stack of mail on the table.
Mom flutters over to the table and grabs the envelopes out of my hand.
“Sorry. Didn’t mean to pry. Is it money? Erik and I can transfer some into your account. Just say the word.”
After shuffling through the stack, she sets it down. “Where’d it go?”
No doubt about it, she’s acting strange and a little shifty.
Moving to the counter and another stack of papers, she sorts through them. “It was here earlier. I left it on the table. I think. Jeez, I can’t remember.”
“Mom?”
“Hold on, I’ll find it.” Worry creases her forehead and her lips curve down into a deep frown as she taps her fingers on the counter.
I pull out my phone to text Erik.
*SOS at Mom and Dad’s.*
I hit send.
Mom continues to pace the kitchen, searching for something.
“If you tell me what you lost, maybe I can help you find it.”
She waves me off. “Oh! Let me check my purse.”
Extracting several random things first, she pulls out a crumpled and dirty business envelope. “Found it!”
A snoring snort follows from the living room. In response, Mom clamps her hand over her mouth.
“Shh, I don’t want to wake him up. It’s been a rough day.”
Day? It’s been a rough decade. Behind the worry lines and stress wrinkles on Mom’s face, I can see glimpses of the optimistic, beautiful girl in the framed wedding picture that hangs in the hall along with Erik and my school pictures. Donna Kelso looks older than her years and the man in the other room is responsible. Familiar anger begins to churn in my stomach.
“What has he done this time?”
She unfolds the envelope and presses out the crumpled edges. “This arrived today.”
I can’t see the return address. The printed letters spell out Dad’s name and part of their address is visible behind Mom’s fingers.
“Are you going to tell me or are we going to play a game of ‘guess what’s in the envelope’ for the rest of the evening?”
“Brace yourself.” Her face is blank and serious as she passes me the paper.
The name and address of Dad’s old lawyer’s firm fill the upper left corner of the thick envelope.
“What does the lawyer want?” I stare at the letter like she’s handed me a report card with bad grades.
“Open it.” She encourages me.
I really don’t want to. If the envelope contained spiders or positive pregnancy tests, I doubt I’d be less looking forward to opening it than I am now.
“Can’t you tell me?” I peek under the flap but don’t disturb the contents inside.
“It won’t bite you.”
“Can you guarantee that?” I remove the folded papers and set them on the table.
Skimming over the first page, my eyes bug out and my hand shakes when I flip to the next page, and then the next.
“Is this for real?” My voice lifts in shock.
A text alert sounds on my phone. It’s probably Erik making an excuse not to show up right now. Ignoring it for the moment, I continue reading.
“I have to call the lawyer on Monday, but why would someone forge something like that?”
“Because anything Ron Curtis touches is either poisoned or a con.” I flip to the last page. “Holy shit. Holy. Fucking. Shit.”
“Carter Andrew Kelso!” Mom exclaims and then chuckles as she sits across from me. “I said the same thing.”
The aroma of brewing coffee fills the space. My phone chirps and pings with more texts. Dad snores in his chair.
All normal, everyday things.
Inside, my world implodes like a building in Vegas until nothing but a cloud of anger, shock, and dread surrounds me.
It seems Ashley’s dad is back from the missing and assumed dead.
I reread the letter and stare at the zeros on the cashier’s check.
“What the fuck is this for?” I don’t even bother to contain my swearing around Mom now.
“A good faith gesture.”
“He’s going to pay back Dad ten thousand dollars at a time? That’s bullshit.”
“We never thought we’d ever see a dime from those accounts again. Better than nothing.”
“Where is he?” Inside I’m plotting how to murder him and make it look like an accident. If a man has been missing for a decade, who’s going to look for him now?
“We don’t know. The money arrived at the lawyer’s office. It’s all in the letter.”
“Basically, he could be anywhere?”
“I don’t know. My guess has always been he went to Canada or Mexico.”
“Is he going to come back here to see Ashley?” Real fear tightens my throat. “And Jonah?”
“Why would he do that?” Mom’s forehead wrinkles with concern.
“He’s clearly trying to make amends. Maybe he’s dying.”
“Only the good die young. Ron will probably outlast us all.”
“Aren’t you curious?”
She sighs. “No, I wish we’d never opened this letter. Better off burning the check than cashing it. I don’t want his money.”
“It’s more Dad’s than his.” Pieces click together in my mind. “Has Dad seen this letter?”
“He opened it and walked outside to read it. Didn’t say a word to me. Then he left, saying he was taking the boat out. I found the crumpled letter and envelope outside on the deck.”
“He drove to Langley and hauled the boat to Freeland. Didn’t sail it there. Trailered it. Doesn’t make any sense.”
My phone begins vibrating and ringing.
“Maybe you should check that.” Mom points at the table.
I flip over the phone and see Ashley’s name. Ignoring it, I ask, “Did you call Erik? He needs to get over here. Pronto.”
“I left him a message. I don’t know if he’s on the island or if he and Cari went to Seattle.”
I’ve been so far up Ashley’s skirt lately I haven’t been paying attention to what’s going on in my brother’s life. Hell, other than a few random texts, I haven’t seen him since Choochokum last weekend. Naturally, he heard about me punching Tom.
The phone stops ringing only to start again a few seconds later. Ashley’s name stares back at me.
I mute it. “We need to discuss this with Erik first before we do anything.”
“Listen, jerkface.” Ashley’s voicemail holds nothing but anger and hurt feelings. “I don’t know why you’re suddenly not picking up or returning my call, or sending a damn text. You better be in a coma or your phone is lying at the bottom of the Sound. Call me. Seriously. I need to speak to you and not just your stupid voicemail I’m sure you’ll never check. Unless one of the goats ate your phone, call me. It’s Ashley. You know, the woman who you were inside of twenty-four hours ago.”
I cringe, but smile as she rambles on.
You would think I’d have learned my lesson years ago not to avoid Ashley when the shit hits the fan. Apparently, I’m a slow learner outside of school as well as in it. Especially when it comes to Ashley.
All summer long I’ve been trying the direct approach. Be honest. Be present. Be accountable.
I think I’ve been doing a pretty good job overall.
Until now.
Now, I’m Wiley Coyote standing here charred and smoking after pushing the plunger on my brand new Acme explosive.
Finally, when I think I have a handle on my life, kablooey.
Adulting is hard. Making decisions between the person I love and my family is the worst.
Ignoring Ashley is not only stupid, it hurts. And knowing I’m hurting her only makes it suck more.
It’s been fifteen hours since I picked up Dad and brought him home. I spent the night on the couch, accompanied by dad’s snoring. Didn’t sleep much.
Erik finally picked up his damn phone around midnight. Mom told him to come for breakfast.
Now here we sit. The Kelso family all together like a happy American family around the kitchen table. The scent of coffee and bacon combine into a bitter blend this gray, misty Sunday morning. Even Mother Nature is bummed out.
My fingernails dig painful ridges into my palms as Dad rants about the SOB known as Ron Curtis.
The whole morning feels like the Curtis and Kelso families’ version of the Kardashians or True Hollywood Story. No insult or wrongdoing will be left undiscussed.
When Dad brings up high school, Erik and I meet stares across the battered table that’s stood witness to all of our family dramas.
“He had the nerve to try to ask you out to prom.” Dad slams his fist on the table. I wonder if he woke up drunk after his bender yesterday. “Guess I showed him when word got out I knocked you up. Sucker.”
“Whoa.” Erik holds up his hands like he’s traffic control stopping a car. “Ron liked Mom?”
“He had a little crush in junior high.” Mom sips her coffee like this is no big deal.
“Bullshit, Donna. You and I both know he carried a torch for you for years after you dated him in junior high.”
“Shut the front door,” Erik continues speaking while I sit with my jaw on the well-worn white linoleum.
“But you two were business partners and good friends.” I’m confused.
“You move on and do your best, even if you don’t forget. Once he married goody-two-shoes Kingston, we buried the memory.” Dad picks up his mug of coffee.
“Is this why she could never stand Mom?” I find my voice. “She always acted cold around you.”
Mom rolls her eyes. ”She blamed me for your loose morals. When you and Ashley had the pregnancy scare, it was all my fault.”
Erik rests his palms on the table. “That makes no sense.”
“Logically, no, but in some ways Ashley and I had a lot in common. I’ve always had a soft spot for her,” Mom says. “The similarities bothered the Kingstons, especially Ashley’s mom, Karen.”
“Can I remind everyone she wasn’t pregnant? There never was a baby.” I sound like my old defensive teenage self again.
“Damage was already done. You were sexually active, unwed teenagers.” Mom gives me a sympathetic smile.
“Sounds like a video we had to watch in health class,” I mumble.
“Goat was already out of the barn.” Erik adds with a smirk.
I ignore his bad attempt at a pun.
“Funny thing is Ron Curtis wasn’t a faithful husband.” Dad drops a new truth bomb.
“What?” Erik and I exclaim at the same time.
Mom nods. “You’d struggle to find anyone who didn’t know. He wasn’t exactly subtle.”
“Olaf practically spits when he mentions Ron.”
Mom and Dad exchange looks.
“Island’s small. Can feel even smaller in the winter.” Dad’s words aren’t really an explanation.
“Shit.” Erik laughs. “With Olaf’s wife?’
“There were rumors.” Mom shrugs off the gossip. “People are always talking and sticking their noses into other people’s behinds.”
I need something stronger in my coffee than milk, but with Dad’s delicate sobriety, Mom doesn’t keep anything in the house. Now would be the perfect moment for a flask.
Too tired to deal with more revelations, I start thinking about sneaking out . . . okay, escaping under the guise of work. Or something. I can think of an excuse later.
“Listen, I need to check on the goats. I’ll swing by later.” I’m already pushing back from the table and standing as I speak.
Dad’s tight expression says he doesn’t believe me, but he’s going to let it slide.
“Need a hand?” After balling up his napkin, Erik tosses it on his plate. “I’m off today.”
Mom hands me my plate and silverware. “Nothing we can do today until we speak with the lawyer tomorrow. You’re both off the hook.”
Dad touches my hand when I stand. “I probably should apologize for the things I’ve said about Ashley. I know you loved her and seeing you torn up while she was off gallivanting with Tom, Dick and Harry, pissed me off.”
“Pretty sure it was just Tom and Dick.” Erik breaks the tension with a bad joke. He’s an idiot but I know he always has my back.
“Thanks, Dad, but you still got one thing wrong. I love her. Present tense.”
Like kids released from school, Erik and I can’t get out of the house fast enough. We end up stuck in the door as we both try to shove through it at the same moment.
“Holy effing mother of shit,” he curses a random string of words together on the way to our vehicles.
“No kidding.” I reach for my keys and realize I’ve left them inside. “I’ll be right back.”
“It’s a trap. If you go in there, you’ll have to listen to more stories and you’ll be scarred for life. I’ll drive us.”
I’m willing to delay the inevitable and jog around the side of his ancient Bronco.
“Where to?” he asks as he reverses out of the driveway of our parents’ simple rancher.
“Anywhere but here?”
“My house it is.” Erik turns onto the main road and heads north.
While he drives in silence, the only sounds are the Bronco’s wheels spinning on the pavement and the wind blowing in through the open windows.
I bend my left knee and rest my foot on the seat, then pull out my phone. With my leg as a shield, I can scroll through my texts without Erik being able to read them.
“Shit,” I mumble as I see ten more texts and a two-minute voicemail from Ashley.
“You okay over there?” Erik asks as he takes a fast left onto 525.
“I think I need to catch the next boat.” I scroll through all Ashley’s messages. “Can you turn around and take me down to the dock?”
He takes his foot off the gas and pulls over to the shoulder of the two-lane road. “What’s going on?”
“I need to get to town.” My words are blunt with urgency.
Glancing in his rearview mirror and over his shoulder, he spins his tires as he peels a U-turn. “You want to go back and pick up your truck?”
“No time. Drop me off and I’ll walk over.”
He stares out of the corner of his eye at me while he speeds down the road. “This have something to do with Ashley?”
“What makes you ask?” My thumbs fly over my phone’s screen as I text her.
“Heard about you punching Tom.”
I cringe. “Who spilled?”
“Olaf told Dan when they played chess this week.”
“That old troll. I should’ve known he was hiding out in the hall. He disappeared and came back after the fight with a case of beer. Doesn’t take him that long to grab a case.” Sneaky bastard. Of course he knew what was going on inside his bar.
Erik chuckles. “Dan spilled about his conversation with you. How come he knows more about what’s going on with you and the love of your life than I do?”
Guilt settles like a sharp rock in my stomach. “You’ve been busy.”
“Bullshit.” We come to a stop at a light. “You’ve been avoiding me since the fair. I haven’t seen or spoken to you in weeks. That’s never happened before.”
He sounds like my little brother and I realize I have cut him out of my life recently.
“I’m sorry.” I seem to be Mr. Apology lately. “It’s new with Ashley and we’re trying to figure out things.”
“You’re back together?” The light changes and he hits the accelerator too hard. We lurch forward. “Because if you aren’t serious, what the fuck are you doing fooling around with her again? Jonah’s my partner. You know how awkward it’ll be if you fuck this up again.”
A strong sense of déjà vu settles over me. “Shit.”
“Now what?” He pulls into the line for cars instead of the drop off area.
“I think I already have fucked up. Big time.”
“Nothing can be as bad as last time.” He hands over a ticket to the middle-aged blond woman in the booth.
“What are you doing?”
“Being your wingman. What are you going to do when you get to the other side?”
“I hadn’t thought that far ahead.”
“Figured.” He stops in line and puts the Bronco into park. Pulling out his phone, he taps the screen while we wait to be loaded.
“Who are you texting?”
“Backup.”
Outside the sun sparkles off the water and gulls swoop around the arriving ferry as it churns water into a white froth. Given it’s nine on a Sunday morning in the summer, I’m impressed we have such a short wait. Too early in the day for the tourists and weekenders to be headed home I guess.
I keep checking my phone for a response from Ashley as the boat unloads and loads.
While we wait for the next ferry, Erik steps out of the car to take a call from Cari. I use his absence to listen to Ashley’s voicemail.
Expecting more of her ranting, I hit play.
Her voice shakes with emotion. At first I assume it’s anger, but as she continues speaking, I can hear the tears.
“Carter.” The way she says my name breaks me. If I could swim across the Sound faster than waiting for this damn boat, I would.
“I know I’ve told you over and over I don’t need you. I hope you know it’s not true. Not one hundred percent. I don’t know why you’re not answering or ignoring me, but if you care about me, if you,” she pauses and swallows audibly, “if you love me, please call me. I need you. I love you and I need you.”
The message ends and a shadow passes over my window. A tapping on the glass startles me. When I look up, Jonah’s dark eyes meet mine.
“Let me in.” He tugs on the handle.
I open the door and lean forward so he can climb in the backseat. “What are you doing here?”
Erik climbs in the driver’s seat. “I called him and offered him a ride to Ashley’s.”
“Why?” The dread in my stomach grows.
“Dad showed up at her condo this morning.” Jonah keeps his voice neutral like everything is fine and normal.
Meanwhile, my world has exploded.
Erik drives up the hill like his Bronco is racing in the latest Fast and Furious movie. I’m pretty sure he caught air disembarking from the boat. The tires squeal as he speeds around corners.
I double-check the coffee stand for Ashley’s car as we speed by. It’s not in the lot behind the building and the front windows are dark.
“She closed today. Called the baristas and cancelled their shifts, with pay.” Jonah leans between the seats and explains.
“Is she safe?” I have to clear the gravel from my voice.
“She’s okay.” Jonah remains his normal stoic self.
I give directions to Ashley’s place. Neither Jonah or Erik comments about how I know where she lives.
“Back in July, Ashley called me about being followed home,” I volunteer. “Said it wasn’t the first time she’s been followed.”
“You mean besides you, Bro?” Erik’s teasing falls flat.
Jonah sticks his head between the seats. “She’s joked about Carter stalking her, but I never knew she had a real stalker. That’s nothing to joke about.”
“You know Ashley, she’s too stubborn and independent. She’s not going to make a big deal out of something and ask for help if she can avoid it.” I stare out of the passenger window.
“But you knew,” Jonah says, his hand resting near my shoulder. “She called you. Not me. That says a lot.”
I guess it does.
“Did the stalker ever come back?” Erik asks, making the turn onto Ashley’s street.
“I don’t think so. She was on the island at Dan and Roslyn’s the rest of the summer. She’s been back in the condo less than two weeks.”
Unlike my first and only time here at the condo, Erik has no problem parking his old sun-faded red Bronco in front of Ashley’s place and blocking the garage. He even revs the engine before shutting it off and we pile out of the Bronco and pause.
“Now what?” Erik rubs his hands together and rolls back on his heels. “Go in guns blazing?”
“This isn’t a western or horror movie, baby bro.” I grin at his goofiness.
“We knock. Like mature adults.” Jonah leads the way to the door.
“Huh.” I raise my eyebrows at Erik.
“That’s right, we’re grown ass men.” He grins back at me.
“Yes, I see your ‘ass’ pun.” I bump his fist with my knuckles.
Some of the tension I’ve been carrying for the twelve-plus hours disappears. Our dad might be a flaming mess, but I have an awesome brother who will always have my back. Same could be said for Ashley and Jonah.
Jonah raps his knuckles on the door. Erik and I stand behind him. Jonah in his faded black CBGB T-shirt and black jeans, me in my wrinkled dark tee and gray shorts from yesterday, and Erik in a mis-buttoned blue button down and cargo shorts, we’re a pretty motley crew of musketeers. I scan the area behind us and see the flutter of a curtain in the condo across the way. I’m sure we’re an unexpected sight early on a Sunday morning.
The door opens and a messy, but beautiful Ashley peeks out at us. “Where the fuck have you slackers been?”
Jonah hugs her. “When did he get here?”
“He showed up early this morning after calling me yesterday.” Her red rimmed eyes seek mine.
I step forward and envelop her in my arms, pressing her cheek to my chest. Running my hands over her hair and down her back, I try to comfort her. “I’m here. We’re here now.”
“Where is he?” Jonah asks, already moving around us into the house.
“In the kitchen. He’s made himself right at home.” Ashley sounds resigned. Her hands grip the back of my shirt tighter.
“We can stay out here. If you want,” I offer. “Erik can take you somewhere while we get him out of here.”
“I’m not letting him drive me out of my house.” I can feel the resolve flow through her body. With a gentle push, she silently asks me to release her.
I hesitate a moment before I step away.
Grabbing my hand, she twines her fingers with mine. “Come inside. Seeing us together will probably make his head explode. The cleanup will be messy, but so worth it.”
Her tone is serious, but I see a spark of mischief in her eyes.
After all this time, we’re an us again.
Raised voices greet the three of us as we walk down the hall. Jonah’s blocking my view of the counter where he’s shouting at his dad.
Seeing Jonah lose his normal chill persona is almost as shocking as seeing the man he’s yelling at. The past thirteen years haven’t been kind to Ron Curtis.