Sabin wrinkles his forehead. “What job?”
“Come work with me at the park. They need someone to help out in building maintenance.”
“Oh God, you’re fucking kidding, right? I’d rather get chewed up by a local grizzly than clean toilets.”
Chris sighs. “It’s not cleaning toilets, Sabin. You know, you’ve been doing all sorts of work on this house, and you’d be great at overseeing park properties. It’s a job, and it pays. I thought maybe you’d be ready for that. You know, have some structure to your day.”
“Well, here’s the thing,” Sabin says with a smile. “First off, I’d like to congratulate you both on your attempt at acting like parents. Really, nicely done. But the good thing here is that none of us have parents, right? They’re all dead and gone, so we have no one to answer to. So, you know, yay for us.”
I can feel Chris tensing behind me.
“What the fuck, Sabin?” he says.
“Well, it’s true, right? It’s not exactly a secret. I’m not trying to be an asshole, but let’s call a spade a spade. You don’t have to feel any obligation to watch over me. I’m twenty-three, so I’m a big boy now. Really.” His face softens, and he looks apologetically at both of us. “Okay, sorry, sorry. That was shitty of me. I’m…okay, I’m going to tell you something, and I don’t want you to freak out or make a big deal of it. I actually wasn’t going to tell you until tomorrow.”
My stomach tightens because he’s acting strange, and I don’t think he’s about to deliver whoppingly wonderful news.
He rubs his legs and looks to the side.
“Sabe, what is it?” I ask.
Sabin stands up and looks out at the moonlit water. I slide my hands into Christopher’s as we wait.
Eventually, Sabin turns around and flashes us his best smile. “I’m going to San Diego tomorrow,” he announces with contained excitement.
“Okay…” I start. “For a trip? A vacation?”
He shakes his head, and his eyes crinkle sweetly when he looks at me. “No, love.”
I freeze and continue to stare at him with confusion. My heart sinks as I begin to understand. “You’re moving there?”
He nods.
“Why…across the country? I mean…” I don’t know what to say to him.
Chris squeezes my hands. “When did you decide this?”
“A while ago. Earlier this summer.” He paces, seemingly energized by having finally told us. “You guys! California! Sunshine and beaches! Look, I can’t stay in this tiny Maine town. You know how it’ll be in the winter—cold, miserable, no hot tourists. San Diego is going to be amazing!” He does some kind of crazy spin and cannot stop smiling.
“Do you have a place to live? A job? This doesn’t make any sense.” I’m not happy in the least.
“Ah, B, where’s your sense of adventure? I don’t want plans. I’m going to set off and see what happens. I always land on my feet. Don’t you know that? I’ll find an awesome apartment, maybe on the beach. I’ll get a job collecting seashells or something.”
“That’s not a job,” I say with more annoyance than I intended.
He faces us and tries to look reassuring. “I’m notreallygoing to collect seashells. I will get a real job. It’s a great big city full of opportunities for a creative soul like me.” Sabin throws his arms out and beams. “I could go windsurfing! Or become a chef! Or discover a new fish! Or…anything! Right? Come on, please be on board with this. Oh! Boards. I could get a surfboard, dude! I don’t belong in Maine. You know that.”
I’m about to explode with a list of reasons this is an idiotic, half-assed idea, but Chris begins softly moving his hands up and down my arms, soothing me and letting me know that exploding is not a good idea. He’s right, I know that, and Sabin has quite clearly made up his mind.
“If this is what you want,” Chris says, “if this makes you happy, then I’m really glad. You do know that you can stay with us for as long as you want though, right? This is your home, too.”
He dismissively waves a hand. “Look, you guys have been great, but it’s time. I gotta go.”
“Why didn’t you tell us earlier?” There is panic in my voice. “You’re just taking off tomorrow with no warning?”
Now, he kneels down next to the lounge chair. “If I’d told you, you would have thrown some outrageous going-away party with strippers and a live band and a pig roast. I know how you are.” He throws a hand to his chest and speaks with such animation that I can’t help but crack a smile, “I couldn’t let you nutjobs make such a fuss over little ole me, now could I? And there would have been endless days of clutching and sobbing and prolonged pleading. It would have ruined the summer.”
Chris laughs. “Man, we’re going to miss you, but this could actually be a really cool idea. Fresh start, a chance to sort of carve your own path.” I feel him shrug. “I think it’s brave.”
