Page 90 of Charlie and Her Sweet Escape
Find Charlie and risk losing everything? Or take the sure win?
The clock is ticking.
The choice is yours.
Just remember. We’re giving Charlie her own options too. It’s a gamble, and only one couple will come out on top.
I lowered the letter and looked over my dad’s shoulder at the wake created by the departing boat.
“What are you going to do?” His hands were stuffed deep in his pockets.
It had been a few years since I saw him last, and his hair had turned almost fully white. His cheeks were sunken in, and stubble covered half of his face. He wore hiking pants and a flannel shirt with a fishing vest on top that appeared to be filled with various items. I was trying to pick out what they were before I acknowledged that I was really trying to keep from letting my mind settle on the fact that he was there. Mydadwas right in front of me.
I knew he’d betrayed Rosie and Dylan for money. That he’d left us when we were young and only came back when he needed something. That the memories I’d wanted to forget—of him being cruel or unforgiving—were the missing pieces in a puzzle I’d been trying to figure out for years. But in this desperate moment, all I knew was that my dad was there. He’d come.
And I didn’t know if I should punch him or hug him.
I turned and walked away without a word, incompatible emotions bombarding me like jarring, violent waves against the hull of my boat. Resentment and relief. Anger and exhaustion. Fear and hope.
Dad trotted after me. “We need to make a plan.”
“Why are you here?”
Dad let out a frustrated huff. The one he used to make when we were out camping, and I did something he didn’t want me to do. I’d heard it often. “Can’t a father help his son?”
I had to bolster my walls against softening toward him. “Oh, like you helped after mom got sick. Or when she died, and the four of us were all alone. Or last year, when you came to ‘help’ Rosie and?—”
“I don’t expect you to understand what it’s like to lose the love of your life. I made decisions I’m not proud of. But I’m here now.” Dad was quiet, looking older even than moments ago. “And I’m the only person you’ve got.”
I didn’t want to feel any compassion toward him. I didn’t want to remember all the ways he’d been a good father before he became a really,reallybad father. I wanted to blame him for the fact that I’d had to drop out of high school to take care of everyone. Or that Mom had died, crying, missing him. I wanted to remind him that he spread toxicity in his wake and expected us to forgive him even as he did so.
But he looked old and defeated, and nothing like the man who’d stormed out of the house with his bag over his shoulder, not looking back. The lines around his eyes and mouth were deep grooves, worn through his skin by age and decisions, stress and loneliness. He had given up every good thing in his life, but he couldn’t seem to leave us alone, and we still ached from the unextracted emotional shrapnel he’d left behind.
I pinched the bridge of my nose as I was bombarded by conflicting emotions and memories. The dad who showed mehow to shoot a gun. Who cheered and threw me over his shoulders when I shot my first elk. Who took me on elaborate backpacking trips and taught me every skill I’d used out here to help me and Charlie survive this game.
I made it to our shelter, grabbed my bag, and unzipped it, making a pile of things to take with me and things I was leaving behind. He tossed me Charlie’s bag so I could go through it too. “Do you have any idea where she might have gone?” he asked.
“No.” I gripped one of my shirts and one of Charlie’s in each hand. I didn’t know what supplies she’d taken with her. She might need it. “But I’m going to find her.”
Dad frowned. “Son …”
“I’m not changing my mind.”
“I understand you want to be the hero?—”
“You understand nothing about me.” I slung the lighter bag over my shoulder. I didn’t know where to begin tracking her, but at least now I knew she was waiting for me. Anything else would have to work itself out somehow.
“I’m not supposed to tell you this, but the other team has almost won. They’re a couple days ahead of you in their challenge and are the favorites to win.” He gripped my shoulder firmly. “Take the sure win, Bennett. Accept their offer.”
I shook off his hand. “No.”
“Be smart about this.”
“I never claimed to be very smart.” I started walking toward a path wide enough that an ATV could have come through. I had the faint memory of hearing an engine this morning while I was sleeping, but I’d thought it was a part of my dreams.
“Have you ever tracked anything before?” he called after me.
I ignored him as I searched the ground for tire treads.
