by Sarah Turtle
Finally, after what seemed like forever, Willa caught on to Megan’s plan of action for a well-timed approach, when Craig had consumed enough steak to keep him there and wanting more, but not so much that he could be satisfied enough to leave. “You don’t seem as torn up about the things being spread around the island about you as I thought you would,” Megan casually let slip out.
The fork dropped from Craig’s hand and landed in his plate with a clatter that sounded as though it had cracked the ceramic. The veins in his neck were already bulging as he turned it to drill Megan with an unnerving stare. “What’re people saying ‘bout me?” he demanded to know, as spittle sprayed from his dry, cracked lips.
Megan’s fingertips shook when they reached for the stem of her glass, but she came off cool and collected when she spoke, as if without care, while seeming to be more interested in examining the display of liquor bottles behind the counter. “Now that Willa’s made amends with Brynn, people are back to commending Griff for stepping up and taking care of his sister by sacrificing college.”
Craig raised his beer bottle above his head. “Griff’s a good guy, helping out an all,” he said as he toasted the air and sucked down the rest of his beer.
“That he is, but the problem now is the focus is off Griff and people are wondering why you never used your scholarship. He’s a hero for what he did, but what about you?”
“Why do they give a damn about me?”
“Because our top two local sports stars were brought down by a tragedy. You were the next best chance Laurel Cove had at fame and they want to know why you failed us. The idea has even been thrown around that you were too scared to play at a collegiate level without Griff there to back you up.”
Craig’s face was already a reddish tint from too much sun exposure out on the boat, but it slowly increased into a bright crimson color the more enraged he got. “If that’s how they’re judging us, then they need to know that Griff ain’t no saint.”
Megan revealed just enough of her face to Willa for her to see the wink that she flashed to her, before she faced Craig for the first time during their conversation. “It would be a shame for your name to be the one people mention as the town disappointment,” she taunted him.
The barstool made a screeching sound as Craig scratched its legs across the hardwood floor on his way off it. His breath, thick with alcohol, weighed heavy in the air as he stood over Megan and made his demand. “Make sure that every person on this piece of shit island knows that Griffin Reed failed his physical exam because of steroid use. The University didn’t accept his scholarship.” Craig stormed out of The Anchor and slammed the door behind him.
“And that is how the combination of the right amount of alcohol, a full belly, and a few perfectly timed social cues can lead to finding out just about anything you need to know.”
Willa leaned in and gave her friend a hug so tight that she could hear Megan gasp for breath. “If the CIA knew you had skills like that, they’d steal you away from this small town.”
“Ah, but I could never leave the luxurious smell of fish bait that my customers so generously provide me with daily.”
“Strangely enough, you do miss it when it’s not in your life,” Willa said solemnly, in remembrance of her father, then she hopped down from her barstool in a hurry, and pulled her keys from her purse.
“Where are you off to in such a rush?”
“News travels fast on this island. I’d rather have Brynn hear the latest revelation about her brother from me.”
Chapter Twenty-three
At least one person doing some sort of activity occupied every room at Mussels by the Sea. Willa checked each room twice, thinking that she might have just crossed paths with Brynn in her search for her, but she still didn’t come across her anywhere. The only person who looked like she might have a clue as to her whereabouts was a young woman in a bright red bathing suit, sitting on top of a lifeguard chair overseeing the indoor pool area.
“It’s only my responsibility to keep track of the kids in the water, not to babysit my boss,” she said, snapping a wad bubble of gum, which echoed throughout the tiled room. Willa rolled her eyes and shook her head as she walked away, feeling as though her clothes would hold the distinct odor of chlorine for the rest of the day.
As she headed through the main room of the fitness center, the wall of lockers caught Willa’s eye and she took a chance at opening her father’s locker. Inside was the lobster mug, washed clean from the last time she used it, so she grabbed it and fled towards the trail behind the building.
Stopped at the end of the wooden ramp to wipe the perspiration from her brow and to catch her breath, Willa decided that she would have to dedicate some time to returning to her cardio routine, when her life returned to its regular schedule. The idea of what her life was like a few days ago compared to now seemed so drastically different and it was almost difficult to remember the structured schedule that she set for herself to keep on task for projects. With the arrival of new friendships, a chaos of other responsibilities was brought with them, and she quite enjoyed the randomness of her days. One of those friendships, the most unexpected, was a rekindled one that Willa was eternally grateful for. She watched her now, by the water’s edge, a fishing pole in one hand and a book in the other. The sun left streaks of shimmering light against Brynn’s short black hair. Willa wrestled with the idea of wanting to take out her cellphone and snap a photo of her, so that she could capture the moment to keep forever, but instead she opted to savor it as it was happening.
“Are you planning on coming down here to join me, or are you just going to stare at me from a distance?” Brynn asked without taking her focus off the book.
“How did you know I was here?”
“All the fish in the sea were scared away by the sound of you clicking down the ramp in those high heels of yours.”
Willa made her way over to the picnic table, where she set down the mug, poured herself a cup of coffee, and refilled Brynn’s cup. She held the steaming mug out for her. “I didn’t mean to stare, but I don’t ever think I’ll get used to seeing you reading a book.”
“You’d better get used to it, because as long as you continue to write books, I’ll keep reading them.”
“All of them, even the ones I write for young adults?”
“Especially the series you did about the teenagers that turn into owls at night.”
“You and Dad seriously read all of those?”
“Yup. I’m still hoping there’ll be a spinoff that might continue to show how they end up as adults.”
“Ugh, it was horrible enough dragging out the storyline to nine novels about those same damn kids, but the fans loved that crap, so my publisher kept pushing for more.”
“Oh, come on, when that one girl, Solena, flew away at the end, you literally left the story up in the air.”
“What would you want to have happen to her?”
“I’d like to think that eventually she would find her way home again, back to where the people who love her are waiting.”
“I’m sure that’s where she’ll end up.” Willa kicked off her heels, let them drop to the ground, and propped her bare feet up on the wheel of Brynn’s chair.
“You had the stitches removed,” Brynn observed as she ran her fingertip over the freshly healed cut.
“Mm-hmm, hopefully the scar gets less noticeable over time.”
“It should as long as you’re careful not to rip it open again.” Brynn closely inspected the wound site. “See how it’s already tearing at the end here.”
Willa’s eyes widened with fear and she clutched at her knee, as she tried to see the cut.
A fit of chuckles escaped from Brynn and she dropped the fishing pole in the midst of her uncontrollable laughter. When Willa figured out that she was the victim of another infamous Brynn prank, she crossed her arms below her chest and glared at her relentlessly until the smile faded from her face.
“Keep this up a
nd Meg will be happy to know that you’re offering to take her place as my official hand holding support partner during all of my future doctor appointments.”
“I really need my hands to get around with, so how about we compromise and I let you squeeze my leg for support?” Brynn suggested, keeping a stoically serious expression.
Willa attempted to hold out as long as she could, not wanting to give in to Brynn’s question, which in itself had another joke hidden within it. It became nearly impossible, though, for her to keep up with a hard as nails glare, when Brynn’s eyes narrowed to crinkled slits because her grin took over too much of her face. She had no choice but to break their visual contest out of fear of turning to mush under Brynn’s captivating stare. She distracted herself by hopping down from the table to pick up the fallen fishing pole. “Next time I’d rather hold your hand than Meg’s. Besides, no matter how much pain I’m in, I doubt that I could ever break those strong hands of yours,” she added shyly, pretending that reeling in the line was distracting her.
Brynn’s humor was set aside as she said seriously, “Any time you need me, I’ll be there for you.” She let a few moments pass by, and the truth of her statement sunk in with Willa before she added, “Even for helping you with things like letting you know that you’re spinning the spool in the wrong direction.”
“Yeah, well, you’ve been on that same page since I first got here.”
“Let’s trade then,” Brynn proposed, holding the book out and reaching for the pole.
Willa accepted the offer and settled back in her spot on the table to read from her own story to Brynn, while she cast the line with the finesse of an expert. The words flowed from Willa’s mouth with only the background sound of the lure dragging below the surface of the water and the whoosh of the line as Brynn released it back out again. They continued like this in a peaceful duo of narrator and angler, until Willa reached the end of the chapter and Brynn announced that she should be heading back to the fitness center.
Willa closed the book and nervously bit at her lower lip as she ran her fingers over the edges of the pages. The apprehension that Willa had at the concept of them having to part ways was evident in her slow methodical movements.
“Cass has a private tennis lesson that I need to prep the court for. We can meet up later, though. How about if you come to my place and I can throw some ribs on the barbecue?”
“That sounds lovely.” Willa hesitated, not knowing how to bring up the accusation. “But, there’s a reason why I came looking for you down here.”
“What is it, Willa?” Brynn’s serious tone mirrored her own.
“Craig confirmed to me and Meg that Griff didn’t pass his physical exam into college because he tested positive for steroids.”
The serenity of the atmosphere remained, but any sense of it disappeared from Brynn’s expression as the truth clouded her mind with so many years of misconceptions. Without uttering a single word, Brynn went about cleaning up the area. First, she meticulously attached the hook onto one of the guide holes along the pole and neatly placed it into the shed and locked it in. Then she poured out the remainder of the coffee from the thermos and two mugs and placed them in her bag. When it came time to take the book back, Willa could see that Brynn was doing all she could to not explode with anger.
She lowered herself down to the bench seat and placed the book in Brynn’s lap, but didn’t release her hands from it yet so that she couldn’t just take it and leave. “I can’t even begin to imagine how hurt you must be.”
Brynn’s eyes raked over the flat stones below her chair with disdain. She clenched her jaw so tight that it hardly moved when she spoke. “Every single penny that I earned, I gave to Griff. He made me believe that I had stolen his future away from him.”
“He was probably so embarrassed by what happened that you became the perfect excuse for him, without having to reveal that he was rejected.”
“Why are you defending him? This affected you as much as it did me.”
“I’m not defending him. I just want to wait until he gets back to put my energy towards being enraged. We can face him together, if you’d want to?”
Brynn shook her head and finally looked directly at Willa. “I don’t trust him around you. He’ll blame you for his secret being exposed and that’s not safe.”
Even through the thick book between them, Willa could feel Brynn’s body tense up and visibly see it as she shifted uncomfortably in her chair, ready to erupt from the seat with agitation. “I’d say Griff is the one who needs to be afraid of you.”
“Damn right, he better be.”
“He had better hope there’s a flight of stairs between you and him when you have this conversation.”
The tension eased in Brynn’s body as her shoulders dropped back down to a relaxed state and her mouth turned up just enough for her smirk to emerge. “Of course you would choose now to implement our joke deal.”
“I’m willing to do just about anything to get you to calm down.”
“Anything?” Brynn repeated slowly, her eyes glimmering with a mischievous need.
Willa took each of Brynn’s hands in her own and slid to the very edge of the bench so that their knees were touching. She leaned in and stared intensely into Brynn’s piercing blue eyes. “If I kiss you, can you promise me that you won’t take your anger out on your own body?”
The slightest movement from Brynn’s head was enough of an agreement for Willa and she took no time at all to lean in and press her lips against Brynn’s.
What had begun, in Willa’s mind, as a quick kiss to take Brynn’s mind off all the negative thoughts surrounding her brother turned into a sensation of pure bliss. Brynn’s full lips consumed her own with a tenderness that she couldn’t pull away from. She found herself coming up off her seat to get closer.
Willa’s lips were pried open gently by the tip of Brynn’s tongue. She allowed Brynn to linger within the cavern of her mouth just long enough for the silky rubbing of their tongues against one another to tease her. When Willa started to feel dizzy with desire, she slowly pulled away, leaving one last peck on Brynn’s still protruding lips.
She tucked a stray strand of her blonde hair back behind her ear and released a snicker when she noticed that her pink lipstick had smeared onto Brynn’s lips. She used her thumb to wipe away the evidence of their kiss.
“Ahem.” Willa bashfully cleared her throat and stood up, needing to separate from Brynn before she might uncontrollably go back for more. “Work is waiting for you, and I should be going, so I’ll see you tonight then?”
A blissful smile swept over Brynn’s face and Willa was satisfied that any thoughts about Griffin would be wiped away by the power of the moment shared between them.
Chapter Twenty-four
A strong gust of wind blew, making the dock sway with even more force than the waves below it did, as Willa steadily made her way to the end of it. She was glad that she traded in her heels for a pair of sneakers and her dress for yoga pants during her little excursion to the docks. Rows of lobster boats were already lined up and some of the owners were wiping them down after a long morning and afternoon out on the sea. She received a few courteous waves from the men who worked alongside her father for many years.
The perfectly maintained white and red boat with the name The Elaine stenciled across the back of it stood out among all the others. The reminder of her mother’s name, forever a part of her history, was bittersweet now that her father was added to that list.
She sat on the rail of the boat and swung her legs over onto the deck. For a heavily used workboat, even the platform was meticulously clean. She made her way to the cabin and stood behind the wheel, picturing her father’s hands on it as he navigated across the ocean around the Cove. Willa pulled the boat key out of her sweatshirt pocket and played with the buoy keychain attached to it. She toyed with the idea of starting up the boat and taking it around the harbor, but she hadn’t driven a boat in twenty years and she ne
ver went alone, even then.
The boat was useless to Willa and she knew that it would be a shame to let it rot away sitting at the dock.
She went around the cabin, picking through any personal items that remained there and filled her purse with them. There were a lot of little trinkets hanging up that her father had called his good luck charms. She smiled as she gathered up the faux fur rabbit’s foot, the little metal horseshoe, and the plastic hula danger girl that had hips that bobbled with every movement of the boat. The last item that she noticed in the cabin was an old photograph taped to the window. Willa figured that he must have placed it there after she had left, because the last time she had seen it, the picture was inside one of their photo albums. The image brought tears to her eyes as she stared at a picture of herself, Griffin, and Brynn posing in front of a stack of lobster traps. Griffin was in his traditional stance, showing off his muscles, and Brynn was pretending that her arm was stuck in one of the traps. Willa had always seen herself in photos as the boring one, standing straight and smiling at the camera, but in this particular one, she was staring directly at Brynn’s and her foolish antics. A huge smile covered her face, frozen in a moment of time, caught in pure joy at the prank of her beloved friend. The emotions welled up inside of her, as she thought about how her father loved the three of them so much that he wanted to keep their image close by as he worked each day.
With a heavy heart, Willa placed a for sale sign at the front of the boat. On her way off it, though, she lost the nerve to leave just yet, and sank down onto the wooden deck. She pulled the hood of her sweatshirt tight around her face and lay, facing the sky, and let the motion of the waves lull her into a meditative state. When the time came for her to rise up and climb out, she felt at peace enough with her decision to let the boat go without regret.
