Page 7 of Family Bonds- Kelsey & Van

Once he worked up the courage to look into it more.

Until then he was living mortgage-free and had a cushioned bank account more than he’d ever thought he’d have in his life.

“Yeah, well, now you kind of do. It makes for some entertainment. Most things happen nights and weekends.”

He worked Sunday through Thursday from seven to three. It didn’t feel as if a lot happened on those days. But he’d heard nights and Fridays and Saturdays could be different. If the 9-1-1 operator was on one call, another coming in was rolled over to fire, police, or even the State Trooper barracks on the island.

He was surprised that one of the other full timers didn’t want this shift when it opened up but had been told Christine liked nights so she could sleep while her kids were in school after she dropped them off and would be up to get them. And that Connor liked second shift because he’d never been a morning person.

The rest of the part timers wanted to remain that way, as they were second jobs.

It didn’t matter to him. He could do what needed to be done like he had most of his life.

“Anything is better than what I was doing before,” he said. “I’m lucky to be alive and know it and now I get to live on an island.”

Wichita had four seasons but not as drastic of a change as the Northeast.

He saw snow in January but not much of it and not for long. But summers could be brutally hot.

Here, he was right off the water facing Plymouth and had his windows opened at night a few times. His AC hadn’t run much and he was shocked at how nice it was to feel the fresh air in the summer and be able to go outside and get his runs in before work most times.

In Wichita, he ran in a gym, as much as he hated it. But it was that or lose a few pounds sweating in another way each day.

“There is that,” Zac said. “If you can afford it, and many can’t.”

He didn’t volunteer much about his life.

Not why he was here.

Not how much he had in the bank.

Or the house he lived in for free.

They knew what he wanted to tell them.

That he’d retired from the police force early as a detective because he’d spent so much time recovering from wounds that he didn’t want to put himself through that again.

The truth was, he’d planned on returning had he not gotten the news that came along and presented him with a choice to make.

He had a lot of anger inside of him and needed answers.

But staying in Wichita wasn’t going to give him what he needed, and after his mother passed ten years ago, there wasn’t much more than his job holding him there.

Not his father whom he didn’t speak to anymore.

No significant other he couldn’t find or even hold onto if he found one.

Life was lonely.

His mother would have been upset with how things turned out for him if he stayed there.

This gave him an excuse to try to find some of what he missed in life. Some of what he lost.

He’d do it for his mother because he believed he owed it to her.

He’d accept what he got because she’d want that. It should have gone to her.

If she were alive.

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