The Turning Tides (Marina's Tales) (15 page)

Somehow, I managed to stay the entire night in bed, sleeping despite the tempting moon that was sparkling like a fishing lure outside my window. The thought that Edwards might be keeping tabs on me was enough to keep me tucked in bed; I couldn’t risk leading him to my sisters. I’d planned on telling Ethan about being followed in San Francisco, but after being surprised by Ruby’s sudden visit, I thought
I’d
better
not
giv
e
him
any
more to worry about.

Saturday morning dawned bright and new, all perfect sunlight streaming into the little turquoise bedroom. I woke up and stretched, disturbing a mound of orange fur at my feet. A face poked up out of the pile and meowed at me.

“Charlie! When did you get in here?” I asked, sitting up to give him a quick scratch under the chin.

I looked around the room. Without my art supplies and books, all that remained were piles of clothes and suitcases. It looked like a closet, like someone’s storage room, and it only served to point out the obvious. It was time for me to move on.

I thought about my studio, sitting empty for the past few weeks, and decided to spend the day painting. I used to love being alone there, and I hoped that it would be enough to stop me from recklessly racing out to the water. Soon, I could be with Ethan all the time, and we could deal with whatever Edwards threw our way together.

I just had to get through the next few days without leading anyone to my mermaid sisters. It was a cat and mouse game now, and was tired of playing the part of the rodent. I wanted to learn how to be the hunter

I
got up and
dressed, taking a few moments to pack up a couple of suitcases. I wandered into the kitchen feeling like a stranger, and found Abby sitting alone, sipping a cup of tea.

She looked up from the paper with a warm smile, “Good morning honey bunny!”

Abby’s cheerful nature always made me feel better
.
“Good morning
,
”
I replied.

“Dutch made coffee before he left,” she gestured to the pot.

I poured a cup and sat down with her, expecting more questions about my father.

“So,” she asked, cocking an eyebrow at me, “What’s going on with Ethan?”

I met her clear blue eyes and they searched mine. I should have known we weren’t fooling anyone. She knew I’d be with him if there wasn’t something wrong.

I screwed up my face, “Yesterday…
H
is mother showed up out of the blue… She says she wants to make amends.”

Abby reeled back in her seat, her eyes wide, “Oh.”

“Yeah,” I said, unable to keep the bitterness out of my voice, “And it gets even better. She’s going to
be
stay
ing
there a few days.”

Her eyes clouded with concern, “How’s Ethan?”

I sighed, “He wants to give her a chance. I– I think he wants to believe that she’s sorry.”

Abby looked down, shaking her head, “That would be like him… But there’s so much he doesn’t know.”

“Like what?” I asked in alarm.

Abby pressed her lips together, “I don’t really think it’s my place to tell…”

“Abby,” I said intensely, “We’re going to get married. I think that gives me the right to know everything.”

“I suppose,” she grimaced, and met my eyes
.
“Dutch said… Well, he told me that she wasn’t a very good mother.”

I snorted
.
“I’m aware of that!”

She shook her head, and I could see how hard it was for her to talk about it. Abby liked to look for something positive in every situation. Her cup was always half full
, and
unpleasantness went against her very nature.

“Dutch was talking about
before
she left. She did some awful things.”

“Like what?”

Abby sighed, “When
Ethan
was a baby, she liked to go out partying with her friends all day. She’d dump him off with anyone who’d take him… Dutch would have to go looking all over town to find out who she’d left him with
.
”
H
er voice darkened, “He found
him
in some pretty horrible places.”

“My God,” I said, thinking about the picture I saw of him as a little boy, “That’s terrible.”

“It’s worse than that,” she went on, pain in her voice, “Dutch says that he’d come home from the boat to find Ethan all alone in the house… hungry… dirty. When he was only a toddler! She’d leave him there by himself and not come back until the middle of the night. When Dutch finally put his foot down, she packed up and left them both without so much as a note. Dutch thought she might have been doing drugs.”

“She sounds like a monster!” I said angrily.

Her eyes met mine and I knew she agreed, but she was struggling with herself. Abby wanted to believe in redemption. She shrugged hopefully, “Maybe she’s changed.”

“Tha
t’s what Ethan wants to think… b
ut she gives me the creeps.”

Abby reached for my h
and, “Please don’t say anything
– Dutch never told Ethan all this because he didn’t want him to think that his own mother could be like that. Kids sometimes blame themselves for their parent’s mistakes.”

I nodded, thinking that Dutch might be surprised at just how much Ethan did know.

“Let’s hope she’s sincerely sorry,” Abby said diplomatically. Then, unable to contain her curiosity, she leaned in to
wards me.

“So what does she look like?”

~

C
hapter
T
en

WATCHED

~

I let myself into the studio with
a
bag
of groceries
tucked under each arm. Ethan had installed a heavy duty lock on the door, and nothing looked disturbed, but I swept the place for bugs anyway. Everything seemed fine, but I kept my gun and Taser laid out on the table within easy reach.

I looked at them with satisfaction
, knowing
I was ready for anything.

I tidied up, stocking the fridge and straightening the pillows on the couch. I made myself a snack and put some music on, turning my attention to the stacks of canvases that lined one wall.
Thinking
about the majesty of the whales feeding,
I
decided to try and capture the feeling of being in the sea among them, squeezing paint out of tubes and grabbing a handful of brushes.

Once I started painting I fell into an old familiar rhythm; the hours flew by like minutes, and I jumped when my phone rang. It was Ethan, telling me that his mother wanted to go out to a restaurant
.
W
e made plans for him to pick me up at the coffee shop downstairs
, so I
washed up, chang
ed
out of my paint-spattered clothes and pinn
ed
my hair back neatly.
With
a last look around,
I
locked the studio up tight, and reluctantly headed downstairs.

“Hey Marina!” Bill smiled up from the counter
.
“Long time no see!” He pointed to a few empty spaces on the walls, “I could use some more paintings.”

I returned his smile, “
Hey Bill.
I’ve been out of town.” He didn’t pry, and
I was glad
not
to go into detail
.

I slid onto a barstool and talked to
him
while he worked, bolstered by his cheerful attitude. He was thrilled by Megan’s musical success, and delighted that he’d played a part in giving her the first chance to perform for an audience.

“I knew she was gonna make it big the minute I heard her,” he said proudly.

I sipped my coffee and told him about some of the places she’d been touring. He asked me if I’d been surfing lately, talking about the buzz he was hearing about
some
great swell that was headed our way. I didn’t need to get the news from him; I could feel the pressure building up within me all day long
.
I was already starting to flirt with the idea of going
out
to meet with Lorelei. There
simply
had
to be a way to do it safely.

Bill glanced up towards the door and did a double take. I turned to
find
Ethan and his mother
had
walk
ed
in, and I
could see
why. Ruby was squeezed into a dress that left very little to the imagination. Short, tight, and shiny, it was wildly out of place in the brightly lit coffee shop. I could see Ethan look around nervously, finally smiling with relief when he saw me waiting there.

He gestured for me to follow, so I said goodbye to Bill and got up to follow them out into the street. Ethan opened his truck door for us and I slid into the middle, waiting while Ruby climbed in, tottering awkwardly on a pair of five inch platform heels.

“Where are we going?” I asked Ethan.

“Mom wants steak,” he said, “Is that okay with you?”

So it was “Mom” now, I thought.

“Anywhere’s fine with me,” I said.

Ruby chatted on animatedly throughout the meal.  She continued being overly friendly, and complimented me to the point of embarrassment, raving about my dress, my shoes and my jewelry. Ethan watched on happily, taking everything at face value, seeing what he wanted to see. It occurred to me how little Ethan knew about women.

“You look like a girl that really knows how to shop! I bet you can show me all the best salons in town. I need to go get my nails done!” she held up her hand, examining a chip on one of her red claws with consternation.

She described her past few years working as a real-estate agent in Las Vegas, and complained that the market was slow.

“So I thought, now that I’m between clients, what better time to visit Santa Cruz? I’m so glad I worked up the courage!”

She went on and on about how proud she was of Ethan, praising him for working so hard and being the first person in her family to go to college. She said she was glad that he was going to do more with his life than just, “chase a bunch of fish around all day”.

“I always knew he was a smart boy, but look how handsome he grew up to be!” she said with a giggle.

I had to agree with that. Ethan looked
uncomfortable
, but I could see him hang on every word she said.

“This must have cost a mint!” she reached out and grabbed my purse, inspecting the designer label. I snatched it back immediately, thinking of the gun inside.

She raised her eyebrows, asking me, “Geez, how much
is
it worth?”

“I don’t know, it was a gift,” I said awkwardly,
adding,
“My aunt likes to shop for me.”

I’d never
fully
appreciated
how much people coveted
designer clothes
until I
moved to Aptos
. I
’d
always liked the things Evie lavished on me
, but the way people reacted to them made them seem like more trouble than they were worth. Society
truly did
judge a book by its cover
, mak
ing
all kinds of
assumptions about you based
up
on
the things you had
.

“Oh,” she said with a knowing glance at Ethan, “Marina comes from a rich family. She must be used to being spoiled rotten.”

I was taken aback by her rude assessment, and my eyes flashed to Ethan.

He shook his head, “No Mom, Marina grew up traveling all over the world with her dad. Her Aunt Evie is the rich one– and Marina’s not anything at all like
her
.” He reached over and took my hand.

Now I was offended by the way he spoke about Evie
, and I sat doing a slow burn.
I knew I couldn’t blame Ethan for resenting Evie; she’d been unfair to him
, and tried
to come between us.
I
t
pained
me that they’d gotten off to a rocky start, and I hoped that one day they’d be able to see the good in each other. Aside from my father, Evie was the greatest humanitarian I’d ever known.

I pulled my hand back and looked down, “Most people would love to be like Evie.”

“Don’t mind me, honey,” Ruby said sweetly
.
“It’s only that some of us have to work for everything we get. I just hope you don’t spend Ethan out of house and home.” She winked at me and patted my shoulder with false affection.