Chapter 17 #2
“Jeez, God help him. Anyway, you did great. Mia got some good photos, and Piper has perked up a bit. We’re off to the Locke Reserve now for the sock running thing.
There’ll be hot dogs and spiced cider, because apparently that’s the drink we’re all supposed to appreciate today.
Don’t worry. Cara checked, and there’ll be hot spiced apple juice for you. ”
“How long are you both staying in Hideaway?”
“However long it takes.”
“You’re going to keep Cara working over Christmas?”
Marv doesn’t respond.
“Seriously? For fuck’s sake, Marv! Let her go home to see her mom and sister. You don’t need her here.”
He shrugs, not meeting my eye, and I wonder if he’s keeping her around because he’s lonely and likes the company.
“Marv!”
He throws his hands up. “All right, all right. I’ll get her on a plane back to Milwaukee.”
“Do it now. She’ll have to connect somewhere like Philly or Newark from Bangor, so make sure you sort it today while there are still flights.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
I still don’t trust him, so I go over to her.
The moment I arrive at Cara’s side, Piper heads off to her mom. The move looks natural, but I can’t help feeling it’s to put distance between us.
Alice smiles at me. “I’ve emailed Cara a list of books you might like to read.”
“I appreciate it, thank you.”
Alice is drawn away and I turn to Cara.
“I’ve told Marv to get you on a plane back to Milwaukee by tomorrow,” I say to her. “You need a holiday from the Brody circus.”
There’s a pause, and I can guess she’s forcing herself not to insist she stay to help. “Are you su—”
“Yes. Make sure you book it yourself. Don’t wait for him to accidentally-on-purpose forget.”
The corner of her mouth twitches. “Thank you. I haven’t seen them for nearly a year now.”
“A year? Shit, I’m sorry, Cara. I’ve had my head so far up my own butt, I didn’t know.”
“It’s okay. It’s the job.”
“It shouldn’t be.”
We both fall silent, and my eyes seek out Piper, chatting and laughing with her mom and Mia.
“She’s super nice,” Cara says. “They all are.”
I sigh. “Yeah, I know.”
Outside, the sky has clouded over, but the snow hasn’t arrived yet.
The Locke Reserve sits on the edge of town, spanning a few hundred acres of land. It includes a community building, the famous Hideaway Spring, and the house George Locke and Alma Keye built for their family, now a museum.
It’s less than a half-hour stroll, and with Erica, Marv, Mia, and Cara walking ahead, I have time to talk to Piper. I just don’t know how to start without her shutting me down. We’re almost there before I get an idea.
“Can I tell you a story?”
Her head snaps toward me. “A story?”
“Yeah. It’s one from when I was a kid.”
“Oh. Yeah, sure.”
She gazes back at the sidewalk, watching where she puts her feet, and I take a deep breath.
“Once upon a time, in a fairytale land by the sea, lived a little boy who knew that fairytale places weren’t always magical, and no matter what something looked like on the outside, sometimes the inside wasn’t so pretty.”
My gaze is fixed ahead, but in my peripheral vision, I see Piper’s head turn to me.
“Okay …”
“But what the little boy did have was a best friend, and that best friend also came with a family who loved him almost as much as if he were one of them.”
“You are one of us. And we, my parents love you just as much as me, Ethan, Hudson, and Harper.”
I give her a confused look. “This isn’t about your family.”
She rolls her eyes. “Yeah, right.”
“Do you want to hear the rest of the story?”
“I’m not sure I do.”
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
I get another eye roll, and she gazes ahead again.
“So this little boy grew up into a very handsome young man—”
“And modest.”
“But as this extremely handsome young man got older, he realized that he had a few problems that seemed as insurmountable as scaling Mount Everest in his pajamas or fighting dragons armed only with a wooden sword.”
“Go on.”
“Well, the first problem was that he was poor, and he knew how difficult it was to live without money. He wasn’t clever enough to do a lot of jobs—”
“Not true.”
“Hey, whose story is this?”
“I know how it ends already.”
“You do?”
“Yep. The handsome and big-headed young man realized that other people liked looking at him, and so if he left Hideaw—the magical kingdom by the sea—he could get a job modeling ye olde latest fashions.”
“That’s not the whole story. You forgot to mention how the young man didn’t feel worthy, and so, by gathering wealth and admiration, he could prove to himself and everyone else that he had made something of his life.”
“You didn’t need to prove anything to us. You were perf—fine, just the way you were.”
Does she mean I’m not fine anymore?
It doesn’t matter. I’m channeling Braveheart, not Faintheart, and we’re nearly at the reserve. Time to go for broke.
“But that wasn’t his biggest problem. He’d done something very, very bad.”
“What?”
I take a breath. “The handsome young man had fallen in love with his best friend’s younger sister.”
Piper stumbles, and I catch her arm, hauling her against my body before she falls.
We’re standing, breathing heavily. My eyes on her, hers on the snowy ground.
“He was in love with her for years,” I continue quickly. “But he knew he could never do anything about it. She was too young, he needed to earn enough money before he could ask for her hand, and—”
“Come on, lovebirds!” Erica calls back to us. “The boys are up ahead with Martha!”
Temporary tents have been set up outside the community hall for registering the competitors and for serving food and drink. Piper’s dad is standing by one with Hudson, Ethan, and Martha, who’s being held by her father.
Still clutching my arm, Piper leads us forward, her feet kicking the snow like she’s forgotten how to walk properly.
“I don’t understand,” she finally says. “You never … I never … Why?”
“I never said or did anything because I knew I couldn’t.”
“Why not?”
I don’t answer immediately, and she pulls on my arm, forcing me to look at her. Her face is pinched with pain and confusion.
“Why not, Brody?”
“Because I promised Ethan I wouldn’t.”