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“Yeah, I know who he is,” he snapped as his eyes narrowed in the direction of the parking lot. I hated that I screwed things up so badly with him and I wanted to fix it.
“Fox, I—” I started to say, but he interrupted me.
“I just came out here to say thanks for driving my mom up here. See you later, Harley.” With that, he turned away and walked down the hall back to Woody’s room. I watched to see if he would look back, but he didn’t, and my shoulders slumped just a little at the loss of what I could have had with him if only I hadn’t let my stupid mouth get in the way.
Woody stayed in the hospital for a week and apparently his car was salvaged based on the conversations I’d overheard between Fox and Hal at the restaurant. It seemed that the two of them knew a lot about cars and spent all of their time when not at the restaurant in Hal’s garage working on Woody’s car. Fox caught me eavesdropping on one of their conversations and glared at me. I felt really stupid as I quickly backed away. It wasn’t like I was spying in order to steal secret
information because I had no clue what they were talking about and I really didn’t care. I just liked the sound of his voice.
****
Since the tourist season was coming to an end, Annette had given me the day off. I hadn’t been able to shake the restlessness as I took a long shower, sipped coffee alone in the kitchen and flipped through the morning talk shows on television. I knew this feeling all too well. My instincts were nagging me to make a decision and I decided not to resist. I went upstairs, carefully put all of my things into my bag and quietly left the house.
Blake was working in the garage and oblivious to my movements and Tayia had been in her room all morning. I let my feet take me into the direction of town and I barely remembered the walk as I approached the wooden dock. I stood and watched the ferry make its way to the island while the warm breeze blew through my hair and swirled the skirt of my maxi dress around my legs. I nervously fidgeted with my fingers as I stood in line to buy a ticket, and after finding a seat, I made sure that my back was to the island as we departed for the mainland.
I’d seriously considered calling Mack. I knew he would answer. He really was the only person I had in this world, which wasn’t saying much. I started to consider that the reason our relationship had lasted five years, which was four years longer than it should have. Maybe it was because he was my constant. He might have caused more hurt than happiness in my life, but he was constant. I always knew where to find him and he always let me back in.
After we arrived on the mainland, I found a truck stop diner not very far from the ferry dock. The place smelled like bacon, but not that pleasant, homey smell like at Gram’s or Annette’s. No, it was overcooked, in fact slightly burned and barely edible. I choked down what I could of my meal and drank coffee. I called a taxi to take me to the next town over where the bus terminal was located. I stood in front of the kiosk trying to decide where I wanted to go. An older woman came to a stop beside me wearing a worn backpack and carrying her belongings in a plastic grocery store bag. Her face was haggard, and her body looked fatigued as she stared up at the list. An overwhelming feeling of foreboding settled in the pit of my stomach.
Could I end up being like her someday?
Is this what my life has been reduced to? Running from one bad situation to another? I was so sick of wandering. Of making do with the shitty life I was dealt. Most of all, I was tired of being alone. I studied the destinations one last time and made the decision to go to the place where I’d allowed myself to feel hopeful for the first time.
The sun was setting when the ferry arrived back to Sea Whisper Island. Several people were exiting the boat while day-trippers were racing to catch the last ferry back to the mainland. When I reached the end of the wooden walkway and the crowd dispersed, my eyes were drawn to the taillights of a black Dodge Challenger as it roared away. While I knew there were other more plausible explanations, I allowed my stupid heart to desire that the real reason for Fox being there was to hope for my return.
Stupid, stupid heart.
****
“So,” Annette said as she sat down next to me at an empty table while I was counting my tips. “I have a great idea!” She squealed. “Jonna! Go and get your brother. I want to tell y’all something.”
It was the end of the night and everyone was exhausted.
Jonna, who had been sitting across from me, grimaced at her mother’s request before getting up to do as she was told. She was back a few minutes later with Fox following slowly behind. When he reached the table, he stood there with his arms crossed and an impassive look on his face.
“Geez. What is your problem these days? So grumpy all the time.” Annette glared at him for a few seconds expecting a response but when he stayed quiet she dismissed him with a sigh. “Fine. Anyway, I have an idea.” She turned to look at Jonna and me. “Hal’s birthday is coming up and I want to throw him a surprise party. It’s been a few years since he’s had one, so he won’t be expecting it.”
“Oh, that sounds like fun!” Jonna smiled and clapped her hands.
“I thought so, too.” Annette agreed with her daughter. “I was thinking we could do it Sunday night. Things are usually slow that night anyway, so we can invite people to come here. I will get some of our friends to wait tables and play bartender. It will be so much fun!” She giggled looking very pleased with her plan. “He is going to love it, right?”
“Yeah.” Fox nodded. “I can keep him occupied so that he won’t suspect anything.” His tone sounded lighter and while he wasn’t giddy with excitement like Jonna and Annette, I knew he also liked the idea of throwing a party for Hal.
“Good. Alright, I still need to get all of the details worked out since the idea just came to me ten minutes ago, but I’ll let you know.” Annette stood from the table and pushed the chair in. “This is going to be fun, fun, fun! Like y’all say on that Tweety Bird thing. Pound sign birthday surprise!” she said in a singsong voice.
“Pound sign?” Jonna questioned with a giggle. “Mama, do you mean hashtag?”
“Hashtag. Pound sign. You know what I mean!” She waved Jonna off with her hand. “Tell me if I get it wrong this time, Miss Smarty Pants! Hash. Tag. Secret.” She pointed a finger at each one of us to emphasize every syllable then spun around and walked away. We all watched her leave with amused looks on our faces as she pushed through the double doors that led to the back. Ten seconds later, Hal stepped out of the men’s room on the other side of the restaurant. We all looked at him with shocked, wondering if he’d just heard the conversation. He quickly answered our unspoken question.
“That woman can’t whisper for shit, but I promise to practice my surprised face,” he said with a grin and wink and disappeared through the same double doors as Annette. That’s when we all lost it. Fox doubled over at the waist, Jonna threw her head back and howled at the ceiling, and I was doing my best to catch my breath between fits of giggles. When my eyes locked with Fox’s, I couldn’t remember ever feeling as happy as I did at that moment and that’s when I knew that I missed him. Not as a friend. I wanted to be so much more than that to him. As if he suddenly remembered he was angry with me, the humor left his face and the laughter ended.
“Okay, well, I’m going to go.” He pulled the apron off and stared at it in his hand as he rolled it up. “Night, y’all,” he said as he started to step away.
“Drew,” I called out to him. I had no idea why I used his first name, but it was through my lips before I even knew I was going to say it. He paused for a second and then turned to me.
“Oh...I’m going to go...um...to check on Mama,” Jonna said clearly looking uncomfortable as she got up from the table and disappeared into the back. Fox and I stood there in awkward silence until she was gone.
“Listen, I’m really sorry about the other day. You know how I am. Sometimes I say things and I have no idea why. It wasn’t fair...” My voice trailed off as I looked at him to gauge his reaction. “I’m apologizing to you.” He stared at me for several moments as if he were thinking about what I’d said.
