“Me?” I stood and closed the knife, then threw it on the chair next to Rafe’s phone. “I don’t know why you assume it was my fault.”
“You’re sayinghedumpedyou?”
“I’m saying it was inevitable. He’s leaving Whispering Key, remember?He’s got a whole big fucking life to get back to. You know how this song goes better than anyone.”
Of all the people in the world, or at least on this island, Rafe should get just how hard it sucked when someone you cared about left you behind.
“I see,” Rafe said, nodding solemnly. “You see some similarities between me and Aimee, and you and Mason?”
I shrugged. “Somewhat.”
“Ah, Fenn.” Rafe clapped me on the shoulder as he headed out of the cockpit. “You’re such a fucking idiot.”
Wait, what?
“Uh, no, asshole.” I chased him out onto the rear deck. “I’m beingsmart.”
Rafe laughed out loud and headed to check the slip line tied to the cleat closest to the dock. “Are you, sad panda? Doesn’t look like it. You’re being a little bitch, and I have no sympathy for you.”
“Fuckyou. I’m trying to have the courage to make the hard decisionsnowbefore Mason ties himself here and gets miserable. Maybe then I won’t end up likeyoudid, all mopey and gross.”
Rafe spun to face me. “Yeah, well, Iearnedthe right to be mopey and gross! Aimee left despiteallmy best efforts to keep her here. She blew off the key in the middle of the night and left me a goddamn letter, and Istillwent after her. I hired a private investigator. Jayd almost took out a restraining order against me because I beat his ass. Remember allthat?”
I ground my molars together.
“Meanwhileyouare all, ‘Boo hoo! I cannot allow my beloved to stay here and live perfectly happily forever under the weight of my love! I must let him go, because I’m so fucking wise that I know what’s best for both of us, even though I can’t find my own ass with two hands and a headlamp!”
“Who said I loved him?” I demanded. “I didn’t saylove.”
“You didn’t have to. It’s as obvious as the clouds on the horizon.” He pointed southwest, toward the roiling gray mass heading in our direction. “Stop being a baby and go tell him you lurve him. If you keep taking my insults, I’m gonna have to start dishing them out to Beale instead of you, and then no one will be happy.”
“Why thehellwould I tell Mason how I feel?God. How long’s he gonna be happy here, Rafe? How long ’til he realizes he can do more and be more? Until he decides he doesn’t wanna be tied to a half-assed, grumpy tour boat operator?”
“How long untilyoudo?”
“What?”
“Fenn, you’ve been mostly miserable here for years. And you know what? I understood that, more or less. You had a shit hand dealt you in Texas.Thatwas like me and Aimee. You tried your best, and it ended anyway. Now, since you hooked up with Mason, you’ve come alive again. Yousmile. I mean, not at me, thank fuck, but at other people who actually like that stupid mug of yours.” He grabbed my chin, holding me immobile, and gave me two insolent cheek pats before laughing and twisting out of my reach. “You’ve got Dad ready to doliterallyanything you asked of him that he’s capable of doing. You have a guy who cares about you, and you’re pushing him away. I dunno, man. I think this—” He waved a hand from my head to my feet. “—is onyou.”
“Oh my God.” I widened my eyes. “What is life like in your reality?” I wrapped my arms around him tight. “Please, Rafe, take me back to Narnia with you when you go!”
Rafe drove an elbow into my stomach, sending me back a pace. “I’m serious.”
“You’redelirious. Your dad is willing to do anything for me? Ha!”
“Did you ever notice you and my dad have these conversations that are in mirror writing? He writes the message left to right, you read it right to left? Every damn time.” He broke off with a shake of his head. “Anyway, trust me when I tell you, he wants you to be happy, and to stop living half a life.”
“No. No, you’re—”
“I know this because hetold me so. In those words.” Rafe pursed his lips. “The man is an asshole, a liar, and a manipulator. Half the time, Fenn, I don’t even know if I love him or I hate him, because he neverthinksand he never fuckinglistens. But… I don’t doubt that he cares. He’s just very,verywrong in the ways he shows that.”
Rafe madezero sense. “Your dad calls meMary’s nephew, Rafe. Not evenhis ownnephew, mind you.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m…”
Rafe’s entire face cracked into a wild grin, the kind I rarely saw on him anymore and realized I’dmissed. “Fenn. What’s the name of this boat?”
“What?”
“The boat.” He shimmied side to side. “This piece of shit flotation device we’re standing on, which also happens to be the most expensive thing my dad owns, and the source of his livelihood. His life’s work, Fenn.What. Is. It. Called?”
