“I’m in,” Kat answered surprisingly quickly. They all looked to her for further explanation, but she didn’t elaborate on her enthusiasm.
“We’re all in,” Wind announced for the group.
Although the sadness remained in her peripheral vision, in that moment she was focused on the uplifting feeling of her Summer Island sisters. The friends who swore they’d never be apart but got lost for a bit, but now, they’d finally found their way back together.
Chapter Twenty-One
Trevor held his phone in his hand, staring at the screen, wishing he’d see Julie’s number. It had been the longest night of his life. “Maybe I should go talk to her.”
“Not until you have answers. Let her simmer down.” Dustin eyed his own phone. “I think the girls are plotting your death, so it’s best you stick with me for now.”
“What makes you say that?” Trevor asked.
He held up his phone so Trevor could see it. “Because that was the exact words of Wind’s last text.”
“Oh.” Trevor collapsed back into the old chair, which caused it to tip and aggravate him further. “How am I supposed to get answers when Marsha won’t even answer my calls?” He sighed. “I guess I’ll have to get them myself. I’ll schedule an appointment with a doctor here and get tested to see if I can have kids. That way I won’t have to wait for the baby to be born or deal with Marsha trying to play games for the next several months.”
“That sounds like a good idea.”
A small amount of relief seeped in, but it would still take a while to find out, and he wanted to work things out with Julie now. “This isn’t as complicated as everyone is making it out to be. I’ll financially support the child if it’s mine and we’ll do shared custody. He or she will spend summers here with me and the school year with Marsha.” Trevor shook his head. “That poor kid.”
“What?” Dustin asked.
“The idea of any child having a mother like Marsha is difficult to comprehend. I hope the motherly instinct kicks in once she has the baby.” Trevor pushed from the chair. “I can’t wait any longer.”
“You can’t go to her house,” Dustin warned.
“I’m not.” Trevor grabbed the dinghy key off the hook by the glass sliding door. “There might be new debris washed up on Friendship Beach. I won’t let that place get bad again.”
Dustin smacked the table in front of him. “You crazy? There are all sorts of sea creatures waiting for breakfast, and you’ll be the main course.”
“Not anything I don’t deserve right now.” Trevor wouldn’t give Dustin a chance to respond.
It was a clear day with little wind and no chop, so it was an easy ride. At the turn into the canal, he rowed to the beach.
There were several plastic bottles already hovering in the corner, but the beach remained clean and the mosquitoes were nothing like before. Based on the chemical smell, he guessed someone had sprayed the area. He collected the bottles and stacked them together on the shore next to the old broken chairs. They’d planned to fix and paint the chairs, but they looked beyond repair. Perhaps he could order new ones.
On the the lagoon side an old, sun bleached paddle board he could possibly restore, so he set it in the sand near the rest of the junk. When he was done, he sat in the shade for hours, thinking about what to do. Part of him was excited at the thought of being a dad, a dream he had long since buried in his past. But he also felt for the child coming into the world with parents already split with no hope of reconciliation.
The sun rose higher in the sky, and he couldn’t help but struggle with everything. He knew sitting alone on a private little oasis wasn’t the answer, yet he stayed. Perhaps he only remained in hopes of catching a glimpse of Julie so he could explain what had happened. If he went to her house, would her friends even let him near her? Even if they did, what would he tell her? He didn’t know anything yet.
When the sun was high in the sky, he knew it was time to face everything, and even if he had to fly to Seattle, he’d resolve this mess no matter what. He piled the trash into the dinghy and returned to retrieve the board when he heard the sound of an engine approaching When it cut off, he knew it was entering the canal.
His pulse revved to high gear, his mouth went beach dry, and his hands shook. This was his chance to explain everything. He couldn’t help but smile at the thought he’d see Julie again, but when the dinghy rounded the overhanging mangrove, it wasn’t Julie who approached. It was Skip from the marine shop with Marsha.
He forced himself to remain there waiting for her, attempting to stomp down his temper. After all, if she was the mother of his child, he had to let his resentment go in order to work through their differences for the sake of the baby.
Even the thought felt foreign and insane to him.
The dinghy approached under the momentum it had gained while traveling before the engine was cut out, but it didn’t make it to shore, so he waded out to get the line and tied it to a mangrove.
“Special delivery.” Skip called out. “I know, I know, the girls think this place is their sacred hideout that no other people are supposed to visit, but STSB reached me with an order to bring your pregnant wife here, so I followed instructions.”
“Hi there,” Marsha said, as if coming home from work on any regular day.
Trevor forced a calm he didn’t feel. “What are you doing here?”
“You didn’t answer my calls, so you left me no choice.” She held out her hand, waiting for him to help her from
