The Carrier (The Carrier Series Book 1) (5 page)

Twenty minutes later I parked the Olds in front
of my parents’ house on Capital Street, walked up the sidewalk and through the
front door.

My mom was an elementary music teacher and
spent her summers working in the garden, sitting on church committees,
quilting, and reading. My father had always worked in the bank industry. I
didn’t really know exactly what he
did,
only that he
had climbed his way to the top and now sat as the head of some rather rare
Midwestern chain I could never remember the name of. In fact, there wasn’t one
of his banks in the county, and Dad had to travel as far as Madison or
Milwaukee almost daily. Although he was extremely busy and often spent time
traveling for work, when my sister and I were growing up he always made sure to
be home to tuck us in for bed most nights of the week. He saved all his
vacation days so he could take a few weeks off during the summer to spend time
with his wife and daughters. I had a feeling my mother never really liked Dad’s
job arrangement, but she supported him just the same.

Mom had a plate of supper already in the
microwave when I entered the kitchen. “How was your day, honey? Did you have
any full boats?” Mom brought over a bowl of reheated spaghetti and a tall glass
of milk. She sat down in the chair next to me and sipped on a glass of ice water.

“One at noon, but otherwise pretty slow.” I
took out my wad of money that was now considerably smaller since I gave half of
it to Jack. I stood up from the table and took it over to my dad, who was
sitting on the couch in the adjoining living room watching
Jeopardy
. He
loved to count every bill my sister and I brought home—banking was probably in
his blood.
“Sorry, Dad, not too much to flash around today.
Where’s Laura?”

“She had to take The Owl.” Dad was flipping
bills around so they were all facing the same way. My sister, Laura, was an
Upper Dells guide. She really wanted to become a pilot, though, and was coaxing
her boat driver to teach her tips on docking every day. Although Laura was one
year younger than me, she was taller and smarter. She was beautiful and full of
confidence. I knew she’d one day become one of the best female pilots the Upper
Dells had ever seen.

I had finished my spaghetti and was taking the
plate to the sink just as the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it, Mom.” An excited jolt ran through
my body. Could Nolan be at my door? No, why would I think that? He had no idea
where I lived.

I opened the front door and my stomach
instantly dropped.

“Aaron?”

My ex-boyfriend stood at the bottom of the
concrete stairs outside of my parents’ front porch. He was wearing his summer
uniform—army green Duck shorts and a tucked-in white polo with the company’s
logo embroidered on the left breast. He had his hands in his pockets and looked
at the ground, moving his feet back and forth anxiously.

“What are you doing here, Aaron?”

“Ava,” he said, looking up at me finally. “Can
I talk to you?”

I stayed on the top stair, but shut the porch
door behind me. “I’m not sure I have anything to say to you.”

“Listen. I’m sorry about how things ended a few
months ago.”

Angry memories of the last year flickered in
front of my mind’s eye like scenes from a film reel. I had spent too much time
agonizing over the state of the relationship with my first failed love.

Then, unexpectedly, I saw a vision of Nolan and
felt something warm in my heart.

“I don’t need your apologies. Have a great
summer, Aaron. I’ll see you around.”

I turned towards the house and placed my hand
on the door handle.

“Wait.” Aaron made up the space between us
quickly and placed his hand on top of mine.

Shaking, I turned around to face him. His
familiar green eyes penetrated mine. I involuntarily relived the sweet memories
of our time in high school together. It was one of the happiest times of my
life.

“I miss you,” he breathed. His was slowly
moving in towards me.

I was so confused. Was this what I wanted?

No.
Heartache.
He’s
nothing but heartache.

“Ava.” Aaron slid his hand around my waist, to
my lower back. It felt so nice to be touched again. To be held tightly by a
man. His other hand found my neck, his thumb gently rubbing the sensitive place
under my ears. I closed my eyes, surrendering to the pleasant feelings rushing
back to me.

I was well aware of his face inching closer and
closer to mine, but found little will to send him away. Maybe this was what I
wanted.

“I still love you,” he whispered right before
his lips touched mine.

I kissed him back for a quick second. But the
physicality of it jolted my logical brain into action. Getting back together
with Aaron was not a good idea.

“No!” I pulled back quickly. “Aaron. You need
to go. It’s over between us.
Forever.”

“Aw, sweetie,” he pulled my waist in closer to
his, “you don’t mean that. Think of all the good times we spent together.”

I squirmed in his arms, trying to break free,
but he was too strong.

“Let go of me!” I screamed.

“You’re my girl, Ava.” He grabbed my wrists and
squeezed too hard as I tried to yank them free. “I need you.”

Panic began to fill my heart. “
Ow
,” I whined. “You’re hurting me!”

He released me a little, but still gripped my
wrists and stood close.

“I can’t live without you. Please...”

“Aaron, let go!” I whined again, trying to hit
him with my fists.

“Hey!” someone called from the middle of the
street. “She said let go!”

Footsteps quickly ran up the sidewalk, and then
I heard Aaron grunt and he released me, falling suddenly to the ground.

“Ava, are you alright?”

It was Nolan.
On my front
steps.
Punching out my ex-boyfriend.

My jaw dropped. Where did he come from?

Aaron scrambled to his feet and swung wildly at
Nolan, missing horribly. Nolan pulled some kind of fancy move, catching Aaron’s
arm and using it as a lever to flip Aaron over his head and flat to the ground,
stunned.

It looked like it came right out of a movie.

Chests heaving, they stared at each other for a
moment and I wondered what would happen next. Blood trickled from Aaron’s nose
onto my parent’s front lawn, and then he got up, ran to his car and drove off.

Nolan was back at my side, his hand on my upper
arm. “Are you hurt?”

I shook my head, still stunned.

“Who was that jerk?”

“My ex-boyfriend.”
I
took a deep breath and let it out. Then I met his eyes, full of concern. “That
was scary. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Don’t worry about him. I bet
he won’t be coming by anymore.”

“Where did you learn to fight like that?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Must have been the karate I
took as a kid.”

“Obviously,” I said, trying to laugh through
all the emotions racing through me. I let my knees sink with relief and I sat
down on the front steps. Nolan joined me.

“You’re not okay. You’re shaking.”

Get a hold of yourself, Ava!

“I’m fine.”

“How is it, might I ask, that you always happen
to be right within reach when I need help?” I smiled, trying to hide my
nervousness. “Are you stalking me, sir?”

“It would seem so, wouldn’t it?” He smiled
adorably. “The truth is
,
I’ve just discovered I’m your
neighbor for the summer.” He pointed across the street to the cabins across the
alley in the next block over.

“Boat Tours housing?
I
should have known.”

“You should come over sometime and see my
digs.”

My heart smiled along with my lips. “You know,
I’d like that.”

“How about tomorrow?
After work?
You’re the local. You could come see my cabin
and then take me around to all the best spots in town.”

Excitement mixed with nerves coursed through my
veins. “Sure.
Sounds great.”

Nolan stood up to leave.

“Thanks again, Nolan.”

“My pleasure.”
His
bright smile melted my heart. “Goodnight, Ava.”

“Goodnight, Nolan.”

I watched him cross the street, turning back
once to wave at me. He trekked through the lawn of the houses on the other side
and then crossed the alley and into Animal Island. A wonderful feeling filled
my heart. I was going on a date with Nolan Hill.

I stopped at the front door because I heard my
parents quietly arguing in the living room on the other side of the door—an act
uncharacteristic of their marriage. I knew eavesdropping was wrong, but I
couldn’t help myself.

“He’s been off the map for almost fifteen
years, Kate,” my father said. “We have to ask ourselves—why now?”

“I haven’t got a clue, but I have a bad feeling
about this.” Mom sounded worried, and I had no idea what they were talking
about. “George. Please don’t go,” she said.

“I’m sorry, honey, but I have to.” Dad lowered
his voice and said something I couldn’t hear.

“How can you be so sure?” Mom asked.

“This is our family we’re talking about. I told
you all those years ago, and I still hold firm on this—I will not risk my
family’s safety.”

My mother let out a loud sigh of disapproval.
“Fine.
I’ll support you if that’s what you want.” Mom walked
away from the conversation, and I heard my father grunt softly.

What was that about?

Jack asked for a few extra days off. “Some
family thing up North,” he told me the day before. So I was stuck with awful
Captain Dean. Dean was a very tall man with square shoulders, graying hair, and
boxy, oversized glasses. He somehow reminded me of a bald eagle. He was also a
schoolteacher, although I could not imagine him teaching any children, as one
look from his rigid, tight face would scare any child. It sent chills down my
spine, and I was nineteen years old for goodness sake.

I also believed Dean suffered from OCD. He
expected his guide to be at work forty-five minutes early to wash the windows
with a specific formula he made himself, and to “wipe it off in a clockwise
direction,” using only a cotton blend towel. After that, each life vest belt
had to be checked and neatly placed in straight rows behind the chairs on the
bottom deck. These were chores none of the other crews did. Well, at least not
regularly.

I carefully walked aboard that morning and made
my way to the front of the boat to deposit my workbag. A roll of paper towels
and a bottle of Windex were sitting suggestively on the guide’s side of the
dash. I sighed and got to work wiping down the chairs on the bottom deck while
Dean was busy with the windows in the back.

He cordially greeted me good morning and then
informed me that we only had thirty minutes before our first tour, and I should
make sure the garbage cans on the top and back deck were wiped down. After I
had completed all the random and completely useless jobs he required me to do,
I decided to hit the restroom before our first trip.

Dean made quite a few remarks of “positive
criticism” on each of my first two tours and only asked me to wipe down the
rails on the upper deck twice that day. As if working with crazy Captain Dean
wasn’t enough, Nolan was stationed at an uptown booth, so I couldn’t even spend
my breaks with him.

One trip, on the way back up river, I tried to
strike up a conversation with Dean about teaching. But I soon realized it was a
mistake, as Dean turned out to be
very
uninspired in
the classroom and didn’t like his job much at all. As he jabbered on about the
politics of his district, I daydreamed about my not so stellar first year at
UWSP.

“You’ll have to work harder to prepare yourself
for the next exam, Miss Gardner,” my History professor had told me as she
handed back my test. A large F was written in red ink on the top of my
paper. The sight of it stopped my heart for what felt like a full thirty
seconds. It was my first F on a test.
Ever.

I slipped the test into my backpack with
shaking hands.

“I lead a study group that meets every Thursday
evening on the second floor of the library. I suggest you attend.”

“Thanks,” I muttered as I got up from my chair.
I held back my tears until I was clear of the crowd leaving the classroom. I
craved my mother’s arms to hold me and for her to tell me it would be okay.
College was a lonely place—so many people and no one familiar enough to cry to.
I wandered the campus for an hour, wondering what I was doing there. Maybe
college wasn’t the place for me. But what else was I to do with my life?

Finally I arrived at my dorm room and called
Aaron right away.

“It’s just one F, baby. You’ll be fine.”

I sniffled, crying quietly.

“Want me to come over? I’ll make you feel
better.”

“Aaron, you’re three hours away.” But I wanted
really badly for him to come. I needed him.

“I’m leaving now, baby. I’ll be there by 8
tonight.”

But he never came. I got a text at 8:30 saying
something came up and he wasn’t going to be able to make it. Then I didn’t hear
from him for three weeks.

Kasie
said
she’d kick his ass if he came near me again. But a month later he showed up at
our door with a bouquet of flowers.
Kasie
knew he
made me happy, if only temporarily, so she let him in and I skipped study group
that night.

I always knew I wanted to be a teacher, so I
spent time volunteering in a first grade classroom during my last year of high school.
All aspects of high school came easily to me, and I graduated with decent
grades and social ranking. I headed off to college high on life, but the
academics turned out to be much tougher than I had expected and I soon realized
I had never really learned how to study. My dreams of teaching started to
deflate with each poor grade I earned, and I began to wonder if maybe I didn’t
have an ounce of teacher inside me.

Although I made some great girlfriends, I
missed being popular and the dramatic rollercoaster ride with Aaron left me
more than distracted. For once, my world was shaken, and I had craved the
solace of the Dells to help me refocus and recharge for the challenges of the
next year of my life.

The day drifted by utterly slowly, and I had a
lot of time to think about what I had overheard my parents discussing the night
before. That morning, my mom told me Dad had to go on a business trip and would
be gone for a few days. The sad look on my mom’s face scared me. Perhaps it
wasn’t simply a marital squabble. I carefully asked my mom if everything was
okay, but she threw on a happy face and assured me all was fine. It was all
very mysterious, but I trusted my parents to work everything out on their own.

Before I knew it, I was released from Dean’s laser
eyes and off to the parking lot. I passed Brian in the front ticket booth on my
way out and decided to stop for a quick chat. Brian and I had been classmates
in high school. We were friendly enough, but didn’t end up in the same social
circles.

“Hey Ava.
How’d
you survive the day with Captain Scary?”

“Ah, yes. I barely survived. I think my hands
still smell like Windex.” I held my fingers up for him to sniff, but he didn’t.

“What are you up to tonight?” Brian seemed to
have an instigator’s smile on his lips, and I knew he had been talking to
Suzanne.

“Yes, it is true—I am going on a date with
Nolan. Have you gotten to work alone with him yet?” I asked.

“Yeah, a few times.
Seems
like a nice guy. Funny as hell, you know.” He paused for a moment and looked me
in the eyes. “Now, Ava. Don’t let that boy take advantage of you! You keep your
sweet little self wholesome, will
ya
?”

“Of course, Brian.
Would
you expect anything else from me?” I left the booth and walked out to my car
with a smile on my face that just wouldn’t go away. When my friend Jules met
her husband in college, she was so happy she said she had a
perma
-smile.
I liked my
perma
-smile now and wished it would stay
forever.

When I got home, I showered and then stared at
my closet for too many minutes wondering what I should wear. I settled on a
pair of white shorts and a clingy, plain black V-neck T-shirt. I blow-dried and
straightened my hair, put on a bit of eye shadow and mascara, and then sprayed
on a
spritz
of “Dream” by Gap to close the deal.

I found my mom in the kitchen. “Wow! You look
great! Going out with the boys tonight?”

For most of my high school career, I spent the
summers hanging out with Aaron and his two friends, Ted and Joel. We were a
veritable four peas in a pod until Aaron broke up with me last year. Since
then, it has been a case of choosing sides for Ted and Joel. Hang out with
Aaron or Ava? I seemed to be losing the battle more often than not, but I
couldn’t blame them, I guess.

“I’m going out with
a
boy.” I waited for
her to catch on.

She put down the wooden spoon and turned
towards me with a hand on her hip. “And which boy would this be? Someone I
know?”

“Actually you don’t know him. His name is Nolan
Hill, and he is a new ticket agent at the Boats.” I could see the trepidation
in her eyes. “He’s a very nice boy, Mom.”

“Well, I should hope so as you deserve nothing
less.” She grabbed my shoulders and kissed my forehead. “Have fun and be home
before 12:30.” I hated that I had a curfew. I was not used to that at college,
but my mother said as long as I was living under her roof, I’d have to respect
her rules.

Fair enough—free rent.

It was finally about date time, so I perched
myself
behind the window in the living room. I could see
between the two houses across the street and into the Dells Boat Tours housing.
Companies throughout the Dells frequently hired foreign students to fill their
summer positions. They often needed to provide housing for these students, so
many companies bought out old, rundown motels around town and rented the rooms
to these students. The Boats bought an old, two-story house that had six very
small cabins on its land. There was a lawn with a campfire area amongst the
cabins where parties frequently broke out. Someone nailed an old sign to the
tree out front that said “
Animal Island
.”
Aptly named.

I let my eyes relax as I stared out of the
window. Soon my vision became blurry, and in a matter of seconds, the lawn and
cabins across the way started to
pixelate
into large
squares like the river had the day before. It was like someone took a picture
of my view and then blew it up too large and it became unfocused. I blinked
several times and rubbed my eyes, but the squares began to pulse like some sort
of hypnotist’s trick. When I blinked again, the view became focused, sharp as
ever. I blinked a few more times to make sure the view was clear.

Could I be stressed? Does nervousness affect
the eyes?

I only looked out the window for a few more
seconds when, soon enough, Nolan left his cabin. I watched him walk out the
door and sniff his armpits. I laughed at his moment of insecurity. So perhaps
he wasn’t as perfect as I thought. He kicked a half charred log in the fire
pit, checked his watch, and then walked into the alley. I watched him turn onto
the sidewalk and walk down to the next corner. I jumped down the stairs to meet
him, and when I opened the door, he was walking past the split rail fence on
our property.

“Hey there, stranger.
Man,
what a long walk,” he joked. “I can’t believe we live so close to each other.
This is hilarious!”

“I know! So, do you want to come in and meet my
parents?”

 “Wow.
Meeting the
parents on the first date.”
An awkward silence followed, and I was about
to retract my statement when he looked up at me and sincerely replied, “That sounds
wonderful. Parents love me.”

I smiled at him and opened up the porch door.
“Do you want the grand tour?”

“Of course!” he said and followed me through
the dining room.

“This is the formal dining room, which we
hardly use.” We walked past the upright piano pushed up against the wall and
into the kitchen. Then I pointed into the family room and over to the bathroom
and my sister’s room.

We walked back through the rooms we had already
traveled through and I led him up the stairs. The small bathroom was off to our
left, and then I pointed down the hall and told him my parents’ room was at the
end.

“This looks like a great place to call home.
Have you lived here all your life?” he asked. I loved how he always seemed so
interested in everything about me.

“Yes, my parents have lived in this house for
twenty-one years.” Then I led him through the door to my bedroom. He took some
time looking around at the pictures on the bookshelf and asked me who a few of
the people were. I didn’t want him to get any ideas about me bringing him to my
bedroom, so I grabbed my purse and told him we better get going.

I led him back downstairs to the living room
where we found my mother reading.
“Hey, Mom.
This is
Nolan. He is a ticket agent at the boats, and we’re going to go catch a movie.”
My mother put her book down and turned towards us. Nolan already had his arm
extended and was shaking my mother’s hand before I knew it. His deep, blue eyes
focused intently on her face, and he was expertly making small talk as I
watched. My mother wished us a good night, and I led Nolan out the front of the
house. I was impressed—that was perfect.

I pulled my keys out and unlocked the passenger
side door to the Oldsmobile. “Don’t make fun of my car. I inherited it from my
grandmother when she passed away a few years ago.”

Nolan climbed in the front seat. “Make fun?
This car is awesome! It’s got character!” I slid the keys into the ignition and
put the car in drive. It gave a very scary rumble but then jumped violently
forward. Nolan slammed into the front dash. “Wait until I’ve got my seatbelt on
next time!” he said laughing. “Well, it is unique, that’s for sure!”

I laughed lightly, slightly embarrassed.

He looked a little disappointed. “So we’re
going to the movies? I thought you were going to show me all the local
hotspots.”

“I only said that so my mom would stay off my
back. I didn’t think she’d like it if I told her I was taking you to Make
Out
Rock.” I slowly smiled and looked carefully over to
Nolan’s face as it sunk in. It was priceless.