Page 107 of Over & Out
I sit up, stunned. “What did he say?”
“Well, I’ll be honest. He said he was promoting me when I get back.”
My chest is tight. I’m confused. “To what?”
“To manager. I guess he let Mabel go yesterday.”
I press my hand over my mouth, too shocked for words. “Mabel is like family to him,” I say after a moment.
“Yeah, well, I think you know as well as anyone that family can let you down sometimes. Don’t worry about her. Apparently it was amicable, and she’ll be well taken care of.”
I grip the sheet. “What about the assistant position?”
“He says he doesn’t need anyone to yell at him anymore. He’s, quote, ‘a grown man who’s perfectly capable of setting his own alarm clock and driving his own vehicles.’”
I let out a laugh, surprised, and in a way, kind of proud. “He is, you know. I think he just liked being taken care of.”
“I think so too. Now, he’s still Hopper, so he’ll be distributing a few tasks around between Cindi and Adrian and me. Calendar management and such. But overall, I think this is going to be a really good thing for him. Though I’m not sure you care about that anymore?”
The words aren’t cruel. On the contrary, they’re understanding, like she’d get it if I wanted to cut Hopper out of my life.
But I shake my head, even though she can’t see it. “I care,” I say. “Probably too much.”
We make arrangements for me to collect whatever I want from the beach house, and Tru says now that I’ve officially given my notice, she’ll handle my severance. “Don’t try to negotiate it, okay?” she says. “He won’t hear any of it.”
I’m not sure what that means, but I’m nervous. She tells me she’ll send the papers over for me to sign this week.
And just like that, I’m on my own once again. But this time, I think I’m okay with it. Because now, I have ideas. I have a kernel of something in my mind I can’t shake. It’s tiny. Nascent. And might take me some time, but I’m okay with that. Mac will take me back. I can save up.
I tell Mac that when he and Shelby show up a while later for Jess. He readily agrees, for once without an opinion. Just an “of course.” Dolly insists we all stay for breakfast,and I think it’s the best meal I’ve had in a long, long time.
While we all laugh at Mac making faces for Jess, my phone buzzes.
It’s Hopper again, with another mandarin, this one looking out from the front of a motorbike.
I smile, pocketing my phone, trying to keep my heart light.Over & Out,Hopper, I think.But I don’t mean it as goodbye.
Chapter 36
Hopper
Islip into the shop with a jingle of bells and a curse on my lips. “Fuckers.”
I keep my hand on the doorknob, ready to bolt. A moment later, through the rain-streaked window, I watch as the dark sedan with the telephoto lens sticking out the back window passes by.
I let out a breath and turn around, taking my hat off to wipe the sweat from my forehead. Then I blink. Because of fucking course I have an audience. I inadvertently ducked into the Bean Scene—one of the most popular gathering places in Redbeard Cove. Every time I’ve been in here, the place has been buzzing with people and music and the scent of coffee and fresh-baked muffins. Not today. It is all those things, but at the moment, you could hear a pin drop. Every eye in the place is on me.
“Hello,” I say awkwardly, since they all know it’s me anyway.
“Hi, Hopper!” says a lady in her sixties at the tablenext to the window. I recognize her as one of the owners of the inn where my dad was staying. I recognize her because I dragged my ass over there two days after he found me at Chris’s, only to find that he didn’t actually stay for a week like he said he was going to. Because of course he didn’t. The man never did keep his word.
“He left you this, though,” the woman had said, handing me an envelope with my initials on it. As I left, she’d blurted out, “My grandson just loves your Laser movies!” I ended up signing a piece of paper she scrounged up for it and posing for a smiling selfie, despite the turmoil in my guts.
I nod at her, and she must sense my unease, because she claps her hands and says, “Back to your coffees, folks. Nothing to see here.”
To my surprise, almost everyone dutifully obeys. I give the woman a grateful smile, and she winks at me. But as I tromp toward the counter, I see her looking around the room, her expression confused. I see what she’s looking at. The patrons here aren’t exactly going back to their regular conversations. They’re whispering. Glaring as I pass their tables.
I frown. I must be wearing my asshole face again. I feel both guilty about this and relieved I’m not going to be mobbed. I don’t have time for any more delays. I’m supposed to be on my way to the town pier right now. My suitcase is already in the water taxi, Cindi having cleverly dropped it off an hour ago, with that envelope unopened inside. The plan was for me to drive to the pier on my motorbike, because the bike will fit on the boat. From there, I can take the bike directly to the airportin Vancouver. I was pretty fucking proud of that plan, made entirely by me with only a little help from Cindi. I’ve been doing okay without an assistant. Or…two assistants. Sort of. Okay, there have been some growing pains.Like today’s unexpected crowd of paparazzi at the end of my driveway.
