Page 102 of Wayward
“Can I be there when you do it?”
“No,” I say.
“I had to try. It’s going to be epic.”
Sam leans into the room. “I don’t know, Ruby. I think your mom loves Zane an awful lot and she’ll be able to see that he’s happy.”
“Oh yeah, but that doesn’t mean she’s not going to do a bunch of yelling first—and go a little mental. And the golden child here never gets yelled at. So you can’t blame me for trying. I’ve got some bits and bobs in the lounge. You know Mum, when she says lunch is almost ready, that means anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour.” Ruby bounds out of the room down the hall, but Dante has to go and move the door, revealing the Miss December poster from ten years ago. Damn, I never realized how much she looks like Haley. If Haley had on a fuzzy white negligee and a Santa hat.
“I know what I’m going to buy you when we get to Miami. I guess Zane here has a type,” Dante says, and he pinches my arm. “Can I be there when you tell your mom?”
“No!” Haley and I say together.
I’m sitting next to Haley again on the sofa my dad used to watch the telly on after a long shift. It’s weird. There’s a vibration going on around the room. It’s like my dad is here with me. Imiss him so much. He taught me everything. My rules started with him. And now I can hear him say,Trust your gut. When you find the right girl, you will know. It won’t matter who she is, what she looks like, or what she does. If she treats you with kindness, respect, and love, you’ll know she’s the one.Trust myself—rule . . . I don’t need the rules anymore. I’ve got my family, and that’s everything.
“How are your classes going?” Haley asks before taking a cracker with pub cheese on it.
“Good,” Ruby says, without any further explanation, which means they’re far from good.
“Really?” I ask.
“Yes, really. I could bore you with the strategic management goals and consumer behavior in a bullish market. But I’m not going to.” Her eyes go wide, and she cocks her head to the side.
“I don’t know, it sounds interesting,” Easton says, taking a cracker.
“It’s not. Well, it is to me, but not to the average bloke. You’re not eating crackers?” Ruby glares at me.
I shake my head. “The entire time on the island, my stomach didn’t hurt. But the second they started feeding us sandwiches on the ship that found us, my gut wanted to crawl out of my body. When we get a quiet moment, I’m going to pop in at the GP.”
“Oh, cousin Abby has Celiac, found out about it a few months after you went missing.”
I nod. “I’ve already figured out that I might have it.”
“What?” Haley takes my hand.
“There’s plenty of options now for gluten intolerance. I’ll be able to handle that with no problem.”
“Are you all going to work together again on another yacht?” Ruby glances toward the kitchen. She said it a lot louder than I wish she had. It’s not a large flat. Big enough, but not a mansionfor sure. And now Mum’s in the room, standing on the middle of the rug.
“You’re doing what? You just got back here, and now you’re going to go back on a yacht? We don’t need your money, Zane. We need you.” She points a large wooden spoon at me.
I was so concerned about telling her about Haley and the guys that I didn’t think about how she was going to take me going to live in Miami. “I need you too, Mum. And I’m not going to go straight back to working on a yacht. I’m going to go back to the States with Haley and the guys.”
“Are you now?” My mum’s five-foot-four stature feels Viking-sized right now. Penny gets up from in front of the sofa and heads over to Mum. Penny puts her head on Mum’s feet and gazes up. “No fair using the cute dog to win me over.” Mom scratches Penny’s ears with her free hand.
“I am. But I’ll be back for visits.”
“Will you now?” Mom diverts her attention from Penny. She’s asking a question, but it’s not a question. It’s a heavy layer of guilt.
“I can’t imagine what this year was like for you and Ruby. After what happened to Dad. I’m not going to pretend to understand. But I didn’t do it on purpose—it was a fluke. I’m not going to be in danger again. Not like that.”
“How do you know? That boat—” Mom points at Sam. “That boat was brand new, and it left you floating in a raft in the middle of nowhere.”
“It’s not that simple, Mum.” I stand and walk over to her. First, I remove the wooden spoon from her hand. It’s a quick reach back into the kitchen to place it on the counter. I look down and then back up at her. I don’t want to tell her this because I don’t know that it’s completely true myself. But it’s the only thing that will make her happy. And perhaps it’s taking theeasy way out of softening the blow of the other two things. “I’m going to go to school.”
There’s a gasp from Haley behind me.
“Really? What for?” My mum stands firm, but there’s a twinkle in her eyes. Really, I’d expected her to jump.
