I wait a moment and reply, “You had me at fishing.”
He grabs his chest in shock. “Really? Is that a yes? You’ll spend all day with me tomorrow? All day long? You and me?”
“Yes,” I say back. “All day long.”
He pulls me down onto his chest again. “Damn, I thought I might have to plead a little,” he jokes.
“Bodhi, for real? No pleading needed.”
“If I knew it was going to be that easy, I would have asked years ago.”
I laugh. “You definitely should have.”
“Confession,” he declares, shifting his body so he can see my face. “I’ve wanted to ask you out since we were fourteen. Maybe even thirteen. I can probably tell you the exact moment I knew I needed to ask you out.”
I laugh again. “Confession. I’ve wanted you to ask me out since we were fourteen. Maybe even thirteen, and every day since then.”
Bodhi wraps his fingers in mine. “We’re going to get you out of this mess, together, because I’m not letting you disappear again. Ever. I’ve regretted that day every single second of the last three years.”
I quietly reply, “So have I.”
Bodhi lets out a loud sigh. “I’m not scared of your dad, and I’m sure as hell not scared of Porter Channing. I’m not going to let them keep you away from me anymore. It’s not even an option, okay? You have no idea how much I’ve missed you, Eva.”
I gaze up at him. “I know, Bodhi. Trust me, I know.”
He moves my hair off my forehead and his eyes go right to my lips. “We have a lot of time to make up for,” he says. “These last three years. I’m really looking forward to that.” He then brings his mouth to my ear and whispers, “Please don’t ever disappear on me again, Eva. My life means nothing without you in it.”
Is it possible for your heart to stop with someone’s words? Because I swear, I have stopped breathing. “I’m not going anywhere,” I promise him. And then I softly say into the warmth of his neck, “I’m yours, Bodhi. I always have been.” Then I close my eyes and savor these few moments of happiness that I never thought I’d experience again.
chapter nine
Bodhi
L eaving Eva tonight was much harder than it was the night before. As I wrapped my arms around her beautiful body when we said goodnight, every ounce of lust was screaming at me to kiss her. She wanted me to kiss her, I could tell. I sometimes feel like I can hear Eva’s thoughts in my own mind, but I didn’t follow through. How could I kiss her after what Porter almost did to her today? I will not allow our first kiss to follow that.
When Eva walks back to her house from her dock, I head straight to Beck’s. Coop and I are staying here tonight since we’re using Beck’s grandparents’ boat to go fishing in the morning. It’s late, much later than I thought it would be, but they’re both up playing video games when I walk in. I was hoping they were already asleep. The interrogation is going to start the moment I sit down.
“Cutting it a little close for curfew, aren’t we lad?” Coop says, ticking his imaginary watch as I throw myself down on the couch.
“We haven’t had a curfew since we were ten,” I remind him. I wrap up in a blanket and close my eyes.
Beck turns off the TV and tosses his controller to the ground. “Don’t think you’re going to go to sleep without sharing some details of your night with us.”
“And don’t tell us you were with your grandpa Cal this whole time,” Coop demands. “We want the Eva details. A play-by-play of the night would be nice. Shall I crack open some wine? Dim the lights and turn on some slow music? And don’t tell us you didn’t kiss her. This is three times now. I’m expecting an R rated synopsis here.”
My eyes stay closed, but I hope he can sense me rolling them.
“Dude,” Coop whines. “Come on. Anything?”
They won’t give up. “I invited Eva to go fishing with us in the morning.”
“Goddamn fishing?!” Coop cries out. “That’s the highlight of your night?”
Beck groans. “She has a boyfriend, bro. A boyfriend who’s going to kick your ass, and ours too if he catches her out on a boat with us.”
The guys are pissing me off, and I’m too tired to wait until the right time to inform them of what Porter almost did to Eva tonight, so I say it as bluntly as possible.
“Porter tried to force Eva to have sex with him tonight. Or maybe in the twisted life he lives he didn’t see it that way. Force might be the wrong word. Playing mind games with her and making her agree to sex while holding her down is probably the right way to explain the situation. He might have done it too. If her mom hadn’t of knocked on the door.”
The silence in the room is thick. Coop lets out a low whistle. “That’s bullshit, bro.”
I sit up. “She has bruises all over her wrists. Finger sized bruises. All over her wrists from where he held her down. Eva, guys. My Eva. He held my Eva down in her own fucking bed. I want to kill the bastard. I want to go kill him. Can I do that? Can I go kill him? It would make this situation a whole fucking lot better.”
“Goddamn Porter,” Coop sighs, shaking his head.
“Oh, and get this. Eva’s dad, after the accident, the reason she never came back. He threatened to have me taken from my mom because of what happened to Eva … if she ever came around me. This is why we never saw her again. She stayed away, to protect me.”
“You serious?” Beck looks at me sideways.
“Serious.”
I then tell them both what she told me about her dad and Mr. Channing. All the threats. How Mr. Calloway is using his daughter as a pawn to keep his head above water with his job.
“He’s forcing her to date Porter because that’s what Porter wants, and Mr. Calloway doesn’t want to screw up his business relationship with Mr. Channing if Eva dumps Porter’s ass.”
“Dude,” Beck points his finger at me. “You’re in way over your head. Henry Channing, he literally owns everyone in Flagler.”
My blood is now boiling again, and I’m too pissed to see where Beck’s getting at with this. “So … that makes what Porter did okay?”
“Hell no!” Beck exclaims. “Listen, man. I know you and Eva have this sparkling storybook fairytale thing going on, and trust me, I’m all for it. It’s going to happen, and when it does, Coop and I will celebrate with numerous beers, maybe a special toast in your honor. I might even do a little dance—”
“I’ll join him,” Coop agrees. “Bust out some dance moves.”
“We were there those few years too,” Beck points to himself and Coop. “We rode our bikes back to her house with you and watched you two flirt your way through puberty. Eva, she’s like a sister to Coop and I—”
“A sister with nice boobs,” Coop interrupts.
I kick him with my foot.
“We wanna kill Porter too,” Beck continues. “It’s just, the Channings’ status in this town, it’s going to put a small dent in your heroic efforts, that’s all.”
“The Channing family can kiss my ass,” I say, lying back down and closing my eyes for the second time. “Do you know when they started building their house, my grandparents hightailed it the hell out of here?”
“Grandpa Calvin knows the Channings?” Coop questions.
“Apparently. He and my grandma left Flagler the moment they appeared across the Halifax. Calvin said Rose wanted a new start. Whatever the hell that means. And they grew up here, my grandparents. That house on the Halifax belongs to my grandpa’s family. They’re Flagler natives.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Coop shakes his head. “What the hell, Bodhi. I thought he moved here a few years ago? He’s lived here before? None of this adds up, bro …”
I pull the blanket up to my face and turn my back to them both. “No shit,” I say, and then I close my eyes and fall asleep.
SIX IN THE MORNING comes far too soon when you’ve only been asleep for a few hours. The guys and I are silent as we hitch the boat to the back of Beck’s truck and head
out. My head’s still trying to wrap itself around the fact that Eva’s dad forced her to stay away from me, and that she was almost assaulted yesterday by the guy that’s supposed to be her boyfriend. I don’t think I’ll be able to stop worrying until she’s sitting next to me in this truck. Until I can put my arms around her again and keep her safe from the hell she’s been living through.
We stop first at Dolly’s for some breakfast and a cooler of sandwiches that Beck’s grandma packed up early this morning. She always sends us out with food when we go fishing. Any flounder or trout we catch that are of decent size, we bring back to her so that the next day they can have it fresh at Dolly’s on a first come first serve basis. We take care of her. She takes care of us.
Next up, the bait shop.
Tackle Box has the best bait in Flagler. It’s also the most reasonably priced and close to where we all live. It’s one of those local shops that’s been here for so many years, you might see a picture of your great-grandpa up on the wall if you look hard enough. Whenever you catch a monster fish using Tackle Box bait, you can bring them a picture of your catch and they’ll hang it up on their walls. The shop is wallpapered with pictures.
Thankfully, they open early and we’re the only customers there when we pull in, besides a random boat docked on the water. We only have twenty minutes before we’re supposed to pick up Eva and I will not leave her waiting for us.
Coop and I head inside while Beck stays in the truck, eating his third breakfast sandwich. “Dude’s going to hurl off the side of the boat,” I tell Coop.
“Just like last time,” Coop shakes his head. “Son of a bitch will never learn.”
Coop goes straight to the bait. I go straight to the counter to pay. We’re in here often enough that the owners and employees know exactly what bait we get and never question what we’re walking out with.
I throw some money on the counter and glance at the pictures on the wall behind the register. My eyes scan the rows. So many pictures that I’ve seen every time I’m in here, but have never taken an interest in before. There’s a very slim chance I would ever see anyone I recognize. Wouldn’t you know it though, last row on the left … I see Calvin. I about leap over the counter.
“Who’s in that picture? The one right there, in front of the boat that’s named Wanderlust?” I point out to Frank, Flagler’s most dedicated stoner.
Frank Granger will probably never hold a job down anywhere else. His appearance alone would scare away any potential employer, and he only works at Tackle Box because he’s distantly related to the owners. He looks like he crawled right out of a dumpster after smoking weed for a week straight. I’m pretty sure he still lives in his parents’ basement too, even though he’s got to be pushing thirty.
I stare at the picture as I point to it. Wanderlust, the boat in the picture says Wanderlust. Wanderlust was the boat my dad was on when he disappeared from Flagler, or at least that’s what I’ve always been told. My legs start to shake.
It must be too early for Frank. He must need more coffee, or he must be hungover. That seems more practical. Frank’s a normal presence at all the parties in Flagler, even though he’s at least a decade older than all of us. I’m pretty embarrassed to say I’ve gotten wasted with Frank on numerous occasions this past year.
He must not give two shits about me standing in front of him pointing eagerly at a picture on a wall though, because I find myself jamming my finger in the air, trying to get him to focus on what I’m asking. Whatever the reason, he couldn’t move any slower as he turns around to find the one picture I’m pointing directly to. He pulls it off the wall in slow motion and flips it over in his hand.
“Calvin Sullivan and Owen Edwards, dated September 1999.” He then pins it back in its spot and turns around to get me my change.
“Owen Edwards?” Coop exclaims, bringing the bags of bait over. He hands one out to me. “Wasn’t he the dude that disappeared a little while ago?”
“Yeah. Apparently, he knew my grandpa.”
Frank snorts. “Grandpa?”
“The grandpa you didn’t know you had,” Coop reminds me. “Goddamn secrets are falling from the sky now.”
“That boat,” I point to the picture. “I think that’s the boat my dad was on when he left Flagler.”
“You have a dad?” Frank questions me. “Here I thought your mom—”
“I wouldn’t finish that sentence, Frank,” Coop suggests. “If I were you.”
Frank looks down at the register and mumbles something we don’t understand.
“What’s that, Frank?” Coop questions.
I pull on his arm. “Coop. Just drop it. He’s probably drunk still from last night.”
Frank looks up at me, his eyes bigger than normal. “You look like him.”
“The guy in the picture?” I question.
He smirks and looks back down.
Coop pushes me away, waving his hand at Frank as we walk to the door. “Stay sober, Frank,” he says as we leave. “And take a goddamn shower.”
Frank’s middle finger raises without him even looking up from the register.
We head back out to the truck. “Shit’s getting weirder and weirder,” Coop declares. “I’ll be thrilled when this summer is over.” He hits the truck with his fist, causing Beck to jump in his seat. “Onward Jeeves! We’ve got a damsel in distress to pick up.”
chapter ten
Eva
I set my alarm for six. Bodhi said they’d be rolling by around seven to pick me up. When it’s only fifteen minutes until then, I grab the bag I packed with a change of clothes and such, and make my way downstairs. All is quiet and still, until I turn into the kitchen to grab some coffee, and see my mom standing there prepping her own. I spin around as fast as I can, but she hears me.
“Going somewhere?”
I turn back around. “Maybe?” is all I say. I make sure the sleeves to my zip-up hoodie are covering the angry bruises on my wrists.
“Not with Porter?” she questions, pulling out a travel mug from the cabinet.
“Not with Porter. Definitely not with Porter.”
She turns around to face me. It amazes me how beautiful she looks with no effort whatsoever. She could easily roll out of bed and look like she’s off to a photo shoot or something.
“You ever going to tell me what happened yesterday between the two of you?” she asks.
I stare down at my wrists. “Maybe? You ever going to tell me what you were doing at Funky Pelican?”
She puts down the coffee mug and grins. “Maybe? Maybe it’s time to break up with Porter?”
I glance up at her. “Maybe it is. Maybe I should have a long time ago.”
She nods and smiles, then turns and pours coffee into the travel mug and puts a little cream in it before stirring it with a spoon. She puts the top on and hands it out to me.
“Your father and Mr. Channing have an eight o’clock tee-time, which means in about twenty minutes he’s going to be coming down the stairs to leave and pick up Henry.”
I nod my head. I think I understand why she’s telling me this.
“Your brothers have a birthday party this afternoon, and the Kellers have convinced me to let them camp out in their backyard afterwards,” she continues. “Your dad and I are joining them for dinner before coming back home. The house will be empty until at least late this evening.”
My mom is literally telling me to do whatever the hell I want today. I nod my head again.
She gives me a smile and points towards the front door. “You might want to leave now, or go wait outside the gates if someone’s picking you up soon. I can stall your dad a bit if you need me to.”
I place my coffee mug on the table and walk a few inches closer to her. I then do something I haven’t done in years. I clear the steps between us and I give her a hug. I can tell this normal act between a mother and a daughter has taken her by surprise. I can’t remember the last time I hugged her like this. It’s startling me how muc
h I realize I’ve missed it.
She stands there, smoothing my hair down with one hand, and her other hand around my back. “I’m sorry you feel like you can’t tell me things,” she says. “It’s my fault. I take all the blame for that. But I can tell there’s stuff you’re hiding from me, and if you ever want to talk about any of it, I can listen. I promise I won’t judge or be too motherly.” She gives me a kiss on the top of my head. “We aren’t that different, Eva. We both keep everyone shut out because we think it’s easier than letting people in.” She holds up one finger. I watch as she pulls out another travel mug from the cabinet and fills it. “For Bodhi,” she hands it to me, smirking. “Eva?”
“Yeah?”
“I like Bodhi,” she smiles. “I really like Bodhi. I like how he’s bringing you back. I finally see you again. Now go, before your father gets down here and we have to explain why you’re up so early.”
Bringing me back? Did she actually notice how lost I’ve been these last few years? I thought I was a ghost to my family all this time. I stare at her for a moment, questioning every little thing about these last three years, before giving her another quick hug. I then leave her standing in the kitchen as she goes back to making coffee.
I walk along the curve of my long driveway and see Bodhi and the guys pulling up in Beck’s massive black truck right as my gates come into view. There’s a pretty decent sized boat named Lady Luck attached to the back, much larger than I had envisioned.
Bodhi hops out from the backseat, greeting me first by wrapping his arms around my entire body. “I missed you, babe,” he whispers into my ear. My heart races with his words. He then asks, “You ready for the greatest fishing day of your entire life?”
I laugh and hand him the coffee. He raises his eyebrow. “My mom. She told me to give it to you,” I tell him.
“For real?” he questions. “She told you to give me coffee?”
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