Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 73817 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73817 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Sean glances down at the floor, looking as if he’s still trying to put all the pieces together. My entourage of staff and friends remain as silent audience members at the edges of their seats. And I …
I’m not sure what I’m feeling right now.
“Let’s face it,” Drake goes on. “We’re all stuck. I can’t move on until I make it right somehow between us. You haven’t moved on because you’re still wounded from what I did and never got the answers you deserved. And this guy right here?” He throws a thumb over his shoulder at Sean, who looks up. “He just talked back to a crazy-eyed druggie who wanted to rob you in your sleep, Coop. Sean stood up for you. He defended your honor like a fucking knight.” Drake laughs and shakes his head as he gives Sean a once-over. “But he’s stuck, too. And he needs your help, Coop. Please let me do this for you guys. Let me do this one good thing. I know it doesn’t make up for all of the bad, but it’s obvious from the way you look at each other that it isn’t Sean’s time to leave this island, and it isn’t your time to let him go. Please. Fight for each other.”
I gaze at Sean, lost in his heavy, emotional eyes. “You were really about to leave Dreamwood?”
Sean’s voice is so small when he answers. “I … I don’t know what I was going to do.”
“You said you were just going for a walk.”
“I was. Then I just … kept walking.” He peers down at his shoes.
“Is it because of me? Something I did or said?”
“No.”
“Was it that Pearl lady?”
“Not completely.”
“And who’s this druggie? Has he been giving you a hard time? I said I can protect you, Sean. Whoever it is.”
“You don’t have to worry about him. He’s gone.” Sean glances at Drake. “Your ex pretended his dad was the chief of police and scared him straight off the island.”
I give Drake a questioning look.
Drake shrugs. “Either the guy was gullible, or I’m just a skilled liar.”
“You’re a skilled liar,” I say, solving the mystery for him. After he frowns, I turn back to Sean. “Please tell me what’s going on then, if it’s not any of those things.”
“I know you want to help me,” murmurs Sean, bowing his head. “You care about me. You’d fight for me. But …” He sighs. “You can’t fix what’s wrong with me. Sorry,” he says to Drake suddenly. “I don’t know what you expected, bringing me here, but it doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t fix who I am. I … I don’t …” He faces me again. I watch him fight back tears. “I don’t belong here, Coop.”
“You fucking kidding me?” cries out Mars.
Everyone turns.
She hops onto the counter and swings her legs over. “I, for one, would like to argue the point that this place is the only place you belong. I like the guys here, don’t get me wrong. Skipper and his friends can be fun when they’re not stoned. Toby and Vann, they’re sweet or whatever. Chase is a ditz. But I was bored outta my mind in this little town until you walked through those doors, my Seany-boy.” She spreads her hands. “You belong here. With us.”
“I second that,” says Chase, “except for the ditz part.”
“Yeah, you’re pretty damned alright,” says Adrian.
“We’re all your family,” Mars goes on. “That should go without saying, damn it. And we got your back, Sean. Your whole back. Every inch of it, too. Even the parts you don’t like.”
Sean glances at each of them. His eyes remain stony and unsure.
I’m not sure whether this is the way to convince him.
It’s like a group attack. All of us, aggressively insisting on what’s best for him. Telling him what the right choice is. Shoving our love in his face—even if that love is real.
He’s the one who truly needs to decide.
I come up to him without saying anything. He turns to me with his lost eyes, doggy-paddling to mine through a pool of uncertainty and doubt.
I extend my hand. “Can I show you something?”
He drops his gaze to it. I think he’s still fighting back tears. After a long moment, he finally takes my hand. With his hand in mine, I lead him to the door, then leave behind the Easy Breezy and everyone there.
Alone, across a beach without a soul on it, I walk with him to the nearby Quicksilver Strand. We walk in silence, only the breeze from the Gulf in our ears. Our footsteps are soft in the part-dirt, part-sand path we walk. Once we reach the smooth planks of the boardwalk, our footsteps seem to mimic our hearts with their gentle, patient cadence. Most of the Quicksilver shops and restaurants are closed, just a few workers still in the midst of their closing duties.