“I take it he never mentioned me. Or Boomer.” Not so long ago, there’d been a picture of Boomer and me on the fridge.
“He said...” She broke off. “He said his ex-girlfriend took their dog, and he was thinking about getting a new one. We went to the pound together on Saturday to look at puppies.”
“We share Boomer,” I said. “That’s where he is right now. With Bobby.”
“He goes by Robert now.”
“Does he?” I was pissed, all right. Not because Gloria was dating him...but because he clearly hadn’t told her about me.
What about asking me to stay over the other night when my ferry was canceled? I was pretty sure that wasn’t an I’ll-take-the-couch offer. What about how he still cared about me? The hints that he wanted to get back together?
He hadn’t told Gloria a thing about me, that was clear. And not for nothing, but I was a pretty damn good story. Home invasion. Hit by Beantown Bug Killers.
“I should go,” Gloria said.
“No, no,” I said automatically, aware that I’d been silent. “It’s just a surprise, that’s all.”
“I...I think I’ll go, anyway. This is a lot for us both to wrap our brains around, so...yeah. I’m sorry.”
“You haven’t done anything wrong,” I said. “I’ll see you at work.”
“You bet.” Her face was troubled. “Okay. Thanks. Bye, Xiaowen.”
“Bye.”
Xiaowen waited till we heard Gloria’s car start, then poured me another drink from the pitcher. “Small world?”
“He didn’t tell her about me,” I said.
“Yeah, I got that.”
What was I, invisible? First, high school. No, first, my father. Then high school, then when I was allowed to visit Lily in Seattle and more than one person said, “I didn’t know Lily had a sister!” Then I came here, and half the town thought I was my sister, since apparently she was the only daughter my mother talked about.
Now Bobby had erased me. And said I took the dog, when I’d been bending over backward, taking Boomer back and forth since I’d been here.
Xiaowen fumbled in her bag and pulled out an iPad. “What’s his middle name?” she asked.
“Kennedy,” I said automatically.
“Of course,” she murmured. “So original.” She tapped a few keys. “Whoomp, there it is. He posted a picture of him and Gloria.”
She held out the iPad, and there they were, smiling, wearing sunglasses, right there on Instagram, which I still didn’t belong to.
“Thanks,” I muttered.
“So who are you mad at? Him or her?”
“Well, this sure would’ve been easier if she’d used his name like an actual grown-up,” I said, taking a sip of my drink.
“I think we’re the ones who gave him the nickname.”
“Shit. You’re right.” I took a deep breath and looked out over the cove. “Xiaowen, he was kind of hitting on me this past weekend. Asked me to stay over.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Nope.” I closed my eyes. “Do I tell her?”
“Oh, I think he’ll have some explaining to do. Bet she’s on the phone with him right now and not real happy, either.” She stood up. “Come on. Let’s go swimming.”
“Why?”
“To wash off the stink of your ex-boyfriend polluting your mind.”
“The water’s probably about fifty-three degrees.”
“You grew up here. I’m a marine biologist. We can handle it.”
“Do you have a bathing suit?”
“No. Can I borrow one?”
“One that will fit you? No. One that maybe won’t fall off if I tie it on with string? Yes.”
Xiaowen was right. Ten minutes later, we were laughing as we made our way down the rocky shore to the edge of the cove to a rock that jutted out. The tide was in, and the water looked black and deep. “On the count of three,” she said, taking my hand. “One...two...three!”
We jumped, and the water bit us with icy teeth. I popped up immediately, my skin burning with cold. Xiaowen swam a ways out, then popped up, her dark head like a seal’s. “Holy Christmas, it’s cold without a wet suit!” she said, and I laughed. Our voices bounced against the rocks and the reddening sky. I ducked under the water again, the cold clamping my head, but it was a clean hurt, cooling off my angry heart. I was over Bobby. The fact that he was an eel...well, I knew that already. I’d just put it aside, hadn’t I?
There was Poe, standing like Lily’s ghost on the rock Xiaowen and I had just jumped off. “Nora? Are you guys swimming? Are you crazy?”
“Come on in, Poe!” I said.
“Not gonna happen,” she called.
“Don’t be a pussy!” Xiaowen yelled, though her teeth were starting to chatter.
I swam to the edge and climbed out carefully, not wanting to slip and end up in the hospital for the third time in a year.
Poe reached down and helped me up. “You’re freezing!” she said.
“Give Auntie Nora a hug,” I said, wrapping my arms around her. She shrieked and pulled away.
She was wearing shorts and a tank top and little flip-flops. “Come on in, chickadee,” I said. “The water’s beautiful. I’m a doctor. I won’t let you die.”
“Super reassuring.”
“Come on. Live a little.”
She looked at me for a second. “That’s what my mom says.”
It was the first time she’d mentioned my sister without my prodding. She took her phone out of her pocket and set it down.
“Count of three,” I said, echoing Xiaowen, and we jumped, holding hands. My niece clutched me tight when we surfaced. “Holy crap, that’s cold!” she said, then pushed my head underwater. I tickled her and popped up, completely numb now. Poe’s smeared eyeliner made her look like a ghoul, but she was laughing.
The sound hugged my heart, and I seized the moment and smooched her on the cheek, then dunked her. Xiaowen swam over, and the three of us laughed and splashed and shivered and laughed some more.
It was almost completely dark when we got out, shaking with cold.
“Hot showers and food at my place,” I said. “And you can both sleep over. In fact, I insist.”
“Like I was going back to Cape Elizabeth soaking wet,” Xiaowen said, linking her arm through mine.
“I’ll call Gran,” Poe said. “She probably could use the alone time after giving out all those hugs.”
Just as we got onto the dock, something made me glance into the woods.
There among the dark of the pines, a tiny dot of orange glowed as Luke Fletcher took a drag on his cigarette.
If he thought he was scaring me, he was wrong.
“Go home, Luke!” I yelled. “And get a life, how about that?”
But the orange glow stayed put.
22
Dear Lily,
You’d be surprised how cute Scupper has become. I can’t wait to see you in August. Mom and Poe are doing great. Poe really likes my dog, too. I bet you will, too. He’s a sweetheart.
Love,
Nora
* * *
I went to work the next day with a happy heart, thanks to Xiaowen and Poe and the frigid, cleansing Maine water. Yes, I was still furious with Bobby—or Robert. He’d be getting a phone call from me once I cooled down a little. And I would also be taking Boomer back forevermore. Fuck that joint custody shit, yo.