Page 33 of Fish Out of Water

Jake shrugged, trying to remain nonchalant. “It’s true. If he’d just stand up to his family, he wouldn’t have to deal with their bullshit anymore.”

“That would never happen,” Isabel said. “They’ve told Robbie in no uncertain terms that if he wants anything left to him at all, he has to fall in line and stay there. It’s why half the town prefers not to associate with him—he’s too close to his parents.”

“He told me as much. But he doesn’t need their money.No oneneeds that much wealth. He’s got a house and a job, and before you say his job is tied to his parents, I bet he could get another one anywhere else easily. He must have a pretty good education, and he seems smart, if a total prick.”

“He is smart,” Isabel agreed. “Smart enough to know that right now in his life, his time is best spent giving back to this town. If he turned heel and left now, he could never come back, at least not while his parents are alive.” Isabel leaned back intothe couch and folded her hands in her lap. “It’s a tough choice for anyone to make, but especially Robbie. He loves it here.”

“I know.”

“And simultaneously, his parents are suffocating him here.”

“Maybe that’s why he’s such a dickhead all the time.”

“Oh, he is not,” Isabel chided, “and you need to stop calling him names.”

“Don’t worry, Aunt Isabel. He likes it.”

“You are too childish for your own good sometimes, Jakey. Now, are you going to help me with these boxes, or should I get started on my own?”

“I’ll help you,” Jake said, jumping up from his chair to move closer to Isabel and the boxes. “It’s what I’m here for, right?”

“Oh, Jake, you’re here for much more than that. I wish you could see what the world holds for you if only you would accept it.”

On Saturday,Isabel asked Jake to take the boxes they’d gone through to the thrift store a town over: Grayland, as it happened.

“I might stay out for a while,” he said to her as he grabbed a box to take out to the car. “I’m dying to get out and have some fun.”

“You have been awfully busy,” Isabel conceded. “You deserve a break. Just be safe, all right? No bar fights this time.”

“That’s never happened to me before, I’ll have you know. This town is cursed.”

“No more cursed than you are. Here, let me open the door for you.”

Jake loaded the first box into the trunk of his car, returning for the second one a moment later. “I’ll call you if I’m not gonna be back tonight,” he said.

Isabel raised one eyebrow. “You need to be more careful, Jakey. Going home with strange men doesn’t always work out as well as you might imagine.”

“Believe me, I’m aware.” Jake grinned. “I know what I’m doing, Aunt Isabel. Don’t worry.”

“Okay, but you let me know if you need me to come get you or anything else. I don’t mind, so don’t even think twice about asking.”

Jake closed the trunk. “I promise.”

“See you tonight,” Isabel called from the doorway.

“Hopefully not,” he called back.

He drove to the beach first, where Robbie was already gathering up branches from the park that appeared to have been clipped earlier in the day. Jake grabbed his gloves from the backseat and set off to join him.

Robbie looked up, but he didn’t wave. He was probably mad after that phone call, and Jake had to force himself to not be preemptively annoyed with his attitude.

“I have to leave early,” he told Robbie, picking up a branch to drag into the larger pile they were creating, “so you won’t have to sign off on my hours today.”

“Oh?” Robbie sounded less than interested. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to Grayland to drop some shit off at the thrift store for my aunt, and then I might try to see what else there is to do outside of Eventide. What are your plans for the evening?”

Robbie shrugged, snapping an unwieldy twig in two. “I might try to get some reading done. We got in some new books at the store, and one of them happens to be from my favorite author.”