Chapter 37
Isla
2017
P urchasing the beach house in Cape Cod years ago had been one of the best decisions Isla and Vera had made. They loved the Cove with all their hearts, but being able to take their family to the Cape whenever they wanted allowed them all to disconnect from the world and focus on what was most important: their family. With Ellie and Brayden being only two years away from their teenage years and Everleigh starting kindergarten in the fall, Isla was thankful for the two weeks alone with them and Vera before school started.
Or, well, she had been looking forward to it.
Things changed when Walker showed up with her girlfriend, Maddie. Normally, Isla would have loved to have them both at the Cape with them. But recently, Walker’s drinking had gotten so out of hand that Isla didn’t want her around the kids. She’d told Vera as much, and she had reluctantly agreed not to invite Walker to the Cape.
Walker apparently had other plans.
Now Isla was borderline boring holes into Walker as she stared at her across the backyard. She was clearly drunk, and Isla grit her teeth as she watched her argue with Maddie. It was clear that Maddie was on the verge of tears; not even the dark sunglasses could keep Isla from noticing that.
She was just about to get up from the lounge chair and say something to them when Vera placed a hand on her arm.
“Not in front of the kids,” she gently scolded.
Ellie, Brayden, and Everleigh were splashing around in the pool, oblivious to anything else. Mason had left to go back to the Cove for work, and Isla wished Walker had just gone with her.
“She’s clearly drunk.”
“I know.”
“We have to say something, Vera,” Isla tried to keep her voice low but stern. “I don’t like her around the kids like this.”
“Me, either.” Vera shifted in her seat. Her eyes were still on Walker as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I’ll talk to her tonight.”
“A lot of good that will do,” Isla mumbled under her breath.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
Standing, Isla grabbed her empty cup of lemonade and headed inside the house. She hated being short with Vera, but she knew talking to Walker wouldn’t do any good. They had tried several times to have interventions for Walker but they never worked. Walker was the queen of talking herself out of any situation.
And she knew how to manipulate Vera’s emotions better than anyone.
That was part of what Isla hated the most. Yes, the drinking was more than concerning for her, but it was the way Walker manipulated Vera that sent her over the edge. Walker would claim she was fine, that she had her drinking under control. And because Vera desperately wanted it to be true, she believed her. Even though Isla knew deep down, she didn’t.
It crushed Isla to see her wife hurt like that, especially by the sister she had helped raise. Vera was the most kindhearted person Isla knew. She would do anything for anyone without asking questions. That was just who she was.
And Walker knew that.
The sliding glass door opened as Vera stepped inside. She was wearing a sleeveless yellow cover-up over her swimsuit that hit her mid-thigh. Isla could tell by the way she pushed her sunglasses up into her dark blonde hair and crossed her arms that their conversation from outside was far from done.
Grabbing the pitcher of lemonade from the refrigerator, Isla poured herself another glass.
“We should get back out there. I don’t want the kids alone with her.”
“She won’t hurt them, Isla. You know that.”
“How do I know that, Vera?” Arguing wasn’t a frequent occurrence between them. In fact, other than about Walker, Isla couldn’t remember the last time they had fought. “You know how she gets when she drinks too much. She hasn’t hurt them yet but I refuse to give her the chance.”
“She’s my sister ,” Vera's voice broke as her shoulders dropped. “I don’t know what to do, Isla. I see it. I see the problem but I can’t help her until she wants help.”
Isla felt her heart breaking for her wife. She resisted the urge to go to her, knowing Vera wasn’t done talking.
“I’ve talked with Maddie. I’ve talked with Mom. I’ve talked to Lena. I’ve talked to doctors at work and people I know who’ve overcome addiction. And they all agree that forcing Walker into rehab or a program without her consent won’t work. And deep down, I know you know that, too.”
And Isla did.
“I also know that you know I would never put our kids in any sort of harm. If I had any inkling of an idea that Walker would hurt them, I can guarantee you she wouldn’t be allowed within a hundred miles of them.”
Vera angrily wiped the tears from her eyes.
“But she’s not a kid. She’s an adult. And I’m doing the best I can with her, and I just need you to please understand that.”
“Baby.” Isla crossed the kitchen and pulled Vera into a hug. She held her tight, letting her cry into her shoulder. “I know you are.”
“It would really help for you to be on my side.”
“You know I always am.”
Vera shook her head as she pulled out of Isla’s embrace. “Not with this. I can feel your anger when you’re around her, and I know Walker can feel it, too. I need my wife to help me with this. Please.”
Isla thought for a moment before responding. Vera was right. She had taken the anger route instead of the understanding route with Walker.
“You’re right, and I’m sorry. Walker is your sister, and I know that complicates things for you. But I need you to know that I’m in your court. I want to help however I can. I’m sorry I’ve made you feel like I wasn’t trying to help before. I just,” she sadly shrugged, “didn’t know what to do other than try to protect our kids.”
“And I love how fiercely you protect them.” A smile played on Vera’s lips. “It’s definitely sexy.”
“Yeah?”
“Oh, yeah.” Leaning in, Vera placed a kiss on Isla’s lips. “So sexy that I’ll show you how much later tonight.”
Isla was about to ask why wait when an ear-piercing scream came from the open back door. Ellie, she instantly knew. The scream was quickly followed by the other kids screaming as Isla and Vera bolted outside. She immediately saw Ellie crying in the water near the diving board with her arms wrapped around Walker’s neck. Walker brought her over to the side of the pool and Isla and Vera lifted Ellie out. Ellie clung to Vera as she held her arm.
“What happened, sweetie?”
“She hit her arm on the diving board,” Walker answered for Ellie as she climbed out of the pool. She was dripping wet, having jumped in with her clothes and shoes on.
“Let me see, Ellie.” Gently, Vera examined Ellie’s arm. Other than a bright red mark where it’d probably hit the diving board, it didn’t look broken to Isla. Which Vera confirmed. “It doesn’t look broken, but I think that's enough of the pool today, okay?”
Ellie nodded her head against Vera’s chest.
“Let’s go get you changed and I’ll get you an ice pack for your arm, okay?”
“Thanks, Mama.”
“Evie, Brayden,” Vera’s voice was stern, but still gentle somehow, “go ahead and get out and go change for dinner.”
The kids did as they were told and headed inside, leaving only Isla, Walker, and Maddie outside by the pool. Walker looked clearly uneasy being alone with Isla, and she quickly excused herself to go change. Turning her attention to Maddie, it was then she noticed how scared Maddie looked.
“Maddie? You okay?”
“Ellie didn’t fall,” she said quickly as she lowered her eyes from Isla, “not exactly.”
Isla felt her blood run hot. “What do you mean?”
“Walker was trying to be like Mason,” Maddie shrugged her shoulders. “You know how she’ll be on the diving board with the kids and act like she’s going to push them in but she never does?”
“Walker pushed Ellie off the diving board?” There was no point in keeping her voice calm. She was pissed, and she needed Maddie to know that so it would get relayed back to Walker.
“No, not exactly.”
“Not exactly ?” Isla put her hands on her hips. Despite the fact Maddie was in her late twenties, at that moment Isla knew she was treating her like a child. But she couldn’t stop it. “What happened?”
Maddie took a deep breath as her eyes avoided Isla’s. “Walker was on the diving board and pretended to run at Ellie. You know, like Mason does. But Walker slipped and fell off the side of the diving board, which caused Ellie to fall and hit her arm.”
Isla could almost see red and feel the smoke coming out of her ears. She wanted to yell at Maddie; to tell her to take Walker back to the Cove and never come around their family again until Walker was sober. But that wouldn’t solve anything. Even in the heat of the moment Isla knew that.
Not saying a word, Isla walked past Maddie.
“Isla…” Maddie called out, but Isla held up her hands and walked inside.
Brayden and Everleigh were already changed and playing video games in the living room while the dogs lounged on the floor in front of them. Walker was nowhere to be seen, and Isla was thankful. She walked toward the bedroom she shared with Vera to find her and Ellie sitting on the bed together.
Ellie was a mama’s girl, there was no doubt about it. She much preferred Vera over Isla when she was hurt, but Isla didn’t mind. Vera was the best mom, even Isla could grant her that. Isla knelt down in front of them, smiling at Ellie.
“How’s your arm?”
“It’s okay,” Ellie sniffled.
Isla looked at Vera, trying to silently convey to her that they needed to talk. Now. Thankfully, years of communication had taught them to read each other like a book. Vera nodded, rubbing Ellie’s back.
“Care Bear,” Vera used the nickname she’d coined for Ellie years ago, “why don’t you go grab an ice pack out of the freezer and we’ll be out in a minute, okay?”
Ellie nodded and left the room without a word. Isla waited until she knew Ellie was out of earshot before putting her hands on her hips and looking down at Vera still sitting on the bed.
“Ellie told me,” Vera quickly said, holding up her hands. “Walker caused her to fall.”
“Walker drunkenly fell into our pool and our daughter could have broken her arm.”
“It was an accident, Isla.”
“This time.” Isla put her hands on her hips again. “But what about next time?”
Vera stood, crossing her arms over her chest. She looked defeated, tired. As if the last half hour had hit her like a ton of bricks.
“I’ve already decided to tell Walker and Maddie they need to leave. You’re right. It was an accident this time but what if Ellie had broken her arm? Or hit her head? Or something worse? I love my family more than anything, you know that.”
“I do.”
“And Walker is my family, yes, but the kids come first. Always. And you’re right, we can’t have her around them anymore like this.”
“I’m so sorry, Vera.”
“I’m going to talk to Lena when we get back home. Maybe she’ll have some ideas about what to do.” Vera’s sister lived in Florida, and hadn’t been much help to her nor Walker growing up. Isla doubted she’d start helping now, but Isla didn’t dare say that out loud.
“I think that’s a good idea.”
“Yeah.”
“Do you want me to go with you when you talk to Walker?”
Vera shook her head. “No. This is something I need to do alone.”
“I’m here if you need me, always.”
“I know, and I love you immensely for that.” Vera walked to her, wrapping her arms around her waist as she snuggled against her. “I feel like the universe just slapped me across the face today. I mean, we were literally just talking about something happening and then it did.”
“The universe can be funny like that.”
“Yeah, but next time,” Vera sadly laughed, “I’ll settle for a postcard over our child being hurt.”