Page 18 of Where the Waves Kiss the Shore
“Fuck, Joey. Can you get me to the mainland? I’m so screwed.”
Joey pulled up close and stepped onto the slipway to offer a strong arm. Tierney grasped it gratefully and stepped onto the boat. She went to sprawl onto a bench, but Joey pulled her up.
“Not there, unless you want to smell like crab for your meeting.”
They guided her to a seat inside the wheelhouse, and she slumped into it as Joey pulled out of the harbor at speed.
She pulled up her hood. Out at sea, the bright day was cooled by a biting wind, and she wished she’d brought a warmer coat. The way she was dressed was a mistake. Her uncles were obsessed with appearance and impression, and turning up hungover to hell in shorts and a hoodie was not going to impress anyone. That, plus the images of Kasia still popping up when she closed her eyes, made her groan.
“Oh, shit, Joey, I’ve really fucked it up.”
Joey turned as they sped across the open bay toward the quay at Portrinn, the small harbor village that served as the gateway to Inishderry. “They’ll wait for you. They’re not doing much else. Just strutting about.”
“I don’t mean being late for the meeting, although that’s far from ideal too.”
Joey turned back from the wheel, their eyes narrow. “What did you do?”
If she didn’t speak now, Joey would hear it from Kasia, and she never wanted to risk losing Joey’s trust again. “I slept with Kasia.”
Joey’s eyebrows shot up. “I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Neither the fuck was I! I don’t know what to do.” She curled up on the bench and wished she could just be transported home. Except she didn’t really know where home was. Somewhere she could be cared for and accepted. Megan and Joey were really the only people she had ever felt that way around. Perhaps there was no home for her.
Joey came over with an aluminum mug with steam rising from it. “Drink more coffee.”
“I’ll try. Jesus, this is messed up, even for me.”
“Is it really? Despite all the bitching, you and Kasia have a vibe going that’s singing like a dolphin call.”
Tierney rubbed her eyes, trying to make sense of the comment in the depths of alcohol and regret that filled her head. Surely her relationship with Kasia was based on mutual disdain. She blinked to clear her thoughts. “I need to get through the next couple of hours. Can we talk about this afterward?”
Joey went back to the wheel. “Of course. I’ll just wait around for you. Nothing else going on here.”
“Shit, I’m sorry. I’ll get the ferry back.” Her voice wobbled as she tried to hold back tears. “I appreciate the lift.”
Joey strode over and wrapped her in their strong arms. “I was messing with you. I’ll be here till you’re finished.”
She rubbed her damp eyes on the coarse wool of Joey’s sweater. The salt didn’t help matters. “Thanks. It means a lot.”
She curled up on the bench with her coffee for the rest of the journey. When she was finally on dry land, she waved to Joey and staggered up the stone steps of the quay. The hotel’s beat-up van was sitting in one of the parking spaces reserved for locals. Why hadn’t she thought to ask Kasia for the keys?Perhaps because talking wasn’t on the agenda last night.
A blue minibus sat at the far end of the quay. She approached, and she recognized the driver as he looked up. “Brian, how are you? Are you working today?”
He jumped out of the cab and slid open the back door. “Tierney Walsh, all the way from America. Your carriage awaits. Where can I take you?”
She slid onto the vinyl seat patched in various places with tape. “Into town please, Brian. I’m going to Uncle Anto’s office.”
He reversed quickly and got them out on the road. “A pleasure visit, is it?”
He would know about the hotel by now. The whole extended community would be aware. There was no point trying to keepsecrets in Inishderry. “Just here to make arrangements for the Waterside.” She sat up straighter on the seat. “Dad couldn’t make the trip.”
Brian’s laugh was more of a bark. “No surprises there. He couldn’t wait to get away, that one. Even when we were at school.”
She suddenly longed for the anonymity of the big city where you could get a cab with a driver who hadn’t known you and your entire family since birth.
“Yeah, he loves the life he’s made for himself.” Defending him came naturally; she’d been doing it her whole life.
“Fair play to him. If you’re going to get out, you might as well make it big. And he’s given plenty of jobs to folks from Inishderry.” Brian pulled up outside her uncle’s building and turned in his seat. “But I hope he still remembers how important his mammy’s hotel is to the island.”
