“The Pacific Northwest, in Oregon.”
“Is that a different country?”
“No.There’s only one state between here and there.It’s got lots of trees, and you can see the ocean from some parts of Oregon.Have you ever seen the ocean?”
“Athena says I have ’cause we went to Florida when I was little, but I don’t ’member.But we have a big lake here, and me and my daddy go fishin’ all the time.At least when it’s not winter.”
“The Pacific Ocean is much bigger than Lee Lake,” I said, “and some of the fish you can catch are huge too.When I lived in Alaska, I worked on a fishin’ boat, and we caught a few.”
As soon as I uttered the words “fishing,” Stu froze and looked at me with wonder, but then a tirade of new questions came at me in fast succession.
“You worked on a fishin’ boat?Was it a big boat or a little one?Did you catch lobsters too?What’s the biggest fish you ever caught?Did you ever fall in the water?Did they make you wear one of those orange vests?Did you sleep on the boat?”
The screen door squeaked open and clapped closed in the kitchen, and then Abey’s voice filled the living room.“Whoa.Slow down, Stu.You’re gonna break Dixon’s brain.”
Devo, with her shrewd brown eyes and short dark hair that curved up under her ears, followed after Abey and plopped down on the couch.She held out her hand until Stu slapped her a high five.
“This is my Aunt Devo.”
“Uncle Dixon and I met the other day,” Devo said.“’Sup?”
“Hey.”
“But I would’ve known who he was even if we hadn’t met.”
“How?”Stu asked.
Devo laughed.“It’s the eyes.His look just like your—” She stopped herself before she said “like yours,” and cleared her throat softly.“His eyes look just like your grandma’s.”
I nodded, acknowledging that she’d stopped herself from inadvertently telling Stu I was his real dad.
“Sorry I haven’t been around much,” she said to me.“I’m usually at the community center every day, but I’ve been workin’ on a project in Jackson this week.We’re settin’ up another donation drop center there.”
Stu parked his truck next to the bin, and then the TV behind us playing a cartoon at a low volume drew his attention.
“But I’ll be there tomorrow.How are you likin’ it?”
Abey sat next to Devo and smiled at me as she slipped her arm behind Devo’s shoulders.
“It’s been good…”
We talked for a while.I felt a little guarded because Devo was unapologetically direct and sarcastic, but the way she looked at my sister made me like her easily.She looked at Abey the same way I’d found myself looking at AJ, stealing glances when she wasn’t aware of my stare.And the love written across Devo’s face?It was epic and whole, and it made me so happy that Abey had found the kind of love she’d been dreaming about her whole life, the kind of love Noah Lee didn’t think she deserved or would ever find.
But she had, and it was the best Fuck You to that man.For a second, I wished he was still alive so Abey could have the satisfaction of seeing the shock on his face when she leaned down to kiss her wife like she just had.
He probably would’ve choked on air and kicked the bucket all over again.
“Kids?”Merv’s voice filled the house when she arrived.Bax followed her into the living room, and Brand arrived with some kind of ambrosia salad his wife had made for us even though she had to work.And then Bea and Athena came down the stairs, talking about clothes or shoes or something.
But Athena was not the same kid I’d known when I’d beat feet out of town.She was a young woman now, tall like her dad and beautiful like her mama, Candy.
In fact, the resemblance literally took my breath away, and when Athena said my name and came at me with open arms for a hug, all I could do was stutter a quiet hello.
“Hi, Uncle Dixon.Mama would be glad you came home,” she whispered as she hugged me.“I am too.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled, reaching quickly over her shoulder to wipe a tear out of the corner of my eye.
Candy wasn’t the reason I’d become an addict, but her death was the excuse I used to flee my family and all the pain it held for me at the time.
