Page 17 of Adrift

I plant my face in my palms and groan. Shit, I think I answered their question in a whole different way.

“Uh huh?” Berty pushes off against the deck boards to start the porch swing rocking gently, and Doug sets aside his Sudoku book, leaning back to watch me.

It’s crazy to say out loud, but I only got to touch him for the briefest moment, and there’s already a strange hope blossoming in me. A wild daydream I’ve never really let myself have before.

“But—but I’ve only got a few months until my working holiday visa runs out. I was going to give you my notice today.”

This won’t come as a surprise. Back when Berty hired me, I warned him upfront I probably wouldn’t stick around more than two or three months. He just grinned and told me he’d wait to see… and he was right about that.

Berty nods at me. “But then… Gage Russell,” he says with all the understanding in the world.

A little too much, in fact.

“It’s dumb,” I groan, covering my face with both hands as I lean back in the chair. “I know. You don’t need to tell me twice—or even once. It’s a bad idea to stay for love. Or, uh… anything else.”

Doug’s just smiling quietly, watching me like he sees something familiar in me—perhaps even nostalgic.

“Reckless? Maybe,” Berty says with a shrug. “But we’re the last couple to talk to if you want someone to discourage you from recklessness. Look at us. When we were dumb twenty-somethings, we moved to an island and started three new businesses at once.”

“Didn’t turn out to be that dumb after all,” I laugh.

Berty’s not laughing, but his eyes are gleaming as he watches me carefully. “Exactly. You’re nervous, aren’t you? How often does that happen?”

I shake my head.Almost never.“But how do you know when it’s the right kind of dumb, and when it’s just… dumb-dumb?”

Berty chuckles and swaps looks with Doug again. “You don’t. Hell, kid. You think we knew we were geniuses back then? We didn’t even know for sure ifwewere gonna work out, much less everything else. Nobody does. We just decided to do it, and we went and did it.”

I swallow hard. Something in my belly goes all tight and hot and excited at the image in my mind. Twenty years from now, it could be me and Gage playing Scrabble with Doug and Berty, talking to a lost gay boy who wants so badly to be found.

Okay, now I’m fully freaking the fuck out, because I’mdefinitelynot the type to meet a hot guy and imagine my future with them.

“Trust your heart,” Doug tells me, his voice as slow and soothing as ever. It’s like he’s weighing out every syllable. “Where does it point you?”

I turn to look from the porch, all the way down to the slivers of beach visible past the gnarled tree trunks along the shoreline. I can’t see beyond the rocky point, but I know what lies that way: the orchard. Gage’s orchard.

Shit.

“Will you do us a favour?” Berty asks.

“Of course.” I look back at him just in time to see him grin slyly at Doug. Shit. I hope I don’t live to regret that promise. “What is it?” I add suspicously.

“Bring him some things from us. Doug, are there any pies in the freezer? And I bet he’d like something hot for supper, too.” Berty rubs his chin thoughtfully.

“We have the last of the apples. It’ll take ninety minutes. Less if I preheat the oven right now,” Doug says, pushing himself to his feet.

I could just about cry. After our conversation, I know how much this is going to mean to Gage—and it means a lot to me, too.

This place, and everyone here… it’s really special.

“Thanks, honey,” Berty leans in to peck Doug on the lips as he sidles past me and opens the screen door. “Okay. Do you want to come by in a couple of hours? Or stay here? There’s more lemonade inside…”

Uh oh. I know the look in Berty’s eye. He’s planning to talk my ear off like normal, now that the serious conversation is over.

“Um…”

Doug looks back over his shoulder and shakes his head, his eyes twinkling. “Let the poor boy change and shower before he goes to see young master Gage Russell.”

I’m blushing furiously. God help me, he’s teasing me just as much as he’s letting me off the hook.

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