Page 86 of A Real Goode Time

Rhys took the wheel in Ketchikan which was, easily, the most breathtakingly beautiful place I’d ever seen. I plugged Mom’s address into his phone and we ended up at a condo complex outside the downtown area of Ketchikan.

Rhys pulled into a parking spot outside the building, put the Jeep into neutral and set the parking brake. He shut off the motor. It ticked as it cooled, and the sudden silence was, somehow, deafening and oddly final.

“Well.” Rhys rubbed the back of his head. “Here you are.”

“Hereweare,” I said. “That was quite a taxi ride,” I joked. “I can’t believe you’ve driven me all the way to Alaska. Well, shall we go in and meet my family?”

“Okay.”

“I’m just going to introduce you as Rhys. No commentary on the status or non-status of whatever we are or aren’t. But be prepared, Lexie will corner you, or me, or both of us, for sure, and ask prying, personal, inappropriate questions.”

He nodded. “I’d expect nothing less, after our talk on the phone.”

I let out a breath. “Okay, let’s go in.”

I grabbed my backpack and stepped out of the Jeep, and felt oddly sad that the road trip was actually, finally over.

I went to the door, pressed the button markedO. Goode.It buzzed.

A silence.

“Yes?” came Mom’s voice.

“Uh, hi, Mom. It’s Torie.”

A stunned silence. “Torie? Torie! You’re here, oh my gosh! Okay, okay, I’m coming down.”

I laughed. “Or just, you know, buzz us in and we’ll come up?”

“Us?” Another pause. “Well, I guess I’ll find out. Yes, yes, come up, Torie and unknown person.”

The door buzzed and I pulled it open. We went up and found Mom’s door, which was already open and she was standing right there.

And that was when I realized I hadn’t seen my mother in more than two years. Almost three.

I started to cry, unexpectedly.

Mom made a mom-noise, a whimper and a sigh, pulled me close and brought us into the condo. “Oh, oh, oh, come here, baby girl.”

Just like that, I was in my mom’s arms, smelling her scent, feeling her familiar arms and the enveloping comfort of her embrace.

“I guess…” I said, and then hiccupped, the sounds muffled in her shoulder. “I guess I didn’t realize how much I missed you until I got here.”

She kissed my temple, and just held me. I heard her sniffle. “Torie makes four. Just need one more, and my family is all here.” She kissed the top of my head. “You’re here, now, Tor. I’ve got you.”

The weight of being on my own suddenly felt like it had been too much, it had been much harder than I’d realized. A weight I hadn’t known I was carrying until I was back in Mom’s arms, feeling her, smelling her, hearing her. I knew, right then, that I wasn’t going anywhere. I’d made it to Ketchikan, and I wasn’t leaving.

But there was a man behind me, standing patiently, who’d gotten me here. With whom I had an unwritten story.

I pulled away from Mom. Cupped her cheek. “I’m so glad to be here. You have no idea.”

She sniffled, wiped a tear away from underneath her eyelid, with her middle finger, glancing up at the ceiling and blinking. “I do, Tor, I really, really do. Of all my daughters, I’ve worried about you the most. And now you’re here.”

I turned and gestured to Rhys. “Mom, this is Rhys Frost. We drove here together.” I found myself holding his hand, drawing him forward, not letting go. “Rhys, this is my mom, Olivia Goode.”

She shook his hand. “You can call me Liv.”

Rhys gave her that grin of his, bright, eager, warm, welcoming, charming. “It sure is a pleasure to meet you, Liv.”