Page 39 of Fake Dark Vows
I pull a metal box out from underneath the seating area and lift her onto it so that she can see. “What thing I lost?”
“You went back to the boat to find it.”
Rose joins us, standing behind the child ready to catch her if she topples backwards.
“’Member,” Georgie says.
“Oh, the thing,” I say, catching Rose’s raised eyebrows.
“Was it your marbles?” Georgie’s eyes are wide and innocent.
Rose giggles, and the sound is musical over the hum of the engine. “Did you lose your marbles, Brandon?”
“I don’t think so.” I can’t help grinning, even though Georgie is trying to move the wheel in the wrong direction. “Where did she even get that from?”
“Ask her.” Rose shrugs.
It doesn’t seem like the kind of question to ask a three-year-old, but I’m trusting Rose’s judgment in this instance. She’s the one with a degree in early child education.
“Who told you about losing marbles?” I ask.
“Grandma.” Georgie peers up at me with those wide brown eyes. “She said Billy lost his marbles a long while ago.”
“Billy?” Rose’s eyebrows slide upwards. She has caught the sun on her face today, and her nose is pink. Rather than making her look like Rudolph, it’s giving her a healthy glow.
“She must mean Uncle Bill. It wouldn’t surprise me with Aunt April’s alcohol consumption.”
I tell myself that I’m not divulging any family secrets for Rose to use against us in the future. I’m simply making conversation. It’s what people do. I’m not trying to change her opinion of me and convince her that I’m not the asshole she thinks I am.
Absolutely not.
There’s a sign outside our next destination that reads:
No Name Pub
You found it.
It’s an unremarkable yellow building with some wooden tables and benches outside offering shaded seating, the same low-key, shambling vibe that can be found throughout the Keys. The tourists buy into it. Even my mom was lured into buying Ruby Island because of it.
It has charm, I guess. For the first time in a long while, I don’t feel as if I need a massage to drag my shoulders down from my neck.
“I’m hungry,” Georgie says.
Rose has something to add, but instead, she chews her bottom lip and keeps her eyes on the pub sign.
I study the small groups of tourists milling around outside for a glimpse of someone from Ruby Island. Someone I need to beat. Other than Damon, we haven’t seen anyone else from my parent’s guest list, and I’m struggling to believe that they’ve all completed the challenges in order—at this rate, we’ll be home, showered, and enjoying cocktails before they even collect their slice of pie.
I’ll be enjoying cocktails. I remind myself that Rose will be on the other side of the drinks trolley.
“Maybe we’ll grab some food while we’re here,” I say.
Rose’s face lights up and she squeezes Georgie’s shoulders.
“I said maybe,” I add, because why let that sunshine flow when you can contain it and keep people in their place?
I don’t look at her as we enter the pub. Her smile is contagious, and it feels like I’m fighting the urge to drop my shoulders further and try to see the last two challenges from her perspective.
Fun. That’s how she sees them. I can even picture her and Kelly giggling over them while the rest of us were getting sloshed on bubbly down at the beach, making polite small talk about stuff no one is interested in.