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Chapter Ten
Wayne had heard thenews from Michael: Elise, Tracey, and Cindy had gone to Mackinaw City to get a DNA test through a professional laboratory.
She’ll finally find out the truth.
Good for her.
I guess.
Truthfully, since Wayne had run into that horrible Californian, Matt, and Elise at the Pink Pony, he had felt a little weak, reckless, and volatile. He was short with customers; he was even finicky with Michael, digging into him about what he wore to work, or how he responded to questions, or even how many beers he drank when they watched a ball game together late into the night.
“You really need to get your mind off of this girl,” Michael said. “Or it’s going to ruin you.”
It was a surprise when Wayne received the invitation from Dean Swartz. As was Dean’s way, the invitation was on nice paper, scrawled in his lovely handwriting.
Wayne,
When I saw you at my daughter, Cindy’s, the other night, it occurred to me just how long it’s been since the two of us sat side-by-side and had one of our classic life chats. I wonder if you’d like to join me this evening for one?
As Wayne read the note again, Michael ambled past him, recognized the handwriting, and said, “What does that old fogey want with you this time?”
Wayne rolled his eyes. “You really should get to know your grandfather better. He’s one of the best people I’ve met in this world.”
Michael didn’t seem pleased at this answer. He muttered to himself and disappeared into the kitchen to prep croissants.
Wayne dressed in a button-down shirt, a pair of nice jeans, and donned his winter coat that evening. The autumn weather had produced a strange and sinister chill, one that suggested approaching snowfall. He hustled up toward Pontiac Trail Head with a six-pack of beer in his gloved hand, ready for the warmth of that house and, especially, a night not living in the chaos of his own head.
Dean’s housekeeper prepared them beef stew, homemade bread, and brussels sprouts. As Wayne sat across from him at the cozy dining room table, Dean updated Wayne on the events of his day: the meetings he’d taken, the little spat he had gotten into with Alex, that sort of thing.
“I think Alex has grown even more irritable in the past few weeks,” Dean said, heaving a sigh. “When I mentioned to him that you would be around at Cindy’s, he nearly... well.” He shifted in his chair, seeming to second-guess his words. “I don’t think I could have guessed how jealous he would have become of you, due to our close relationship. I’m sorry if that ever put you in a strange position.”
“It’s not a problem,” Wayne said. “And to be honest with you, Alex just helped me out in a pretty big way. He told me something that I wouldn’t have known otherwise. I guess that’s the thing about this island, isn’t it? We’re always there for each other no matter what.”
Dean lifted his beer and squinted at Wayne. “I suppose so. But that leads me to my next question. I know you’ve spent a good deal of time with Elise Darby.”
“Just a bit. I really haven’t seen much of her lately. I have a feeling she’ll be headed off the island soon.”
“I see.” Dean sipped his beer contemplatively. “I realized how much that whole thing scared me. Realized that I didn’t want to face a reality in which I might have wronged that beautiful woman, Allison.”
Wayne’s heart hung low in his chest. He didn’t want to feel bad for Elise. He didn’t want to feel anything for her anymore.
“I went to spend some time with her, and I couldn’t get over it. The little details that make her so much like her mother. There’s a little dimple in her cheek when she laughs a little too loudly; she’s whip-smart and funny, and she’s eager to know more and more about this island. The fact that she’s stayed, that she gets along so well with you, with Tracey, with Cindy...” He shook his head as he smiled wider. “I suppose I got to a stage in my life where I thought all the blessings I might have been allowed had already happened to me. But now, I might have a new daughter. I might have some forty-two years to make up for the fact that I wasn’t around. That’s enormous. And I have to welcome that, if she wants that kind of relationship, as well.”
Wayne heaved a sigh. He hated how close he was to the situation—hated that he had been the very first person Elise had ever informed about her search.
Wayne rubbed his eyes and, surprising even himself, and said, “What was it like? Falling in love with someone who wasn’t your wife?”
Why did I ask him that?
Dean pondered this for a long time. Again, he sipped his beer and brought his spoon through the bottom of his beef stew.
“It felt like freedom from a prison I thought I had built for myself. I know that sounds awful,” he said. “But I never really knew if Mandy was... my soulmate. We met in high school. Back then, it was kind of expected that, if you were in love at eighteen, you had to get married at nineteen. At least, in my suburb of Chicago, it was like that. Before we knew what hit us, we had three kids—Cindy, then Tracey, then Alex. I was working as a stagehand; I had dreams of doing that forever, of even opening up my own theater.”
“No way,” Wayne said, surprising himself again with a laugh.
“I know it must sound crazy to you,” Dean said. “But, I was an idealistic SOB.”
“And then you got the call to come to Mackinac.”
