Page 60 of Keeping it Local

Johnny’s eyes opened wide at that. “Hey, you’re the one who didn’t tell me where you were going,” he snapped. “How was I supposed to know which bar I couldn’t go to? It was a coincidence, Beth.”

“I’m losing control. I can’t do it. Everything is just falling apart.” My throat thickened, tears threatening to fall.

Johnny grabbed my elbows. “What’s falling apart? What’s going on, Beth? Tell me how I can help.”

I backed up, putting distance between us. “You can’t. I can’t. I need to go back in there. Things are bad at home. I just… I just need some space.”

And I turned around, running back to the restaurant, leaving Johnny alone under the shade tree out front. This is what happened when I did something for myself, and it was all a mess.

Chapter 22

Johnny

It was Sunday morning, and the sun had only been up a couple hours, but I was already heading back to the marina from the water. The fresh breeze felt good, and I looked over, watching Oberon’s blonde fur blow behind him, his tongue hanging out in a dog smile.

I needed to clear my head. Fishing was one of the best ways to do that. Everything was quiet still, and, as I was pulling in, I tried not to squint to see if Beth’s car was parked behind the rental shop. I didn’t know why I was looking. I knew she wasn’t there. She probably took the morning off to see her parents off, maybe have breakfast.

I’d made a mess yesterday.

I didn’t mean to, but that didn’t change anything.

I can’t believe I told her news.

I needed to fix it. I just didn’t know how.

And it felt like there was something even larger standing between us. Something I couldn’t put my finger on.

Fuck.

I shook my head. The run-in with Beth’s parents also got me thinking about my own. Frankly, I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d talked with either of my parents. It had been that long. It was probably sometime before Memorial Day. Maybe?

Since everything with Anne, things had been so awkward with my parents that we continued to grow this rift between us, and I didn’t even know exactly how—other than my dad’s frustration about the divorce created a divide that hadn’t dissipated at all. It just seemed to happen slowly. After going a couple weeks without talking, it grew to a month, then a couple months. I didn’t even know what they were up to this summer except for what Ryan had shared with me.

And that was on me as well.

After tying up the boat, I secured my gear and covered it. There were only a few other fishermen on the docks, and I nodded at them. Keeping my eyes on the boards of the dock, Oberon following me, before heading to the parking lot.

I hopped in my truck, and when Oberon jumped in, I rubbed behind his ears.

“What do you think, huh boy?”

He just sat there, looking content, tongue hanging out of his mouth.

I knew what I needed to do though.

I grabbed my phone and dialed one of the few numbers I still knew by heart. It was picked up on the second ring, and the familiar deep voice rang through the earpiece.

“Son?”

“Hey, Dad. It’s been a while.”

After a few pleasantries, I found out that my parents were in the middle of packing up to head up north for the week. In the background, I heard my mom asking who was on the phone, with my dad almost blowing out my eardrum responding to her.

“Sorry, sounds like you’re busy. I can call back at a later time.”

“Nonsense,” my dad said, clearly still packing in the background as he walked around the house. “We’re retired. Everything moves more slowly over here, anyway. We’re in no rush.”

“Okay.”