Chapter 22
Mark used the heels of his hands to wipe away the last bit of sleep from his eyes, as the morning light seeped into the balmy tent. When he rolled over onto his elbows, he found Jessica sitting across from him. She seemed troubled. The dark circles that ringed her eyes told Mark that she had not slept all night. Her brow seemed to furrow with worry. Or was it suspicion that drew her lips into a thin line?
“Good morning.”
“Hi.” Jessica brought her knees to her chest.
Mark replayed the events of last night in his head. As if moments of time had been stolen from him, he only remembered bits and pieces of what had happened. He couldn’t recall how he ended up at the beach, but he definitely knew why. He wanted to put Jessica at ease, but how would he even begin to explain? He wasn’t prepared for that conversation.
“I’m sorry about last night. I don’t know what happened.”
Jessica rested her chin on her knee. She said nothing. Mark felt the need to fill the awkward silence. “I haven’t sleep-walked since I was a kid.” Mark let out an uneasy laugh.
Jessica continued to look at him quietly.
“Look, Jess. I’m sorry if I’ve upset you.” Mark tried again to draw something out of her. Anything was better than the deafening silence.
Jessica reached down beside her and handed him a folded piece of paper. When he took it in his hand, he knew what it was immediately. It was stark white and heavy. And by the look on Jessica’s face, Mark knew that she had read it.
“It fell out of your pocket when I picked up your shorts in the woods.” She tucked her hair behind her ear.
He sat up. Mark thumbed the edge of the paper nervously. It was sharp. Sharp enough to cause an argument. He knew he was going to have to talk to her, even if he wasn’t ready. Before he had the chance to speak, she continued.
“When were you going to tell me?” she asked.
“I just got the letter in the mail. I didn’t get the chance to yet.”
Jessica took a deep breath and winced, as if the question she was about to ask caused her pain. “Are you going to take the offer?”
“I’m considering it.” He diverted his gaze.
It was true. After what had happened the night before, Mark could think of no other option but to leave. Maybe if he were in New York, far away from Silk Cove, things would go back to normal. The whispers would cease. The taunting would stop.
“I thought you were doing well here with your dad.” Jessica twisted the edge of her dress.
“Come on, Jess. You know that lifestyle is not my thing.”
“Well, what about…”
“What about?” Mark urged her to continue.
“What about us?” Jessica’s eyes looked glassy, as if she were on the verge of tears.
“Well, I was hoping you would come with me.”
“Come with you?”
“Yes! It would be great. You could open your own gallery in the city.”
“Silk Cove is my home, Mark. This is where I belong. I can’t just leave. I know it’s no big city life. But I think if you gave it a chance, it could grow on you.”
“Believe me, Jess. It’s had a chance to grow on me. If I don’t leave now, I’ll go crazy.”
Mark watched as Jessica’s red-rimmed eyes turned angry.
“You know what I think, Mark? This isn’t about you going crazy.” Jessica pointed her finger at him.
“It’s not?”
“No, it’s not that at all. It’s about you running away!”
She crawled past him and unzipped the flap of the tent. The cool morning air spilled in and Jessica rushed out. Mark wrapped a blanket around his waist as fast as he could. He followed her and watched as she began to collect her paintings off the trees.
“Running away?” he asked.
“Yes! Running away from us!”
“No, Jess. There’s more to it than you think.”
As if she didn’t hear him, she continued on. “You ran from the pavilion! You ran down the road! Now, you’re about to run across a state line! This is the furthest you’ve run yet!”
“I’m not running from you! If I was running from you, why would I ask you to come with me?” Now, he was angry. She was being unreasonable.
She spun to meet his stare. Hot, angry tears streamed down her face. “And deep down you knew that I would say no. Didn’t you?”
Mark felt as if someone just knocked the wind out of him. It was true that he hadn’t even thought of Jessica coming with him until it left his mouth just a few moments ago. She was smart and perceptive. He should have known that she would be able to see through his improvisation. She stared at him with a desperation in her eyes that threatened to tear his heart out of his chest. He needed to say so much, yet he was speechless.
“Just get out of here. I need some time alone.” Jessica snatched another painting from a tree limb.
“But, Jess…” Mark reached out to touch her.
“Go!” Her voice bounced off the trees all around them.
Mark’s hand stopped. He backed away from her and gathered his clothes from the tent. As he left the woods, he looked back at her one last time. With her paintings scattered all around her, she stood with her face in her hands. Her shoulders shook as she sobbed. He wished he hadn’t looked back, as it was an image that would haunt him for days to come.
Chapter 23
When Mark returned to his father’s house after his bout with Jessica, he hesitated at the end of the gravel driveway. The morning sun had fled Silk Cove, leaving in its wake an uninvitingly overcast day. His father’s truck was nowhere in sight and the empty house appeared ominous against the gray backdrop of the sky. Mark looked toward the cliff at the edge of the property and listened for the whispers. Other than the constant roll of the waves below, the air was silent. Their absence sent shivers down Mark’s spine; it was as if they were quietly planning their next ambush. He stood for a few more moments before he finally gathered the courage to continue toward the house.
Mark entered and let the screen door close softly behind him. He walked across the dim kitchen to the table. He held on to its edges and his chin fell to his chest. Mark didn’t know what to do. He was lost. First, he was banished to a shed and not allowed to set foot aboard Meredith. Now, Jessica sent him packing back to his father’s house. He took a deep breath and lifted his eyes. Beside a cup of coffee that was left to cool, he noticed that there was a pile of mail stacked on the table. He picked up the envelopes and examined each one. Stamped to the front of each letter in the color of blood were the words “delinquent” or “past due.” Mark was slapped with the realization that his father was no longer making a living. Because the lobster traps were empty. Because of Mark.
They won’t stop until they get what they want. His father’s words echoed in his head.
Mark let the letters fall from his hand and they fanned across the table. Mark could see what was lying ahead. It didn’t matter if he was in a shed nearby, or as far away as New York. They would seek to ruin his father. They would seek to break Jessica’s heart. They would wreak havoc until they got what they wanted. The answer was clear. There was only one thing left to do. There was only one direction to turn. Mark dug into his pocket and retrieved the letter from New York. It was a wrinkled mess and he did his best to smooth it out on the edge of the table. He placed the folded piece of paper back into its envelope. With a nearby pen, he scribbled the words “return to sender” on the front. Then, he propped the envelope on the table so that it was in clear sight. Before he left, Mark looked at every corner of the house in the shadowy light. He tried to memorize how it looked. How it smelled. How it felt. He knew that it would be the last time he saw this place for a long time, if not ever again.
As if he didn’t want reason to catch up with him, Mark ran across the lawn until he met the drop off to the ocean. He sat down on the edge and contemplated the best way to get down to the churning sea below. He found a rock protr
uding from the side and stomped on it several times. When it didn’t give way to the assault, Mark lowered his foot. His arms burned from using all of his strength to hold onto the stray roots growing out of the overhang. His legs trembled with a reverent fear of the water crashing on the rocks below. The farther he climbed down, the more perilous his descent became. The rocks became slick from moss and the spray of the ocean. Mark’s foot slipped and just when he thought that he had recovered his balance, the root he was holding ripped from the side of the cliff. Mark struggled to grab onto something. Anything. It was too late. Mark fell backward and plummeted toward the sea.
Suddenly, the wind felt like a hundred different hands under him. They carried him for some distance beyond the razor-sharp boulders below, seeming to protect him from harm. Then all at once, they pulled him down toward the ocean. His body splashed into the water. At first, Mark thought that the current was carrying him away from land. But when he opened his eyes, he realized that it was the force of a hundred seals. They cradled him. Swept him away, claiming him as one of their own.
Chapter 24
Jessica hadn’t seen Mark for three days. Three miserable, cold, rainy days. The first day, she couldn’t have cared less. In fact, she didn’t want to see him because she was so upset with him. She stayed inside her house and strategically placed pots where she thought the roof would leak. Then, the second day rolled around. While listening to the raindrops collect in those pots, Jessica found herself holding onto the pillow that Mark had slept on in the tent. She held it to her face to inhale his scent. By the third day, she was convinced that Mark had gone back to New York. She went to all the places that she thought he would be. She searched the wet roads of Silk Cove, hoping to find him jogging. She walked the saturated beach. She knocked on the door of the shed, but no one answered. She even snuck around the docks, careful to not be spotted by Jeremy or Jim. The only place that she didn’t go was to his father’s house. She didn’t want to seem crazy. There was no sign of him anywhere. When she didn’t find him, her yearning turned to anger.
Jessica stood at the window at Bonnie’s and watched the rainfall. Even though the rain was relentless, it didn’t stop the anglers of Silk Cove from taking to the sea. It was late in the day and a stream of vehicles carrying fishermen pulled into the parking lot for dinner. They filed through the door, one by one. As they walked past her to find their seats, Jessica looked at each of their faces hoping to see Mark’s dark brown eyes. She never did. Jessica visited each table, jotted down orders onto a pad of paper, and took them to the kitchen. When she returned, she found Jeremy and Jim sitting at a nearby booth. Her jaw clenched and her hands tightened around two glasses of water, as she steadily made her way to their table. Jessica set the glasses down with force. Water sloshed onto the table. Jeremy looked up at her with shock. Jim didn’t look up at all. He took a deep breath through his nose and let it out slowly. Jessica crossed her arms.
“Hi, Jess. We’ll both take the special.” Jim snatched the menu out of Jeremy’s hand.
Jessica knew he was trying to rush her along, but she wasn’t going to allow it. Jim held the menus out for her to take. She didn’t reach out for them. When he realized that she was not going to take them, he gently placed them on the table as if they were made of delicate crystal.
“Where is he?” Jessica got right to the point.
“Who?” Jeremy looked between the two.
“Mark,” she said through gritted teeth.
“I don’t know. Did he go somewhere?” Confusion furrowed Jeremy’s brow and he looked toward Jim for answers. He really didn’t know anything. He was just caught in the middle. But Jessica didn’t care.
“Where. Is. He.” She glared at Jim.
“I don’t know.” Jim diverted his gaze.
“Oh, that’s nice. That’s really nice.” Jessica shook her head in disbelief. “I guess when it comes to cowardice, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, then.”
She swiped the menus from the table. Jim flinched. Jeremy sat back in the booth as if he were trying to avoid gunfire. She turned on her heels and pushed through the kitchen doors.
That evening, the rain had passed leaving a cool night in its departure. Jessica sat on her porch and pulled her bulky sweater over her knees. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the noises of the night. Suddenly, she heard what sounded like twigs snapping under someone’s feet as they walked up her driveway. Her heart pounded in her chest. Even though she was seething mad at him, she hoped it was Mark. She stood up and held onto the porch rail. She focused her eyes on the shadowy drive. Moments later, a figure appeared out of the darkness. It was Jim. She was disappointed, but she was intrigued. Jim had never visited her before. She figured it had to do with what happened earlier that day. She studied him as he moved toward her. Funny she had never realized it before; Mark walked the same way as his father. It made her miss him even more.
“Jess.”
“Jim.” She raised her eyebrows.
“Pretty night. Thought I’d take a walk and pay you a visit.”
Jim walked up to the porch and sat down on the middle step. He stared ahead into the woods, like he was watching something. Jessica sat down on the step next to him and stared in the same direction he was. He took a bottle of whiskey out of the inside of his jacket and set it down next to him. Then, he reached into his pockets and withdrew two shot glasses. He unscrewed the lid of the bottle and poured the first shot. Without asking her if she wanted any, he handed it to her. Then he poured his own. He brought the glass to his lips, so Jessica did, too. The whiskey burned as it went down her throat and she coughed. She looked from the corner of her eye at Jim. It didn’t seem to have any effect on him. After a few moments of silence, Jim looked toward her. He lifted his empty shot glass as if he were trying to show her something.
“For the past couple of nights, I’ve been waiting out on my porch with this same bottle of whiskey and two glasses. And when he doesn’t show up, I pour a shot for myself and then I go to bed.”
When Jessica didn’t reply, he continued.
“I can’t bring myself to stop waiting. You know, it’s funny. When I came here tonight, I thought that if I left the porch, he’d show up and I wouldn’t be there.”
“Why don’t you just go to New York and visit him in his fancy new apartment?” Jessica’s voice was sharp.
“He’s not in New York, Jess.”
“Where is he, then?” Jessica turned her head and looked at Jim. She tried so hard to read his eyes, but she couldn’t find any answers. All she found was defeat and worry.
“He’s at sea.”
“Wait, he’s fishing? I thought the job offer he got was for some marketing firm in Manhattan.”
“I didn’t say he was fishing.”
“I don’t understand, then.” Jim sat silently for a moment too long. Dread crept into Jessica’s chest. Something was wrong. She couldn’t take it anymore. “Jim, for God’s sake! Please just tell me what the hell is going on!” Jessica jumped up and stood in front of the steps.
“Jessica, sit down.”
“I’m not sitting until you tell me!”
“I said sit down.” Jim’s voice was stern.
His voice reminded her of who she was speaking to. She was talking to Jim. Not only was he a captain, he was a father. Feeling like a child that had just been scolded, Jessica returned to her seat. Jim poured them another shot.
“You deserve an explanation and I came here to give you one.”
Jessica listened as Jim told a tale of love found and love lost, all at the hands of the sea. He told her the story of Mark’s mother and how he came to be. He told her of secrets kept and truths revealed. He explained Mark’s pilgrimage to the sea. When he was finished, Jessica sat quietly for a moment. She didn’t know if it was the whiskey or the far-fetched story that Jim had just told her, but a giggle escaped Jessica’s mouth. Then, her giggle turned into hysteric laughter.
“You’re jo
king, right?” Jessica tilted her head and blinked in disbelief.
Jim shook his head.
“So, what you’re trying to tell me is that Mark is spending time with seal creatures in the sea?” She managed the words between laughs.
Jim didn’t say anything. But as the moments went by and Jim didn’t change his demeanor, Jessica’s smile faded. She stood up and took a couple of steps down the path. She played out the events in her head; the seals at the beach and the way he was staring at them. The book she found on the desk. The last night that they spent together when he wandered into the water. Suddenly, Jessica felt as if someone punched her in the stomach. She fell to her knees and brought her hands to her mouth. Then, Jim was at her side. He knelt on the ground next to her and brought his hand around her shoulder. She didn’t realize that she was crying until he wiped her face with the sleeve of his jacket.
“Is he coming back?” She grabbed his coat and looked up at him.
“I don’t know, Jess. I just don’t know.” Jim’s voice was raspy, as if he, too, were on the verge of tears.
Jessica buried her face in Jim’s chest and sobbed. He sat with her on the ground and held her until there were no more tears left.
Chapter 25
At first, Mark swam hard and deep like there was no return. Mark found an empty bottle at sea and used it to gather rainwater to drink. When he became tired of eating mussels, the seals would steal the fishermen’s lunches from their boats, and bring it back to Mark. When he became cold, his mother offered him her sealskin, which kept him very warm. Although the seals supported him when he became tired, he quickly understood that there was a distinction between him and these nimble creatures. It was really quite simple. The cold waters didn’t grant him any magical powers. He was a man. He was just a man.
With that realization, Mark didn’t go far. He stayed in the shallow waters. However, he was enough distance away to be unnoticed and he could still keep a watchful eye on his father. He persuaded his sea friends to grant his father reprieve. And so they did. The lobsters became plentiful once again. And even though he was busy and back to making a living, his father wearily walked the deck of Meredith as if a million pounds of burden lay on his shoulders. Mark noticed that he looked older; his eyes were dim and worry had etched a line across his forehead. Still, Mark did what he could for Jeremy and his father while at sea.
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