AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Fuck “nice”, I think wildly.
Give me this instead.
thirteen
. . .
Jen
Mrs. Miller
The ferry’stop deck is deserted. I take a seat in the sun as the engines rumble to life, tinging the warm breeze with the scent of diesel.
We push off the dock, and then we’re on our way to South Port.
I inhale lungful after lungful of salty air. I’m so excited to meet Tuck and Maren’s baby I can hardly sit still.
I’m also still keyed up from Abel’s not-so-pretend kiss last night.
I woke up at the crack of dawn. A kid on Christmas morning, too wired to sleep past five o’clock.
It’s nice to be able to sit by myself and gather my thoughts. The ferry dutifully churns through the water, picking up speed once we clear Bald Head’s marina. I tuck my legs against the tote bag I stowed underneath the bench. Inside, there’s a sweet onesie and cap set I bought in both blue and pink. Some fun things for Maren too: my favorite chapstick and obscenely expensive but delightfully scented fancy body wash and lotion.
I hope Dad does okay today. Emotions will be running high. Will he break down when he holds his new grandbaby for the first time, knowing he might not be around to see him or her grow up? Or that he won’t be well enough to get on the floor to play?
WillIbreak down?
I hope everything goes smoothly for Maren. She’s never had surgery before. She also has a condition called placenta previa, where her placenta is partially covering the birth canal. It puts her at higher risk of complications.
It sent Tuck’s anxiety into overdrive. He’s on medication now. Says his therapist is really helping too. I’m still worried about him.
More lungfuls of air as I close my eyes and tilt my head to the sun. It helps, but only a little. Cracking an eye open, I see that I’m still the only one up here besides a lone sailor who emerges from the bridge and promptly heads downstairs.
I dig my phone out of my bag and call the one person I know won’t judge me for the things I’m doing and thinking.
“Perfect timing!” Mollie smacks her lips. “I was just taking a little second breakfast break. Hello, friend.”
I smile. Mollie’s been working for a small cowboy boot company in her home state of Texas for the past five or so years. Their glitzy—and expensive—take on the classic boots went viral after Reese Witherspoon wore a metallic pink pair to Sundance this winter.
Needless to say, Mollie’s been busy, and I’m lucky to catch her this morning. We met back in college during sorority rush the first semester of our freshman year. I love how similar we are, and yet very different too. Most of all, I admire how Mollie speaks her mind and tells it like it is. I’ve had lots to learn from her.
“What’s for second breakfast?”
“What else? A green smoothie.” Mollie’s always been upfront about her bougie habits. Her family owns a hugecattle ranch in the middle of nowhere, but she went to boarding school in Dallas and college in Austin, so she’s a city girl through and through. “How the hell are you?”
“I’m...” I sigh. I haven’t even repeated some rote platitude about beingfineorexcited, and already I’m annoyed.
“Oh boy. Spill the beans, sister.”
I glance around me. The engines are loud enough that if someone were sitting on the bottom deck below me, they couldn’t hear me.
“Well. I’m on my way to meet my new niece or nephew.”
“That’s right! Tuck and Maren are having their baby today. Congrats, Auntie. How’s your Dad?” I called Mollie after Dad shared his diagnosis with me. We talked for what felt like hours as I walked around the island. I had just hung up when I ran into Abel outsideThe Jolly Roger’s dock.
“He’s coping. We’re waiting to get a date for his surgery.”
“Aw, friend. That’s a lot. I’m so, so sorry.”
