Wish You Were Here (24 page)

Twenty-Two

“I
can’t
believe it.” Flynn’s wavy brown hair framed her dumbstruck expression as she put her glass down on the bar at the Goodhouse Arms. “Dad was a thief.”

Freya patted her sister on the shoulder.
“Yep, Kinda explains a lot about how we ended up the way we did.”

“
Wow,” Flynn said. “And how long is he going to be in Iowa?”

“
Idaho,” Freya said. “About a week, I guess. Which means I need to be back in the office on Monday.”

“
No,” Flynn said. “Tomorrow’s Sunday, and you’re not leaving yet. Not until I fully absorb the fact that Dad’s a thief. That’s gonna take at least another week.”

“
I’ve already been here four days,” Freya said. “Someone has to run the office or all our holdings, including this one, will go bankrupt and die.”

“
How are you girls doing?” Jake said, approaching them from behind the bar. He was tall with preppy hair and boyish charm; not a guy Freya would fall for, but he was good to her sister, and that was all that mattered.

“We’re fine,” Freya said.

“No we’re not,” Flynn said. “She’s leaving. Tomorrow.”

“
Sorry to hear that, babe. Want me to pour you another one?” Jake said, throwing a bar rag over his shoulder and reaching for the bottle of Jameson’s they’d been working on for the past hour.

“
I resent that,” Flynn said. “Are you suggesting that I turn to alcohol to deal with my problems?”

“
I’ll have another one,” Freya said, sliding her glass toward Jake.

“
Oh, hell,” Flynn said, sliding hers across as well. Jake smiled and poured the drinks.

“
Still not enough detective work to fill all his time?” Freya asked Flynn quietly.

“
Are you kidding? In this town? Your plate was the most exciting thing that happened in months.” Flynn shrugged. “But, I have to admit, I like him behind the bar when things are dull. Reminds me of when we met.”

Jake put the bottle down, slid Freya
’s glass over to her, and held on to Flynn’s.

“
This is your last one for the night,” he said. “I want you clear-headed when my shift ends.”

Flynn put her hand on the glass over his.
“Yeah. Good luck with that.”

Freya watched as Jake leaned over and kissed her sister lightly before heading off to serve a guy at the other end of the bar.

“He is so crazy about you,” Freya said.

“
Yeah, poor son of a bitch.” Flynn lifted her glass. “To being held at gunpoint, may it never happen to either of us again.”

Freya laughed and clinked the glass with her sister.
“I’ll drink to that.”

They both sipped and put their glasses down, and then Flynn said,
“So, tell me the rest.”

Freya picked up a swizzle stick and stirred her drink
with it. “What do you mean? You heard the part about me being held at gunpoint, right? And Dad got in a fistfight on a muddy lawn? You think it gets any better than that?”

Flynn was quiet, and when Freya looked up, her sister
’s face was serious.

“
You’re depressed,” she said.

“
I’m not depressed,” Freya said. “I’m fine.”

“
Whatever,” Flynn said. “You know, when you started having those panic attacks last year, I thought it was a good thing.”

“
You did?”

“
Yeah. Dad put way too much pressure on you to be just like him. You were long overdue for the panics.”

“
Great,” Freya said, taking a sip of the sharp liquid, letting it seep into her bones, hoping it would go deep enough to numb her all the way through.

“
And then you started in with that crying thing, and that was weird but I was never worried about you. I knew you’d handle it.” Flynn looked at her, shaking her head. “Now I’m worried.”

“
Oh, great,” Freya said. “You’re worried about me? It must be bad.”

“
It is,” she said. “All that funky psychological weather was your subconscious telling you to change things. I thought you’d figured that out. But now, here you are, all set to go right back where you started.”

“
Of course I’m going back,” Freya said. “My life is in Boston. Why wouldn’t I go back?”

“
Because of the guy,” Flynn said simply.

Freya bristled.
“What guy?”

“
The guy who owned the place, the nephew of the crazy guy who almost killed Dad. What’s-his-name. Dale.”

“
Nate,” Freya said quietly, looking into her drink.

“
Yes. Nate. You’ve hardly talked about him at all.”

Freya shrugged.
“That’s because there’s nothing to talk about.”

“
You really expect me to believe that?”

“
Yeah,” Freya said. “Nothing happened. We’re friends.”

“
Right.” Flynn took a drink, then set her glass down and turned to Freya. “You know, this isn’t fair. When Tucker and I went through all that crap last year, I told you everything. And now I have to pull this all out of you.”

“
There’s nothing to pull out,” Freya said, her entire body feeling tense. “We’re just friends. Really. Now drop it, okay?”

“
Fine.” Flynn raised her hand and waved at Jake, who walked over, smiling.

“
You’re gonna have to leave the bottle right here,” she said.

“
I thought I cut you off,” he said, his entire existence focused happily on Flynn. For a moment, watching them, Freya remembered how she’d felt when Nate had looked at her that way, but the thought sent a sharp wave of pain through her body, so she let it go.

Nate was history. That was it. No big deal.
For the best.

“
It’s for her.” Flynn jerked her head toward Freya. “Freya’s brokenhearted and won’t admit it.”

“
I am... not,” Freya denied weakly. Both Jake and Flynn stared at her, sympathetic but not buying it.

“
Fine. I’m miserable. Are you happy now?” She sighed and leaned her head on Flynn’s shoulder.

“
Oh, baby.” Flynn reached her hand up around Freya’s head and smoothed her hair.

“
I’ll get over it,” Freya said. “I just need to go home and get back to work. Get my feet on the ground again.”

“
Yes,” Flynn said, her voice flat. “Work. The miracle cure.”

“It’s for the best. He has a kid.” Her throat choked up, thinking about Piper, and she took a moment before lifting her glass and forcing a smile. “I’m not exactly role model material.
I’m not an emotionally connected person. I can’t just, boom, snap my fingers and be a wife and a mom. That’s varsity-level commitment. I can’t live out in the wilds of Idaho. I’d be terrible, and they’d be miserable, and I’d be miserable…”

“Unlike how you are now?”
Flynn asked softly.

“Right, unlike…” Freya got
her meaning then, and lifted her head to glare at her sister. “Hey. Don’t be smart with me. I don’t like it.”

Jake watched her for a minute,
then said, “Can I say something personal to you?”

Freya let out an audible sigh. “Can I stop you?”

Jake sat on the stool next to her. “I have four sisters.” He held up four fingers. “
Four
. All strong, capable women, and not a damned one of them has even the slightest clue of everything she is, everything she can be.”

Freya waited for him to continue, and when he didn’t she said, “I’m sorry. Is that supposed to mean something?”

He stared at her, obviously confused at her inability to understand. “It’s a metaphor.”

“No,” Flynn said. “It’s an analogy.”

“Wait,” Freya said. “Aren’t analogies like, pants are to skirts as shirts are to…” She paused. “I don’t know. Shirts? Something like that?”

“I give you
Miss 1400 on her SATs, ladies and gentlemen,” Flynn said.

“Anyway,” Jake said, talking over Flynn, “my point is that
if I were a betting man, I’d bet your guess at what you can do doesn’t even scratch the surface of what you can actually do.”

And with that, he got up and went to the other end of the bar to attend to a patron.
Freya watched him go, and Flynn leaned over.

“Now you see why I stayed in New York,” she said, and Freya thought about Idaho and Nate and Piper and Ruby.

“Yeah,” she said softly, and finished her drink.

***

Nate sat on the porch swing, staring out at the peaceful June morning. Brody’s Camp and RV had been closed for two full weeks, and his money from the restaurant buyout was burning a hole in his bank account. The folder Freya had left with her business plans still sat in his office, untouched, and he didn’t plan on opening it. Somehow, that would feel like an admission that she was gone, never coming back, that he’d never have the chance to get her advice in person. He knew it was the truth, but still. No need to put salt on the wound.

His father
’s dusty Ford pickup came around the corner, rumbling over the gravel until Ruby parked it in the driveway and stepped out. She walked up the porch steps and sat next to Nate.

“
Well,” she said, “I dropped Piper off at the rec center. Brandy’s mom said she’d bring her home when the girls were done giggling. Should be a couple of days.”

Nate nodded.
“Thanks.”

“
I also dropped by the PO box.” She dumped some mail on his lap. “Nothing interesting.”

He met her eye. Code for
nothing from Boston.
He nodded.

“
And,” Ruby said, “I stopped by the bank.”

Nate kept quiet, just sipped his coffee.

“I told you I don’t want that money,” Ruby said.

“
And I told you you don’t have to move to Oregon with your sisters,” he said. “But you lived here with my dad for eight years. You deserve to be compensated.”

“
Been compensated,” Ruby grumbled.

“
I’m not having this discussion again.”

“
Fine,” Ruby said. “Then I’ve got a proposal for you.”

Nate cut his eyes at her.
“I already can’t wait to hear this.”

“
I want to invest in this place,” she said. “I want it to be mine, too. And I think we should develop it. You know.” She paused. “Freya left some good ideas in that folder.”

Nate looked at her.
“You opened it?”

Ruby shrugged, not contrite in the least.
“You weren’t doing anything with it. And Freya had a good idea about opening up a restaurant. I also think we should maybe hire a consultant to help us figure all that stuff out.”

Nate shook his head.
“No.”

“
Well, what are you gonna do? Sit here and run an old campground?”

Nate sipped his coffee.
“It’s what my dad did.”

“
You are not your dad,” Ruby said. “And if we got the right help, just the right person—”

Nate turned on her.
“Don’t call her.”

“
What?” Ruby said, very bad at acting innocent. “Who?”

“
Freya.”

“
Did I say Freya? I don’t remember saying Freya.”

“
Ruby, stop. Okay? Just... stop.” He didn’t mean to be short with her, but he had a hard enough time not thinking about Freya without Ruby making it worse.

“
Well,
someone
has to call her. You’re too stupid and stubborn—”

Nate shot her a look.

“Yes, that’s what I said, and I’ll say it again. Stupid. Stubborn. I don’t know what happened between you two that day, but you’ve been moping around here ever since—”

“
I’m not moping.”

“
—and it’s not good for Piper.”

Nate let out a bitter laugh.
“I thought you were the one who wanted Freya to go for Piper’s sake.”

Ruby pulled on her shirt, smoothing it.
“Well, it’s possible I was wrong. It’s been known to happen, time to time. And Piper’s fine. She’s all excited, planning a trip to Boston. It’s you that’s moping—”

“
I’m not moping,” Nate said again.