“That’s one word for it,” I said.
As soon as she could, Gordon hopped out as well, running over to give me a hug. I could feel her glasses poking my stomach.
“Hey,” I said, smoothing a hand over her head. “How are you?”
“Good,” she replied, into my shirt. “When are you coming back to Mimi’s?”
This I didn’t answer, although I saw Tracy heard it as well. Bailey, having tied up her own boat, now joined us. “What happened out there?”
“Combination of factors,” Tracy told her. “You are a godsend, by the way. I’m Tracy.”
“My stepmother,” I said to Bailey. “Tracy, this is Bailey. And that’s my dad.”
“Hi,” Bailey called out.
My dad lifted a hand in a wave, nodding at her. He looked sheepish, almost embarrassed, and I found myself both angry and sorry for him at the same time. God, I hated sailing.
“So,” Bailey said as Tracy went over to join my dad. “Now you have to go to that party with me, right?”
“Because you gave us a tow?”
“Because Isavedyou. You owe me your life now.” I just looked at her. “What? That’s how this works!”
“I subscribe to none of these boat rules,” I told her. “That said, I do thank you for the help. But I’d say that we’reactually even. You owed me, and now you paid up.”
“I owed you? How do you figure?”
“Because you didn’t even care I was leaving!” I said. “It was all about Colin this, and Colin that, and how you could use me to get to him. You didn’t even say goodbye.”
“You snuck out before the sun was even up!”
“Not true,” I said flatly, and she sighed, rolling her eyes. “You could have found me. We’re supposed to be friends.”
“No,” she said. “We’re cousins.”
Now I was exasperated. “That’s different?”
“Of course it is!” She pushed her hair back from her face. “Look, Saylor. The first time we met, neither of us remembered. The second, you were about to get your ass kicked. We never had formalities, you and I. We’re blood. It’s messy. But we don’t need goodbyes, because we’re going to be stuck with each other forever. That’s what family is.”
This made me well up. And when I spoke, I actually started to cry.
“You hurt my feelings,” I said, my voice breaking.
“I’m sorry.” She bit her lip, then tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, lowering her voice. “Look, I know I’ve been stupid and crazy. I’m lucky that you’ve stuck with me. But you just don’t understand what it’s like to be really into someone so much that you make terrible choices. It’s like... beyond my control, or something.”
“He’s going to hurt you again,” I told her as my dad chucked the bailer into the cargo hold and hoisted himself onto the raft.
“Maybe,” she said. “But this time, I’ll only have myself to blame.”
This was not altogether encouraging. I mean, why go into anything if you think there’s a decent chance you’ll get your heart broken? You don’t risk what you don’t want to, I supposed. Not that I could get into it, as my dad and Tracy were now joining us. She had the picnic basket over her arm.
“Who’s hungry?” she asked.
“Me!” Gordon said. When Bailey shot her a look, she added, “I mean, only a little.”
“You can have whatever you want from here,” Tracy said, putting the basket down and opening it. “It’s the least we can do since you saved us.”
“We weren’t in danger,” my dad said. “It was just a little water.”
