Page 113 of Should Our Hearts Catch Fire

Gabriel’s brows shoot up. “You did? Oh, I always wanted to go!”

“If you’d like, we can still go. I’ll grab another one for your mum and we can spend the day just driving around, trying to spot dolphins and whales. I don’t think we’ll see any turtles, it’s not their season, but…it could be nice.” He blushes, realizing he sounds like a businessman giving a (very weak) sales pitch.

“That’d be fucking amazing!” Gabriel does a little excited jump. “But are you sure you can handle my mum for a whole day?”

Ellis shrugs. “If it gets too much we can just leave her in the middle of the wilderness and drive away.”

“She’d find us.”

“What are you two gossiping about?” Carrie slides in next to them, hands propped on her hips.

“Leaving you in the wilderness and running away,” Gabriel says, making Ellis sputter.

“Pfft. As if that would stop me.”

Gabriel throws Ellis a meaningful look as if to say:See?!

Seriously. This family…

“Carrie? Would you be up for a day trip to Stradbroke Island?” Ellis asks.

“Stradbroke…is that nearby?”

“Yeah. We’d need to go to Cleveland, about an hour’s drive from here. Then it’s just 45 minutes on the ferry.”

“Oh, I like that. Let’s do it!” She claps her hands together, doing the exact same little jump that Gabriel had.

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow, then. I made a booking for ten, so I’ll pick you up around 8:30?”

Carrie does a double-take. “You’re not spending today with us?”

“Well…”

“Gee, Mum, let him breathe, will you?” Gabriel jumps to the rescue. “He needs to mentally prepare for tomorrow.” For someone with a sweet tooth, he sure doesn’t sugarcoat things.

Feeling guilty, Ellis says, “I’m sure you want to enjoy some family time.”

“Didn’t you want to visit Ash too, Mum?” Gabriel chips in.

Carrie still looks disappointed, but relents, though not before turning her puppy eyes on Ellis. “At least have lunch with us.”

Ellis looks at Gabriel, who shrugs and mouths, “Up to you.”

“Sure, lunch sounds good.”

How bad could it be?

Ellis’ social battery is down to nearly zero when he’s driving them away from the restaurant. Carrie didn’t relent until she’d pulled out every single fractal of information from him, starting with his fucked up family history, to who was his favorite teacher in the fifth grade. Not even Gabriel was able to save him from the ambush.

“Do you want to drop off your suitcase before you go see Ash?” Ellis offers. He already promised to drive them to Ash’s place, so a small detour makes no difference.

“Oh, yes please!” Carrie agrees. “Such a small thing, but it’s fucking heavy.”

“That’s because you pack for a month instead of a weekend,” Gabriel points out.

“Hush. We women need to be prepared for any situation.”

“What situation? World War III?”