Summer Island

Then there had been forty acres left. Theyd sold the last waterfront piece. Shed wanted desperately to help, but all shed had was her berry-picking money. “How much do you need?”

“Three thousand. Dont worry about it. Lets talk about-”

“I could lend you the money. ”

You?

She reached for her purse and pulled out her check book. Over her fathers protests, she wrote out a check and set it on the table. “There,” she said, grinning. “Its done. ”

“I cant take that, Ruby. ”

But they both knew he would take it. “It means a lot to me to be able to help you. ”

Slowly, he said, “Okay. ” Then softly,

“Thank you. ”

An unfamiliar silence settled between them, broken only by the popping of the fire. She wondered if he was thinking about his father; Grandpa Bridge had been deeply disappointed in his only sons lack of ambition. He wouldnt have been proud of Rand at a moment like this.

Suddenly Dad stood up. “Come on, lets take a walk. ”

She followed him into the bright sunshine. As theyd done a thousand times, they strolled down the gravel path to the marina, where a few fishing boats bobbed along the docks, their green nets wound on huge drums.

Dad headed to his slip-8A-where the Captain Hook bobbed lazily against the dock. He climbed aboard, then turned around and helped Ruby on.

He tossed her a tangle of new white line. “Splice that, would you? Ned and I are heading out tomorrow. I told him Id have everything ready. ”

Ruby sat cross-legged on the boats aft deck and brought the slithering heap of rope onto her lap. She had a moments hesitation, when her mind couldnt access the memory, but then her fingers started moving.

She worked the rope, twined the triple strands into a new, stronger whole and began building the eye. “Nora isnt quite what I expected,” she said, trying to sound casual.

“Thats hardly surprising. ”

Ruby experienced a momentary lapse in courage. Shut up, she thought, dont ask. She drew in a deep breath and looked at her father. “What happened between you two?”

He looked up sharply, eyeing her, then he got to his and walked past her to the stern. Every footfall upset the balance and made a soft, creaking sound. All at once, he turned back to face her; but she had the weird sensation that he wasnt really seeing her. He seemed . . . frozen, or trapped maybe, and she wondered what images were running through his mind. “Dad?”

Now she felt as if he were seeing too much of her. Beyond the skin and the hair to the very bones. Maybe even deeper. “Are you in for the long haul this time, Ruby?”

“What do you mean?”

“Ah, Rube . . . . ” He sighed. "You have a way of moving on. Ive never seen anyone who could shut herself off so easily from the people around her.

“It isnt easy. ”

He smiled grimly. “You made it look easy. You went off to California and started a new life without any of us . . . but after a while, it was our fault, Carolines and mine. We didnt call enough . . . or not on the right days . . . or we didnt say the right things when we did call. And you moved farther and farther away. You didnt come to my wedding or even call when your brother was born or come to see Caroline when she suffered through that terrible labor. But somehow that was our fault, too. We abandoned you. Now, you want to stir up an old pot. Will you be here tomorrow or next month or next Christmas to see what comes of it?”

Ruby wanted to say he was wrong. But she couldnt. “I dont know, Dad. ” It was all she could manage now; a quiet, simple honesty.

He stared down at her for a long minute, then dropped the rope. “Follow me,” he said at the same time he jumped off the boat and headed up the rickety dock. He was walking so fast that Ruby had to run to catch up. They hurried down the docks and up the hill. He pushed through the screen door so fast it almost banged Ruby in the face. He didnt seem to notice.

Ruby stumbled over the threshold. “Jesus, Dad-”

When she looked up, she lost the sentence.

Her father was standing at the kitchen table with a bottle of tequila. He thumped it down hard, then yanked out a chair and sat down.

It was a move that brought back way too many memories. She was surprised by the depth of her reaction. The sight of him holding a bottle of booze shook her to the core. She grabbed the ladderback of the chair. “I thought youd quit drinking. ”