Page 94 of Forget Me Not

He shrugs. “Her, too. She was a big part of it.” He tosses a couple lobsters that are too small to keep back in the water and moves the ones we can sell into the wet tank after he bands their claws. “This place, though. There’s something special about it. You know I did time in prison?”

Nova told me, but I shake my head. “What for?”

“Drugs. Got I with a gang down in Florida.”

“So, why did you come here?”

“Had to get away. Made my way up here. Came here on a lobster boat, a lot like this one. Pap hired me, knowing what I’d done and when I asked him about it later, he just shrugged. Nova says he knows good people when he meets them. He hired Crusty that way, too.”

That sounds like something she’d say. The mention of her name has me thinking about her husband and what Pap’s ideas of Jack were, but asking Pap may as well be the same thing as asking a brick wall. I’ve been talking to him. Just a bit every day, and while we swap stories of the water, our asshole fathers, and life on the island, I’m careful never to let it stray toward Nova.

“Manto . . . did you know Jack?”

I replace the bait in the trap and toss it back in the water as we move on to the next one. Manto’s quiet for a moment, thinking. Probably wondering what all he can tell me.

“Manto, I know. Just say it.”

“I met him once or twice. He was a real nice guy,” he nods, giving me this kind of solemn half-smile that doesn’t quiet meet his eyes. “To everyone but Nova.”

I swallow past the lump in my throat, the pissed off animalistic side of me growling low and menacingly in my head.

When Manto realizes I’m waiting for him to explain, he lets out a sigh.

“Look, Jack was the golden boy. Mama babied him, so he never did anything wrong. He was always kind and respectful to me, but I didn’t like the way he would treat Nova. Just like . . . she was replaceable. She did everything for him and he still took her for granted. I think that’s why everyone’s so protective of her, you know?”

“Yeah, I know.”

Manto watches me for a moment later, studying me.

“Whatever you two got going on, it’s none of my business. As much as Tara would love for me to ask about it. Just don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

I think I already have, but I don’t tell him that.

“Yeah,” I nod, moving back to the traps. “Got it.”

“You going to come to my wedding?” he asks, changing the subject. I’m glad. I need to get Nova off my fucking mind. At least, for as long as I can. I know it’s a matter of time before she’s right there, burning in the center of my brain.

“Are you inviting me?”

“No,” he taunts, chuckling as he tosses a crab in the water. “Yeah, I want you to come.”

“I don’t have anything to wear to a wedding.”

He shakes his head. “Wear what you got on. Be Nova’s date.”

I look down at the fishing gear covering my body and Manto chuckles.

“Okay, maybe not those. But, you know?”

“Alright. I’ll be there.”

Manto and I finish right at four and unload the boat, leaving it in better shape than when we took it out. I make sure to scrub everything down, letting him drive back as I do, just so Al doesn’t have anything to bitch at me for.

Before I leave for the day, I stop by and check on Hope’s Grace. She’s still at the dock, but in a few days, the parts should arrive.

It’s bullshit. That damned engine was fine. I just replaced it two years ago. There’s no reason for it to start having problems now.

If it hadn’t broken down, I’d be going about my daily life. I’d be finishing up my loose ends in peace, without any of this fucking guilt on my chest weighing me down before I head to Alaska. Not here in Port Nova, wasting time.

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