Waterdreamer (The Emerald Series Book 2)

by Kimberly James

  Athen huffed, baring his teeth in what might have been a snarl. “There are bigger things going on here, Patrick, than your quarrel with me. You made the decision to bring Caris back here, and while it was the correct one, there are consequences beyond having to deal with me. I suggest you put your feelings aside, otherwise the next few days may prove difficult for you.”

  “What in God’s name is he talking about?” My dad’s eyes slammed into mine.

  “You know what? I’m done here. I can handle long-lost uncles and gay boyfriends, but I can’t handle you two. Not right now. You can stand here and argue all afternoon, but I’m going to work.” I strode three steps then paused halfway to the door. “No one is insinuating themself anywhere. I won’t be forced into choosing between the two of you because you can’t find a way to get past what is in the past, no matter how hurtful. I suggest you both put your feelings aside, otherwise the next few decades will prove difficult for both of you.”

  I sent Thomas a quelling look. “Sorry you had to see this, but you might as well know what you’re getting into.” With that, I left. The sun greeted me and I closed my eyes when it hit my face. The gulf was right at the end of the street, its rich sultriness calling to me. I turned and walked toward it.

  “Caris, wait. Let me drive you,” Athen called, his sandaled feet padding to catch up with me.

  I’d planned on swimming, though I wasn’t exactly dressed for it. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d shown up somewhere inappropriately dripping. I learned to always keep a change of clothes at the shop.

  “No thanks, I’ll swim.” I kept walking.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” he said, keeping pace with me.

  I turned on him. “Since when is it considered ridiculous for a breather to want to swim?”

  “You’re right. I apologize, but be reasonable.”

  As if that were any better. As if somehow I weren’t being reasonable. I spun on my heel, wishing I hadn’t worn sandals. I’d have to carry them. Athen kept pace with me easily.

  “Caris, please. It’ll save you some trouble.” He stopped in front of a black sports car parked on the side of the street. The doors beeped when he unlocked them.

  “This is your car?” I paused. I didn’t know much about cars, but his looked foreign and fast and like it could have cost more than his boat. Exotic like he was. Nothing practical about it. I eyed him over the hood as it sat low to the ground. “What did you tell my dad?”

  “I apologized and told him we had a tribe matter to discuss. That it was more than we could get into here. He agreed to meet tonight.”

  “Okay,” I said, pondering if it would be okay.

  “We’re both trying, Caris. Now please get in. Let me drive you to Maggie’s.”

  I looked up the street where at the end I could see the emerald waters of the gulf peeking between the row of buildings. I opened the door. “Well, hurry up before my dad sees this car.”

  * * *

  Maggie let me leave work promptly at five. I’d been quiet most of the afternoon, my head bowed over a jar of lotion I’d been working on. It still wasn’t exactly right. I kept bringing it to my nose and the scent of it teased my brain with a memory, like a hard to recall word stuck on the end of my tongue. A few customers dribbled in, nothing Maggie couldn’t handle herself, and sensing my restlessness, she’d scooted me out the door early.

  I walked in the grass because I left my sandals at the shop. I left my phone and my purse too, wanting the freedom that came with having nothing to keep up with. I wanted to leave this world behind and go somewhere else entirely. If my schoolmates looked at me like I was an alien, or not at all, maybe it was because I felt like one. A body snatcher. I was a parasite, leeching off myself. I’d felt that way ever since Derrick spit on me.

  When I reached the crosswalk that lead to the beach, a car stopped to let me pass. I took the path between two houses, the sand hot under my feet. Chairs and umbrellas lined a section of sand behind a row of townhouses. I recognized Daniel’s business logo printed on the green canvas. Most of them were occupied by women flipping through magazines or thumbing the pages of a book. Older couples, enjoying their retirement. Children played on the shoreline, hauling buckets of water, stabbing with their nets in their attempts to catch minnows. A boy I thought I might have seen at school held a skim board waiting for the next wave to lick the shore.

  I gave little thought that someone might be watching as I walked into the surf. The waves were small today, and they rushed around my thighs in a gentle caress. Would they wonder where I went when I dove in and never resurfaced? Would they care?

  I swam lazily, my Song matching the languid tune my body set. A few strong kicks of my legs, then coast. I repeated the pattern, letting the water work through the residual soreness in my legs, what was left of the shadow that had been following me since I left Derrick’s house three days ago.

  I sang, giving in to my desire to call Noah, not caring where he was, what he was doing. In a selfish mood, I was desperate to see him. And like every time before, he answered. I heard him first, that faint high-pitched sound we all used when we were in the Deep. We each had our own distinguishable signature, our own identifying sound. I found Noah’s particularly pleasant. My face broke into a close-lipped smile when I saw him swimming towards me. He brought company, a handful of dolphins darting and swirling, and their perpetual smiles made my heart instantly lighter. One of them swam up to me, nuzzling my cheek, and I grabbed its dorsal and it sped me deeper in a game of chase. A sea of green enveloped us, and I let go, set my mind free, and just swam.

  Noah and I barely interacted. I kept sight of him the whole time, ever aware he was close, content in my solitude. Me and the quiet and the Deep. And like she’d done months ago when I heard her for the first time, she spoke to me. A hum under my skin. An echo in my chest. She wanted something from me. She was offering me a place if I would just take it. Assuring me this was about more than meeting the demands of my uncle. More than choosing someone as my protector. This was me taking my rightful place. Accepting the tribe she’d called me to.

  After an hour, Noah turned for shore and I followed, our pace unhurried. I knew what was waiting, and while part of me was excited about the prospect of the Soulfast, I still dreaded my dad’s reaction. I wished there were a way to fully take my place here without hurting him.

  The sun was almost down when we took to land, the breeze cool on my skin, causing it to break out in goosebumps. We were behind Noah’s house and I knew they were already inside talking out my future. Noah’s house had been the designated meeting place, and I guess it was the most neutral. I couldn’t see my dad inviting Athen into our house. I knew through the texts Maggie received that she’d be here too. Seems the tribe didn’t plan a party without Maggie.

  Noah turned to me and took my face in his hands. “Feel better?”

  “Yes,” I said and took his kiss, his mouth warm and inviting. We hadn’t kissed while we were in the Deep, a first in a long time.

  Noah drew me in, wrapping his arms around me. “I love you.”

  I held to him, my arms tight around his neck, not feeling the need to respond. When I opened my eyes, I saw something out in the water, the bobbing of a head. I couldn’t see clearly but I didn’t need to to know it was Sol. I let go of Noah’s neck, looking up into his face.

  “Stop worrying,” he said, and kissed me again. “It’s just a party.”

  Fourteen

  Maggie hadn’t been kidding. She and Thomas, who had come over with my dad, were in full on party-planning mode. The floor plan in Noah’s house was open and spacious and the dining table where Maggie and Thomas sat, while set off by columns, was still close enough to the living room that I could see my dad and Athen.

  After my swim with Noah, I felt better prepared to deal with the both of them. While Athen told me they were both trying, so far, it was going like I expected.

  My dad was freaking out.

  I’
d been correct in assuming he didn’t have one inkling that Rena had a brother. Even less of an inkling that there was any kind of protocol involved in my standing in the tribe. He’d been pacing Noah’s living room listening to Athen explain the situation. The more Athen told him, the deeper the scowl on his forehead grew and the more defensive he became.

  “Let me get this straight.” My dad held up his hand, more or less pointing his finger at Athen. “You’ve let a man with highly questionable character come into her life and demand she participate in a ceremony that for all practical purposes binds her to you just because he demands it?” He quit pacing at this point and squared off with Athen.

  “His position, and more so his relationship to Caris, gives him the right. As to whom she chooses, that is up to her,” Athen responded, his tone fighting for a neutral calm.

  Maggie and Thomas paused in their discussion of food and beverage choices to watch the two men butting heads. I guess it had been too much to hope they could be civil. Someone may end up throwing a punch after all. Now that I knew how, it might be me. Wouldn’t that make Noah proud.

  “You should have called me,” my dad said to me. “I would have come home.”

  “Dad, it really is fine,” I tried to reassure him, but it sounded hollow.

  “You, I was prepared to deal with. I wasn’t prepared to deal with an uncle who thinks he has a say in her life. What’s next? You’re going to demand she change her name to Kelley because she’ll be better protected? What exactly are you getting out of this?” My dad cut his eyes at me and snorted. “Besides the obvious.”

  “I’m avoiding a conflict with a man, who by rights, has a valid claim. I don’t expect you to understand our ways. Our tribe has remained dormant through weak leadership. Flores simply wants to enforce a custom we abandoned for reasons I don’t feel the need to explain to you. This could be a small step for us to regain our position as a community. So yes, there is something for us as a whole to gain from this. But that doesn’t negate the validity of it.”

  “And by weak leadership you mean you?” My dad put to him, the words gouging like a stick to a fire.

  “Yes.” Athen remained hard and unflinching. “I mean me.”

  The admission seemed to diminish some of my dad’s hostility. He turned worried eyes on me, his hands set on his hips. “Are you okay with all this?”

  “As long as there’s food and music, I’m in.” My attempt to lighten things up failed miserably. I’d accepted the changes the last few months had brought to my life. Embraced them. But there were still nights I lay in my bed staring at the ceiling, standing on the balcony listening to the waves, wondering what was I doing. Did I even know who I was? More than ever I wanted to be a part of the tribe and all that entailed. I also wanted to retain some part of the old Caris Harper. My dad was who kept me grounded to her.

  “Yes, I’m okay with this.” My voice dropped as if I were speaking to my dad alone, and I suppose I was. “I’m getting something out of this, too. Flores is not forcing me into anything. It’s more than that. It’s me, choosing me. And if the tribe gets a morale boost or a deepened sense of community for it, I’m okay with that too. I need you to support me in this. I’m asking you to be a part of this with me. Like you’ve always been.”

  “Of course I’ll support you,” he said, his acquiescent tone snapping the tension from the room. He let out a breath that sounded a lot like capitulation. “I imagined you becoming you being way less complicated. I guess that was ignorance on my part.”

  “Thank you.” Borrowing Noah’s words, I added, “It’s just a party.”

  “Doesn’t feel like.”

  No. It didn’t to me either, and I was okay with that too.

  I walked over to him and hugged his neck. “By the way, I used your credit card to buy a new dress.”

  “That explains everything.” He laughed, a not quite happy sound, and kissed my cheek. I saw Athen out of the corner of my eye, watching us interact. I couldn’t ever imagine being this easy with him. This affectionate.

  Now that some common ground had been forged between the “two dads,” as I was starting to dub them, Maggie and Thomas had resumed their discussion of the logistics of the actual event.

  “We’re looking at a few thousand dollars in food alone,” Thomas addressed Athen from his spot at the table. “Is that a problem?”

  “I can pay for it,” my dad offered. “Or we can split the cost.”

  “No,” Athen said as if my dad hadn’t spoken, directing his response to Thomas. “Money isn’t a problem.”

  “Well that’s music to my ears.” Thomas typed a note into his iPad then took the beer Mrs. Jacobs offered. She’d been keeping a low profile, only offering comment when Maggie or Thomas asked her opinion. “Thanks for letting us barge in like this on such short notice,“ Thomas said as she popped the top on his bottle.

  “I should be thanking you, otherwise I would be sitting there hashing out all the details. How exactly did you get roped into this?” Mrs. Jacobs asked Thomas.

  “Maggie and I worked together on a charity event hosted by local artists a few years ago.” Thomas closed his iPad and sat back with his beer. “We worked pretty well together then.”

  “And so I pounced on him the minute he walked in the door with Patrick. After I cried just a little.” Maggie sent Thomas a warm look.

  “I guess I suck at matchmaking,” I said, sitting next to Maggie, keeping Athen in my line of sight. He looked uncomfortable as Mrs. Jacobs walked over and offered him a beer. I strained to overhear, not proud of my eavesdropping.

  “I know you don’t want me here,” Athen said quietly, his eyes downcast. “You have to know, I’m sorry. For everything.”

  “We all have some letting go to do,” she said, before making her way back to the kitchen. As far as I knew those were the first words they’d spoken to each other all night. She’d been actively avoiding him.

  Noah was the only one who seemed totally comfortable with him. I watched, as through some silent communication, Athen propelled himself from the wall he’d been holding up for the last half hour and he and Noah made for the door leading to the patio. I felt like it was safe for me to go into the kitchen now that my two dads were no longer in the same room. All this talk of food had my mouth watering for one of Mrs. Jacobs’s peanut butter cookies.

  I was surprised to find Mr. Shaw in the kitchen, immediately aware that I was interrupting something.

  Mrs. Jacobs moved away from where he leaned into the counter. Mr. Shaw dropped his hand from her face.

  “Mr. Shaw, I didn’t know you were here,” I said, wishing I could retrace my steps.

  “I just got here. I didn’t know there was a party,” he said, holding to his cool passivity.

  “Not much of one,” I said. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Jacobs. I didn’t think how you’d feel about having Athen here.”

  “It’s fine Caris. Athen may not be my favorite person in the world, but I do agree about the Soulfast. I’m looking forward to it. I think it’ll be good for all of us.”

  “I am too. I just want everyone to be happy.”

  “Patrick looks happy. Thomas seems very nice.” She put her hand on the back of my shoulder, her eyes offering silent support.

  “Yeah, weird, huh?” I said, playing with the bottle opener she left on the counter.

  “It was a bit surprising. But you’re family. Both of you. You have to know I still feel that way.”

  Marshall listened to our conversation, his interest piqued. I didn’t know if that meant he knew about my dad or not. I wanted to think he did since they not only had business interests together but were friends too.

  “Thanks for saying so.” I reached for a cookie from the sheet she’d just taken out of the oven. Wanting to get the subject off my dad, I asked her the first thing that popped into my mind. “How did your lunch date go on Saturday? Did he pay?”

  The beer Mr. Shaw had been bringing to his lips paused and his eyes
settled cooly on her face. Her cheeks pinked. He took a drink, eyes still on her, then said, “I think I’ll go say hello to Patrick.”

  Mrs. Jacobs watched him go.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, though I wasn’t sure what for. I just knew being in the room with the two of them was about like being in the room with my two dads. Constant tension of a different variety.

  “Parents go to a lot of trouble to protect their kids from decisions they make, things they think their kids might not understand. Might not accept.” She looked at me with her pale green eyes and I didn’t know if she was talking about my dad being gay or something else entirely. She waved the statement off, nodding her head once. “Yes, he did pay. He gave me his number and I already deleted it from my phone.”

  “I think Noah would be okay with it, if there’s something between you and Mr. Shaw,” I offered.

  “I know he would. I guess I’m not sure I am. I loved Noah’s father. You and Noah remind me of the way we used to be. We fell so hard and fast,” she said, her tone wistful. She still wore her dead husband’s pearl on a long cord around her neck. It was usually tucked under her clothes, hidden from view as if her continued devotion to him was her own secret.

  “I still wait for it sometimes, that flash of heat, wishing for just a little sense that he’s still here. And it’s not that I don’t care about Marshall, but until I quit waiting, until I can take it off, Marshall and I will remain friends. It wouldn’t be fair to him otherwise.”

  “Noah misses him too. I can’t imagine something happening to my dad.” I nibbled on the cookie, debating whether or not to say anything more. In the end, I did. “Athen’s not so bad.”

  Here I was again, championing Athen, trying to get people to like him, to accept him. I wondered if that was because then I’d feel better about admitting I did.

  “It’s good, Caris, that you’ve made peace with him. He’s your father and those relationships shouldn’t be disregarded lightly.”