Page 24 of Ebbing Tides

I pulled in a deep breath and shook my head. “Just … don't ask,” I muttered, grabbing my jacket from the newel post.

“You got it, Serg.”

The nickname made me smile for a quick second. If you spent enough time with someone, the lines between your habits and theirs were bound to blur, and that was exactly what had happened with my sister and Sid. I couldn't even pinpoint when she'd begun to use that name, which was more a term of endearment at this point than anything else, but I liked it. And it made me miss my friend.

“How's Sid doing?” I asked, pulling my jacket on.

“Good,” she said. “He misses you.”

“I miss him too,” I admitted, sighing like a forlorn lover. “Things have just been …” I released a disgruntled huff thatshould've left me blushing with shame, but I didn't have it in me. Not after what Dad had said about my dog minutes ago.

“I know,” Grace replied. “But, you know, it's never a problem if you're like,Hey, come sit with Dad for a little while so I can go on a date with your husband. Whenever you want, just call me.”

“I'd never hear the end of it from him,” I muttered, rolling my eyes toward the hallway.

“He isn't your warden or something.”

I barked a harsh chuckle. “Yeah, sure. But anyway, um”—I patted myself down, in search of my keys, finding them quickly in my jacket pocket—“I left all the instructions in Dad's room. Everything's written down. Marcella should be here for another hour or so. You should be good to leave around—”

“Max,” Grace said gently, laying her hands against either side of my chest, “go. We're fine.”

I looked down at her, biting the inside of my cheek as my mind traveled back in time to a moment thirty years ago, when I had been eighteen and she was fourteen and she was begging, begging,beggingme not to leave. And I knew then that it was only for her benefit—hers and Lucy's. We were all scared of what would happen if I left them here alone with him … but somehow, it was fine. Possibly the best thing that man had ever done was keep his promise to me that my sisters would be safe. And now, thirty years later, she was telling me to go. For me.

I exhaled and nodded. “All right. Call me if—”

“I know,” she said. “Get out of here. Have fun.”

With a smile, I turned, grateful Anna was here to keep Lido occupied so he wouldn't notice me leaving. I opened the door to leave when Grace grabbed my attention once more.

“Hey.”

Looking over my shoulder, I asked, “Yeah?”

She eyed me with a narrowed gaze that was all too knowing before she asked, “What's her name?”

My heart stumbled over a beat as I swallowed, and with a trepidatious breath, I said, “Melanie.”

Grace bit her lips, and I swore I thought her eyes might've welled up with tears. But she quickly looked away and nodded as she let herself smile. Then she turned and wandered off in the direction of our father's room, and I closed the door behind me.

***

Rolling up to Charlie's cottage on the hill reminded me that I had never once done this. Picked up a girl—or, in this case, woman—from her house, where her nosy family was watching and speculating. Questioning me, judging my every move. I guessed I'd been spared in that regard, except I was clueless now, climbing out of my truck and walking up the hill.

Should I have brought flowers?

Should I have dressed nicer?

Hell, I still couldn't discern whether this was even a date or not, but the more I asked myself that particular question, the more I realized Iwantedit to be. And, Lord, I missed Laura, but missing her,grievingher, wouldn't bring her back.

I'd spent nearly ten years driving that terrible fucking truth through my thick skull.

She wasn't coming back … but I was still here.

And the fact that Melanie—theMelanie who had starred in so many of my dreams—was back in my life couldn't be explained as anything less than a miracle.

It means something, I had told myself on the ride over.It has to mean something.

But despite the hesitant eagerness to find out what that was, I still couldn't muster the courage to knock on Charlie's fucking door.