Chapter 34
Thirty-Four
EVIE
I ris isn’t answering. Still.
I stalk my way down the sidewalk of Bay Shore. Having taken the night bus, I rolled in with the sun. The walk from the bus felt like an eternity. But I don’t have time to waste trying to hail a cab in this one-seagull town.
Horrified by the lamest pun the world’s ever bared witness to, I huff a strained noise.
I close in on the café. The place is lit up and bustling, even at six in the morning.
Iris weaves and rushes behind the counter.
I hesitate before pushing through the door.
The happy, routine chatter that’s she’s deep into sends another stone to my gut.
If something happened to Cal, why is she here?
The doorbell chimes as the door slips closed behind me.
Iris looks up, green eyes widening with joy.
Is this some kind of cruel joke?
Did she not realize what was between Cal and me?
My face breaks around a sob, and she is in my space a heartbeat later.
“Hey, Evie. What?” She holds me at arm’s length, her expression now reflecting mine. “What’s going on?”
“You—you sent me a message...” The words peter out. “About Cal.”
She’s shaking her head, her brows lowering more and more by the second.
“No, I lost my phone yesterday afternoon.”
“You lost it?”
“Well, I had it on the counter by the register, like always. I went to call Em, and it wasn’t there. Hold on. Why are you here? Why,” she starts, her face lightening, hope filling it like flood gates opening. “Why did you come back?”
Her grip on my arms tightens, and she nods gently, as if that will coax an answer from my seized-up throat.
“The message . . . Cal’s in trouble.”
If Iris didn’t send it, then?—
God, fuck.
I sink onto the seat behind me. Gripping my hair in my hands, I keen through a low, raw noise.
It’s Joshua all over again.
Iris squats in front of me, her green eyes imploring. “I’m sure Cal’s fine. Did someone hurt you?”
I shake my head furiously. “Not me. Never me.”
Tears swell and spill over in rapid succession.
“Cal?” she says, straining, her head tilting.
“Maybe. I don’t know.”
I need Emmett.
I bolt from the chair and fly out of the café, sprinting to the watch house. The large building hanging over the water is easy to navigate. Searching each section, I find Errol in the watch room, feet on the large desk where they monitor all things marina and the surrounding seas.
He’s asleep, head leaning over the top of the office chair, his feet crossed and propped up on the desk to the left of the large radar screen.
“Errol!”
He bolts up, coffee sloshing from the cup on his desk.
“What the hell?”
“Where is he?”
“Where is he, who?” He turns to face me.
“Emmett! I need Emmett.”
“He’s out on a call, up north.”
“I need to go back to the island. Now!”
“Tame your petticoats, lassie, I’m almost off shift. Wait for day shift.”
“No! I can not wait. You either take me, or I’ll find my own way.”
“You mean steal some poor unsuspecting sod’s boat?”
“If I have to.”
He groans, running a hand through his messy grey hair. “Fine, but I ain’t hanging around to wait for whatever this drama is. I’ll take you over, you find your way back.”
“Fine, let’s go.”
Errol gets to his feet, shaking his head. He grabs a cap from a hook, his Coast Guard uniform wrinkled and bulging at the waist. Nothing like how it looks on Emmett.
We march for the secondary rig. Errol unties her before we board, and he fires her up.
I take a seat in the cabin, and he throws me a dirty look.
Apparently, his dislike for Cal extends to me now. It never used to.
Whatever, old man.
“You got any idea what you’re gettin’ yourself into, missy?”
Missy . It tracks. I roll my eyes before meeting his gaze.
“What is it with you people? Holding a grudge your favorite sport?”
He chuckles, but there’s no humor in it. “Every choice has consequences. You just remember that.”
“Sure.” I give him the most saccharine smile I can force.
Twenty minutes later, Fire Island comes into view, its rocky western shoreline shrouded in fog. The pit of my stomach rolls. It’s impossible to sit still. I fidget like my skin’s on fire.
Errol gives me a sideways look before throttling back and gliding the cruiser in beside the jetty.