Hold Fast - Part Seventeen
This episode is part of a larger story, Soft Touch. If you haven’t yet, you can go back and read it from the beginning right here.
“It’s like this, dude.” Ralph writes the word out on a napkin and slides it across the heavy wooden pub table to Noah. “Platform. Not platt form. It’s all together, and there’s only one T.”
“It’s such a hard T, though.” Noah leans over the napkin, frowning deeply. “Sounds like there’s two of them. Maybe three.”
“Nope. Just one.”
“Man, this is why I never bothered to try in school,” Noah sighs, sitting back and reaching for his beer. “Doesn’t even make a difference. If you can’t spell for shit, you still get a bad grade.”
“Hey, no one’s complaining.” Ralph gives him a shadowy smile from the other side of the table. “High marks for your performance today.”
Noah brightens immediately. His grey eyes flit to Aiden’s, his lips turning up in a dimpled grin.
“Hey, Aiden, what did you guys say about us not needing a Sea-Doo, again? Could you remind me? What was it?”
“Okay,” Aiden groans, tilting his head back. “Don’t start-”
“Fucking fool. Can’t predict Sea-Doo needs for shit.” Noah clicks his tongue at me as he knots his long hair up into a bun. “Meanwhile here I am, Keane, pullin’ your ass out of the water-”
“Hey, okay, Ripley pulled me out – oh, and great idea to involve him, by the way, Noah! I won’t be the one explaining that to Gabby.”
“Can’t we all just agree that Gabby doesn’t need to hear about it?” Ripley suggests, spreading a paint-stained hand at us indignantly. “C’mon, it’s not fair, why should I miss out on the Sea-Doo theft? Noah’s already gotten to do so much cool stuff I’ve never done.”
“Nah, don’t think like that, Ripples!” Noah gives his shoulder a cheerful slap. “You’ve gotten to do some stuff I’ve always wanted to do!”
Ripley looks at him in surprise. “Yeah? Like what?”
“Like… oh, like being in a girl’s locker room! I’ve always wanted to do that.”
Ripley lets out a baffled laugh, lifting his beer to his mouth. “To what end?”
Noah widens his eyes at him like it’s obvious. “To see all the sexy locker room stuff that the girls get up to, duh!”
“Sexy locker room stuff-?” Ripley pauses, blinking hard. “Which is what, now?”
“I dunno.” Noah gazes dreamily off into the distance. “Like – making out just for fun in the showers, and giggling ‘cause they’re feeling cute, and comparing boobs, swapping bras with each other. Stuff like that.”
Ripley lets out a choke of laughter directly into the swig of beer he was taking. He drags his sleeve over his mouth, trembling with laughter, staring at Noah with wide eyes.
“What-?” he coughs, wheezing a little. “Dude, do you seriously think-?”
“Don’t shatter our hopes and dreams, Ripples,” Aiden growls sternly.
“Alright,” Ripley manages, recovering with great difficulty. “You guys think whatever you want, but don’t think I’m sitting out the Sea-Doo adventure. Especially if it’s in the name of helping out two trans girls.”
“Yeah, and Ripples is nineteen,” Noah argues. “Which means he’s legally an adult, which means that legally, he can do whatever he wants.”
“Yeah!” Ripley agrees vehemently, as if he didn’t get his beer with a fake ID.
“Noah,” Ralph sighs, closing his eyes, “That’s not how – that doesn’t mean it’s legal for him to steal whatever he wants.”
“But we didn’t steal anything!” Noah protests. “We left a note!”
“Yeah, but like – that – that doesn’t make it not stealing, you still-” Ralph bites his lip, realizing the hopelessness of it all. “Forget it.”
“Just giving up, huh?” Aiden snickers.
“Whatever, man,” Ralph laughs tiredly, folding his hands around his beer. “It all worked out in the end.”
“Sometimes a battle plan calls for a Sea-Doo, and it’s folly to ignore that call,” Noah says solemnly. “George Washington said that. Or something just like it. I bet. Wasn’t he on a little boat in that photo of him?”
Ralph opens his mouth, then closes it again and puts his fingertips to his temples, staring at Noah with barely-hidden affection in his eyes. Aiden is being much less subtle about it, grinning fondly at Noah, then huffing out a laugh.
“Hey, you guys!” Bhavini stops beside our table, wiping her hands on her apron. “How did you like your-? Oh.”
She stares down at the stacks of completely empty plates spread across the table. The sole remaining evidence of the excellent meal we just annihilated. I don’t think anyone would blame us, given the quality of the offerings at Harbor Lights.
It’s crowded in the pub, so we took a table outside, beneath the drizzling night sky, figuring we couldn’t get any more soaked than we already are. A cheerful fire is burning in a pit near our table, providing enough heat to have mostly dried us off by now. But it’s still chilly out, so the food that was laid out before us was perfect. Spicy, wintery, shimmering with melting butter, giving off plumes of aromatic steam. Devoured immediately.
“Sorry, ma’am,” Noah says politely. “We went hogwild.”
“Oh, trust me, my husband will take this as a compliment!” Bhavini laughs, gathering the stacked plates up. “I wasn’t complaining.”
Based on her glowing expression, she has nothing to complain about in the whole world at the moment.
She heads off with a distinct bounce to her step. She’s not the only one, either. There are lots of happy faces around Harbor Lights tonight.
Everyone who knows Faith was stunned and delighted to see her, and everyone who knows Robin is infinitely relieved to see her back to her old self again. Through the warmly-lit windows of the pub, I can see her sitting at the bar top with Faith on her knee, grinning broadly, talking to a cluster of sailors circled around. Faith has lapsed into shy quiet in her arms, now and then darting a swift glance of devoted love up at her.
Bhavini pauses, watching her friends through the window. Smiling to herself, she balances the tray against her hip and disappears back inside.
I take a deep breath, the warmth of the fire against my back, the cool night breeze against my face. Even having been soaked several times today, the rain feels good. A gentle, steady reminder to stay awake. I’m exhausted, but I don’t want to call it a night just yet. I’m so peaceful, so happy to be with the team, sharing this moment. I only wish that Will could be here. All part of why we’ve got to make the ghost battery.
“What about Daisy, how’d you guys leave things there?” Ralph asks, directing the question to Aiden.
He folds his powerful arms on the table, his chestnut locks sticking to his face in the soft rain.
“I think… she should be fine? I gave her and the cubs enough energy to last them for a good long while. Feel pretty sure about that, although I meant to ask her. We thought we’d get to talk to her again before we left, but we didn’t.”
“Which means we just have to hope that she’ll talk to Coral for us,” I murmur sleepily, sinking my chin onto my palm. “I think she will, though. She said she would.”
“No one else should be running into her anytime soon, either,” Aiden adds. “Guessing the campground will have to close until there’s a new keeper.”
“Yeah, something happened to the old one.” Noah grins widely, his grey eyes sparkling. “To his friend, too.”
“Right, um-” I glance around at the tired faces at the table. “About that. None of us even asked what Francesco has planned for those two. Should we have?”
“Nah,” Ripley says brightly.
“I know what I’d have planned, if it was my sister Bruce did that to,” Noah growls. “Whatever happens to him and Nigel, they earned it.”
“Yeah, and Maggie deserves what came to her, too.” Aiden takes off his snapback, peacefully runs a hand through his damp hair. “Feel sure that she’ll be safe now, with Francesco. If anything I feel like he might spoil her.”
“So? Let him.” Ralph takes a sip of his beer, staring off into the distance. “Kid lost her dad, it’s like… she deserves a break.”
“Her mom, too,” Ripley reminds him.
Ralph blinks a few times, then clears his throat, bringing his gaze back to the table.
“Well, Francesco should have his hands full with that one.” He flashes Aiden a grin. “She really threw that Molotov, huh? What an arm.”
“The whole boat burned,” I laugh weakly.
“Excellent,” Noah approves, beaming, inexpressibly proud. “Must’ve been a nice clean hit she landed.”
“It was,” a new voice chimes in, laughing a little. “Couldn’t believe my eyes, man.”
We all lift our heads to see Kaden standing there. Tired but smiling, leaning heavily on his cane. A general noise of greeting goes up, then extends as Kendrick comes out of the pub to join us, Christian and Demir following in his wake.
“I told you Maggie was like nobody else,” Kaden laughs quietly, catching my eye. “Guess even I didn’t realize how true that was.”
“Yeah, I saw that happen with the Molotov, too.” Kendrick lets out a long sigh, directing a suffering look at his little brother. “Really thought I’d have to worry about you less as you got older, man.”
“Give up on that idea right now,” Aiden tells him, with a significant glance at Noah and Ralph.
Ralph scowls at him, and Noah grins cheerfully. Kendrick breathes out a laugh, then quickly waves a hand at us as we start moving over on the benches so they can all sit down.
“Nah, no need for that. We’re exhausted, so we’re finally headed home. Xavier went to go get the car.”
“Aw, well – thank you for all your help,” I answer gratefully. “It meant so much to us, and to Maggie, and obviously to Robin and Faith.”
“Hey, don’t feel like you guys ever have to thank me for anything.” Christian flashes us an appreciative smile, running his hand over the one little cut he sustained from the accident. “And I’m always happy to help out the Captain.”
“Did Christian tell you?” Kendrick turns to Demir – who’s swaying slightly, feeling the influence of a few drinks – and points at Robin and Faith through the window of the pub. “Captain Cole’s getting married to her girl.”
“Yes,” Demir agrees happily, working around his heavy accent. “And I will marry Christian.”
This is apparently news to Christian, who chokes and splutters on the sip he was taking from his beer.
“What – what was that?” he stammers, blushing deeply.
His question is almost lost in the instant eruption of noise from his cousins, as Kendrick lets out a loud OOOOH and Kaden bursts into startled laughter.
“No, no, Demir, don’t do it!” Kendrick shouts, with dramatic urgency that goes against the laughter all over his face. He seizes Demir’s shoulders, shaking him. “Marry my cousin? The hell you thinking, man? You can do better, you can do better!”
“Shut the fuck up, Kendrick!” Christian laughs, bewildered and out of breath.
“Something must’ve gotten lost in translation,” Kendrick decides. He draws Demir into movement as Xavier pulls up alongside the pub in the car. “What is it you really want, Demir?”
“To marry Christian,” Demir answers, casting his sunny smile at Kendrick.
“What-?” Christian stands there blankly for a second, then drops his beer on the table and goes rushing after them. “Demir! Are – are you serious?”
“He’s drunk, that’s what he is!” Kendrick laughs.
Kaden watches the three of them go, grinning widely, then turns back to me and holds out his hand. “Super nice meeting you guys, man. Maybe we’ll see each other again, if you’re ever hanging around Port Sitka.”
“Wait, what?” I give his hand a slap automatically, but stare up at him in confusion. “Aren’t we going to see each other at that party Maggie’s uncle is throwing for her? Don’t tell me she didn’t invite you, I don’t believe that!”
“Oh, um – yeah, she did, but…”
Kaden trails off, twisting the stud in his ear. I blink at him in surprise, taking a closer look at his expression, then get up and catch his elbow.
“What’s going on?” I ask quietly, drawing him aside.
“Nothing,” Kaden murmurs, not looking at me. “I just don’t think I’m gonna go. To the party.”
“What-?” I draw back in disbelief. “Why not?”
“Just…” Kaden gives his shoulders a slow shrug, plucking distractedly at his faded Dimmu Borgir shirt. “Like, it was nice that she paid me some attention, but she needed help. Now she doesn’t. And I was the only one around. Now I’m – not.”
“Oh, no – Kaden-” I begin earnestly. “I definitely don’t think it was because of that, dude, she really-”
“Even if it wasn’t…” Kaden flashes me an unhappy glance. “You saw Maggie’s uncle, right? Turns out she’s – some – some kind of princess, basically.”
“So?”
“So, why the hell would she, um…” Kaden stops, then clears his throat, still carefully not looking at me. “I just think maybe it would be better to leave things how they are right now. That way I can remember it, and it’ll be a nice memory, right? Instead of a bummer one.”
I start making little sounds of protest, and Kaden quickly shakes his head, forcing a smile onto his face.
“It’s all good. I wasn’t really letting myself hope for more.”
“Are you sure about that?” I tilt my head to the side, my eyes searching his face. “Then why did you give her your phone number?”
Kaden opens his mouth, then closes it again, nervously fidgeting with his cane. “Just, um – just in case – well, if she doesn’t like living with her uncle, there should be someone she can call, right? Or-”
He breaks off, blinking in surprise as I give his arm a squeeze.
“Come to the party, man.” I meet his eyes, fixing him with an encouraging smile. “Maggie will be disappointed if you don’t go. I’m not saying that to guilt trip you, I mean it. She really wants to see you again. You, specifically.”
Kaden gazes at me with uncertain eyes, absorbing that.
“Look, the camping trip with your brother was supposed to be to celebrate your last summer break in high school, right? Before it turned into – all this?” I give his back a gentle slap. “Come to the party. That can be how you celebrate. It would make Maggie happy, too.”
Kaden falls silent, thinking. I give him a second, then add – “How’s your knee, by the way? That was a bumpy ride on the ocean earlier. And I saw you drop flat to pull Maggie onto the boat.”
“Yeah, feels pretty fuckin’ bad!” Kaden admits, with frankness that startles a sympathetic laugh out of me. “It’s alright, though. Fact is I’m gonna have to do things that’ll make it hurt worse sometimes. It’s more about, um – choosing what’s worth it.”
I give him a warm smile, then turn my head as Kendrick calls out from the waiting car.
“Hey, Kaden! Let’s go!”
Kaden gives us all a wave, setting off. He pauses when I catch his arm.
“See you at the party?” I ask hopefully.
“I – I’ll think about it,” he mumbles, then sets off to join his brother.
I watch him go with growing fondness. His leg is dragging more than usual, and his shoulders are tensed up like it hurts. But there’s a certain glowing satisfaction about him as he drops into the car. One that tells me he really did decide it was all worth it.
The same kind of glow hanging over our table as I sit back down to rejoin the conversation.
Aiden folds a warm arm around my shoulders. “What was that about?”
“Oh, I think Kaden just needed a little bit of encouragement and, um – clarification.”
“And of course, having now met you a grand total of twice, he’ll be getting that from you,” Aiden laughs softly, tousling my hair with his fingertips. He stops with his hand still buried in it, narrowing his beautiful blue eyes at me. “I was gonna be so mad if he had actually touched your hair.”
I blink in confusion, then let out a startled laugh when I realize he’s talking about Francesco.
“Oh, okay! I’m not the one getting compliments on my rich, exceptional voice, am I?”
Aiden runs a hand over his beard, then leans in close, his voice dropping to a whisper. “Alright, I can’t be the only one wondering about-?”
“What the hell Francesco is like in bed, if all his bodyguards are ready to kill each other to get back in there?” I finish, barely suppressing a laugh. “Yeah, same. Like, just what exactly is he doing-?”
“What are you guys whispering about?” Ralph asks.
“Nothing!” Aiden and I both answer forcefully, in perfect tandem.
Ralph pauses with his beer halfway to his mouth, arching a bewildered eyebrow. “Okay…”
“Some sort of secret gay conference going on over on that side of the table?” Noah asks suspiciously.
“No,” Aiden lies.
“Yeah, I saw those two blushing when Francesco had his eyes on ‘em,” Ralph snickers. “He has that effect.”
Aiden shakes his head at Ralph in amazement. “How does it not work on you, dude?”
Ralph spreads his hands at Aiden, widening his eyes. “Because I’m not into men?”
“Right, but if one that hot is – still no?” Aiden asks incredulously, as Ralph firmly starts shaking his head before the question is even over. “Jesus. What the hell?”
Ripley laughs, taking in Aiden’s baffled expression. “Aiden is too bisexual to comprehend that.”
“Okay, anyways!” I jump in, snatching my beer back up. “What were you guys talking about?”
“Noosh was just saying that him and Ripley are gonna head back home.”
“I miss Niki,” Noah explains, around a yawn deep enough to briefly elongate the little tattoo by his eye. “And I’m tired. Do we need to do anything else before we go?”
“No, I think we’re good here.” I fold my arms on the table again, catching the yawn from him. “We’ll have to start thinking about Coral, now.”
Noah blinks at me in exhaustion. “Right now?”
“No no, not right now. I just mean next.”
“Good, ‘cause my sister is gonna be in town soon,” Noah murmurs, rubbing his grey eyes. “And I’m trying to send the message that I’m like – around, now. So I can’t be in Port Sitka nonstop while she’s here.”
“I think we all need some rest before we make contact with any other illusions,” Aiden says, catching the yawn from me. “You guys go home and get a lot of it.”
Noah and Ripley nod in agreement, then get to their feet. I lean over to Noah and catch his arm before he can go.
“Your sister’s getting here soon?” I ask softly. “In that case, should you and I-?”
“Yes, say it,” Noah cuts in, with an overdramatic amount of eagerness.
“-have a games and ganj night in the next few days?” I finish, around a tired laugh.
“You’re on.” Noah gives my shoulder an enthusiastic slap, nods to the rest of the table. “Night, squadron.”
“Hey, thank you,” Aiden says, gazing up affectionately at Ripley and Noah. “Appreciate all your help. Seriously.”
“We were happy to do it,” Ripley answers firmly.
“Yeah, my only complaint is that I didn’t get to land a kick on Bruce’s face on behalf of Maggie, and one on Nigel’s for Faith. If it was my little girl getting treated that way, put through all that…” Noah stops, then gives himself a hard shake, trying to rid himself of that thought before he imagines it. “Anyways. Like Ripples said. Happy to.”
Aiden watches the two of them head off through the rain, his blue eyes full of warm fondness, then turns back to me. “I’m also pretty tired. Think we can make it home tonight?”
“Oh, sure,” I manage. “But you’re gonna have to drive, and maybe take some of my energy first.”
“Deal.” Aiden gets up, brushing a kiss onto my forehead. “Let me just go tell Robin and Faith.”
He heads into the pub, leaving me at the table with Ralph. I turn back to find him lighting a cigarette. With his other hand he’s gently scratching Tycho’s snout, which she’s placed on the bench beside him in the hopes that some food scraps might materialize.
He catches my eye as he tucks the lighter away.
“You guys should’ve seen what it all looked like from the docks,” he tells me, pulling an exasperated face. “Fuckin’ chaos.”
He says it scoldingly, but it’s clear that he’s in excellent spirits, like he always is after doing something incredibly dangerous. His sage eyes are bright, and I suspect it’s only his firm control on himself preventing him from returning the smile I’m giving him.
“Oh, we caused chaos, Ralph? At least we didn’t shoot anybody!” I drop my dazed eyes to Ralph’s jacket, where I know he has his pistol tucked away. “For a second I really thought… but I know you would never shoot anyone with a real bullet.”
Ralph arches an eyebrow. “I have, though. Had to put one in somebody’s foot a few years back.”
My eyes open very wide. “What-? Are you serious? You did that? No way, I would’ve heard about it!”
“Wasn’t in Ketterbridge, dude, I was out of town for work.”
“No, I don’t believe you! You wouldn’t!”
Ralph breathes out an amused laugh, his rain-damp cigarette not moving from the corner of his mouth. “You’ve got some real cute ideas about my field of work, Jamie. Aw, come on, man – don’t make those big worried eyes at me. What are you, feeling bad about the guy’s foot? Don’t. He was a cop.”
“Oh! Whew. Okay.” I give my head a dazed shake. “Still, though! I sincerely don’t understand how you can do this job. You want to talk to someone who understands, then – I guess we need to get Francesco back here.”
“Yeah, no thanks,” Ralph says flatly, letting out puffs of smoke with his words. “You see what I mean now, right? Guy’s impossible to read. He’s always smiling, always so goddamn – polite, even when he’s threatening your life to your face. I can never tell what he’s really thinking. Part of what makes him a formidable enemy.”
“His method is kind of the opposite of yours,” I agree, then rest my chin on my palm again, hesitating. “Ralph… can I ask you-?”
“No.”
“-what Francesco meant, when he said that you told him you aren’t on his side?”
“No.”
I put my lip out in a wounded pout. “I thought you were trying to share more, dude.”
“Not about my work.” Ralph frowns at me, his eyes reflecting the fire behind my back. “Better you don’t know, Keane. Then you can’t talk by accident.”
“Oh, come on, just tell me. I’m curious now. Besides, I already know things about your business, I’ve been at one of your sit-ins-”
“Sit downs.”
“-and you know it. You’re making an excuse so that you don’t have to tell me anything.” I reach across the table to give his shoulder a pat of encouragement. “I know you don’t like doing it, but you can do it!”
“What the f-? Do I have to remind you that I have a gun?” he growls indignantly, shoving my hand away. “And that I know your address?”
“Just tell me,” I repeat, around a fond laugh.
Ralph looks at me in silence for a second, then breathes out a heavy sigh, screwing up his face.
“Fine, goddamnit. So a while back Francesco was in a feud with the head of another outfit. I mean – it wasn’t even really a feud. The guy just thought he was big enough to go up against the Seven Arms, and had it in his head that Francesco wasn’t onto him and his plans. Thought he was real tough shit, so he was talking a lot of shit.”
I wake up some more, surprised that Ralph is actually telling me the story. “Okay…”
“Anyways, that guy came to see me, to ask if me and my Boys would join him for a war against Francesco and his Seven Arms. I hadn’t met Francesco at that point, but obviously I’d heard about him. I was following his work from afar. So I took one look at this guy, and knew that any Caterina would snap him and his whole operation in half like a twig. Especially Francesco. And he was saying…”
Ralph gazes off into the distance at the harbor, trying to remember.
“Can’t recall the specifics, but he was talking about Francesco like… This isn’t a business for little pretty boys like him, I’m gonna show him what happens to the ones who think it is, he’s gonna be begging me for mercy but he won’t get it. Bunch of shit like that. And, um – I…”
Ralph sighs heavily, puffing slowly on his cigarette.
“Look, I wasn’t on my best behavior back then, alright? So I told him outright that Francesco was going to crush him, and that there was no real feud because Francesco didn’t even care about him, and that – that based on how he talked, it sounded like he had a little crush on Francesco, and that was what the whole thing was really about.”
I let out a little gasp. “Ralph!”
“Yeah. Anyways, I said this in front of a bunch of people. I don’t know how, but word got back to Francesco. Maybe he already had someone in that other guy’s ranks on his payroll, because somehow he heard the whole story.” Ralph flicks some ash off of his cigarette, shrugs his shoulders. “That’s how we met. He came to see me, under the impression that I was on his side.”
I sit back in disbelief. “And you… told him that you weren’t?”
Ralph shrugs his shoulders again. “Yeah. The only side I’m on is my own, and I told him so.”
“Oh, my god. Ralph.” I let out a despairing sigh, putting my fingertips to my jaw. “Were you trying to make enemies out of everyone?”
“Well, I knew one of them didn’t matter. Francesco crushed that other guy beneath his heel, just like I thought. Systematically decimated his op until he retreated all the way back to his compound, which was ultimately stormed and seized by the Seven Arms. The raid was so well-planned that Francesco didn’t even bother to come oversee its execution. Which, you know, was the final insult. Nice little touch.”
A glimmer of professional respect surfaces in Ralph’s eyes. He attempts to force it back down, not quite successfully.
“I heard about how they stormed it.” He puts his hands out to demonstrate as he speaks, unable to stop himself from looking impressed. “Francesco had his men do a five-point attack, but only two of the attacks were designed to succeed, while the others-”
Ralph cuts himself off, then shakes his head, waving a hand at me.
“Doesn’t matter. Point is, the guy didn’t have time to bother with me, not after he pissed off Francesco. And I knew that would be the case, so who cared if I made an enemy out of him?”
“But why make an enemy of Francesco, too?”
Ralph furrows his eyebrows at me, puzzled.
“Opponents in this game, Jamie,” he says, as if it’s obvious. “Enemies by definition.”
“I… are you sure that he-?”
“Either way, didn’t matter that I said that,” Ralph growls, suddenly exasperated. “Francesco claims he doesn’t believe me about not being on his side, for some goddamn reason. He must realize that I’m not, but I don’t get why he’d lie and say he thinks I am. To annoy me? I mean, he loves doing that. He’s had himself a lot of fun ever since, booking random sit downs with me, just to make me nervous with all of his – all of that. That’ll be why I’m invited to this party, too. So he can do it some more.”
“Mmm… I don’t know if that’s-”
“All the more reason to skip it,” Ralph says, with alarming finality.
“What-?” I sit up, surprised and dismayed. “No, you can’t skip the party!”
Ralph’s blonde eyebrows drop low in confusion. “Just why the fuck not?”
“Because I already told Kaden that we’re going! I told him we’d see him there, so Aiden and I have to go, and we can’t go without you, that would be so weird!” I wince at him apologetically. “I’m sorry, man, but we have to. All of us.”
Ralph tilts his head back and lets out an agonized groan so loud that Calla – who was striding up to our table – stops and lets out a startled laugh.
Ralph’s grey-green eyes light up as she comes over and drops playfully onto his lap.
“Hey, you.” She folds her arms around his neck, her hazel eyes smiling in relief. “I take it you texting me to ask if you could come over tonight means that everything went okay with the ganglord meetup?”
“Yeah, of course.” Ralph draws her closer, returning her smile. “Why, were you worried about me?”
“No,” Calla says, causing a large spike on my internal lie detector.
“Good.” Ralph kisses her shoulder and gets to his feet, pulling her up with him. “No need to be.”
“Ja, I can see that.” Calla pouts a little. “I just don’t see why I didn’t get to come along.”
“Because you don’t parade what’s most important to you right in front of your enemies,” Ralph says firmly, picking up Tycho’s leash. “This beast is an exception, since apparently she’s part of the image now.”
Tycho – who’s looking more and more wolf-like every day – yawns adorably, her tail wagging as she dutifully gets up to follow Ralph.
“Doing okay, Jamie?” Calla asks, dropping her gaze to me. “Everything go alright with the illusion?”
“Oh, yeah, everything is fine,” I answer tiredly. “You can tell your grandmas we’re making progress. A lot happened. And almost everyone turned out to be trans. Including the bear, and the boat. Robin’s boat, I mean. The other boat sank in the harbor. And Ralph shot someone, but it was okay.”
Calla turns a blank stare on Ralph, who sighs deeply.
“Don’t ask Jamie to summarize things,” he tells Calla. “It’s always a mistake.”
“Sounds like it went about as smoothly as it always does,” Calla says, betraying her laughter by a slight twitch of her lip and waver in her voice. “I’ll tell the grandmas none of that, except the part about making progress. Otherwise I’m gonna be fielding questions I couldn’t begin to guess the answers to.”
I give her a thumbs up, drawing a laugh from her. She steps closer to Ralph, who puts an arm around her shoulders and gives me a nod.
“Goodnight,” I call softly, as the two of them set off with Tycho.
I watch them go with affectionate eyes, hearing Calla respond to something Ralph said with an intimate little laugh. They look cozy, relaxed in each other’s arms in a way I don’t remember seeing from either of them before they met each other.
Aiden comes back out to the table, Faith and Robin following him.
“Whew, it’s nice and cool out here!” Faith tilts her pink-cheeked face up to the rain. “There’s a lot going on inside.”
“Aiden said you guys are headed back to Ketterbridge?” Robin asks, leaning her hip against the table. “We’re headed out, too. We were gonna take a room here, but Faith says she has enough energy to make it home.”
“Oh, then we’ll drop you at your apartment,” I offer, getting to my feet. “My car isn’t too far away.”
We set off together up the gleaming-wet sidewalk, which reflects back the moonlight, the colorful glow from the streetlamps and the restaurants. The puddles give us brief mirror images as we go past.
To fit on the sidewalk we walk in twos, Robin and Faith up ahead of us. I watch the two of them walking together, cozy and close. Just like me and Aiden, moving with each other effortlessly, without having to look.
We start to walk past the bakery where we first saw Faith, and she comes to a sudden stop. She stares into the darkened windows, then touches her fingertips to the doorframe. Relieved to see the bakery, after everything she’s been through.
“So this is Angel Cake?” I ask.
“Mhm. Do you want to see it?”
Based on the hopeful way Faith asked, I have a feeling she just wants to go inside for a second, so I nod. She takes a key from a lockbox on the door, then opens it up to let us in. A waft of warm air – smelling gently of fresh bread – gusts out into the autumn night to meet us. Faith inhales deeply, smiling to herself.
Aiden and I stop just inside to look around as Faith flips the lights on. She told Maggie that the building is historic, and I can tell. It’s got those lovely wide front windows, and delicate, detailed carved leaves in the stone molding. Airy ceilings, gently curved. The view through the windows of the harbor and the sea is fantastic.
It’s a beautiful old space, warm and welcoming in design. Like it was always supposed to be a bakery.
But the way it’s decorated is so strange that it’s distracting. The walls are mostly bare, painted a cold blue to match the thin, rigid stools by the ice-cream bar. A few more deeply uncomfortable-looking metal seats are scattered aimlessly around, along with completely random little nautical things. A cut out of a cartoony sailor stuck onto the wall by the register, a few thick ropes looped along the windows, some posters of sailing-themed movies in plain black frames.
On the wall behind the counter, it says: A N G E L C A K E. The font would suggest that A N G E L C A K E is a company that produces startlingly expensive bottled water, or doubtful attempts at new iPhone apps. Beneath that is the menu, which is printed in the same font, and which prominently features the cartoony sailor in one corner.
“Oh,” is what I come out with.
“Yeah,” Faith agrees sadly. “It never looked like this before. It used to be beautiful.”
“He went for the sailor theme, huh?” Aiden asks.
“Yes, because we get a lot of sailors,” Faith sighs, rubbing her temples.
“Right, that’s how that works,” Robin says archly, leaning against the counter. “As a sailor I can totally confirm that. We want everything to be sailor-themed. Everything. Always.”
Faith casts me a despairing look. “Everyone who works here has a sailor she’s in love with, and the owner still won’t listen to us about what sailors like.”
“Oh, no – and that has nothing to do with the name,” I protest, turning to Faith. “Angel Cake? Sailor themed?”
“Don’t get me started,” Robin groans. “What do you think of the way it looks right now, Jamie? Maggie deemed you an artist, so let’s hear it.”
“Well, I – it’s-” I hesitate, searching for the right words to describe all this stark barrenness. “I guess it’s – good to try to avoid a lot of excess, um – generally speaking-”
Aiden breathes out a laugh. “He’s trying so hard to find something nice to say.”
“Don’t bother, Jamie,” Robin tells me firmly. “We all know the truth.”
“The building is beautiful, though,” I offer instead.
“And the food is still good!” Faith puts in earnestly. “No one from the original team has quit, despite everything. Ellie makes the ice cream, Chloe does bread and buns, Nisha does the pastries, Hai is our barista, and I do all the cakes. Hai also used to do some Chinese pastries for us, but the owner decided he didn’t want to have to drive to The Lotus Seed to pick up ingredients for them, so he cut that whole section of the menu.”
Seems he cut a lot of things from this bakery. I can’t imagine something as fun as a Sexy Alaskan Mountain Man calendar hanging up in here right now, even in the staff room. It’s so abundantly clear what Faith and Robin meant when they said all the personality has gone out of the bakery. You could pick it up and drop it down anywhere in the whole country, and it wouldn’t seem any more or less out of place there, because the design just has no connection to anything around it. The things inside don’t even have any connection to each other.
It looks forlorn this way. Like a plant with no roots.
Then again… this is a warm, gracious old building. Still proudly displaying its beautiful little details, in spite of its unpromising new design.
“Well, between the team sticking around, and Maggie taking over the design,” I answer, dropping my gaze back to Faith, “I think this place will be doing just fine, soon enough.”
Faith gives me a hopeful smile. Robin, who knows Maggie’s taste better, gives me a confident one.
I’m so tired that the following walk to the car and drive to Faith’s apartment passes in something of a blur. But a nice one, where I can hear Faith and Robin’s mingled voices, occasionally with the addition of Aiden’s deep rumble.
I come out of my sleepy haze when Robin reaches through the car window and squeezes my wrist. My eyes flutter open to find both her and Faith out on the sidewalk, smiling warmly at me.
“We just want to say thank you,” Faith says softly, touching my fingers. “Both of you… thank you so much.”
“Oh, happy to.” I smile drowsily up at the both of them. “Thank you for helping us with Daisy. Please don’t tell anyone about her.”
“No, of course not,” Faith agrees. “I – don’t exactly understand how she exists, but I’m not asking any questions. I’m just glad to be home.”
“Enjoy it,” Aiden murmurs warmly.
Faith steps back, taking Robin’s hand. “I will.”
Robin leans down to the window. She doesn’t say anything, only meets my eyes, then Aiden’s. But we understand perfectly, and both give her an answering smile.
I let my eyes rest on the girls as we pull away. They walk together up to Faith’s building, hands tightly intertwined. Robin follows her up the steps, gazing at her adoringly. She waits patiently for Faith to unlock the door into the entryway, then sweeps her into her arms, and carries her inside.
A last drift of Faith’s giggling laughter reaches us before Aiden takes us around a turn, and the girls disappear from view.
I sit back in the passenger’s seat and look at Aiden. One glance at him tells me he’s feeling just like I am. Sore everywhere, beyond exhausted, but deeply content.
He flips on the radio, then reaches across the car and takes my hand. “Gonna need a little energy to get us safely back to Ketterbridge.”
“Go ahead,” I murmur, feeling the connection already melting open.
Aiden kisses my fingers, gently beginning to draw on me.
“Get some sleep, Linden,” he says softly, as my eyes flutter closed. “When you wake up, we’ll be home.”
Home, I sigh happily to myself, and fall asleep with a smile on my face.
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