In This Wondrous Place

Grace rushed at me and jumped up as she hugged me. For a moment I had her practically suspended in the air while she choked the life out of me with her death grip. It was oddly comforting, even if I couldn’t breathe.

“Down, girl.” Isabelle joked, patting Grace on the back.

My friend released me, but planted her feet firmly in front of me and crossed her arms. I could tell she wanted to ask about last night, but she had the courtesy not to do it in front of everyone else. I silently thanked her for her discretion.

Lucas noticed me from the porched and said something brief to my brother, who nodded hesitantly and followed him inside.

“Go easy on him,” Isabelle whispered low enough for only me to hear, “It’s been a rough morning.”

Last night all I could think about was screaming at Mason and letting all the anger and frustration that I’ve been feeling for the past month out. I was upset and annoyed and God knows what else, but in this moment…all I wanted to do was hug my big brother.

I immediately started running over to him. He seemed to brace for something violent, but was pleasantly surprised when I tucked my hands under his arms and around his waist. Mason exhaled deeply, as if he had been holding in a breath for several minutes, and returned the gesture.

One didn’t need to be psychic to tell that all eyes were on us, probably just as surprised as my brother had been. It had taken me a month to realize that I’m not the only one affected by my father’s death, everyone here has been touched by it in some way or another. Even though Mason was never close with our father, he still cared…he still loved him, despite his faults. That was what I needed to learn from this visit, more than anything else.

I finally stepped back from my brother and gave him a good once over. He looked exhausted and hungover, more than I’ve ever seen him before. I was tempted to make a joke about how bad he looked, but I thought better of it and kept my mouth shut on the topic.

“Look, Em—“

“Don’t you dare apologize,” I interrupted him, “Everything you said last night, albeit very angrily, was true. You have every right to be upset at him, Mason. You have the right to feel however you want to feel about the situation because, the truth is, there is no one way to deal with it. He’s gone,” I paused to compose myself before continuing, “and I don’t want us to do this to each other. I love you too much for that.”

I hadn’t realized that I was crying until Mason began wiping the tears away from my face with his thumbs. His eyes were also swelling with tears that threatened to fall any moment.

“I love you too, Em.”

We hugged once more and then faced the rest of the group. Isabelle was dabbing at her eyes and Grace was hugging at her side. I glanced at Lucas, who was leaning against the door frame and giving me an encouraging smile.

“Well,” I laughed through my tears, “who feels like getting ice cream?”



The week seemed to flash by. There were no more fights and Mason and I genuinely enjoyed our time together with everyone. This morning, however, began the start of my time alone.

Grace and Lucas were reluctant to go, but their flight was scheduled only a few hours from now. I could sense that they were unsure if I would be okay alone, but I did my best to convince them otherwise.

“I could send Luke back to L.A. and just stay with you for a few more weeks,” Grace insisted, despite my assurances.

“Hey!” Luke scrunched up his face in protest.

“Guys, you have lives to get back to and bosses to work for.” I stared pointedly at Grace, who was already on thin ice at her job. She’s a makeup artist who works for snooty actors, but she loves it all the same.

My friends both sighed and collected their luggage from my front porch. I had déjà vu from the previous morning, when my brother and his wife did the exact same thing before driving back up north. It was a tearful goodbye then, as it is now.

Lucas was the first to pull me into a bear hug.

“Emery, I want daily updates, ok?” He ruffled my hair jokingly, but I could tell he meant business.

Grace was next with her death grip. For a small woman, she could really do some damage if she wanted to.

“The second you need me,” Lukas cut in by clearing his throat, “us, we’ll be here.” She squeezed my shoulders once more and then slowly let go.
I waved them off as Lucas backed the rental car out of the driveway. Grace was already blaring music through the car speakers and seat dancing, much to Luke’s dismay. I laughed at the scene before me and watched them speed off down the road, the music fading with distance.

Silence greeted me sourly. It was what I had been fearing the most since my family and friends came; the silence that would follow when they left. I knew that all I would have was my thoughts to accompany me afterwards.

As I stood on my front porch, a thought occurred to me. I hadn’t checked on the sailboat since….well, since that night. The condition it must be in would be horrendous. According to the port authority, they managed to wrangle in the boat the following morning after it caught on some rocks at the marina. I didn’t want to look at it, much less assess the damage.

After a moment of hesitation, I slid my phone from my back pocket and scrolled through my contacts until a particular name appeared. I pressed the call button and placed the phone to my ear.

“Hello?” The Australian accent was unmistakable.

“Hey, are you busy?” I asked hopefully.

“Not at all, what do you have in mind?”

“There’s something I need to do and I might need a hand.”