Wish You Were Here (23 page)

“
Shit, I’m sorry, are you okay?” he asked, his anger suddenly gone as he gently touched her good arm.

“
I’m fine,” she said, pulling away from him. “Your knees okay?”

“
Yeah,” he said, not sure what he wanted to do more, kiss her or yell at her. “Fine.”

“
Good.” She motioned out the door, toward the ruckus on the porch. “Go break that crap up before one of them has a damn heart attack.”

Out on the porch, there was a grunt and a series of thuds
as the two older men tumbled down the steps. Nate pointed a finger at Freya.

“
Don’t go anywhere,” he said.

“
Where am I going to go?” she said, waving her hand at him. “Now, go.”

He hesitated for a second,
then headed outside, where Richard and Malcolm were grappling on the lawn, Malcolm on top, his hands going for Richard’s neck. A crackle of thunder sounded in the distance, and fat drops of rain started to fall.

“
Right,” Nate muttered, and ran out. He grabbed Malcolm’s shoulder, and his uncle looked up, surprised. Nate put all his anger into one solid punch, and the old man fell back next to Richard, unconscious. Nate held out his hand to Freya’s dad, pulling him to his feet.

“
Nathan Brody?” Richard said, somehow maintaining his dignified demeanor, despite the fact that he was caked in patches of grass and dirt that were turning to mud in the rain.

“
Yeah,” Nate said.

“
Richard Daly,” the older man said, and held out his hand. Nate almost laughed at the absurdity, but he took the man’s hand and shook.

Just then, two police cars flew onto the property, lights flashing. Behind them, from the office, Ruby came running out, with Piper close behind.

“Goddamnit,” Ruby yelled, “would a little subtlety kill you people?” She slowed as she spotted Malcolm, knocked out on the lawn. “Okay. Never mind.”

“
Dad!” Piper scooted around Ruby and ran to Nate, throwing her arms around his neck. “Ruby wouldn’t tell me what was happening, but it was bad, wasn’t it? Uncle Malcolm is bad, isn’t he? Is that why you hit him?”

Nate shot a look at Richard, who patted Nate on the shoulder and went toward the house. Nate glanced at the front window, but couldn
’t see Freya through it. Well, he’d deal with her in a bit. For the moment, he was happy to tighten his hold on his daughter, replacing his anger with the peaceful knowledge that she was safe.

“
Don’t worry about Uncle Malcolm.” He kissed her cheek. “Everything’s fine now.”

Piper pulled back and looked around, her eyes wide.
“Where’s Freya?”

“
She’s in the house,” Nate said. “She’s okay.”

Piper nodded and Nate set her down,
keeping hold of her small hand as the first police officer headed over, hand on the butt of his holstered gun.

“
We got a report about a hostage situation at this address,” he said.

“
Yeah, it’s over.” Nate nodded toward Malcolm, a second officer approaching his unconscious body carefully. “He’s unarmed.” Nate looked up and saw Ruby. “Ruby, can you...?”

Before he could finish, Ruby had taken Piper
’s hand from his. “Baby, let’s go inside and get you into something dry, okay?” Ruby glanced at the officer. “Okay?”

The officer nodded.
“Stay on the premises.” He spoke briefly into the walkie-talkie on his shoulder, then turned back to Nate.

“
Ready to answer some questions?”

“
Sure.” Nate led the officer up toward the shelter of the porch as the rain started to fall in earnest. “Shoot.”

***

Freya pulled the plate out of the hot, soapy water and rinsed it under the tap. Her hands were only shaking slightly now, which she thought was pretty damn good under the circumstances. The gold scalloped edges of the plate glistened under her fingers, and the purple on the r
im
seemed almost translucent. She rubbed the towel over the eagle in the center as she walked over to the table, then set it down again in the middle, angling her head to see if it maybe looked prettier from a different perspective.

Nope. That plate was always
gonna be ugly.

“
Freya?”

She looked up to see her father standing in the entryway to the
kitchen, his immaculate gray suit wet and caked in mud and grass, his hair dirty and disheveled, and his lip starting to bruise at one edge. He looked down at the plate, and then at the towel in Freya’s hands.

“
What did you do?” he asked.

“
I washed it,” she said.

He took a step closer, his voice low.
“Freya, you just tampered with evidence.”

She laughed a little. She hadn
’t thought of it that way. “Oh. Right.” She sighed. “I guess I thought I was protecting you. Think I’ll be able to plead post-traumatic shock?”

Richard placed his hands on the back of a chair, as if leaning into it for strength.
“I’m going to confess to everything. My lawyers are working on a deal right now and they think that if I put my resources into retrieving the remaining lost items, we can work out some kind of clemency.”

Freya let out a stuttered laugh.
“So I got dishpan hands for nothing? Is this what you’re telling me?”

“
I never meant for any of this to...” He stopped. Just... stopped. The way he always did before he’d let any emotion show, before any apology, any admission of wrongdoing, might sneak out. Thirty-four years she’d known the man, and in that time he had never apologized for anything.

“
That’s not healthy, you know,” Freya said, as her own eyes started to fill. “You hold in all that emotion and eventually, it explodes on you. Piper calls it emotional diarrhea.”

And then she thought of Piper, and Nate, and Ruby, and everything that had actually happened that afternoon. The emotion
cycloned within her, and her eyes teared up. She put her hands on the table, leaning forward, trying to ward off the breakdown she knew was coming, at least until her father wasn’t around to see it.

She felt a cold, wet hand on her shoulder and looked up to see her father looking down at her. Slowly, he patted her shoulder, a little too hard and a little too fast, but he was trying. She had to give him credit for that, at least. She stood up straight and smiled at him through her tears.

“Thanks,” she croaked. She wanted him to pull her into his arms, the way Nate did with Piper, to kiss her on the head and tell her he loved her and make everything okay again.

Instead, he pulled his hand away and stood there in silence for a while, then said,
“I need to go speak to the police.”

“
Right,” she said, and watched him walk away.

Twenty-One

Nate
knocked twice on the door to his bedroom, and when he heard nothing from inside, he poked his head in. Freya sat on the bed, her back to him. Her hands rested in her lap as she stared out the window. Nate stepped in quietly and shut the door behind him.

“
Everyone’s gone,” he said. “There’s a judge in Boise who knew your dad in college, I guess, and they’re working it out.”

Freya nodded.
“So, I’m not in trouble for washing the fingerprints off the plate?”

“
It’s a moot point, with your dad’s confession and the evidence we gave about Malcolm regarding the security guard.” He smiled, hoping she would smile back.

She didn
’t.

“
Are you okay?” he asked.

She hesitated,
then said, “Yeah. I’m fine. I’ve got... actually... a flight...”

Nate froze.
“You’re going? Tonight?”

“
Yep. There’s another flight out at eleven.”

Damnit
.
He walked over and sat down next to her. “Any chance I could talk you into staying until tomorrow? I’ll sleep on the couch, it’s not about sex, I just —” He took her hand in his and stared down at it. “I need more time to tell you how sorry I am.”

She looked at him.
“Sorry? For what?”

“
For what? Christ, Freya. For almost getting you killed. For yelling at you. For... all that stuff with my uncle.”

She smiled, but it was so small Nate barely caught it.
“Well, I almost got you killed, too. And I yelled at you. And I kicked your knees out from under you.” She cringed and looked at him. “How are your knees, by the way?”

Hurt like a son of a bitch.
“Oh, they’re fine.”

She went quiet for a long moment, and he watched her, wondering what was going on in her head. Then, finally, she spoke.

“When I went down to talk to Piper, on the dock, she gave me something.”

She pulled a little
purple velvet pouch out of her pocket and handed it to Nate. He turned it upside down and a silver coin a bit larger than a quarter fell into his palm.

“
It’s an Irish wishing coin,” she said. “Piper told me that I could make any wish I wanted on it. And you know what I wished for?”

Nate set it on the bed,
then looked at her. “Nope.”

“
I wished for my old life back,” she said. “My old, cold, empty, emotionless life.” She turned to look at him, her eyes dry and exhausted. “And I meant it. That’s what I want.”

Nate straightened.
“Freya... why? You weren’t happy—”

“
I was at peace. I knew who I was. I knew what I was dealing with, how to handle my life. I’ve been with you for a few days, and already, it’s been too hard. I’m confused all the time and I’m worried about being hurt and hurting you or Piper and I’m just not made that way.” She released a heavy breath, her eyes so sad Nate could hardly take looking at them. “Plus, it’s too hard to love someone
like
that. At least I can save you from that.”

“
Save me from what? From loving you?” He tried to think of a better way to say what he wanted to tell her, but could only say, “You’re too late.”

She looked up at him, surprise on her face.
“Don’t say that. Please.”

“
Why not? It’s true.”

“
It isn’t. It can’t be. We had great sex, you saved me from a fire, we were held hostage together. It’s making us think there’s something here that isn’t really here and I can’t—”

He leaned in and kissed her, as much to shut her up as to convince her that there was more here than she was willing to admit. She kissed him back, put her hand on his face, and he pulled her to him, trying to tell her everything he needed her to know, and she responded.
She knows it, too,
he thought.
She knows.

When they pulled apart, she pressed her forehead to his and for a moment, he relaxed.

Then she kissed him on the cheek, whispered, “Goodbye,” and pushed up from the bed.

“
Freya, wait,” he said, grabbing her wrist as he shot up after her.

“
Nate, you’re just making this harder,” she said, and then he pulled her into his arms and kissed her again, putting everything he knew they had between them into it. Every laugh, every smile, every angry word, every quiet moment they’d shared, he put it all into that kiss. When he pulled back, he slid both hands up the sides of her face and forced her to look at him.

“
We’re not done,” he said. “There’s more.”

“
You really love me?” she said, looking up at him.

“
Yes,” he said. “This is what I’m trying to tell you.”

“
Then you need to let me go.”

He stared down at
her, unable to believe this was really happening. Was she crazy? Did she think this sort of thing happened every day? What the hell was she doing?

And still, while thinking all this, he watched her walk out of the room, and didn
’t move a muscle to stop her.

***

Freya paused in the middle of the stairway and wiped at her face. She didn’t want to say goodbye to Ruby and Piper all teary and bawling.

A little strength
, she said, raising her eyes heavenward.
All I’m asking is for just a little more. Enough to get me out the door.

She got herself together and went down the rest of the stairs. She set her suitcase by the front door. Her purse and laptop were already in her rental car. From the kitchen, she could hear the sounds of Piper and Ruby playing Slap. She laughed to herself; those girls needed a new game.

I could leave now,
she thought.
I could just go and send a letter later.

But she couldn
’t, and she knew it. Ruby would understand, but Piper wouldn’t.

She walked into the kitch
en and leaned against the entryway. Ruby slapped at a pile and Piper’s hand came down just a second too late.

“
Ha!” Ruby said, doing a little victory shimmy in her seat. “Teach you to think you can take advantage of an old lady. I’ve still got some tricks in me yet, kid.”

Piper smiled and looked at Freya, and then her smile faded.
“Freya? Are you okay?”

“
I’m fine,” she said, forcing a smile. “I was just leaving, though, and I wanted to say goodbye.”

“
What?” Piper said. “No.”

“
I have work,” Freya said lamely. “My dad’s gonna be out for a while. He needs me back at the office.”

“
I thought you quit,” Ruby said, and Freya felt a rush of shock.

“Who told you I quit?” she asked.

The older woman shrugged, unapologetic. “No one. You left your fax sitting right there in the garbage can.”

Freya smiled.
“Just when I think I don’t have enough reasons to adore you, Ruby, you go and add one more.”

Ruby shrugged and turned her attention back to the cards. Piper, however, kept her gaze locked on Freya.

“I thought you were going to stay,” she said. “I thought you and Dad—”

“
We’re friends,” Freya said. “All of us. And there’s a standing offer for you guys to come to Boston.” She met Ruby’s eyes. “After a little while.”

Ruby gave a brief, knowing nod.

Freya walked over to Piper and knelt in front of her. “You have to promise me you’ll come to visit, okay?”

“
Yeah,” Piper said, her face sad. “Okay”

Freya pulled her in for a hug.
“You are an amazing kid, you know that?”

Piper tightened her grip.
“Duh.”

Freya laughed, then released Piper and stood up.
“I’m gonna be late for my plane.”

Ruby pushed up from the table.
“Let me see you out.”

They walked in silence, side by side, to the door. Freya
pulled on her jacket. She held her rental keys in her hand and turned to Ruby.

“
Well,” she said.

“
Yeah,” Ruby said.

They paused for a moment.

“I’m not really a hugger,” Ruby said.

“
Yeah,” Freya said. “I never used to be, either. Well...” Freya turned toward the door. Ruby pulled it open for her and Freya walked out to the porch. The rain beat down on the porch roof, and the sad pattering in the dark felt somehow fitting to Freya’s mood.

“
Hey,” Ruby said, and Freya turned. “You ever change your mind, we’ll be here. Okay?”

Freya smiled.
“Thanks.”

Ruby nodded and closed the door slowly, leaving Freya outside in the dark, in the rain, alone.

And, finally, it was over.