“I’m helping you with the shoot tomorrow, remember? We need to get onto the boat now. Jake told me I was wasting my time trying, because he had the winning entry. I need to show him different.”
This place, Hope thought looking around her,is changing me. Even considering what had just taken place with Newman and the Texan lying to Jay, she could feel the change. People were forcing her back into their lives, and she had no say in the matter. And if she was honest, she liked it. Liked being part of a community again. Yes, she was often on the perimeter, but she’d still been a part of it. People still knew her name and wanted to talk to her.
“Okay, let’s go.” If she was only here for a few more days, she’d take them. But she’d stay hidden from Jay until she did leave. No way in hell did she want that confrontation, not when she had to tell him Newman had lied.
Hope, Faith, and Mikey pored over his plans in the storeroom out the back of the Howler. The door was shut and locked from the inside, in case Noah came snooping.
“It’s coming along, don’t you think?” Faith said, looking at the structure on the work bench behind them.
“I’m just not sure about a cardboard boat?” Hope said.
“It’s been done before, Hope,” Mikey said patiently. “I’ve been on YouTube and watched clips, that’s where I got the plans.”
“I feel so old about now.” Faith sighed.
“So I’m guessing it’s all about the glue and the plastic liner, Mikey?” Hope moved closer to look at the plans. She was good at this kind of thing. Her brain liked a logical process to follow, and she worked well when she had direction.
“It is, and the race is in a month, so we have heaps of time to get this done. But I’d like a test run first. It will only hold two of us.”
“I’m not good on the water, so I’ll be the cheering squad,” Faith said.
“But I’m not sure how long I’m hanging around either, so let’s make that decision when and if I leave?”
Mikey and Faith nodded.
They worked steadily for two hours. Hope tried not to think about Jay, and what he now believed and likely had told the other members of Wildlife. She even laughed and lost herself in the moment, even if only briefly.
When Mikey’s phone rang, they were eating cake that Faith had brought in, along with glasses of juice.
“Is she okay?”
The serious tone of Mikey’s voice told Hope the call was not a friendly one. The boy had stopped slouching and was standing upright, shoulders rigid, jaw clenched.
“B-but, Connor, is she… I c-can’t say it.”
Faith and Hope moved closer.
“Okay, I’m coming. Did you call Jake?”
Mikey looked gray as he pocketed his phone.
“Connor found my nana on the floor. Sh-she’s—”
“Let’s go.” Hope took his arm. “I’ll let you know what’s happening, Faith. Call Branna and send her there.”
“Okay.” Faith hugged the boy.
Mikey gripped her hand as they sprinted out of the Howler and along the main street. She didn’t know what to say to him, so she simply held his hand tight in hers. Fear radiated from the boy and her heart ached for him.
“Hope?”
Newman was suddenly running beside them.
“M-Mikey’s n-nana. Sick,” she managed to wheeze.
He didn’t say anything, just moved to the other side of Mikey and kept pace with them.
Mikey’s house was in the same street as hers. At the end, it was small, also like hers, and in need of a paint. But for all that, the garden was weeded and it looked clean. The front door was open. Mikey sprinted through it with Newman and Hope on his heels. They found Dr. Jake McBride inside.
