Page 13 of The Lies I've Told
Thanks to a decent layover in Norfolk, I’d managed to knock back several drinks in the airport.
With nothing but time to kill, I didn’t want to waste a single second of it thinking. Alcohol had seemed like the only plausible option.
When the pilot and the dinky excuse for a plane finally arrived to take me the rest of the way to Ocracoke, I was feeling pretty okay. Making my way down to the tarmac, I said my hellos to the older gentleman who looked more like a beach bum than a pilot, but who was I to judge?
I carved stone for a living. It wasn’t like I walked around, covered in dust, twenty-four hours a day.
Well, not most days anyway.
After taking my seat, I pulled out my phone and took a quick glance at the latest email Dean Sutherland had sent that afternoon.
Aiden,
All accommodations have been made. You will be staying at By the Bay Inn—the best place on the island. Someone will be at the airport to pick you up when you arrive.
Looking forward to meeting you in person.
Dean
I had some serious doubts as to whether Dean’s and my idea of proper accommodations were the same. For some reason,the best place on the islanddrummed up images of a run-down cottage with wood veneer and appliances that dated back to the Nixon administration. But I’d made do with less.
A lot less.
“Are you staying in Ocracoke long?” the pilot hollered over his shoulder as we left the airport.
I looked down as the ground grew farther and farther away.
“Uh, I’m not sure,” I answered, feeling less than chatty as my buzz began to wear off.
“Ah, well, that’s how a lot of us got hooked, you know.”
“Hooked?”
“On the island,” he explained. “I used to be a Midwestern man myself, until I came down here for a vacation one year. That’s all it took. Twelve months later, my wife and I had sold our house and moved down here permanently. Never regretted it for a moment.”
I looked out the window, down at the dark blue water.
“Pretty sure I’ve had all the island life I can handle at this point. This is only temporary.”
He chuckled, obviously catching my joke, aiming my displeasure over my country of origin. “Not too fond of jolly old England?”
I swallowed hard as I tried not to let my mind wander back to my childhood. “Let’s just say, I won’t be going back anytime soon.”
He must have caught the hesitant tone in my voice. “Well, I hope Ocracoke works out better for you. Island-wise, I mean. I’ll give you some peace and quiet while I work on getting us back on the ground.”
“Thank you,” I said, taking one last look out the window as the sun began to melt into the horizon.
He gave me a quick wave as he got back to work, flipping dials and doing whatever it was that pilots did, while I sat back and tried to figure out what my next move would be. I promised Dean a new memorial, but the honest truth was, I wasn’t even sure I could give it to him.
I guessed time would tell.
At least I was away from my brother and New York.
And all the stress that went with it.
Less than twenty minutes later, the plane landed with a bit of a jump and a jolt. “Strong gusts from a storm offshore,” he explained as we taxied into a small parking lot off the runway. “Welcome to Ocracoke,” he said as we came to a stop.
I did the typical thing most travelers did when they arrived at a new place. I pressed my head up to the small window, squinted, and took a long, panoramic view of my new surroundings.
