Chapter 26

Twenty-Six

The new semester is underway, and it’s wonderful to see all the fresh enthusiasm along with some new faces. As the rainy season continues, please remember to keep the water outside where it belongs! Let’s try to minimize puddles. We wouldn’t want any accidents.

MERRY

I missed Nolan. I wasn’t about to give in and do something foolish like go talk to the guy, but I missed him. I missed him when I heard strains of the choir practicing in the halls. I missed him when I saw him across the courtyard at lunch making Ken and Principal Alana crack up with some classic Nolan story. I missed him when Ryder asked when Nolan was coming over, and I missed him when my mom asked when she could next expect to see the four of us.

Over a week into the spring term, I still wasn’t used to the new schedule, nor had I made my peace with Nolan staying.

“You have to talk to me sometime.”

Crap. Looking more tempting than a giant sugar cookie, Nolan lounged against the wall right outside my classroom, predatory gaze saying he’d been lying in wait since school ended.

“I’m not sure what to say.” Well, I could say how I’d thought I’d be in the clear by waiting ten minutes to exit my classroom, but that wouldn’t help anything.

“Say dinner.” Nolan smiled far more brightly than I deserved. “Friday night?”

I moved my lips but doubted I managed more than a ghost of a smile.

“I’ve got outdoor club camping with the boys plus a quick stop at my folks afterward on Saturday.” That my mother would be delighted to have Nolan along was another thing best left unsaid. “We’ll be back Sunday night, sorry.”

“Sunday night nightcap…err…Dole Whip?” Nolan still managed an admirable amount of cheer, mentioning the frozen pineapple dessert we both liked but I couldn’t let myself have right then. Couldn’t let my guard down.

“Prep for Monday. Laundry.” My voice was as flat as my hope for getting out of this conversation unscathed. “The mundane parts of teaching and parenting.”

“So, in other words, yes, you are going to keep avoiding me.” Nolan shook his head, disappointment shining in his eyes. “I care about you, Merry. So much.”

“I care about you too,” I whispered. I could dodge him, but I couldn’t outright lie to Nolan, even now.

“Then what are we doing?” He made a frustrated noise. “I miss you. I stayed here, and I’m still missing you.”

“I’m sorry.” The words weighed heavily on my tongue, tasting rusty and bitter.

“Uncle Nolan!” Stella flew down the hall on a wave of righteous indignation. “Athena was so mean.”

“I better be going.” Like the coward I was, I used the interruption to sneak out of the school, collecting Ryder and Legend from the soggy soccer field.

Sunday morning was sunny, and I managed some solo surfing while my dad took the boys to breakfast. After I unloaded my board from the top of my hatchback, I encountered Grandpa soaking up the morning sun in a deck chair on the patio off of my parents’ kitchen.

“Decent waves?” Grandpa asked as Barney flopped at his feet. Once a surfer, always a surfer, and although the last thing I wanted was to talk to anyone, I’d always make time for him.

“A few good rides.” I plopped down in the chair next to him.

“Ha. You look like the board rode you, not the other way around.” Grandpa snorted, making me regret sitting.

“It’s been a week.”

“Your mother says you turned down a free pie to take back to your friend.” His suspicious tone and narrow eyes made it clear he was on a gossip hunt.

“I’m not sure when I’m seeing Nolan next.” I gestured vaguely with one hand. Technically, I’d be forced to see him tomorrow at school, but a guy could dream.

“Eh. That’s right.” Grandpa stroked his thinning white hair. “He’s returning to New York soon?”

“Not until June. Apparently.” I stretched my neck from side to side, trying to give off all-done vibes without being rude.

“And you two work together? Same school? All that?” Apparently, my attempt at vibes had failed as miserably as everything else I’d tried this January.

“Yep.”

“I’d say it’s just a pie, Merry.” Grandpa gave me a long, pointed stare. “Give the man his pie. And say you’re sorry.”

“What makes you think I need to apologize?”

“You’re a Winters. We can be rather clueless sometimes.” He gave a humble chuckle. “Your grandma used to call them Winters Moments. And she would have liked your fellow.”

“You think?” I regarded him a bit more closely. He was over eighty now, and while he and my grandmother had been legendary free spirits, we had never overtly discussed whether that extended to me being pansexual.

“Anyone that polite who can eat a stack of pies? Of course.” Grandpa gave a hearty laugh before his tone turned meaningful. “And he looks at you like you’re the Big One.”

We both laughed at the surfer-speak before I sobered. “I miss Grandma.”

“Me too.” Sighing, he gazed into the distance.

“You ever think about…?” I thought better of asking the island’s most popular bachelor over seventy-five anything about his love life. “Never mind.”

“Merry. I’m eighty-three. I do nothing other than think.” He pulled off his glasses, making a show out of polishing them. “And I tell you what, if one of my lady friends looked at me like that boy looks at you, I’d tell your folks they could lease my room.”

“Well, okay then.” I blinked. There was a visual I could do without. And I’d always presumed he hadn’t remarried due to a broken heart. I sat for several long moments before blurting out, “He’s not from around here.”

“Merrick Winters.” Grandpa sat forward, voice as stern as I’d ever heard it. “We all sit on borrowed land.”

“I know. I just meant—” I tried to apologize, but he talked right over my attempts.

“Sixty-some years ago, I arrived from a big city too.”

“I know the story?—”

“Do you though? I fought in a war between wars that they didn’t even want to call a war. I came back here after the army let me go. It was the one thing I didn’t hate about the army. Did you know that? That the army let me go? Medical discharge.” He sucked in a breath between his teeth, regarding me through angry eyes.

“Sorry—” I didn’t fully get the word out as he kept right on going.

“Mental health crisis they’d call it these days. I didn’t return to Hawaii to surf and open a shop to catch a trend, have fun, or dodge my real life. I came here because it was the only path forward I could see. Are you going to tell me I should have gone back to Los Angeles instead? Told your grandmother to stay put while I worked in a factory like my father and his father before him…” He trailed off, as angry as I’d ever seen him.

“I’m sorry, Grandpa. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“What upsets me is that you are here today, and you’ll be the third generation to own Silver Surfer someday, and you are only here because people welcomed me. People who didn’t have to. People who probably shouldn’t have. But they did. And do you know what would have happened to me back in the city? Nothing good, I’ll tell you that.”

“Nolan’s not like you.” I wasn't sure why I was protesting, but I hated upsetting Grandpa and didn’t want him to be right that I was being narrow-minded. “You’re the original Silver Surfer. Nolan’s city through and through. His brain runs on subway time. He’ll miss New York before spring even hits. Maybe North Shore life saved you, but it would stifle Nolan in a matter of weeks.”

“Perhaps.” Grandpa used an indifferent tone. “Do you know why I welcome every single person who walks into that store?” He jerked his thumb in the direction of the store where my mother was minding the counter. “I don’t care where our customers are from, the color of their skin, the size of their wallet, or who they take to bed. I welcome them because you never know when your Aloha or Howdy or Hang in there, partner will make a difference.”

“Welcoming someone isn’t the same as dating them,” I said weakly because Grandpa had already clearly won this round, to the point it was a wonder I wasn’t reduced to a few cinders sitting on a deck chair.

“Ah, see, there we are, back to the looks that boy gives you.” Grandpa sighed like I was a disappointment to every Winters to ever pick up a surfboard. “You want to pass on that wave, that’s your own business. But what did I teach you about bailing?”

“Always do it smart. Not scared.”

“Good kid.” A dash of his usual fondness returned to his tone. “And your fellow has excellent taste in cookies. Just saying, if you’re done with him, tell him the next bakery box can come right here.”

“Grandpa.”

“I tease. I tease. And now, I nap.” He slumped down in the chair, effectively dismissing me. “You think more about taking that pie with you.”

“I will,” I lied as I stood, the weight on my shoulders now twice as heavy. I’d never known Grandpa’s struggles with his mental health had played such a role in him starting the Silver Surfer. And the whole world could learn from his generous spirit. I wanted to follow his example, but I wasn’t sure I could risk my fragile heart on this particular wave.