Page 62 of Acadia Falls

“I’m glad to hear it. So we’re in agreement, no more fighting.” Mom surveyed the table. Tommy and I nodded. Ryan nodded, too, even though we all knew pretty boy wasn’t about to get into a fight anytime soon.

“I appreciate that you’re going to apologize to Ralph—that man can hold a real grudge,” Mom said. “Now, what are we going to do about this Reyes lady? Her lawyer called three more times this afternoon. I’m about ready to tear the phone out of the wall!”

We were among the few families left on the planet with a wall-mounted landline. When that thing rang, which it rarely did, we all jumped.

“What do you guys want to do?” I asked.

Again, there was a moment of gaping. They seemed surprised I was asking them that question. I sighed inwardly, vowing to do better by my family.

Finally, Ryan cleared his throat. “I think we should sell.” His voice was quiet. “I don’t want to do it. I don’t think Dad would want us to do it. But how can we say no to a billion dollars?”

“We can’t,” I agreed.

Tommy dropped his fork. “Are you serious?”

“It’s not what I want. I don’t think it’s what Dad would want. But…” I sat back in my seat. “What do you think?”

“I don’t think we can say no, either.” He looked sad. “But I don’t want to say yes.”

“That’s exactly how I feel. It makes me sick to think what your father would say.” Mom looked up at the ceiling. “I’m sorry, hon! But it’s a billion dollars. Think of what we could do for our grandkids!” She looked back down at us and glared. “Not that we have any yet.”

I ignored her comment. “Does that mean we’re in agreement?”

We all looked at each other. No one seemed happy.

“Yep,” Ryan said. “Sounds like it.”

A heavy silence fell over the table. But then the landline rang, making us all jump.

“Well, I guess this is it.” Mom hopped up to grab the phone. “I’m going to tell the lawyer-lady we’re ready to move forward.”

She crossed herself and looked up at the ceiling.

Then she picked up the phone.

Chapter Twenty-Five

MARAN

“So he came to the park to rescue you, and then he brought you to some secret love shack in Northeast,” Alex recounted, trying to make sense of my story.

“His aunt and uncle’s house,” I corrected her.

“And then you had super hot sex, and then he went out and slept in the truck. And then you guys broke up?”

I nodded. “That’s about the size of it.”

Alex frowned. “I heard Jack and Tommy got into a big fight this afternoon down on the dock. They beat up two other lobstermen pretty bad.”

My heart twisted. “Are Jack and Tommy okay?”

“They are.” She nodded. “The other guys are banged up. Seems like Jack is having a pretty crappy day.”

I shook my head. I hated the idea of Jack getting into yet another fight. And why was he having a crappy day? He was the one who’d chosen to sneak out of our bed in the middle of the night and sleep in his truck!

“Why did you break up, exactly?” Alex peered at me from beneath her tumbled brown curls. “I still haven’t quite grasped the why. You like each other. You guys have been playing house for the past few weeks. He punched Charlie the other night just because he spoke to you. Then he hauled ass off-island to rescue you from the storm and got into another fight today. Everybody’s saying it’s because he’s in a bad mood ’cause you two broke up.”

“That’s what people are saying?”