Page 43 of Wayward (Wrecked #4)

Mother Harbor

Zane

“ T hat’s the pitch I played on growing up.” I point out the window, and Haley leans over my lap. There’s a group of lads kicking a ball around, and it reminds me of me and my mates as a kid. The rain has cleared, and the grass glows an iridescent, electric green.

“It’s so lovely. Just what I imagined. Bet it feels good to be home?” Haley squeezes my hand.

And I laugh, because there were a damn lot of nights I thought about this moment.

Seeing my old neighborhood. Being on these streets.

“This isn’t home to me anymore, Little Bird.

It’s special; don’t get me wrong. I’m thrilled to be seeing my sister and mum soon.

I might jump out of the car before we park.

But this isn’t home. You’re home, and I don’t care if I sound like a proper headcase. It’s sappy, but it’s true. I love you.”

The car stops at the building next to my mum’s, like I asked it to.

“I love you too. Now let’s go meet your mother and Ruby.” Haley has her hand on the door handle, but Sam’s already out and on the sidewalk, Penny beside him.

“Haley,” Sam says, taking her hand in one of his own, Penny’s leash in the other.

I tumble out after her. Easton and Calvin somehow got stuck in the rear.

Calvin’s holding on to a crate containing a piss-angry Pepper.

The lot of them head up what I’ve always thought of as my street.

I’m a few steps behind them, watching the chaos I’ve learned to love walk away from me.

Haley stops short. “Zane, you coming? Is everything okay?”

“Everything is more than okay,” I say, catching up to them. There’s a short ball of energy running from the lobby of the building. “Ruby.” I catch my sister and pull her into a giant hug.

She lets go of me and playfully smacks the top of my head. “Did you get taller? I can’t believe you’re here. It’s like a dream. A dream I never want to wake up from.” Ruby’s hazel eyes blink up at mine. She looks so much like Mum. She pinches me.

“Ow.” I hold the side of my arm even though it didn’t hurt. “Mum home?”

“Is Mum home? Are you having a laugh? She hasn’t left home since you said you were coming. She’s been crying and cooking. Well, not at the same time.” Ruby waves back at Haley. “The food’s not contaminated with tears or anything.”

“I’ve cried in more than one sauce.” Dante holds out his hand, and Ruby shakes it.

We do a quick round of introductions, and then we’re up the three flights to my childhood flat.

The place where I had the last dinner with my nan and my dad.

Where I told my mum I was going to go work on yachts instead of going to uni.

And it will be the place where I tell her how important Haley is to me.

How she’s my girl. Things might not look like she’d imagined them.

But I’m . . . I’m not afraid she’s going to reject me, Haley, or the guys because of how things are.

“They’re here,” Ruby sings as she opens the door for the group of us to enter.

“My boy.” My mum tackles me, and I stumble back into Calvin who, along with Pepper’s crate, holds us up. “Sorry, sorry. I’m more than a bit excited.”

“And well so,” Calvin says and shakes my mum’s hand.

She pulls him into a hug with a lot of force, and when she’s gone through everyone, she pushes us into the lounge and makes us sit. It’s weird but wonderful to watch my worlds clashing together.

“Lunch will be ready soon. Sit and take a load off. I don’t need help, so don’t any of you ask.

” She picks a spoon up off the counter and waves it at us.

She’s never hit me with a spoon, but she did tell me the stories of how her mother used to smack her with one.

I’m on the sofa with Haley at my side, the other guys peppered around the small room.

“I tried to tell her she didn’t have to cook, that we could go out for curry, but you know Mum.

” Ruby’s sitting on the arm of the sofa, and her eyes skip over everyone.

Clever has nothing on my sister. She’s figuring things out.

She jumps up. “You need to see Zane’s room.

It’s like a flipping museum. I mean . . .

I’m glad we left it alone now.” Ruby pinches my arm, and this time I don’t react.

She’ll keep the pinch-me game going if I do.

“Your sister wants to make it into a Taylor Swift room. No respect,” Mum yells from the kitchen.

“No, I don’t,” Ruby hollers back and grabs Haley’s hand and pulls her down the hallway. “Really, I wouldn’t have done it. I missed him tons. Just don’t tell him,” she says to Haley, loud enough for the entire flat to hear.

“Stay put.” I point at the guys.

“No way in hell. I want to see what a young Zane’s room looks like.

” Dante laughs and is up after us with the other guys trailing.

The only saving grace is that there’s not enough space for Easton, Sam, and Calvin to fit into my room.

It’s just wide enough for a single bed, my old school desk, and a dresser.

Damn, the walls are still covered with the posters from my cringe GCSE era. One wall’s got footie flags from school tournaments, a signed Villa kit, and a dozen posters of Lamborghinis. We’re good as long as Ruby doesn’t close the door—which is why I’m leaning up against it.

“This is exactly how I pictured it.” Haley squeezes my hand.

“Are you two an item, then?” Ruby asks, sitting on the side of my bed.

“Yes,” Haley says.

“Oh.” Ruby looks out the door to Calvin.

When we walked up to the flat, Haley gave Calvin a kiss on his cheek.

Which is totally fine. It’s not like I’m not going to tell my mum and sister that I’m not in a traditional relationship.

There’s been nothing traditional about the way I’ve lived for the last year.

Except maybe there has been. Not having a phone, very little electricity, and nothing from the outside world to bother us. Maybe people would be a lot kinder to each other if they were allowed to find their own way instead of following what society tells us is normal.

“Ruby, we’re all dating Haley.” I thought there might be an easier way of telling her. Easing her into the idea. But I don’t have time. We’re taking off tomorrow morning for Miami. And telling them over the phone or in an email? That’s not the way my family does things.

“Whoa, that’s . . . You’re okay with that?” Ruby asks.

“Yes.” I stand, and the door bounces behind me.

“I wasn’t asking you. I was asking Haley.

You’ve always been a little off.” Ruby turns to Haley.

“And by off, I mean . . . I mean that in a good way. Zane doesn’t give a monkey’s arse what people think of him.

But when that bully took the piss out of me in my year nine, Zane absolutely flattened him.

He’s protective, proper loyal to the ones he loves.

So yeah, you picked a good one. Well—at least one good one. ”

“They’re all good ones.”

“I was going to make you look at the poster behind the door, but that’s nothing on what . . . Sorry, it’s going to take me a minute to . . . Bloody hell. All of them?”

“No worries. I completely understand. It took me more than a minute to realize what was happening and to be okay with it,” Haley says.

“Ruby, let me tell Mum.”

“Can I be there when you do it?”

“No,” I say.

“I had to try. It’s going to be epic.”

Sam leans into the room. “I don’t know, Ruby. I think your mom loves Zane an awful lot and she’ll be able to see that he’s happy.”

“Oh yeah, but that doesn’t mean she’s not going to do a bunch of yelling first—and go a little mental.

And the golden child here never gets yelled at.

So you can’t blame me for trying. I’ve got some bits and bobs in the lounge.

You know Mum, when she says lunch is almost ready, that means anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour.

” Ruby bounds out of the room down the hall, but Dante has to go and move the door, revealing the Miss December poster from ten years ago.

Damn, I never realized how much she looks like Haley.

If Haley had on a fuzzy white negligee and a Santa hat.

“I know what I’m going to buy you when we get to Miami. I guess Zane here has a type,” Dante says, and he pinches my arm. “Can I be there when you tell your mom?”

“No!” Haley and I say together.

I’m sitting next to Haley again on the sofa my dad used to watch the telly on after a long shift.

It’s weird. There’s a vibration going on around the room.

It’s like my dad is here with me. I miss him so much.

He taught me everything. My rules started with him.

And now I can hear him say, Trust your gut.

When you find the right girl, you will know.

It won’t matter who she is, what she looks like, or what she does.

If she treats you with kindness, respect, and love, you’ll know she’s the one.

Trust myself—rule . . . I don’t need the rules anymore.

I’ve got my family, and that’s everything.

“How are your classes going?” Haley asks before taking a cracker with pub cheese on it.

“Good,” Ruby says, without any further explanation, which means they’re far from good.

“Really?” I ask.

“Yes, really. I could bore you with the strategic management goals and consumer behavior in a bullish market. But I’m not going to.” Her eyes go wide, and she cocks her head to the side.

“I don’t know, it sounds interesting,” Easton says, taking a cracker.

“It’s not. Well, it is to me, but not to the average bloke. You’re not eating crackers?” Ruby glares at me.

I shake my head. “The entire time on the island, my stomach didn’t hurt. But the second they started feeding us sandwiches on the ship that found us, my gut wanted to crawl out of my body. When we get a quiet moment, I’m going to pop in at the GP.”

“Oh, cousin Abby has Celiac, found out about it a few months after you went missing.”

I nod. “I’ve already figured out that I might have it.”

“What?” Haley takes my hand.

“There’s plenty of options now for gluten intolerance. I’ll be able to handle that with no problem.”

“Are you all going to work together again on another yacht?” Ruby glances toward the kitchen. She said it a lot louder than I wish she had. It’s not a large flat. Big enough, but not a mansion for sure. And now Mum’s in the room, standing on the middle of the rug.

“You’re doing what? You just got back here, and now you’re going to go back on a yacht? We don’t need your money, Zane. We need you.” She points a large wooden spoon at me.

I was so concerned about telling her about Haley and the guys that I didn’t think about how she was going to take me going to live in Miami. “I need you too, Mum. And I’m not going to go straight back to working on a yacht. I’m going to go back to the States with Haley and the guys.”

“Are you now?” My mum’s five-foot-four stature feels Viking-sized right now. Penny gets up from in front of the sofa and heads over to Mum. Penny puts her head on Mum’s feet and gazes up. “No fair using the cute dog to win me over.” Mom scratches Penny’s ears with her free hand.

“I am. But I’ll be back for visits.”

“Will you now?” Mom diverts her attention from Penny. She’s asking a question, but it’s not a question. It’s a heavy layer of guilt.

“I can’t imagine what this year was like for you and Ruby. After what happened to Dad. I’m not going to pretend to understand. But I didn’t do it on purpose—it was a fluke. I’m not going to be in danger again. Not like that.”

“How do you know? That boat—” Mom points at Sam. “That boat was brand new, and it left you floating in a raft in the middle of nowhere.”

“It’s not that simple, Mum.” I stand and walk over to her.

First, I remove the wooden spoon from her hand.

It’s a quick reach back into the kitchen to place it on the counter.

I look down and then back up at her. I don’t want to tell her this because I don’t know that it’s completely true myself.

But it’s the only thing that will make her happy.

And perhaps it’s taking the easy way out of softening the blow of the other two things. “I’m going to go to school.”

There’s a gasp from Haley behind me.

“Really? What for?” My mum stands firm, but there’s a twinkle in her eyes. Really, I’d expected her to jump.

“Architecture. Eventually, I think. Maybe not right away. I’m going to do some undergrad online first.”

“Is this true?” Mom asks Haley—not me.

“I . . . If Zane says it’s true, it’s true.” Haley nods. I hate that I’ve blindsided her too.

Mum clings to me in a long hug. Her eyes are sparkling with tears when she pulls back.

“You’re good for him. All of you.” She picks the spoon back up and points to Haley and the guys.

“I listened in on what you told Ruby in your room through the vent.” She shrugs.

“You do what you want. Just be happy and alive. And with a degree? Yes, your dad would be so proud. Me too.”

“He doesn’t have it yet,” Ruby says.

“But he will. Just like you.” Mom pulls Ruby to one side, and I, unfortunately, get the other—the one with the spoon, but it doesn’t stay there for long. Penny jumps and takes it from her hand. A tinge of smoke comes from the kitchen.

“Oh, no.” My mum runs to the stove.

“Let’s go get that curry now,” Ruby says as Mum turns the cooktop off.