28. Keaton A Really Great Catch
Dr. Scott and I hung around at the Big Rock Landing for another forty-five minutes or so, chatting with friends and buying matching tournament T-shirts for the Dames and me. By the time he drops me off at home, my curiosity about my grandparents’ plane has fully transitioned to anxiety about the beautiful woman who followed my boyfriend and their son about an hour ago. My boyfriend. Is he my boyfriend? I mean, when a man asks you not to move away, he’s your boyfriend by default, right? Ordinarily, I would say it was way too soon to call him that, but these were extraordinary circumstances.
I walk toward Bowen’s house, the smell of gardenias lingering in the heat, when I see Anderson in the driveway. He looks… still. Which is somewhat terrifying in that I’ve never seen him stand still before. “Hey, bud,” I call. “You okay?”
He walks slowly down the driveway and, when he reaches me, he whispers, “Kerry is in there.”
“And you don’t really know her, so this must be really hard and confusing for you.”
“I don’t want her here,” he says solemnly. “We were doing fine without her.”
I take his clammy hands in mine and nod. I know I’m not a parent, but I’m kind of judging Bowen, wherever he is, for leaving his only son out in the driveway to have an emotional crisis alone.
“She left us, Keaton. I don’t think I should have to get to know her now,” he continues. “And I don’t want to.”
I squeeze his hands. “I get that, buddy. I totally do. But sometimes we don’t know the whole story, you know? Like, maybe there’s a reason she left. And maybe there’s a reason she came back.”
He rolls his eyes.
“I don’t know your mom,” I say, “but do you know what I know about your dad?”
He shakes his head. “I know that your dad loves you more than anything in the entire world, and that he isn’t going to let anyone into your life who he doesn’t think is good for you.” My heart swells because I am in Anderson’s life. So Bowen must think I’m good for him.
“Don’t call her my mom,” he says obstinantly.
“Noted.”
“Can you at least go see if she’s nice?”
I bite my lip. “Well, buddy, I’m not sure it’s my place to go—”
“Please, Keaton. Please. I found priceless Hemingways for you. I think you owe me.”
I smile because he’s right. I owe him. Plus, I mean, I’m super curious about her too, and this gives me an excuse to see what she’s about. “Okay,” I say. “You stay here, and I’ll report back.”
I don’t know what to do when I reach the side door of the house. Do I knock? Do I walk in? I’m worried for Anderson, yes, but also, I’ve got some claim to stake here. Kerry left Bowen ten years ago. I’m here now.
But as I open the door, deciding knocking is weird, I realize that maybe I’m wrong. Her hand is on Bowen’s cheek, and he is saying, “For years, I dreamed about this moment, of you coming back here to be with us—”
My gasp must be very loud because they both turn to look at me. Bowen and this Kerry, who is, obviously, not old news. I am thrust back to that conference room, to Jonathan cheating on me with Allison, choosing her, having a family with her. How could I have been so blind? Again.
“Keaton!” Bowen says.
I don’t know I’m crying until I choke out, in a half laugh, half sob, “If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with, right?”
Bowen rushes toward me. “It’s not what you think!”
But I shake my head and say, sadly, “It never is, Bowen. It never is.”
As I back out of the doorway calling, “Don’t follow me!” I hear how immature it sounds. But I feel like the wind has been knocked out of me, and all I want is to get out of there. I hear Bowen calling after me, but I don’t turn. I wipe my eyes as I walk, hoping Anderson won’t notice my tears.
“So?” Anderson asks when I reach him.
I want to say she seems like a skanky tramp, that she doesn’t deserve Bowen and she sure as hell doesn’t deserve Anderson. I want to tell him to run far away because if she hurt him once, she’ll hurt him again. But he is a child. And she is his mother. “I didn’t really get to talk to her.” It takes every ounce of self-control I have not to start crying again.
He looks skeptical. “But does she seem cool?”
I don’t want to lie because no. No, she does not. So I just say, “I bet she’s caught a blue marlin before.”
“Really?”
I shake my head. “Nah. Doubt it.”
He laughs, and I notice a group of his friends on bikes coming down the sidewalk. “Anderson, let’s go!” one of them calls.
I smile encouragingly. “Go play. Don’t worry.” But as he turns, I grab his arm and wrap him in a hug. He hugs me back. “You’re a great kid,” I say. “Don’t forget it.” He pulls away with a question on his face, but I wave him off with a quick smile before marching back to my house as fast as my feet can carry me.
I feel like I’m in a fog as I walk inside. The last thing I expect to see is Harris standing in the living room with a suitcase. “Where are you going?” I ask.
“Oh, Keaton, I was about to call you. I have to go back to New York. Work emergency.”
I look up at him. “Perfect. I’m coming with you.”
“I’m flying…” he says skeptically. My biggest fear.
I cross my arms, pushing away the swirling panic that washes over me. “Fine.” One look at my face tells him not to ask any more questions. He’s my brother. He’s known me since the day I was born. And, maybe most important of all, he’s the only man in the world who has never let me down.