6. River
CHAPTER SIX
River
Eighteen Years Ago
First morning of the summer at the McKinley residence. Six weeks in rural Colorado. Forty days, and I was counting them down.
I woke before dawn, way before dawn, because I was on East Coast time at the moment. Jumped down to the carpeted floor. Did my usual routine. Pushups, sit-ups, keeping my breathing regulated and silent. Didn’t want to wake my little brother and hear his complaining.
Then I sat in front of my laptop to keep working on some code that was kicking my ass.
Finally, Ross shifted and yawned in the lower bunk. He pushed the pillow off his head and looked over at me. “What time is it?”
“Breakfast.” The smells of bacon and coffee had been drifting upstairs for a little while.
“Good. I’m starved.”
“You’ve been awake less than a minute.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Just that you’re boring. ”
“Shut up. It’s too early for you to be a jerk yet.”
“I’m a jerk at all hours.”
I wasn’t finished with my project, but I closed my laptop anyway. This was good practice. Soon, I wouldn’t be in charge of my own schedule, even less than at school. I’d have to be ready for that.
While Ross stumbled into the hall to use the bathroom, I changed my clothes and ran my fingers through my unruly hair. Little help that did, but whatever. I didn’t have anyone to impress here. No school uniform or rules about scuffs on my shoes. Or my father examining me with a critical eye, never satisfied with what he saw.
Funny that the Navy would be much worse about those kinds of expectations, yet I looked forward to it. The challenge of proving myself to my superiors while my own name, history, even my personality faded into the background. It wouldn’t matter where I’d come from. Only what I could do. I’d be giving up my freedom, but it would be my choice.
Just one more year of high school to get through. And this summer, of course.
Here we were again in Colorado.
My gaze fixed on the wall that separated the boys’ bunk room from Charlie’s. Unlike her sisters, she got a room to herself. She liked to be in charge. She definitely didn’t want us here.
But guess what, Grumpy Charlie? I didn’t want to be here either.
When I’d been younger, I’d loved these annual trips. Get away from Dad’s demands and my mother’s moodiness? The brattiness and taunts of the kids in our social circle? Sign me up. It had been a long time since Ross and I had anyone at home who cared if we were around. Nonna Sophia and Grandma Ji-woo had passed away years ago.
But now, I was far too old to be shipped off like a nuisance. I could’ve been doing my own thing this summer. Could’ve gotten a job and done something useful. But no. Natalia, aka Mom, always insisted that Ross and I visit the McKinleys and spend time in nature like toddlers with too much energy.
Ross returned, scratching his armpit through his T-shirt. “Ready to head down?”
“Yep.” I switched off the light on our way out. My brother led the way down the hall, but I stopped at Charlie’s closed door.
Was she asleep? What did a sixteen-year-old homeschooled girl dream of? Unicorns and glitter? My lips closed on a laugh. I could just imagine Charlie’s indignant expression if I’d said that to her face. Maybe I would.
I had to have something to keep me entertained during this trip.
Ross took a few steps back. “What’s up?” he whispered, glancing from me to Charlie’s door.
I brought my fist to the door and knocked hard.
“ River ,” my brother hissed.
But her door swung inward under the pressure, revealing an empty room, bed carefully made. She wasn’t there. Huh. I didn’t hear her voice downstairs in the kitchen either. Where was she?
I leaned forward, peering inside.
“What’re you doing?” Ross asked.
“Just gathering intel.”
Of course her room didn’t have a single item out of place. Handmade artwork decorated her walls. I knew some of it was cross-stitch, the same thing her mom made and sold at local markets. These had quotes from female writers and politicians, all stitched in brightly colored thread. That made me smile.
“We should head down. ”
“In a sec.” I stepped into the room to see the rest of it. Caught a glimpse of a poster on the other side of the door. It was some cheesy boy band. Like she’d put it there to keep it hidden. Cute . My smile widened.
“You know she’ll kill you if she sees you.”
“She won’t know unless I say something about her unfortunate choice of wall art. Which I will.”
“Why do you have to be such an ass sometimes?” Ross grabbed my arm and tried to yank me back to the hall. He failed. He was only a year younger than me, but he hadn’t caught up to my height or size.
“You don’t have a crush on Grumpy Charlie, do you Ross? Are you afraid I’ll ruin your chance with her?”
“Fuck off,” he muttered. “Charlotte and I are friends. It’s not our fault that you’re miserable. You don’t have to spread it around.”
My smile stayed in place, but it wasn’t real anymore. “What are you talking about? I’m fine. No misery here.”
“Right. Just like Mom and Dad.” Ross stormed off toward the stairs.
The grin dropped from my face. The urge to slam Charlie’s door closed was almost unstoppable.
But somehow, I forced the feeling down. Hid it away, like that poster on the back of Charlie’s door.
I jogged down the stairs. In the kitchen, the McKinleys were dishing up their plates. Bacon and hash browns, sourdough toast that I had no doubt Mama McKinley had baked herself. Carafes of orange and grapefruit juice. I poured myself a glass, half of each.
There was chatter and laughter as they hip-checked one another, trying to reach the food. Ross was standing back, a little hesitant, but within a week he would be right there along with them.
The only person missing was Charlie .
I grabbed a plate and piled food onto it. Meanwhile, Ross asked the very thing I’d been wondering. “Where’s Charlotte?”
Tom pulled out a chair at the kitchen table for his wife, then sat down beside her. “She was up early to get to the archery range.”
The two little girls chanted “Grumpy Charlie!” while grinning at me. I winked back, leaning against the kitchen island to eat.
“Should I bring her a plate to the range?” Ross asked.
Beverly turned her maternal smile on him. “That’s sweet, but Charlotte ate already. She likes to do her own thing lately.”
“But tomorrow, we’re all going to head out nice and early together,” Tom said. “I’m taking you kids camping.”
The little girls cheered. Ross looked excited. I was less so, knowing it would take me away from my projects. But it was kind of him. The sort of thing dads were supposed to do. So I just said thanks and offered to help however I could.
After we cleaned up the breakfast dishes, and I swung the little girls around on my arms a few times on the porch, Ross said, “I’m heading to the archery range.”
“Cool. I’ll come too.”
“And us! We’re coming!” Cora and Megan shouted. They ran off, followed by the dogs, who went everywhere the girls did if they could help it.
Ross squinted at me. “Because you want to hang out with everyone? Or because you want to be a dick?”
“I can’t do both?”
He cursed, ready to stomp away, but I stopped him with a hand to his arm. “I was kidding.”
“I just want to have a nice time. This is the one chance we have during the year to get away from everything. Don’t spoil it. ”
“Jeez, I won’t.”
I shouldn’t have been pushing his buttons anyway. I did love my brother. Even if I hated being shipped off this summer, the annual trip was still important to him.
And maybe…he was right. There was a peacefulness here. A goodness .
“I’ll be nice. I promise.” I patted him on the shoulder.
“You’d better.”
Good behavior. I could manage this. Right?
At the range, Charlie was helping Megan and Cora set up to shoot. A cluster of arrows stuck out from a farther target. Clearly where Charlie had been practicing earlier. Impressive. Her skills had improved.
She smiled when she saw Ross, then shot me a glare. I almost winked, but I held it back.
Ross went to the shed where they kept the bows. He chose the target beside Charlie’s.
Meanwhile, I stood with my hands in my pockets while Grumpy Charlie coached her sisters. She didn’t have saintly patience. Far from it. I hadn’t given her that nickname for nothing. But her affection for her sisters was clear in the way she looked after them.
Charlie was the kind of person whose actions told you what you needed to know about her, even if her words didn’t. I’d always thought I was the same way.
Was that why Charlie and I clashed so much? Were we too alike? She probably would’ve argued I was wrong if I’d told her that.
Why did I feel this itch under my skin to get a rise out of her?
I couldn’t pinpoint when the shift had happened. When Charlie and I had started to grate on one another. Had it been last summer? The one before?
She finished setting up her sisters and walked past, side-eyeing me. “Are you just going to stand there?” she asked.
“I thought I’d sit this one out. I can fetch arrows.”
She turned fully toward me, skepticism written all over her face and in the fist she perched on her hip. “Figures.”
“What figures?”
“You saw my target. You just don’t want me to be better than you at something.”
I laughed. “That is not why.”
“Prove it.”
“Nah, I’m good.”
“Chicken?” she taunted.
I gave my brother a pointed look. You see? This isn’t my fault . He just shook his head and fired off another practice shot.
“I bet you dish duty for the rest of your visit that I can beat you,” she said.
“Don’t do it,” my brother muttered.
Neither of us looked at Ross. I crossed my arms. “Dish duty for two weeks. I don’t want you whining too much when you lose.”
Charlie’s eyes glittered. She didn’t hesitate. “A month. Take it or leave it. Or are you too scared?”
“Fine. Rock, paper, scissors for who shoots first.”
“No need,” she said. “I’ll shoot first.”
“That confident?”
“Taking a page from your book.”
“I love that I inspire you.”
Her cheeks flushed pink, and she smiled viciously. “Let’s do this.”