Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Mia
“Dammit!” Dean yelled over the roar of the boat engine. We were flying over the water. I sat crunched into a ball at the back of the boat, watching the beach become smaller and smaller.
“What’s the big deal?” Ruby asked. “He’ll get a slap on the wrist or a minor. His grandparents will pick him up tonight. We’ll see him in the morning.”
“It’s not like that for Bower,” Dean said.
Ruby came up behind him and pulled the throttle back, slowing the boat. “I think we lost them.”
Beats of anxiety rushed through my veins. I’d lost Bower. I’d left him at the beach. He should have jumped or at least tried to get into the boat.
“Bower isn’t going to get a slap on the wrist. His grandparents aren’t going to pick him up. They’re already on their last straw with him,” Dean said.
“What do you mean?” Ruby asked.
“They’ve picked him up from the police station too many times this year.”
It was barely July. How many times had he been in trouble with the police within six months? He’d mentioned none of that to me.
“The last time his grandparents picked him up, they swore it was their last time,” Dean continued. “They’ll leave him in there. And the police will keep him. I think they’re sick of his antics.”
“I didn’t know Bower was such a badass,” Ruby said.
“More like a dumbass.” Dean turned to me. “He saved you, you know. The cops would’ve gotten you if he hadn’t thrown you into the boat.”
Those beats of anxiety were replaced with waves of guilt. Bower had saved me in place of himself. I didn’t have any priors. I would’ve gotten into trouble with my parents, but I hadn’t been drinking. Not really. He could have jumped into the boat and left me there instead.
“Hey, Dean?” Ruby said. He looked her way. “Shut up.” She came over and sat next to me. My sister didn’t say anything or reach out to touch me, but I felt her there.
Dean docked the boat, and Ruby helped me out. I was still numb, the image of Bower getting smaller and smaller still fresh in my mind.
“Get back to your cabin,” Dean called out as he pulled the ropes attached to the boat’s cleats closer to the dock. “I don’t need anyone else getting into trouble tonight.”
“Are you headed home?” Ruby asked.
“Yeah, straight there after I finish tying up the boat—I’m sure the cops will be patrolling the bays, looking for stragglers.”
She waved at Dean before grabbing my hand and pulling me with her along the dock. My hand shook in hers. “He’ll be okay, Mia. He’s still a minor. They can’t charge him with anything serious.”
“Still, just seeing him on the beach all alone…” I swallowed the giant lump in my throat. “I’ve never seen him like this before.”
Bower had done a lot of things tonight that I’d never seen him do before.
He’d been drinking, he’d gotten taken away by the police—and apparently it wasn’t the first, or even second, time it’d happened.
I only saw Bower for a week each summer, and I’d thought from that time we spent together that I knew him—that I really knew him.
“Maybe he isn’t who I thought he was…”
“You know Bower,” Ruby said. “You spend enough time with each other every year we’re here. Just because you saw an unfamiliar part of him tonight doesn’t mean every other part of him is different too. He’s the same person; you’ll still have the same connection tomorrow and the day after that.”
She pulled me off the dock and onto the gravel path. “You both keep coming together year after year. I don’t think one night’s going to change that.”
I looked at my feet as I walked. My sister’s words couldn’t wipe the guilt away.
Bower was in a cold, sterile police station, while I was back at the resort, his home.
He should’ve been here with me, holding my hand instead of Ruby.
After the way he’d held my wrist, I could only imagine what his hand in mine would feel like.
There had been a moment between us on the beach—there was no denying it.
Loud music came from the lodge. Ruby stopped and listened. It was karaoke. A woman was singing “That Don’t Impress Me Much” by Shania Twain. She was butchering it.
Ruby turned to me and smiled. “I know what will cheer you up.” She pulled me through the threshold of the lodge and into the warm bar area.
The room was packed with bodies, making it muggy. The bar was a U shape, with two bartenders inside the arch, rushing to fill everyone’s drink orders. Neon beer signs hung from the walls, lighting the room.
Ruby took a minute to scan the bar, pulling me with her once she decided on her destination. We weaved through tables, knocking knees with the drinkers and slipping between occupied chairs that were pulled out too far from the tables.
The song finished, and the crowd clapped. The next drunken resort guest got called to the stage.
Mom made her way back to our table, pausing for a minute before looking between Ruby and me, where we sat sharing a single chair next to our dad. “What are you two doing here?”
My sister smirked. “We heard your beautiful singing voice and had to come watch.”
“Ruby…” Mom warned her, giving her that look. Then she glanced down at my feet. “Where are your sandals?”
In a bush, never to be seen again, I wanted to say.
“Bower found these boots for me,” I said instead.
“You and that boy.” Mom sat down and grabbed hold of my wrist. Her hands were smooth, but it made me think of Bower back at the lake, what his bare skin had felt like. “You spend a lot of time with him, Mia.”
“Yeah, he’s my friend.”
“Boys aren’t friends at your age.” Mom’s eyes were glassy, like Ruby’s friend Annie’s were at the lake party. “It’ll never work out. Young love never does.”
She let go of my wrist, and I let my hand fall into my lap.
“Shut up,” I whispered beneath my breath. She didn’t get to tell me about young love. She was married, drunk, and had no idea what had happened tonight.
Ruby’s eyes went wide.
Mom’s eyes narrowed. “What did you say?”
“You’re right, Mia.” My sister slid off her half of the chair. “We should get up and go back to the cabin. It’s late.”
Mom gave us both a look like she didn’t believe us but couldn’t prove otherwise.
I stood up, curling my toes in my boots while I pushed the chair back under the table. I led the way out of the bar, weaving between tables.
“Wear your sandals next time!” I heard my mom’s voice cut through the noise of the bar. “You look ridiculous in those boots.”
My shoulders sunk, folding into my chest. Ruby put her hand between my shoulder blades, giving me the smallest push to keep moving.
The cool outside air sucked us out of the warm lodge. I took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air. The stars were out, glowing against the dark night sky. I quickly looked down. I shouldn’t be enjoying them when Bower’s only view was fluorescent ceiling lights.
Mom was wrong—I didn’t have feelings for Bower.
We weren’t in love. We were friends. But there was something about him that was different this year.
Not just his appearance, but how he acted around me.
He was intentional with his words and actions, making sure I was safe, introducing me to all his friends.
He’d made me feel special during those few seconds on the beach, the way he’d dried my hand for me.
But at the end of the week, we’d pack up and go home, and I wouldn’t see him again for a year. Nothing could be permanent between us.
“She’s drunk.” Ruby grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “She didn’t mean it.”
We stood outside the lodge, the music from inside mixing with the crickets and frogs on the outside.
“She’s right.” I sighed. “Bower and I would never work. We’re going home at the end of the week.”
Ruby gave me a funny look, her head cocked to the side. “You thought I was talking about you and Bower?” She laughed, shaking her head. “I meant your boots.”
I looked down at my yellow rain boots. The outside rubber was speckled with drops of liquid, but my feet inside were perfectly clean and dry.
“Your boots are awesome.”
I smiled.
Ruby linked her arm with mine and pulled me to the trail that led to our cabin. “We’ll see your friend Bower when he gets back tomorrow.”
Tomorrow.
I’d see him tomorrow and thank him for putting me on that boat—for sacrificing himself so I wouldn’t get into trouble. I’d apologize for leaving him on the beach, doing nothing as we’d pulled away.
I had to make things better between us before I left Agate Harbors.