* * *
Enzo sat in line for the ferry, feeling like he might shatter into a thousand pieces. He was sure he was going to go crazy with the wait.
Benny hadn’t known where Jacob kept the boat, but she knew that he had managed to get one. The Del Campo brothers and their wives started searching in Southampton. They had driven to the nearest dock, where they kept their yacht, and Hendy, Pilar, and Benny had stayed behind to talk to the police once they arrived. But Enzo, remembering the other night when he had seen Noni on Shelter Island, had a hunch about where he needed to go.
The ferry slowly docked, bumping up against the pilings. The ticket taker stood in the front and started waving the cars off in what seemed like an excruciatingly sluggish way.
“!Vamos! Come on! ¡Vamos!” Enzo exploded, hitting the steering wheel with his hands.
Finally, the gate was lifted and he was waved on. It took all his willpower not to put the pedal to the floor.
“Hey,” he said when the ticket taker came to his window. “Do you happen to remember an old blue Chevy truck getting on recently? There would have been a blond woman, a man with a beard, and a little boy with red curls in it.”
The ticket taker nodded. “Actually, yeah. They were on the last trip round. Cute kid with glasses, right? And a real pretty woman.”
Enzo felt his heart speed up. “Did they…did they seem okay?”
The ticket taker wrinkled his forehead. “Well, I guess so. The woman didn’t really say anything. The guy just paid and took the ticket and then they all stayed in the truck on the way over. Is everything all right?”
Enzo swallowed. “I hope so,” he said hoarsely.
* * *
Jacob ordered Noni to carry Max onto the boat. It was a small sailboat. Big enough for no more than two or three people.
Noni turned to glare at Jacob as she walked ahead of him. “I can’t believe you would point a gun at your own child.”
“I’m not,” said Jacob. “It’s pointed at you, not him.”
“Whose boat is this?” she asked as she stepped gingerly on board, trying not to trip with Max in her arms.
“It doesn’t matter,” said Jacob. “He can afford to replace it.”
She blinked. “So now you’re stealing a boat, too. Jesus, Jake, can’t you see how you’re just making this worse and worse?”
“Stop it,” said Jacob. “I don’t need that. You’re freaking me out. I need to stay calm.”
She looked at him and felt a lump in her throat. “Please,” she said raggedly, “please, don’t do this.”
He looked back at her; for a moment he seemed to hesitate. “You’re scared,” he said regretfully. He sighed. “I don’t want to scare you, Noni. I just…I just need you to see reason, okay? I have to do this—for Max. I can’t do it alone. I need your help. You’re the only one I can trust.” He looked at her sadly. “We were happy once. It will take a little time, but I know we can be happy again. And I’m not crazy. I understand this is a terrible way to start things off, but I don’t have any other options.”
“But you do have other options!”
He shook his head. “I don’t.” He seemed to find his resolve again. “Now, take Max downstairs. And don’t try anything stupid, because I’ll be up here, ready.”
She closed her eyes in defeat and carried Max down into the cabin.
She laid him down on a little berth, took off his glasses, and looked around. She shivered. Ever since she had seen the gun, she’d felt like she was going numb, like she couldn’t get warm enough.
She couldn’t believe she didn’t have her phone. She’d left it upstairs in her room at the house when she came down with Pilar, not wanting to be rude by carrying it to the party. Though she supposed it didn’t make a difference. Jacob had already asked her to turn out her pockets and show him she wasn’t carrying it.
The cabin was small, just two berths, one on top of the other; a tiny galley kitchen with a mess area; and a bathroom with a shower, sink, and toilet. Everything was very neat and well appointed, but she felt a tendril of panic as she imagined being trapped here with Jacob for weeks, maybe even months, on end.
Because she knew that’s how it would be. She saw his plan now. He never needed a passport. He never planned on flying. A boat out was easy, and once they were in international waters, he’d be safe. They never needed to come back to the U.S. if he didn’t want to.
She wondered dully if he actually knew how to sail. She wondered about their lack of supplies. The galley didn’t look well stocked. She imagined he was counting on her money, but she wondered how he expected her to access any of it since her purse was back at the house.
She ached when she thought of Enzo. She hadn’t had the chance to tell him what was going on with Jacob. In fact, she had confided in exactly no one. No one else knew. What if Enzo simply thought that she had chosen to go with Jacob? What if he thought she had left him again? What if everyone just assumed she had disappeared of her own free will?
Max stirred in his sleep, murmuring restlessly. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Shhh, shhh,” she whispered. “Everything will be okay, buddy. Go back to sleep.”
Then she sat down next to him on the berth, winded and freezing. How, exactly was everything going to be okay?
* * *
Shelter Island was small, but there were a lot of docks and marinas on it. It was, after all, an island. Enzo sped through the streets, heading for the first dock he could find.
He saw nothing suspicious at the first marina. A few old fishing boats, obviously empty, and a sailboat too small for a lower deck where anyone could hide. He asked a couple of guys who were hanging on the dock and drinking beer if they had seen a blue Chevy truck, and they both shook their heads no.
He tried to think it through before he went to the next dock. He couldn’t just blindly search. He knew he was running out of time.
He had seen Noni at the restaurant across from Crescent Beach. She had been with Jacob that night. Perhaps Jacob had been staying close to that marina.
He did a U-turn and headed toward Shelter Island Bay.
* * *
Noni tiptoed to the top of the stairs and peered through the porthole on the door. She could see Jacob moving about, pulling ropes and setting the sails. Her heart sank. It seemed from the purposeful way he went about things that he actually knew what he was doing.
She crept back down the stairs and shot Max a worried glance. He was tossing and turning but still asleep. She went into the galley, looking for a knife.
She found several. She stood for a moment, holding a wickedly sharp, thin fish knife, wondering if she could bring herself to use it if necessary.
She looked at the blade and remembered the day, just after she had started helping Jacob with the forge, before Max was born, when Jacob had taught her how to make horseshoes.
It was an odd thing to start with, considering they were making art, not doing farrier work, but Jacob said that it was the first thing he had learned to make when he started smithing, so he thought it should be the first thing Noni learned as well.
Her enormous crush on Jacob had only grown that day. He had patiently guided her through the process, introducing to her to all the tools, getting her geared up with a leather apron and protective eyewear, showing her how to light the forge and use the bellows to get it hot enough, how to pick the right bar of steel, how to heat it to the proper temperature to make it malleable. She had been surprised that a bright orange-yellow signaled a more pliable metal than a darker red.
She remembered being burned for the first time. A spark had landed on her wrist and she had almost cried, it hurt so much. Jacob had laughed at her and softly rubbed the spot with a bit of lotion. He’d told her it was a rite of passage. He’d shown her all his own scars. And suddenly, in a rush, she’d imagined taking his hands in hers and kissing each burn, slowly and thoroughly and one by one.
They had hammered it together, taking turn
s. Noni had not yet built up the strength in her arms to hammer out metal for extended periods of time, but he had let her do the finish work. She had been ridiculously proud, when she had held up that first somewhat crooked but recognizable shoe. After it had cooled, he had presented it to her as a gift.
She still had it. She’d hung it above the door in her blacksmith shop in Wellington, the U facing up so as not to let all the good luck run out.
She looked at the knife again. She looked back at Max, his bright red curls shining softly in the dim light. She put the knife down. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to use it.
* * *
Her truck was there.
Enzo’s headlights rolled over that familiar turquoise color and his heart almost beat out of his chest. It was just sitting there, empty, in the parking lot of the marina.
He pulled his truck right up next to it and jumped out, giving it a cursory glance as he passed it on his way down to the docks. This was a large marina, with a long row of boats floating along the boardwalk.
He kept to the shadowy side of the boardwalk, glad for the poor lighting and dark night. He did not want to be seen before he found them.
There were several boats with lights on. A small party was happening on one. A couple of young guys barbecued on the dock, while three women in bikinis lounged in beach chairs on the deck, laughing and talking. He could hear music from their radio, Adele belting out “Set Fire to the Rain.” He slipped by them, holding his breath, praying he had made it in time.
At the very end of the dock, he saw a small sailboat with a lone man busying himself on board.
Enzo’s breath caught in his throat.
It was definitely Jacob.
* * *
Noni heard Enzo before she saw him. There was a sudden pounding of feet on the deck above and then a shout and a crash. Max startled in his sleep, but Noni laid a hand on his chest and he slept on.
She inched up the stairs, fearful of what she might find above. She could see nothing through the porthole, just an empty deck, so she slowly pushed the door open and stuck her head out.
“Noni!” shouted Enzo. His voice was harsh and guttural.
She rushed out then, only to find Jacob, his face bleeding from a cut above his eye, standing with his gun trained on Enzo, who was sprawled on the deck, looking up at Jacob with an expression of pure loathing.
“Damn it, Noni, I said stay downstairs!” said Jacob. His voice was shaking.
She shook her head. “No.” She made her voice soft and calm and continued to walk slowly toward them. “Jacob, this has to end now. Before someone really gets hurt. I know you’re scared. I know you’re panicking. But this will never, ever happen the way you think it will. I love Max, and I care about you, but we will never be happy together again. That is not going to happen.”
She had almost reached him. She was close enough to touch him.
He panted raggedly, his teeth bared. “Why?” he ripped out. “Why can’t we be happy?”
She swallowed painfully. Her throat was dry. “Because,” she said softly, “because I am not in love with you. I am in love with Enzo. I can’t stay with you. I won’t. You’d have to keep me at gunpoint every moment of every day. That would never change. I would never willingly stay. I know you, Jake. I know you’re not capable of that. I know you wouldn’t do that to me. Or Max. Please, please, just put the gun down and let me help you.”
She reached out a hand to touch him. Jacob kept his gun pointed at Enzo but turned to her. “Stop!” he barked. “I said stop!”
In that moment, Enzo leaped forward and threw himself onto Jacob. The gun went flying out of his hand.
The men grappled as Noni ran to pick up the gun, pointing it in the air and shouting, “Stop! Stop! I have the gun! Stop!”
But the men kept fighting. At first, Noni couldn’t tell who had the upper hand. Jacob had the strength of a metal worker, but Enzo had the fury of someone who had just seen the woman he loved mortally threatened. Enzo took a hard blow to the face but then turned and hurled himself against Jacob, sending the taller man crashing to the ground. He started punching him, over and over, venting all the rage and fear that had been building up inside him since he had realized that Noni was gone.
“No, Enzo, stop!” screamed Noni. “You’re going to kill him! Stop!”
Enzo didn’t seem to hear her. The dull, wet sound of flesh pounding against flesh filled the air.
Noni pointed the gun into the air and fired.
Enzo stopped then, turning to look at her and letting Jacob slump to the deck.
Noni aimed the gun at Jacob. “It’s okay,” she said to Enzo. “I have the gun. It’s over. I’m okay.”
Enzo came to her, leaving Jacob as he pulled himself to a sitting position, coughing and spitting up blood.
“Querida,” Enzo panted, “I was so scared. I thought—”
“Daddy?”
A small voice echoed over the water, silencing them all. The door to the cabin creaked open. They all froze.
“Noni?” said Max.
Noni quickly put the gun behind her back, and Jacob struggled up, raising his hand to hide his battered face from his son.
“Buddy,” he said, his voice raspy and clogged, “go on back down, sweetheart. I’ll be there in a moment.”
“But, Daddy,” said Max as he walked out onto the deck, “I don’t feel good.”
Jacob groaned desperately. “Okay, honey, just go back to bed and I’ll—”
“I feel like I might throw up.”
“He’s seasick,” whispered Noni. “Oh God, that’s right. Jacob, he gets seasick. That’s why we couldn’t stay on the yacht? Remember? I told you.”
Jacob stared at her for a second, and then all the fight seemed to go out of him at once. His face went even paler and he seemed to collapse in on himself. He leaned against the side of the boat and closed his eyes.
“Max,” he said. His voice sounded agonized, “Max, come here, babe.”
Max went to his father, and Jacob picked him up and clutched him into a hug before the little boy could catch a glimpse of his father’s bleeding face.
“Listen, baby,” he said, tears running down his cheeks. “I want you to remember that no matter what, you are my best boy, and I love you.”
“I love you, too, Daddy,” said Max, his face against his father’s shoulder. “You’re my best dad.”
Jacob leaned his face into his son’s hair. He took a deep breath. “I want you to go with Noni and Enzo now, okay? I’m going to go away for a while, but I’ll come back as soon as I can.”
Max struggled to pull back and look at his dad. “Where are you going? Can I come?”
Jacob shook his head. “No, baby. Not this time. You’ll be good with Noni, okay?”
Max’s bottom lip started to quiver.
Jacob leaned down and gave his son a fervent kiss on his forehead. “You’ll be fine, okay? Noni will take great care of you.”
Noni passed the gun to Enzo behind her back and then stepped forward to Jacob. He buried his face in Max’s hair for a moment and then passed the little boy over to Noni’s arms.
Max began to cry and pushed his face against Noni’s chest.
Jacob met Noni’s eyes. He looked absolutely ravaged. “Just…let me go, okay, Antonia?”
She looked back at Enzo, who nodded. She turned back to Jacob. “Okay,” she whispered. “Go.”
“Thank you,” he said.
“Jake,” she said, “listen. I’ll take care of him. I promise. Everything we talked about before—about him knowing that you’re a good man—I promise that will happen.”
He nodded. “I know.”
He put his hand out, as if to touch his son’s quivering back, but stopped just short and turned away.
Chapter Forty-One
They arrived back at Pilar’s well after midnight. The lights from the party were still turned on in the garden, and the family came running out the front door as soon the
y pulled up.
Max had fallen asleep again, crying himself out, and Noni slipped him out of her truck and into her arms. Enzo followed them up the stairs to the house.
Not wanting to wake Max, they whispered to everyone that they were fine, everything was fine, that there was a lot to tell, but they would talk in the morning. Right now they all just needed sleep.
Noni’s dogs followed them up to the bedroom Max had been sleeping in. Careful not to disturb Tomás, who was sleeping across the way, Noni and Enzo worked together to pull Max’s clothes off and then tucked him into bed.
They stood together, watching him for a moment. Enzo’s heart ached as he looked at the soft, innocent curves of the boy’s face, the way his long dark red lashes brushed against his cheek, the way his mouth still worked a little in his sleep, like a baby sucking at a bottle.
This child had lost his mother before he could remember, and now he had lost his father, too.
Enzo reached down to brush a copper curl off his face and smiled at the featherlight feel of his hair.
Noni reached over and took Enzo’s hand. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you for coming to find us.”
He pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head.
The dogs, one by one, leaped lightly onto Max’s bed. Enzo started to order them off, afraid that they would wake the little boy, but Noni put her hand on his arm, signaling him to wait.
If they had been in Noni’s bed, the sisters would have curled up in their regular space at the foot of the bed, but this time was different. Mojo stretched out along Max’s back, laying her head on the pillow next to his, and Luna fit herself on the other side, the top of her head right under Max’s chin, wedging herself into the little boy’s arms.
He opened his eyes then, just a slit, and turned in his bed, throwing one arm out over the white dog’s neck and the other over the black dog, patting them both gently as their tails thumped in response.
The little boy and the two dogs lay there together like that for a moment. And then, with a sigh and a smile, Max fell back asleep.
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