Chapter Twenty-One
A week after Kash and Ginger had been found, Harper still wasn’t sleeping. And Linc wasn’t sure what to do. He finally understood her feelings of helplessness over his own insomnia.
She’d fall asleep in his arms quickly, but within two hours, she’d be awake and going upstairs to check on Kash.
To make sure he was safe and sound in his bed.
His disappearance had done a number on her psyche, and he shared the guilt she felt over what they’d been doing while Kash was suffering on that island.
Something had to give. They needed to deal with this and move on. Just as Kash had done.
To everyone’s surprise, the boy was amazingly resilient.
He’d bounced back with barely a blip. He was upset that he’d missed the robotics competition, but was happy that they’d placed third overall.
He’d watched the tapes of the bouts and come up with ways to improve their next robot so they could maybe place higher.
It was his mom who was falling apart at the seams.
Today, they were having an unusually warm day.
It was one week into April, and it actually felt springlike outside.
So instead of staying inside and working on the house, Linc, Harper, and Kash were heading out to Lobster Cove, where an impromptu party was apparently happening.
Chad and Britt were there, of course, and Marit and Zach were heading over, as was Knox.
Walt and Barry were also coming by, despite the fact it was their day off from the auto body shop; Jonah and Eliot, Marit’s lobstermen coworkers, were going to be there; Harper’s dad would probably make an appearance; Kash had invited his robotics club friends; and even Ginger was coming with her new boyfriend, Alistair.
It was going to be absolute chaos, and while Kash was excited about the get-together, Harper seemed reluctant.
“Talk to me,” Linc ordered gently, as Kash was upstairs showering before they headed out. “What’s bothering you about today?”
“I don’t know.”
“Sure you do. Let me help you,” Linc pleaded. “I love you, and I want to help you through this, but I can’t if you don’t let me in.”
Harper sighed. “I just . . . I could’ve lost him.” The last bit was whispered, as if saying the words aloud was almost too much for her to bear.
“Kash is smart. Too smart for his own good sometimes. And he didn’t panic. Even though he was completely out of his element, he got himself and Ginger to safety, found blankets, scavenged for food. He was able to do all that because of everything you taught him.”
Harper shook her head. “I didn’t teach him anything,” she protested.
“The hell you didn’t,” Linc said a little too fiercely.
He lowered his voice as he continued. “He knew to stay calm because that’s what he’d seen you do in other stressful situations.
He was kind to Ginger, the girl who bullied him, because you’ve taught him to always see the good in people.
And he knew without a doubt that you would never give up looking for him.
That allowed him to go with the flow and simply wait for you to show up.
“I won’t lie to you and say that things couldn’t have been a lot worse. If there weren’t any cabins on that island, if Donny hadn’t talked, if they didn’t have any food, if it had been snowing . . . I could go on and on, but what’s the point of thinking about the what-ifs?
“He’s back with us, and he’s healthy, both mentally and physically.
If anything, this has taught me that I need to let go of what happened to me once and for all.
For years, I’ve been thinking about all the things that could’ve happened, about everything I lost as a result of my injury .
. . but life is funny sometimes. The worst thing can somehow eventually be the catalyst to the best thing.
“Because of my crash, and my injuries, I wasn’t able to fly anymore. I was medically discharged and lost for a time. My dad’s death sucked, but it led me to moving back here to Maine, to meeting you and Kash, to finding the missing piece of myself I’ve been searching for my entire life.”
Linc could tell that Harper was taking his words seriously. She was staring at him with her heart in her eyes. “I thought moving in with my dad was the icing on the shit sandwich that was my life. Instead, I reconnected with you,” she said after a long moment.
“Exactly.”
“And Kash . . . how he was conceived, it was awful. But I wouldn’t go back and change anything, because that would mean I wouldn’t have him today.”
Linc nodded again.
“So what’s the good that came out of Kash being kidnapped and left on that island? Because I’m having a really hard time seeing it right now.”
“The bullies are leaving me alone.”
Linc’s head whipped around, and he saw Kash coming down the stairs. He stiffened, wondering how much the kid had overheard. If he’d heard his mom talk about his conception or not. But Kash quickly put his fears to rest.
“Sorry, Mom. I heard what you asked Linc as I was coming down.” Kash walked up to his mom and snuggled into her, wrapping his arms around her and putting his head on her chest. Before too long, he’d be too tall to be able to fit in her embrace the way he did now, but as with everything, it would change, but not necessarily in a bad way.
“I realized that Ginger doesn’t have the perfect life she tries to portray at school.
She has a lot of pressures that I don’t.
I wouldn’t want to be in her friend group for anything.
I like being a nerd, I’m not judged for things like what kind of clothes I’m wearing, and I’m not expected to be happy all the time.
I don’t have to worry about dating the ‘right’ person or being in all the ‘right’ clubs.
“And like I said, the bullies aren’t bothering me anymore.
A lot of kids stare at me, but I don’t think it’s because they think I’m a freak now.
It’s . . . nice. Another good thing that happened is that Granddad seems really happy he’s going to be able to teach me outdoors stuff.
He’s already planning a camping trip up north for us this summer.
He even said I could bring my telescope and show him some stuff about the stars, so that’s awesome.
“Don’t be upset, Mom. I don’t like seeing you so stressed. What happened wasn’t fun, but it wasn’t horrible either. I knew you and Linc would find me, it was just a matter of waiting.”
Linc was so proud of this kid, he was almost bursting with it.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t realize it wasn’t you texting me right away,” Harper said in a low voice.
“It’s okay.”
“I should’ve known,” she insisted.
Kash pulled back and said in an exaggerated, theatrical tone, “Oh my gosh, Mom, did you become clairvoyant while I was on that island? Cool! What grade am I going to get on my next math test?”
“Smart-ass,” Harper said with a small smile. “And you’re going to get a hundred, of course.”
Kash grinned. “Of course I am. You don’t have to be able to see the future to know that.
But seriously, Mom, Donny had everything all planned out.
If they didn’t have those videos, you guys would’ve had someone track my phone eventually, and it would’ve led straight to Donny.
Everyone knows that phone signals can be traced.
He might’ve been smart enough to trick people for a couple of days, but he was never going to get away with it.
Besides, he said he was gonna go back to the island and get us on Tuesday.
I’m not sure I believe him, but it doesn’t matter now.
I heard that Owen and Scott are cooperating with the police.
They’re singing like canaries . . . wait .
. . where did that idiom come from? I need to look that up. ”
Linc frowned. “How do you know about what Owen and Scott are doing?” he asked. He and Harper knew, because they were keeping in close contact with the police chief about the progress with the case.
“Duh. Everyone knows. It’s all over school.
They’re gonna get a slap on the wrist because Donny was the instigator and because they’re cooperating with the investigation.
Donny’s in juvie, and the DA is considering charging him as an adult because of how serious everything he did was.
I’m guessing he might get a few years. But it’s possible he could only get a few months, since we weren’t hurt, and he swears he was going back out there to get us. Even though he can’t prove it.
“Anyway . . . between the phones, my robotics trip ending, and all the school videos, he was always going to get caught.
Ginger and I were never going to be on that island for weeks, like he probably wanted us to think.
And the whole thing was stupid anyway. He was just trying to punish Ginger, which is ridiculous.
“My point is, there was no way you could have known he’d do something so crazy, or that it was Donny texting.
And once you realized I wasn’t where I was supposed to be, you got to me twenty-four hours later.
” Kash studied his mother. “Stop feeling guilty, Mom. Seriously. You need to let this go so you can sleep. You don’t look good. ”
“Gee, thanks,” Harper said sarcastically.
But Kash didn’t even crack a smile. “I mean it.”
“It’s not that easy,” she said. “Linc and I were . . . well, we were having fun while you were suffering.”
“The world doesn’t stop when bad things happen,” Kash said simply.
“And you didn’t know. If you and Linc were partying it up while you knew I was missing, that would be different.
But you weren’t. I love you, Mom, and if you keep feeling guilty, then I’ll start feeling guilty.
I’ll stop sleeping right along with you, and probably stop eating too.
And we all know I can’t afford to lose any weight.
I’m a growing boy, I need my nutrients. I’ll sink into a depression and drop out of school and have to live with you and Linc for the rest of my life .
. . playing video games all day and eventually gaining eight hundred pounds. ”