Page 15 of If All Else Sails
“Look,” Jacob says with a sigh. “I know this situation sucks. I should have been honest with you both, and that’s on me. I am sorry about how today went. But I really think the guy needs help, and I think you’re the only person who can get through to him.”
“I think you’re confused. Wyatt hates me,” I say again.
“He doesn’t hate you, Josie. Hardly.” He gives a little chuckle, like this is funny.
“Are we talking about the same person? The one who has despised me from the first moment we met?”
“I’m not sure you’re remembering correctly,” Jacobs says.
The thing is: Iamremembering correctly.
And even if I could somehow forget the night Jacob first brought Wyatt home, I have now acquired years’ worth of Wyatt’s dark looks, single-syllable answers, and surly comments like souvenirs. A neat row of evidence behind glass, showcasing Wyatt’s disdain aimed right at me.
“Doesn’t he have family who could be doing this instead of me?”
“No.” Jacob doesn’t say more, but he manages to make that one word sound both weighted with subtext and also final.
I’m dying to know what this means. Does Wyatt not have family? Or does he not have family willing or able to help?
I switch gears since I’m not going to convince Jacob. “What about the Super Summer Sibling Extravaganza?”
I have a feeling I already know the answer. Even though I desperately want to hear a different one. Maybe one where Jacob says he’ll be meeting me here later today or tomorrow so we can take our mystery trip. The two of us. Without a grumpy disc-golf-injured hockey star.
Jacob and I have been taking—ortryingto take—an annual Super Summer Sibling Extravaganza for the past five years. But at this point, it’s less annual and more occasional.
The first time we made it happen, I was finishing up my LPN certification, just before I landed my current job as an elementary school nurse in Fredericksburg. Jacob was in his third year as a sports agent and was a whole lot less busy than he is now.
We prematurely declared it an annual event and then struggled to hit even two more times in those five years. Mostly due to his job or a new girlfriend.
Since I’m the flexible one with most of the summer off, the issue has never been my schedule or my significant other. A boyfriend would have to exist in order to impact my life and plans. So far, I haven’t found a guy I feel comfortable enough with to let my guard down, much less plan trips around.
Anyway. I had really been looking forward to this year’s trip—even if Jacob kept the details totally secret. Apparently in order to lure me here for this nefarious purpose.
“I plan to make it down there to see you,” Jacob hedges. “In a few weeks. Maybe a month.”
“Wait—you expect me to stay here for weeks? Amonth?”
“Again, I’ll pay you,” Jacob says. “Loads more than you’d make tutoring or whatever.”
“No,” I say. But my brain is screaming,Say yes! Say yes! Say yes!
“Double what you would normally make in a summer.”
“Not enough.” But getting closer. I can literally feel my resolve crumbling, coming down like a building blasted with dollar signs rather than dynamite.
A house, I think.A down payment.
But...Wyatt.
“Fine. Triple what you normally make tutoring for a whole summer.”
“Quadruple.”
I think I’ve pushed too far when he’s quiet for a long moment.
Then he groans. “Fine.”
The air shimmers, and I sway a little. I need to get out of the heat. I need more water.
