“Your fault? How? You didn’t cause the explosion.”
“I talked Daniel into joining the navy. He’d waffled, wanting to continue his father’s general contracting business. But I wouldn’t let up. I kept trying to convince him of how great it would be… Until he finally relented.”
She put her hand on his arm, and he flinched. “You couldn’t have known what would happen.”
“I bugged him and bugged him about it. I was young and stupid. I wanted to have all these great adventures with my best friend. My mind was on port cities overseas and nights in the bar at the officers’ club on base. He’d already told his dad he was carrying on the company, and he’d been spending long nights learning the business side of it when I finally convinced him. I wrecked that too. Without Daniel to carry on his legacy, his dad had to sell the business. Now Winston, who has an affinity for building already—if he grows up and wants to do something like that, I’ll have taken his birthright from him too.”
“Patrick, there was no way to know,” she said again. “One changed decision by anyone in your past, and he’d be sitting right here with you.”
“Right. And that decision was the one I had in asking him to enlist.”
“He could’ve been assigned to a different ship,” she offered.
But he shook his head. “I went up to Navy Personnel Command and had a talk with one of the detailers. He and I’dhad a couple of beers a few nights prior. I asked him to put Daniel on the same ship.”
“What about the fact that had Daniel wanted to continue in his father’s footsteps, he could’ve told you no? But he didn’t.”
Patrick’s eyes glistened and his jaw clenched. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” He shut down. “I don’t know how to do this.” He waggled a finger between them. “I’m no good for anyone.”
“If you ever do want to talk more about it, you can talk to me,” Emily offered. “I’m not sure I can say the right things, but I can listen.”
“Thank you,” he said, his voice gentle and his tense muscles visibly softening.
Silence floated between them. He wasn’t the only person who’d experienced tragedy, but it was clear his wounds were still fresh. The best thing she could do was to give him space.
She stood up. “I’m getting really tired, so I should head to bed.”
He watched her as she took a step toward the hallway. In a strange way, she hoped he’d ask her to stay. If he did, she’d spend the whole night talking to him.
“Good night,” she said.
“Night.”
She turned toward the hallway and, using the light on her phone, headed for bed.
Panicked voices rousedEmily out of her sleep. She strained to hear, but in the haze of slumber, she couldn’t make out what was being said. From the tones, however, something was terribly wrong.
Emily quietly got out of bed and opened the door. She followed the voices and rustling to the living room where she found Patrick—white as a ghost—frantically lacing up his boots, and Julia standing next to him, sobbing into her trembling hands.
He flung the door open, and rain blew in with the force of a bomb, debris littering the hardwood floor.
“I’m going!” Julia cried.
“No! Stay here.” His words were like daggers, a fire in them that terrified Emily. He shot out the door and into the storm.
Emily rushed over to Julia. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
Julia looked up, terror in her wet, red eyes. “Winston’s out there!”
“What?!” Out of instinct, Emily turned to the window, but every one of them was boarded up. “Why?”
“I don’t know!” Julia paced, trembling, crying. She leaned over her knees and hung her head. “I got up to get a glass of water and the floor by the back door was soaking wet. His boots were gone. He’ll be swept away!”
“Patrick will find him,” Emily said, hoping her words would weave their way into the atmosphere and save Winston. Even Patrick would have a hard time coming back safely, given what she’d seen of the storm just now. The floor by the door was puddled, and there was so much debris, she could hardly see the floorboards.
“I’m so scared,” Julia said, before wailing into her hands once more.
Sienna and Blair came out of Winston’s room.
