The Turning Tides (Marina's Tales) (40 page)

“But, but…” I could tell Evie was at a loss for words. She was so invested in the idea of the council as an instrument for good, that she had been rendered incapable of seeing the dark forces that were present, scheming right under her nose.

“I’ll never go
back
again,” I said, digging in my heels. It felt good to take a stand.

“Now Marina, you should never say never,” Evie cautioned. She skipped a beat, and wisely changed the subject, “Your father has called me looking for you. He’s worried because your phone keeps going to voicemail.”

I blinked back the image of my phone being hurled over the cliff by Paul, “Does Dad know anything?”

“No. He said you left without saying goodbye,
but
he seemed most anxious to speak with you.”

I agreed to call my father, telling Evie I’d come to the city as soon as I was up to it, and promising to tell her all the details then. I asked her to look for the Rover at the airport, and she told me Yuri had already located
it and was
waiting for
her and Boris
to land in San Francisco.
She promised to have it cleaned and waiting for me at her place.
Evie was still fuming, promising to report my passport stolen immediately.

“The least I can do is ruin their little stooge
’
s vacation!” she huffed indignantly.

I called my father, repeating what I
’d
told Abby about losing my phone. It was technically the truth, and there was no need to add any more details. I apologized for taking off without saying goodbye, and
asked him to thank Amrita
for looking after Stumpy.

“Ethan’s mother is gone now
…
So I can come pick him up anytime.”

“I don’t want you to miss any more school, but
w
e
’d really like to see you,” he said, “Can you visit this weekend?”

“How about Ethan and I come up Friday after school?” I asked.

“Perfect,” he sounded happy, “We’ll all have dinner.”

“Okay, tell Stumpy we’re coming for him.”

“Good luck peeling him from Amrita’s lap,” The mere mention of her name seemed to put a smile in his voice.

“I love you Dad
.
”

“I love you too, sweetie.”

I put the phone down, and sat there for a minute, thinking. Something had profoundly changed, and I realized that it was me. I was still my father’s daughter, but I no longer felt like his child. I respected Evie more than anyone I knew, but I no longer considered her to be infallible.

The door burst open, startling me. Ethan came in backwards, balancing a tray bearing two mugs of coffee and a pair of apples. He smiled, setting it down carefully on the bed. I could see that his bedside table had been reduced to a pile of kindling in the corner.

“Thanks,” I smiled back, taking the cup between my palms and breathing deep, “Smells good.”
Ethan picked up his cup and sat down carefully, slipping his feet under the blankets to play footsie with me until I giggled.

We sat up in bed, drinking coffee and talking about what we needed to do to get caught up at school. I told him about Megan’s concert, and my visit with Shayla. It had only been a few days ago, but so much had happened, it seemed like I was telling him about the far distant past. We planned on going to San Francisco for dinner on Friday, picking up Stumpy and my car and coming straight home.

Home. It wasn’t this apartment, I realized, or even Aptos. It was Ethan.

He leaned back on the pillows, “I need to get to the grocery store… I haven’t been eating
in
much lately. We’ll have to order some pizza or something unless you wanna go for a walk.” He picked up an apple and polished it until it was shiny, holding it out to me, “Hungry?”

I narrowed my eyes at him, “Are you trying to tempt me?”

“As much as possible.”

Ethan reached over and took the coffee cup from my hand, placing it purposefully on the tray. He picked it up and stood, setting the tray on the floor at the foot of the bed. I imagined he was getting up to dress, but he grinned at me, lifted the sheets and
dove
in headfirst.

He tickled me until I shrieked with laughter,
finally
pulling me under for another swim in the blankets.

~

C
hapter
T
wenty-E
ight

ENGAGE
D

~

We spent the rest of the week joined at the hip,
keeping
as close to each other as we
possibly
could. Ethan was as reluctant to part with me as I was him; if we were in the same room, we always had a hand or foot in contact with each other.

He drove me to school in the morning, and I spent the afternoons reading in the library, curled up in a quiet corner to wait for his classes to finish. After school, I accompanied him to his landscaping jobs, sitting in the truck and watching him work. I was content to wait, not quite ready to be alone.

I returned to my marine biology class, carefully watching Professor Powell for any sign that he knew something about what had happened at the lab. If he did, he was a master of deception, because I failed to see any indication of guilt whatsoever.

Ethan was waiting outside class, pacing nervously, “Well?” he asked, searching my eyes.

“He doesn’t seem to know about me. But he
is
in charge of th
at
research ship… He must have had something to do with catching Nixie.”

Word on campus was that the
bomb
squa
d had cleared the building, but the
lab had been closed due to a problem with the wiring. Rumors were flying that the director himself had been accidentally electrocuted, and there were plenty of grad students grumbling about being cut off from their experiments. I ran into Max on campus, and he nervously inquired as to how I was feeling. I thanked him
again for his help
, encouraging him not to give up on his research, telling him I believed in its potential.

“I
still
can’t get over the cover up,” he observed wryly. “They sure kept it out of the press. It looks like I may have to re-think a few conspiracy theories.”

“Yeah, I can relate.”

He shook his head sadly, “I still can’t get over what they were doing with the secret lab. You’d think you could trust a university to be ethical.”

“Everyone has a price,” I said cynically, “The people
behind
it
ha
d
a lot of money and power.
Max
… I’m
so
sorry that I used you to get in there… It’s only that I knew they were after me, and I
had
to know what they were
up to. Believe me
– I never wanted to involve you in this whole business.”

“It’s okay,” he smiled
.
“I’m glad I could help.” He scuffed his sneaker on the cement, “I
always
knew there was something different about you.”

“How?” I asked, a little alarmed. My mind started racing– what was it about me that screamed freak?

He looked up at me shyly,
“Girls that look like you generally don’t know very much about squid.”

I smiled, gave him a quick hug, and wished him well.

Ethan and I went to the coffee shop after school, where I picked up a spare key f
rom Bill, along with another
envelope
of cash. Ethan helped me hang up some replacement paintings, following me up the stairs to my studio. He studied, spreading his books and papers out on the big couch while I painted, losing myself in a burst of creative energy.

I was happy, and the paintings I worked on exuded a sense of cheerful joy that had been missing from my earlier pieces. Before
,
I was addicted to the sea, but now I was high on love, strung out on bliss. I was painting to express myself, not to lose myself.

“Hey,” he tapped me on the shoulder, and I looked up to see I’d lost all track of time, “Let’s go get some dinner.”

Friday came before we knew it, bringing a trip up to the city to see my father. Ethan drove us along the coast, reaching over to squeeze my knee every few minutes.

“Two hands on the wheel,” I admonished him, squeezing his knee back.

We pulled into Evie’s parking garage to see the
Boris’
familiar face appear from out of nowhere. He directed us into a parking spot next to my Rover, and when I climbed out he clamped onto me in a wordless embrace.

“It’s okay Boris,” I patted his massive back
.
“I’m fine.”

He drew back
to study me, concern in his eyes. I knew he felt responsible for what had happened under his watch. He lived to keep Evie safe, and by extension, me and my father.
He patted my hand solemnly, and nodded, accepting
my
forgiveness.

“Good
job
,” he nodded to Ethan.

I looked inside the Rover to see my surfboard
s
and wetsuit still inside, just where I left them.  It was as if nothing at all had even happened. Boris escorted us to the elevator, handing me a set of replacement keys, “I tell Evie you’re here.”

W
hen w
e
got
to my father’s apartment, I was surprised to find him up on his feet, walking with only the assistance of a cane. I raced over to throw my arms around him, realizing how close I’d come to never seeing him again.

“You look great!” I said, my voice thick with emotion. In the span of only a
week
he seemed more solid, stronger than he’d been since before he’d left for Afghanistan in the first place. I looked over his shoulder to see Amrita watching proudly. She was the reason he looked so well, and I impulsively darted over to embrace her too.

She stiffened up tensely, more nervous than usual.

Ethan greeted them both with polite handshakes, and my Father gestured for us to have a seat at the dining room table. He seemed unusually formal, which was completely out of character. I watched him and Ethan carefully as they made small talk about school and the weather.

The whole house smelled wonderful, and Dad announced that Amrita had prepared us a
special
dinner. “She’s been planning this all week,” he told us, making her blush. I offered to help, but she insisted that I remain seated while she busied herself in the kitchen making her delicious chai. After she served us she took a chair next to my father.

He cleared his throat, “I know this might seem kind of sudden…”

Ethan and I exchanged a look. We both knew what was coming next.

“I’ve asked Amrita to marry me,” he looked over at her with
adoring
eyes, “And she has agreed to do me the honor.”

“Congratulations,” I said immediately, and I truly meant it. After what I’d just been through, nothing could faze me, and a life affirming turn of events was more than welcome.

“Aren’t you shocked?” asked Amrita, her eyes wide.

“We’re used to it,” Ethan said, reaching over to shake my father’s good hand, “Congratulations.”

Ethan and I
exchanged another glance and
laughed, telling them the story of how Abby and Dutch had broken the news to us. Soon we had them laughing too.

Their secret revealed, the tension in the room dissipated, and we sat and talked about more important things. Dad asked Ethan more about his plans for the future, leading me to believe he was getting used to the idea of our marrying so young. I figured love had softened him up, making him more inclined to believe we were serious.

I excused myself to go to my room, but there was no cat there. I came rushing back out in alarm, “Where’s Stumpy?”

Amrita got up. “Come,” she gestured, leading me behind her to my father’s room. There, curled up on a soft pillow was a little black and white pile of fur. He looked up to see us and stretched luxuriantly.

“He sleeps wherever he wishes. I’ve decided that in my next life I’d like to be this cat. Martin says that he dreams most of the day, and plays the rest.”

I had to laugh at that observation, stopping only when I could see Amrita watching me seriously.

“Thank you for taking such good care of both of them,” I said solemnly.

She reached down to stroke the cat. “I will miss having him here very much,” she said, “But Martin is planning on embarking on a lecture tour in the new year, and he
’ll
need a steady home.”

“He’ll have one,” I assured her
.
“With a very big yard to play in.”