An Unfinished Storm, page 17
Shit. Shit. Shit.
The silence seemed unbearably intense.
“I’m on timeout,” said Nash abruptly and walked away from all of them.
Tish glanced at Nora, who looked as wide-eyed as Tish felt, and then Claire burst into tears.
“We’re going to go inside,” said Nora, wrapping her arms around Claire. “You should…” she jerked her head toward Nash.
“Yeah,” agreed Tish.
Tish found Nash behind the garage, staring at the swing set and play area. Nash let out a bellow of rage and punted a red rubber ball with a hard kick that sent it arcing over the swings.
Uh… Shit. Uh…
He stood with his hands on his hips, looking after the ball, and Tish tried to decide if touching him was a good idea.
Throwing a fit is usually what I do. Hm. That doesn’t seem fair that I’m the only one who gets to melt down. OK, uh, what do I like when I’m having a moment?
“Do you want a hug?” she whispered.
“What?” He gave her a glare.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do or say, and I thought maybe…”
“No!” he snapped. “I don’t want a hug! I want everything to go back to the way it was. I want Claire to stop being a brat. I want my week off of parenting, And if I’m going to be divorced, I damn well want my ex-wife to not be at my house rearranging my furniture!”
“Yeah,” agreed Tish.
“And I want to stop pretending I am fine with it! I am not fine with it! I don’t want to be the adult. I don’t want to have to suck anything up and be the bigger person or whatever. No. No, no, no, no! When do I get to get my way? When do I get to throw a fit?”
Now is fine. Don’t say that. Say something validating.
Tish nodded.
“I count on you a lot. We all do. It’s not fair that you have to be responsible all the time.”
“I like being counted on,” he protested.
“But no one likes being taken for granted. It feels like everyone assumes that you’ll do the right thing, take one for the team, and be the steady one. But no one asked if you wanted to do that. And it extra feels like Nora’s assuming that you’ll suck this up, and that feels like it’s partially my fault.”
“It’s not your fault,” he said automatically.
He said that too fast. He thinks it’s a little my fault.
“I mean…” Tish hesitated. “I feel like, at minimum, I’ve contributed, which makes it really hard for me to throw my own shit-fit and demand that you kick her ass out.”
“It feels like you’re mad at me for it, though!”
“I am! You’re not saying anything, and I can’t say anything because I’m just the girlfriend. And then I’m mad at me and you. And then it feels like we’re mad at each other for the situation, and I hate that because I don’t think either of us meant for this to happen.”
Nash let out a gusty sigh, and his shoulders slumped. Tish waited.
“You have a right to be frustrated and mad,”’ she added in case that hadn’t been clear.
“OK, now I want a hug.”
“OK, great.”
Tish let out her own sigh as she wrapped her arms around his waist and burrowed her head into his shoulder. “God, this is the good shit right here.”
“Tish,” he whispered into her hair, “am I your drug of choice?”
“Oh, yeah,” said Tish. “Totally addicted. Need a hit daily.”
He chuckled. “Although, I can’t say you’re wrong. This is kind of the oxytocin hot spot.”
“Delicious, delicious oxytocin,” murmured Tish, hugging him tighter.
“You can’t squeeze it out of me like orange juice,” he protested.
“Opinions vary,” said Tish.
“I love you,” he said.
“I know.”
You put up with so much weird stuff from me that it’s the only explanation.
“Don’t get cocky on me, kid. Just say it back like you’re in a drama. You’re not Han Solo.”
Tish looked up at him, feeling the warm glow of an appropriately applied movie line.
“I really do, but I don’t want to say it like a drama because someone always dies after it gets said.”
“And we have enough problems with that already. Better say it like you’re in a romantic comedy.”
“Mmmm… Can’t we go, like, action-thriller?”
“I think we run into the same death problem.”
“No, it’s only near death in an action movie. We’ll totally triumph in the end.”
“Don’t we need more of a wind effect, though? I feel like if it gets said in an action movie, the helicopter is usually about to take off or something.”
Tish couldn’t stop the happy giggle that came out of her.
“I really do love you,” she said.
“You’re ruining it. That was a real-life love you.”
“I’m that good of an actress. I can make even real life sound like real life.”
“Better than real life,” he said and leaned down to kiss her.
With the softness of the kiss and the strength of his arms around her, Tish, for one moment, felt perfectly happy. Then she heard the backdoor open.
“Dad?” called Claire’s plaintive voice.
“Nope!” he bellowed without moving from his hug. “Not done yet. Back inside.”
“OK,” said Claire and shut the door again.
“What was that?” asked Tish, maintaining the hug.
“In my house, we’re allowed to take a timeout,” said Nash. “If you need a moment to collect your shit, you just declare that you need a minute, and you can go take it. It was one of the things that always drove me nuts about Nora. Once a fight started, she was in my grill non-stop until I gave up. I couldn’t get a breath. And then I realized I was doing the same thing to Claire, so now we’re allowed to call a timeout.”
Tish cranked her head back and looked up at him. “You didn’t tell me I could do that.”
“Yeah, well, we usually don’t need it because we don’t fight.”
“We haven’t been fighting this week?”
He sighed, then frowned. “You know what? No. We haven’t been fighting. We’ve been having some damn problems because life has been throwing us curve balls. And maybe we don’t know how to solve them, but I don’t think we’ve been disagreeing. In fact, if anything, we’re in total agreement that this bullshit has been sucking.”
Tish let out a ragged sigh. “Yes. Sucking so much. I wish I’d never taken that meeting with my agent or jumped into this project. I wanted to be able to say I won at the movie game one way or another, but now I just want it to be over with.”
Nash groaned. “Tish, baby, this is not your fault, and you did not fail at the movie game.”
“It feels like failure from here,” said Tish, hiding her face in his chest.
“No, you aim high, and I love your ambition, but I think you underestimated this project. But we will get the murder thing solved, and then you can kick the movie business’s ass.”
Tish cranked her head to look up at him. “I love movies. I loved acting. I think what I underestimated was how over making movies I am.”
There was no mistaking the hint of smugness in Nash’s smile.
“Shut up,” she said, glaring at him.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You haven’t said anything since I told you about the movie,” said Tish. “And I appreciate the hell out of that and you.”
“I have been so good,” said Nash. “I have kept my mouth shut soooo hard.”
Tish giggled. “Yes. Thank you.”
“OK,” he said, stepping back. “I now feel like I can manage not yelling at my child and maybe expressing myself in a calm and rational manner.”
“OK,” said Tish. “I guess I’ll go…”
“Exactly nowhere. Because the first thing that we’re going to establish as a ground rule is that you are not just the girlfriend or whatever bullshit you keep saying. I love you. We are together. This is our relationship, and you will be treated with respect, and you will be welcome in my house.”
“Emmett,” said Tish, her eyes filling with unexpected tears.
“Patricia,” he said, his eyes twinkling.
Tish sighed. She still didn’t like her name.
But, boy, do I love this man.
“Also, I called you because I totally pumped Ronny for information, and I found out that when they searched Skip’s place, they found something really interesting.”
Chapter 22
Whittling
Claire saw them walk in the door and promptly hid her tear-streaked face in Nora’s side. Nora hugged her and kissed her head, and Tish felt a swell of jealousy. Nora was always going to come first for Claire, and that was how it was supposed to be, but Tish couldn’t help wanting to be able to hug Claire, too.
“OK,” said Nash. “Claire, I’m sorry I yelled at you. I shouldn’t have raised my voice, and I shouldn’t have used a swear word. But we need to talk about how you’ve been treating Tish lately.”
Claire mumbled something, but it was muffled by Claire’s face being buried in Nora. Nora kissed Claire’s head again and murmured something that Tish couldn’t catch. Claire pulled her head out and looked at both of them.
“I’m sorry, Tish,” Claire muttered.
“That’s OK,” said Tish, feeling like a wicked stepmother and hating it.
“No, it really isn’t,” said Nash. “Claire-bear, what’s going on?”
“Mom said she was coming back to the island,” said Claire sheepishly. “I just thought… Well, last time, you guys tried to patch it up…”
Nora and Nash exchanged a look that Tish couldn’t interpret.
“Daddy and I aren’t getting back together,” said Nora.
“But you’re staying here,” protested Claire.
Nora nodded. “Yeah, you know, I shouldn’t have done that. I didn’t mean to confuse you. I thought it was only going to be one night. You can stay with Dad, but I think I’ll have to go back to our house.”
“But I think we’re filming tomorrow,” said Tish. “Maybe. If the police let us have the tower back. They said they would let us know tonight.”
“Not helping,” said Nash.
“I know,” said Tish tiredly. “But I still need this stupid movie to work out, and she’s perfect for the damn part.”
“I have an idea,” said Nora, eyeing them. “I don’t know if you’re going to like it.”
“Hit me,” said Tish.
“What if you and I swap for the night?”
“What?” asked Nash with the frigid tone of disapproval.
“Claire and I can go stay with Tobias, and Tish can stay here for the night.”
And… I’m not hating that. No clue what Granddad is going to think.
“Sold,” said Nash and held out his hand. Nora nodded and shook to seal the deal.
“Do I get a vote?” asked Tish.
“No,” said Nash.
“OK, just checking. Should we warn Granddad?”
“Mmm… later,” said Nash.
“Tobias lets me use knives,” said Claire, sounding pleased.
“Wait, what?” demanded Nora.
“It’s for whittling,” fudged Tish.
Mostly. Sort of. It’s a pocket knife, and what else does a kid do but cut stuff with it? Mostly sticks, but… whatever.
“Yeah, sticks. I whittle sticks.”
“Uh-huh,” said Nora, looking like she knew she was being bullshitted.
“OK, so are we all clear? Tish is our friend. Mommy and Daddy are not getting back together. And Tobias will not be letting you use knives,” said Nash.
Claire looked up at Tish, and Tish met her eye.
I swear to God, kid, as long as you don’t cut yourself or the dog, I will let you use whatever knives you want.
“Yeah, Dad,” huffed Claire. “I got it.”
“OK, great, because Tish and I need to go fight crime with Tobias.”
“Um, actually, I just left him at Eleanor’s,” said Tish.
“Oh my God,” gasped Nora. “Really? What happened? Did she say anything?”
“I chickened out. I just dropped him in the parking lot of her shop and high-tailed it,” said Tish.
“What?” demanded Claire. “What’s wrong with Eleanor?”
“Nothing,” said Tish and Nora together.
“Granddad might have ticked Eleanor off, so he might have to apologize,” said Tish. “That’s all.”
“Oh,” said Claire. “Well, he’d better apologize good then, or she might take her jam out of his basement, and we don’t want that.”
“Uh…” said Nora, glancing at Tish and Nash. “Is that a metaphor?”
“No, she’s got a bunch of jam in the storm cellar,” said Tish.
“And I like jam,” said Claire.
Nora made an exasperated sigh. “You know, this is why I’m happy to be off the island.”
“Oh,” said Tish. “That’s why I kind of like it.”
“Let’s go get Tobias,” said Nash abruptly.
“OK,” said Tish with a shrug. “Nora, I guess I’ll text you later?”
“Yeah, sounds good,” said Nora.
Nash practically pushed her outside, and she let him because he seemed to be in a hurry.
And frankly, I’m still just confused as to what’s going on.
“That went OK?” Tish said hesitantly.
“Yes, it did,” he said and kissed her on the forehead.
I will take that. I don’t know what it’s for, but I will take that.
“If I tell you to ride with me instead of driving yourself, are you going to fight me on it?”
Tish hesitated. “We’ll have to come back here at some point to get the truck,” she pointed out. Nash shrugged as if shuffling cars around wasn’t going to be a problem. “I mean, as long as I don’t have to ride in the back.”
Nash snorted. “We’ll make Tobias ride back there. He’ll find it funny.”
“I feel like it’s possible that we may be signing Granddad up for a lot of things without his permission,” said Tish. “But…”
I’m tired, and I need help. Hopefully, Granddad won’t be too mad.
“But I guess we can always get a new plan if he dislikes it.”
She looked up at Nash, hoping for reassurance.
“Yes,” he said with a sharp nod. “I’ve got a plan B and C for all of these things.”
“Oh.” Tish felt relieved. Nash was good at plans. She usually had to walk people through coming up with what to do, but he never seemed to need it. “OK. Let’s go.”
“That’s it?” he asked suspiciously as he opened the passenger door of the SUV.
“What’s it?”
That got her another kiss, this time on the lips.
I will take that, too. No clue what I’m doing. But I’m not complaining.
Her phone started ringing before they were all the way to Eleanor’s, and Tish saw with trepidation that it was her grandfather.
“Hey, Granddad,” said Tish, picking up.
“OK, I know you were dealing with Nash stuff, but I need you to come up back now because Eleanor is not equipped to help me chase down Taylor Blake.”
“Well, running in Birkenstocks is very difficult without the right socks.”
“Neither of us are running anywhere at our age. That’s why we’ve got you and Nash. But she’s narrowed in on his location, so now we need to go get him.”
“Well, Nash and I are on the way to get you. We got waylaid with talking to Nora, but he says he’s been pumping Ronny for information.”
“You’ve had such a positive influence on him! I’ll cancel Kyle and redirect him and Quincy to their secondary mission.”
“Oh, OK,” said Tish.
“See you in a few! Bye!”
Tish looked at Nash. “Have I had a positive influence on you?” she asked.
“Well, I mean… An influence, certainly. But positive? Seems open to debate.”
“Debate? What debate?! There is no debate. I have been the worst influence. I have worked so hard at it. I’m insulted to even have that implied.”
“I would kiss you, but I’m driving.”
“Thanks. I’m concerned because Kyle was our backup, and now Granddad’s redirecting him to a secondary mission, but I don’t know what that is. I need to get my head back in the game.”
“Can’t let Tobias get ahead of us,” agreed Nash.
“Oh, he’s always ahead of us,” said Tish, rolling her eyes. “Most of the time, I’m just trying to keep up.”
Nash chuckled. Tish reached out and laced her fingers through his free hand as he drove and only took her hand away again when he had to slow down to pull into the parking lot.
“Come on, come on,” said Tobias, yanking open the back door of the police vehicle. “We’ve got to get a wiggle on before Taylor gets on the ferry.”
“Burn rubber, Toretto,” said Tish.
“I live my life a quarter mile at a time,” said Nash, easing out onto the road at a snail’s pace.
The Fast and the Furious, 2001. Vin Diesel is so underrated. Or a sell-out. I’m never sure which. Possibly both.
“You’re not allowed to quote movies I haven’t seen,” said Tobias.
“You need to watch more movies,” said Tish.
“I watch plenty of movies.
“I can’t stick only to the oeuvre of John Wayne,” said Tish.
I mean… maybe I could. There’s a lot of material there, but I’d have to brush up.
“Cary Grant has more to work with,” said Nash.
“Wittier certainly,” agreed Tish. “But would they be more applicable? The point of movie lines is that they must communicate the current situation or emotion in a way that simply speaking would not. John Wayne may have more breadth.”
