Chapter 15

PRESENT DAY

 

I would have liked to stay in town a little longer, but Noah says he’s got to get back to empty his crab trap, and my father and Gwen say they need to get back to take a nap. Which I assume is code word for “sex.” I don’t want to think about it.

Lily is really excited about the crabs, the same way she’s excited about nearly everything Noah does or says. I thought she’d be thrilled to have some one-on-one time with him, but when they’re getting ready to go down to the lake, she bounces into my bedroom and says, “You ready to come with us, Mommy?”

I look up from my sketchpad. I’ve been drawing Katy the Waitress and I quickly turn the page so Lily won’t see. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Especially because I made Katy look quite hideous.

“Um,” I say, “I think I might stick around here. You can go with Noah yourself.”

Of all the bad things I can say about Noah right now, I definitely trust him with my daughter. If there were a maniac firing a gun around the lake, I haven’t the slightest doubt he’d throw himself in front of the bullets to save her. That’s the kind of Boy Scout he is.

“Noah said you should come,” Lily says.

I frown. “He did?”

She shrugs. “He said, ‘We’re leaving. Go get your mom.’”

He probably thinks I wouldn’t want her to go without me, which is understandable. I put down my sketchpad and head out to the living room, to tell Noah I’m staying behind, but he’s already at the door, waving the two of us through.

“Come on,” he’s saying. “Let’s go! Let’s go!”

“Um…” I look down at my bare feet. “I’m not wearing shoes, so…”

He looks at me like I’m a moron. “So put on your shoes. Come on, it’s getting late. I want to empty the trap.”

I don’t want to start arguing, so I put on my sandals. As I’m heading for the door, I notice a crumpled napkin lying on top of the garbage bin. The napkin has a phone number on it.

So he isn’t going to call Katy after all.

There’s a bucket on the patio, which Noah picks up and hands to Lily. “This is how we’re going to carry the crabs,” he tells her. “How about you carry it there, and I’ll carry it back.”

“I can carry it back!” Lily insists.

“It’s going to be a lot heavier on the way back,” he says. “Also, the crabs are going to be alive and I don’t want one of them to pinch you.” He glances up at me. “Your mom would kill me.”

Lily shoots me an accusing look. I think she likes him better than she likes me.

Before Noah steps off the patio, he picks up a simple black cane that’s leaning against the side. Up until now, he seemed capable of walking without a device with no problem. So it’s surprising to see him pick up that cane. His eyes meet mine for a second, as if daring me to comment. I don’t.

Lily is another story.

“What are you using a cane for?” she speaks up. “That’s for old people.”

He grins at her. “I’m old.”

“No, you’re not,” she says. Then she amends, “Well, you’re a little old. Like Mommy. But you’re not very old.”

“Aw, thanks.” He looks down at the cane. “I’m using it because there’s no pavement here and it helps me keep my balance.”

“Why do you need help keeping your balance?”

Noah hesitates for a second. “See, Lily, the reason I sometimes have trouble balancing is because I have bionic legs.”

Lily frowns. “Bubonic legs?”

He smiles crookedly. “No, bionic. Like, robot legs.”

She looks down at his legs, then back up at his face. Her own face breaks out into a smile. “No, you don’t! You’re foolin’ me!”

“I do,” he insists. He glances at me, then he picks up the right leg of his pants to reveal the narrow metal rod that’s now where his shin would have been. Then he picks up the other side of his pants to reveal the same exact thing. Lily’s blue eyes turn into saucers.

“Are you a robot?” she breathes.

Noah laughs. “No, I’m not. But I do have robot legs.”

“That’s so…” I hold my breath, waiting to hear what Lily’s going to say. “That’s so cool!”

And then she looks up at him in a way that makes me think she loves him even more than she did a minute ago. After all, not only is he handsome, but he’s also a robot. Which is better, somehow.

We follow Noah down to the dock where the crab traps are set up, and there are also a bunch of moderately sized motor boats tied up.

“Which boat is yours?” Lily asks Noah.

He points down the pier at one of the smaller white boats. There’s room in the front of it for two people to sit, then room in the back for another two or three people. It’s far from being a yacht, but it looks like it would be fun to ride around in that boat. Not that I would suggest such a thing.

Lily claps her hands together. “Can we go for a ride on it?”

Noah squints up at the sky. “It’s getting late. How about tomorrow? We can fish a little if you want.”

Great. Stuck on that boat for hours fishing.

The thought of it brings back memories. I glance over at Noah, wondering if he’s remembering too. But he won’t look at me.

We walk down to the end of the pier where all the crab traps are set up. Noah leans his cane against one of the poles supporting the pier, and he bends on one knee to pull the trap from inside the water. It’s basically a huge cage filled with live crabs. They’re crawling around inside, crazy to get out.

“So this is the fun part,” Noah says to Lily. “We have to get them out of the cage.”

Noah actually holds onto the cage for support to get back on his feet, which seems dangerous to me. Once he’s standing again, he lifts the cage in the air, opens a little door on the side, and starts shaking it out over the bucket. One by one, the crabs fall out of the cage into the bucket.

“Crabs!” Lily squeals. “Look, Mommy! They’re crawling everywhere!”

Oh my God, they are crawling everywhere. They’re squirming and trying to climb out of the bucket, and are just generally horrifying. I edge away from the bucket.

Noah raises his eyebrows at me. “You okay there, Bailey?”

“Fine!” I say, too loudly.

When the bucket is about half-full, Noah shakes the rest of the crabs out into the water to release them. Then he drops the empty trap back in the water. He starts to pick up the handle of the bucket, but then hesitates.

“Hey, Bailey,” he says. “You know, it would really help me out if you could carry this bucket.” He gestures down at his cane. “My balance isn’t very good.”

He’s lying. That bastard is lying. I can see it in the smirk on his lips. He’s not even pretending not to be lying. He just wants me to carry these stupid crabs because he knows I’m absolutely terrified of them. Well, I can play that game too.

“No problem,” I say. I pick up the bucket of crabs and immediately they all start shifting. One of them somehow climbs on top of its friends, and manages to scale the side of the bucket. I scream as it jumps ship and scurries across the pier.

In my defense, Lily screams too.

Of course, she’s six.

Noah laughs like he’s never seen anything so funny. He holds onto the side of the pier as he carefully leans forward and picks the crab up off the ground. He holds it by its shell, so that its writhing limbs don’t pinch him. He drops the crab back in the bucket as I shudder.

“I really appreciate your help,” he says to me, all wide-eyed.

Screw you, Noah. These better be the best crabs I ever tasted.

_____

 

I don’t know if they’re going to be the best crabs I’ve ever tasted, but they certainly smell good. The aroma of them travels into the bedroom and distracts me from the book I’m reading. My stomach growls insistently.

Right on cue, Lily comes into the bedroom and flings herself on the bed beside me. “Mommy! Dinner’s! Ready! In! Five! Minutes!”

I don’t know why Lily sometimes feels a need to emphasize every word she says.

“Okay.” I close my book. “It smells really good.”

“I know!” Lily licks her lips. “Noah’s a really good cook.”

“Uh huh,” I mutter.

Lily leans her chin thoughtfully on her hand. “Maybe you should go out on a date with him.”

I nearly choke on the drool that’s been accumulating in my mouth since I started smelling the crabs. “A date? With Noah?”

“Yeah!” She grins at me. “If you and Noah got married, then we could come here all the time and he could cook dinner for us.”

Riiiiiiight.

“I don’t think Noah wants to go out on a date with me,” I say. Actually, that’s not true. I know that Noah would not want to go out on a date with me in a million years.

“I think he might,” Lily says.

Um, what does that mean?

“Why do you say that?” I ask carefully.

“I don’t know.” She shrugs her skinny shoulders. “He keeps looking at you whenever you’re not looking.”

I don’t know exactly what to make of that information. But I’m certain he’s not looking at me because he’s hoping for a date. More likely, he’s glaring at me and wondering how to tell me he wants me to leave.