25. Chapter 25 – Rae
G ran’s smug smile as I joined her on the couch with my coffee in the morning made me think we hadn’t been as quiet last night as I thought.
“Did you sleep well?” I asked innocently.
She flipped a hand in the air. “I barely sleep at all these days.”
“Too busy plotting world domination?”
“Something like that.” She watched me as she sipped from her mug. “You look like you got pulled backward through a hedge. If I look too close, I might find twigs. Or condoms.”
I choked, coughing as my coffee went down wrong. Combing out my curls was a losing battle on a regular day. I had no chance of smoothing them after the workout I’d put them through last night. Threading my fingers through the strands to rearrange them in some semblance of order only made Gran grin.
“Own it, Rae. Consider that bedhead your crown of glory.” Gran shook her head, brows arched.
“Can you believe my daughter has four kids, most in their thirties, and yet I have no great-grandbabies?” She tutted.
“It’s a crying shame.” She dropped a hand on my knee.
“You and Zach are good together. I’ve been waiting for that boy to wake up and smell the gorgeous neighbor literally floating next to him for years.
” She rolled her eyes. “How he didn’t spot Simon as a bogus boyfriend, I’ll never know.
That boy always had a thing for well… boys. I thought it was obvious.”
“Not everyone has your eye, Gran.” Maybe complimenting her would keep her from turning on me.
“And you .”
Nope .
“You need more than a cardboard cutout. I know modern women can stand on their own, blah, blah, but you deserve a man who will stand by you.”
“And you think Zach’s that man?” Until recently, I wouldn’t have called Zach the reliable type. At least not when it came to long-term relationships. Gran was tough on her family. Oddly enough, I trusted her judgment.
“I think he’s proven it already. You’re the one who’s just now noticing. A bit slow, aren’t you?”
Ouch . Apparently, Gran had no qualms about being tough on me either. But I’d willingly played my part in the farce with Simon. I shifted guiltily. All for my own gain.
She dusted her hands together, as if wiping away our pasts.
“That’s okay. If there’s one positive thing I can say about relationships on an island, it’s that the odds are good …
but the goods are odd.” The corner of her mouth twitched, amusement lighting her face.
“It takes a special kind of person to choose this isolation. A willingness to take risks. I think facing those risks together makes for strong partnerships, no?”
She’d packed so much into her last few sentences, it was hard to keep up. Was the right answer Yes? No? Unsure, I nodded.
“Now, what’s this I hear about a safe? You want to leave that bad boy with me today? I can take a crack at it.”
The gleeful way she offered made me wonder if I should hide the blowtorch. But we did need into the safe .
“Let me bring it down for you.”
I carted it downstairs, leaving it on the coffee table.
Gran rubbed her hands together, seeming eager to get started.
“Are you sure you’re up for this?”
She nodded, not taking her eyes off the small safe. “Yes. This kind of shit is what I live for.”
“Okay then.”
Gran focused on the safe with a single-minded determination as I roused Tae and Hana and got them ready for camp.
Gran gave us an absent-minded wave as we left, and I tried not to feel guilty for leaving her on her own at Jia’s.
Unprotected. I shook my head. What was I thinking? Gran had Thumper in her corner.
My dad left me alone for the first few hours of my workday. A customer brought in a particular tricky engine, and it took all my focus. After a quick lunch at my desk, he pounced.
“What are the chances that you and Simon Reynolds get back together?” He scratched his balding head.
“None.”
He frowned. “I hope you realize what you’ve done to this family. San Juan Marine Repair might not exist after this year.”
The words shouldn’t have stung. Not after all this time.
But the way he treated me grated. Like my only value was as Simon’s girlfriend.
Chattel who could get him a cheap, long-term lease.
Letting him run his mouth was the smart thing.
The respectful thing. But I couldn’t quite bring myself to do it.
“What if we make an offer for the land? Buy it from Simon’s dad?”
“You think I’m made of money?” he scoffed, spitting into his cup.
I thought about bringing up every time I’d argued against spending on new trucks with shiny San Juan Marine Repair logos for my brothers and saving that money instead, but it was futile.
As much as I wanted him to change, that wasn’t who he was. Who he wanted to be.
My brothers sauntered in. It was after two, but they’d been schmoozing with an off-islander, shopping to update his yacht in Roche Harbor.
“Hey, Rabies,” Finn called, leaning against the shop wall. He split a pistachio, tossing the nut into his mouth. “What’s up with you and Simon breaking up?”
“Yeah. Didn’t you think we deserved to hear it from you?” Bailey asked, frowning down at me.
His brotherly concern would have struck me as more sincere if I didn’t have pretty compelling evidence that he was having an extra-marital affair with May at the Roche Harbor Inn. When it came to keeping secrets, I didn’t think he had much room to talk.
“My relationship with Simon ran its course,” I said mildly, refusing to be baited.
“Straight to ground,” Finn muttered. Bailey held up his hand, high-fiving him.
If I’d actually been heartbroken over ending things with Simon, this kind of crap would devastate me. As it was, it only affirmed that I didn’t owe them squat.
My dad spent the next ten minutes moaning about how we’d survive if Simon’s dad sold the shop land out from under us. Never once did one of my brothers consider selling their trucks, or anything practical to fund a down payment and make a bid for the land themselves.
I’d been growing my bank account for years. Forgoing little luxuries.
I kept quiet. Every time I opened my mouth, I just gave them another opportunity to belittle me. One bidder would make Matt’s choice simple, but listening to them blame me for losing our business lease after I’d sacrificed my own happiness to buy us time left a bitter taste in my mouth.
A decade of working together, and I was still an outsider in my own family.
If it wouldn’t mean leaving the islands and my friends, I’d go to work for a competing shop.
But that would require moving to the mainland, to Anacortes or Bellingham.
And I didn’t want to put a ferry between me and everything I’d known.
Quietly, I finished my lunch, listening as Finn and Bailey talked with my dad about sales leads.
Mostly letting the conversation wash over me.
The crass comments about Finn hooking up with Marty Johnson’s ex-wife didn’t matter.
Their detailed debate over Lola Johnson’s cup size was just another day at the office.
As if they could feel my negative thoughts, Finn and Bailey swung toward me.
“Rabies, maybe if you got a boob job, you could win Simon back.”
All the fucking no . For so many reasons.
My dad’s gruff “fat chance” hurt. More than I could let show. Even if he had a better idea of why Simon and I had broken up than my clueless brothers. “Quit talking about your sister and get back to work—all of you.”
It wasn’t exactly a defense, but it was as close as I’d get.
The conversation with my dad and brothers made me want to cast off in Sailor Swift , returning never. But only if I could take Zach with me. Leaving my friends and Zach wouldn’t be a win. I wouldn’t let my family drive me away from the only home I’d known.
*** Zach ***
Harbor Brews did a brisk business all morning. By the time things eased up around ten-thirty, I was eager for the break. My feet ached from standing, and I’d burned myself steaming milk. Foolish. Not something I’d normally do, but I’d gotten caught up in reliving last night with Rae.
Drew sauntered in just as I poured myself a cup of black coffee. “Make it two?”
I nodded, meeting him at the table he claimed for us. The deep blue velvet chairs in this corner were my favorite. Somehow elegant and soothing.
My brother arched one dark brow. “I hear you called in the cavalry last night.”
I shuddered. “If we’re calling Gran the cavalry, we’re in trouble.”
A grin split Drew’s usually somber features. “She bring Thumper?”
I scowled. “She did.”
Drew tapped the rim of his mug to mine. “That woman is a legend. I hope she never changes.”
“Just wait until she makes you promise to let her name your firstborn.”
His low chuckle sounded almost like a purr. “So. It’s like that, is it?”
I swirled the dark brew in my cup before taking a long swig. “It’s like that.”
It felt good to stake my claim, even obliquely. Right, somehow. But telling Drew and telling Rae were worlds apart. I was only being lower-case “b” brave telling Drew. Sharing my feelings with Rae would be the true test.
The bell over the door rang, announcing a new arrival. Casually, I glanced up, expecting to tip my chin at a local. Not anticipating the man who burst through the door, another man at his side.
A man I’d recognize anywhere. Even after ten years. Simon. He’d lost the roundness of youth, sleeking out and building muscle over the years. Clean-shaven and handsome, he looked the part of the Air Force hotshot .
Every muscle in my body tensed. It was irrational to think, even for a second, that he was here to reclaim Rae.
Because A, he couldn’t damn well have her, and B, he was apparently a very married man.
It took me a minute to register the slender forty-something beside him.
Close-cropped hair hinted that Simon’s new husband might also have a military background.