Page 137 of The Otherworld

My brother cuts me a questioning look as he secures the knots around the dock cleat. I wait until Orca is out of earshot before saying, “You should be more careful with her.”

Jack grunts, grabbing the key and stepping out of the boat. “What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I said. Careful.”

He scoffs an incredulous laugh. “You’ve never told me to be ‘careful’ with any of my other girlfriends.”

I shove down the flare of anger that rises in my chest. “Orca’s different. She’s not like your…” I can’t bring myself to say the word. “She’s not like other girls.”

“Yeah, I know. That’s what I like about her.”

I sigh, rubbing my forehead and turning away from him.

God almighty, do I have to spell it out?

“What?” Jack snaps. “What’s that face for? What’s your problem?”

“My ‘problem’ is what I just saw happen between you and Orca. I know you, Jack. You like to push your luck. Nothing to lose, right? Well, Orca isn’t that kind of girl. Don’t think you can have your way with her.”

Jack stares at me, a muscle in his jaw twitching. “You don’t know what happened between us—”

“Oh yes, I do.” I nod slowly, taking a step closer and lowering my voice. “I might not be as cool as you and your friends, Jack. But at least I know how to tell when a woman wants me… and when I should back off.”

He narrows his eyes. “And when’s the last time you were with a woman, huh?”

My mind flashes back to this morning—kissing Orca underneath my truck, her fingertip tracing over my jaw, her breath on my lips.

“You know what I think?” Jack says, a competitive edge to his voice. “I think you’re jealous. Because Orca would rather spend time with me than you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous—”

“I’m not being ridiculous. I’ve seen the way you look at her. If she were just some random girl, would you be standing here reading me the riot act?” He shakes his head, a humorless smile curling onto his face. “I can’t help that Orca would rather be with me. We’re closer in age, personality, interests. What exactly do you have in common with her?”

“Listen, Jack. I don’t want to fight with you about this. I just want you to be a little more considerate. You’re too used to getting what you want when you want it. If you really cared for Orca the way you say you do, you wouldn’t be trying to force yourself on her. You’d let her come running to you on her own.”

Jack stares at me, his eyes flashing with a thousand warring emotions. For once in his life, he has no good comeback to throw in my face.

So without another word, I walk away—letting my brother stare after me.

* * *

Dad is not happy with Jack slacking on the job, so he sends him off to clean boats for the rest of the afternoon. I offer to give Orca a lift home, much to my little brother’s annoyance. Some part of me enjoys irritating him—riding off with Orca in the passenger seat.

We drive downtown and pull into the parking lot of the public library. Orca smiles excitedly when she realizes why we’re here: to continue the search for her family. She has that look in her eyes, like I’m the only person she wants to be with.

If only it were that simple.

Her face lights up when we walk into the library. “This is incredible!”

“Shh—we have to be quiet.”

“Oh. Sorry.” She giggles into my arm, turning away from the librarian, who cuts us a sour glare from behind her desk.

“Come on,” I whisper. “This way.”

She grabs my hand as we weave through the bookshelves to the reference section at the back of the library. There we find the records I’m looking for: phone books covering Whidbey Island, Fidalgo Island, San Juan Island, and all the others. I pull out every directory that might be useful and spread them out on an empty table.

“So, do you know if your mother was born around here? Or if her parents lived nearby?”

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