Page 17 of Crash Over Us
“Yeah.” I nodded. I didn’t want to explain that I had squeezed through the gate and made a run for it.
Didn’t they know the only thing I wanted was to be closer to Caleb? Being here felt like I had divided the distance somehow. Sitting at the Blue Heron would have been maddening. I had almost forgotten Ethan had promised to stay behind. Josie was reluctant to leave me, but I promised I’d call her with any news.
She had already texted me three times since she pulled away from the gate.
I was certain by now, the entire island knew Caleb O’Connor was missing. News traveled quickly. If it meant more people were out on the water looking for him, then I was okay with the Marshoak Island grapevine tonight. Someone had to find him. Find both of them.
I followed Jacob through the side door and into a hallway lit by a flickering florescent light. We turned a corner into a breakroom. He was right. There was coffee, but I didn’t know that it was drinkable.
He lifted the pot from carafe from the pot and we made faces when the coffee moved like sludge instead of liquid against the spout.
“I think we better toss this one out and start over.”
I nodded. “Good idea. I’ll help.” I started running hot water in the sink. There wasn’t much in the breakroom. I saw a whiteboard with the schedule for the week. I swallowed when I saw Caleb’s name marked for day shift today.
I wouldn’t allow myself to think the worst. I’d let myself cave once in front of Josie and had regretted it ever since. I was stronger than that. He deserved more from me than to crumple on the floor.
“I know the coffee grounds are around here somewhere.” Jacob opened cabinets overhead. “Ah-ha.” He found a can. “Not sure this is going to be the best coffee, but it will be better than what was sitting in the pot for twelve hours.”
“Thanks,” I said. “For distracting me and keeping me company.”
He lifted the lid and poured the grounds in. “What are you talking about? You’re helping me. I want to be out there too and it’s taking all the restraint I have not to jump on that shrimp trawler.”
I laughed then stopped. It surprised me I was capable in such a moment. “It’s just that’s a funny image. I don’t know how fast it can go.”
He winked. “We could try it out.”
I pinched my lips together. I wondered how much of the O’Connor charm was in their DNA or it just came to them naturally.
“I think I would be in more trouble than you. I promised Commander Guthrie I would stay put.”
“All right. Then I guess we sit here and drink bad coffee until my little brother comes home.” He pushed start to get the coffee brewing. It chugged and sputtered.
I thought the inside of the offices would feel different than they did. It wasn’t more than a row of offices, restrooms, meeting rooms, and the breakroom. I walked the perimeter, reading the pamphlets pinned to the corkboard. There was an announcement about the next bonfire on the beach. Someone had handwritten instructions on beer and ice pick up.
“I thought Caleb said these aren’t sanctioned by the base?” I turned to face Jacob, the paper in my hand.
“They aren’t. But anyone who has been through here knows about them. The officers don’t stop any of the guys. As long as they aren’t getting shitfaced on base, they are cool with it,” he explained.
“You were here too, right?” Caleb had mentioned the tradition of the O’Connors serving in the Coast Guard. His grandfather had been stationed in Maine before finally getting the post on Marshoak.
“I was. But now I’m at the boat yard.”
“Why did you leave?” I asked. “Sorry.” I winced. “I can be too nosey. Was that nosey?”
“We’re stuck in here. Nothing’s too nosey at this point.” The coffee pot began to steam. The pot was nearly full. Jacob found two mugs with different Coast Guard years printed on them. He gave me the outstanding class of 2002’s mug, and he poured his coffee in the Class of 2014 cup.
He sat across from me at a small Formica table. “I wasn’t a rescue swimmer like Caleb is. My path was a little different. I served my contract and wanted to get out when it was over. I’m the only one who didn’t stay in career.”
“You’re glad about that?” He made me feel like anything was on the table.
“I miss it sometimes. But I worked in narcotics mostly.”
“Narcotics?” My eyes bulged. “Sorry. I just didn’t realize that was part of the job. Caleb hasn’t mentioned it.”
He shrugged. “It’s actually most of the job. Caleb is in an elite unit. Drug smuggling up and down the coast is what the Coast Guard handles on a daily basis. I got tired of it, to be honest. It’s not like when my dad was in. Although, he doesn’t believe that. He thinks I really fucked up by leaving.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. Families were complicated. I had a different perspective without parents. I’d give almost anything to have someone interfere in my life now. To tell me I was making a bad decision. To argue with them about leaving the city and running the Blue Heron instead of writing. To weigh in on how Caleb was the best second chance I’d ever taken. But that wasn’t Jacob’s life. He was living in the shadow of a man who had a different viewpoint.
