Inseverable: A Carolina Beach Novel (26 page)

I sigh. “With luck, maybe they’ll learn better when they’re out on their own. Take Emery Madison. For all he claimed he wasn’t racist, he was, terribly so. That boy hated anyone who wasn’t white. But after a year at Columbia, his eyes opened real wide, and he changed for the better.”

“Yeah?”

I nod and lift my binoculars to do another sweep again. “His sister told me he’s marrying a sweet Asian woman next fall and that his best man is a Latino guy he roomed with for four years.”

He shifts, adjusting his weight. “Well, shit. Maybe there’s hope yet.”

I smile as I adjust my binoculars again. “There’s always hope, Hale. You just have to believe.”

We sit in silence for a beat. But it’s okay since I’m comfortable around him, and because I know this silence isn’t due to his anger. All the negative emotions he returned with are fading, just like those flock of gulls heading into the ocean.

“How’s it going with Callahan?” he asks.

There’s that smile of mine. And to think all it took was a name. “Good. Real good. He and my daddy are out deep sea fishing today.” I reach for my bottle of water, but wait before taking a sip. “They’re bonding in ways I can’t with him and I think it’s been great for both of them. Just last week Daddy took him to that veterans group he belongs to while I was at work.”

“How did Callahan feel about that?”

I think back to how he quieted when Daddy first approached him, and how it took some time to convince him. Daddy was really good about it, trying to be supportive and encouraging. I was almost surprised Callahan agreed, seeing how private he is. But ultimately, I think he went because of me. Which is one more reason to love him.

“He didn’t want to go at first,” I admit. “When he first came back from war, he was encouraged to be part of a veteran’s association, but he was still raw from the experience.” I shrug, not wanting to say too much. “It wasn’t a good time for him to connect with strangers even though they were already connected by war.”

“I can understand that,” Hale says. He reaches for a bottle of sunscreen to add another coat to his legs. “Did you tell him you’re leaving in September?” My fading smile is enough of an answer. He tosses the can back into the bag. “Shit, Trin. Why haven’t you told him?”

“It’s never been a good time.”

“What the hell do you mean by that? Y’all have been inseparable.”

I reach for a towel to wipe the binocular lenses, giving me a moment to form my words so they don’t sound like the pitiable excuses they are in my head. “At first, I was just working on getting to know him. He had such a wall up, I was worried if I told him I was leaving soon, he wouldn’t give me a chance to know him.”

“And now?”

“Now, it’s almost worse,” I confess. “He talks to me a lot, Hale. Tells me things he’s gone through that I don’t think he’s ever shared with anyone else.”

“You mean about his time in Iraq?”

“Among other things,” I answer quietly. “He’s had a hard life. When he talks about his past . . . I don’t know. It’s like it leaves him worn. It’s therapeutic, I’m sure. But it’s no less exhausting emotionally. I don’t want him to shut down—not when he doesn’t seem to have anyone else to share these memories and feelings with. That’s why I’m so glad, he’s connecting with my Daddy, and some of those vets he’s met, too.”

“But they’re not you,” he points out. “Have y’all even known a night apart yet since your first?”

I shake my head.

“Damn, Trin,” he says quietly. “You need to tell him.”

“I know, and I’ve wanted to—believe me I have. But it’s like every time I see him, he’s so happy to be with me, like I am with him. I wait, promising myself I’ll tell him once we’re settled. But then we’re talking or well, doing other things, and the moment never comes.” I pull out my ponytail and shake out my hair, more to relieve some of the tension I’m feeling. I try to gather it again, only for my hands to fall to my sides, my frustration growing under Hale’s scrutiny. “How do you tell someone who’s become everything to you that you’re leaving soon and won’t be back for two years?”

“I don’t know, Trin. But you have to find a way.” He leans over the rail. “Excuse me, sir?” he calls down. “Would you mind setting the blanket a little farther from our station? Thank you, sir. Much obliged.”

He resumes his pose next to me, but it’s that stiff one that demonstrates he’s disappointed in me and all I have to say. I can’t say he’s alone.

“I’m not going to pretend that what you have to do is easy,” he continues. “And I’m not going to tell you things will be fine because I don’t know if they will be. But regardless of the outcome, you owe Callahan the truth, and you owe it to him soon. How good he treats you? That man is head over heels for you.”

My lids close briefly. Hale doesn’t realize how in love I am with Callahan. For the life of me, I don’t know how I’m going to survive without him. But when I say I’m stuck, I mean it. He’s never leaving the U.S. again, not after the trauma he experienced during his time in the service. He’s finally home. How can I ask him to leave the security and peace he finally has to follow me to an impoverished country somewhere across the globe?

“I have to tell you, even though your situation is far from perfect and less than ideal. It’s good to see you with someone,” Hale says, interrupting my thoughts. “’Bout time you picked a decent one from the bunch.”

“Excuse me?” I ask, my brows lifting over top of my sunglasses. “What do you mean from the bunch? There was no ‘bunch’. There was one. Unless you count seizure boy and eraser dick.”

He laughs, I assume because he nicknamed the latter. “You don’t get it, Trin,” he says, shaking his head like I’m the crazy one here. “You never have.”

I stand and blow my whistle. “Sir, back away from the ropes.
The ropes
! Thank you!” I say when he releases the buoy. I sit back down. “Okay. What exactly don’t I get?” I ask Hale.

He considers me and chuckles. “That you could’ve had any guy you wanted. You just never took any of us up on our offers.”

The whistle falls away from my hand, smacking me in the chest. “What are you talking about?”

“Me, Sean, Mason―hell, anyone of the boys you grew up with. Not a single one of us hasn’t crushed on you at least one time since we’ve known you.”

My mouth is so wide open, it’s a wonder a bee hasn’t flown in. “
What
? Wait. You liked me? As in
liked
me?”

Hale just laughs. “Like I said, me along with many others.”

I think he’s blowing smoke, because none of what he’s saying makes sense. “If that’s true, how come none of you ever acted on it?”

“We all did. Every last one of us,” he says. “Remember that time Sean took you to your first keg party?”

This time, I’m the one laughing. “Oh, you mean the one in that field? The one where the cops showed up and we had to climb that tree and hide—the one where he was so wasted he threw up in my hair when we were trying to find our way back to your car? You’re right. I should have realized that boy wanted me bad.”

Hale cracks up. “I forgot about that part, seeing how Mason and Becca were dragging my ass following my first beer bong. But yeah. To this day Sean considers it your first date.”

“Are you serious?” I ask, throwing back my head and laughing.

“And don’t forget Mason. When you and he went to Becca’s sweet sixteen together. He really like you. Talked about you all the time.”

I take a sip of my water as the breeze dies down. “If that’s so, how come I caught him making out with Becca’s cousin at the same party? I even ended up driving the two of them home so they could finish making out in the back seat.”

He smirks. “Because along with being smart, funny, and pretty, one of your super powers includes the ability to kill a boner in a single bound.”

I gasp. “Mind explaining yourself, sir?”

“Sean threw up on you that night because he drank himself stupid, all upset because his folks were splitting up. You told him not to worry. That he was your dear friend and always would be. Trin, just so you know, no horny teen hot for a girl, wants her to call him a ‘dear friend’. ‘Dear friends’ don’t get to feel up the girl they’re hot for much less get laid.”

“He was upset,” I remind him. “I was trying to make him feel better.”

“Like you were trying to make Mason feel better?” he asks, smiling. “He liked you, and you shoved him into another girl’s arms.”

“Only because Becca’s cousin couldn’t pry her eyes off him,” I point out. “He should have said something.”

“What did you expect him to say, Trin? You took his hand, brought him over to her so they could dance together. Which is why he ended up kissing her at the end of the night, and not you.”

I’ll admit, as flattered as I am, this conversation is also freaking me out. I never knew any of this.
Never
. “I thought he liked her.”

“He did,” Hale admits. “But he liked you more. Just like I did.”

I don’t think he can see my stare soften, not with how dark my sunglasses are. If he could, he’d sense my heart, and how it warms then. He, Mason, and Sean. What can I say? They’ve always been my family.

“Remember how we went to prom together?”

“Of course I do,” I answer, quietly.

“Remember how we danced all night, laughed, raised hell, had a good time?” Again I nod. “I’m thinking it looks good for me, and that I’m finally going to get to kiss you—and hey, it’s prom night, so maybe a little more than that.”

I gasp. “
Hale
!”

He keeps his grin despite my dumbfounded response. “But then what do you do the moment we get back in the limo? You throw your arms around me and tell me that you love me like a brother. Now, nothing kills a boner like hearing that girl you adore thinks of you as her brother.”

“I’m sorry,” I say, barely able to speak. “I honestly never knew.”

“It’s because you never gave yourself enough credit. You’re a great girl, Trin. I’m proud to know you and call you my friend.” He angles his chin. “Now, don’t go lookin’ like your favorite episode of
Teen Wolf
got deleted. It wasn’t love―not
that
kind anyway. Besides, I realized long ago it was for the best. The group of us―with all the shit I’ve been through with my family?—I don’t know how I would have survived without your friendship. I could have ruined it with that kiss.” He thinks about it. “Or if I’d taken your panties off like I’d planned.”

We both laugh because we can and because we’re just that close. The best part is that when we quiet, I hold onto my smile and so does he. “Thanks, Hale.”

He slings his arm around me and kisses the top of my head. “Always, sugar,” he says.

I lean into him. Maybe Hale and I could have been great given we were always great friends. But I can’t imagine feeling what I feel for Callahan with anyone else. And like Hale said, it may have interfered with our friendship, or God forbid, ruined it. Then where would I be without my boys?

In looking back, it was hard spending all those nights being the odd duck out. Being the one without someone to cuddle and kiss. But as I adjust my position against my friend, I would have relived those lonely nights a thousand times over, knowing that even though I didn’t have a date, I was still loved. Just like I loved them in return.

“What about Becca?” I ask him after a moment.

“That girl’s always looked good in dem jeans.”

“You know what I mean,” I tell him softly.

He lets out a harsh breath. “There’s almost no point. Becca’s going to marry another silver spoon with plenty of money and a lot more attitude.”

The words I have to say I choose carefully despite how I would love these two to fall hard for each other and never look back. Becca’s my friend. But for as long can remember, her family’s always had a plan for her. And despite that she’s never agreed with that plan, Hale’s not too far off with his prediction. “Your family comes from money, too,” I remind him.

“Not like hers,” he says. “Hers has a shit ton and the pedigree to go with it. Like too many folks around here, they think me and mine are nothing more than a bunch of mongrels who got lucky.”

I run my gaze over where the kids continue to splash and do a quick count as I speak. “Well, then they don’t know what they’re missing. You’re a good person, Hale. One of the best I know, and someone who deserves that equal best in his life. Anyone would be lucky to count you as part of their family.”

“Doesn’t matter as far as her family’s concerned.” He squeezes my shoulder. “Did she tell you we finally went out the other week?”

“She did. She said she had a nice time,” I say, more than putting it mildly.

His finger taps against my skin. “Did she tell you she had to meet me at the restaurant?”

Yes. Making it clear her daddy didn’t want Hale near his land or his daughter. I wish I could tell him that Becca called me after she left him, crying about what could have and would’ve been with him. I want him to know that she finally admitted what he means to her, and how she regrets denying her feelings and keeping him at a friendly distance. But I can’t. I won’t hurt either of them this way. That doesn’t mean I don’t pray that somehow, they’ll find their way to each other.

He gives my shoulder another squeeze. “I don’t have a shot in hell with Becca, no matter how bad I want to. But, Trin, you have something special with Callahan—something not every person is blessed to find. Don’t ruin it by not coming clean with him. As good as he is to you, you owe him that same respect back.”

Chapter Twenty-six

Callahan

The front door opens. “Batman?”

I laugh as easy as that, because Trin makes it easy. “In here,” I call.

I dip my paintbrush into the open can of light blue paint she talked me into buying. “Carolina Sky Blue” it’s called. Although I’d planned to paint this room white, the color’s not as bad as I thought. I look up in time to see her step onto the paint tarp wearing a grin and nothing else.

Holy shit.

She strolls around leisurely, examining my work while allowing me to take a very long and much appreciated glance at that body I can’t stop touching.