A laugh sprung out of her chest. It was too hard to keep a straight face. “I’m messing with you. Yes. Always has been, always will be.” She shook her head. “Sheila and I still talk to Mom, but my youngest sister, Kara, cut off contact.”
“You’re a middle child?” He smiled. “That explains so much.”
“Excuse you, now youarebeing too forward,” she said, slapping a hand on the table between them.
“No, it’s just –” He looked down at his hands, shaking his head. “You’re a capable middle child, that’s all.”
“Right.” She cracked a smile. “Mom left us when we were little. I was seven when she just disappeared. Left our dad to take care of us.”
“When did she come back?”
“I don’t remember exactly. She popped back in, but before long, she took off again. She always had an excuse. There was always an adventure, someone she’d met, some secret she’d found. Something she was chasing.” Addy shook her head. “I stopped trying to understand it a long time ago.”
“It’s a credit to you that you haven’t cut her out of your life entirely.”
Addy sighed. “I thought about it. I respect Kara for her choice. The truth is, it’s a lot of work to cut a family member out of your life. Maybe just as much as keeping them in.” She realized she was biting her lip again. “In the end, I decided I wanted to keep the relationship for myself. Though, right now, as four texts just popped up from her, I’m questioning it.”
He laughed. “I understand what it’s like. You can still love someone even if they’re troubled.”
“Troubled…” Addy looked up. The sky was a rich, infinite blue. If she squinted, it flowed right into the sea. “I don’t know iftroubledis the right word for her. I’m sure there are a lot of clinical terms for it nowadays.”
“I can think of a few.”
She grinned. “It’s not worth going into it. I’ve learned to only give her as much as I can and no more. I can’t let myself be guilted by her.”
“Right. You aren’t responsible for her choices,” he said slowly. “It’s a wise theory, but can be hard in practice.”
She looked at him. He was resting his face on his hands, his eyes hard, staring down at the table.
“Are you okay, Rick?” she asked.
His eyes darted up. “Yeah, of course, Adelaide.”
She cocked her head to the side. “When are you gonna start calling me Addy?”
He shrugged. “Is it professional to call you Addy?”
“I thought we were friends,” she said.
He smiled, and her pulse quickened at the appearance of that dimple.
“We are.” He sat back, looking her square in the eyes. “Addy.”
She smiled, looking back to the sea. “Good.”
An announcement for passengers to return to their cars came over the loudspeaker. Addy stood first and Rick followed. They walked down the steps to the level with their car. Rick jogged ahead to get the door for her.
“You don’t have to do that,” she said. “I appreciate it, but it’s not your job.”
“I don’t get to do much else because you’re so good at defending yourself,” he said. “Consider it a security feature.”
Security feature. She laughed as he shut the door.
He wasn’t wrong. Just him being there made her feel more secure. She never would’ve done something like this before – chasing leads, looking for scammers.
She couldn’t live doubting herself. Her best days couldn’t be behind her. Rick had reinvented himself half a dozen times. Couldn’t she manage just once?
They drove off the ferry and into Anacortes, winding along the picturesque houses, dashes of sea and mountains in the distance.
