The Invisible Husband of Frick Island - Colleen Oakley Page 0,95

off. Her face was steely, hard.

The breath left Anders’s lungs in a puff. “What?”

“Last night.” She shook her head, and he noticed water rimming her eyes. “I love Tom. I shouldn’t have—”

Anders shook his head. “I know. Of course you do. But, Piper . . . you don’t have anything to feel guilty for.” He paused and lowered his voice, to make it softer, gentler. “Tom’s not here.”

“How do you know?” she shot back. Then she closed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, hugging herself. A tear dripped from her lashes, falling to the ground. “Maybe he is.”

Anders stood still for a beat, and then reached his arms out to encircle her, pull her to him. He could be here for her. Help her through this. He’d do whatever she needed; wait as long as it took.

“Don’t,” she said, shrugging him off.

“Piper, you don’t have to go through this alone. I’m here. Let me help you.”

When she looked at him, her brown eyes turned black with sudden anger. “I don’t want you here! Can’t you get that through your thick skull?” She was near shouting now and Anders took a step back as if to somehow dodge the venom. But there was no escaping it. “Please leave,” she said, and if he thought he heard her voice waver a bit, she corrected that notion when she said, steady as an arrow directed at his heart: “And don’t come back.” Piper turned on her heel and left Anders standing there, feeling exactly like one of those crabs after a picker was done with it—as if everything that was good inside him had been turned out and there was nothing left but a worthless cracked shell.

* * *

—

The docks were desolate, as empty as Anders felt, and he sat hangdog on a bench waiting for BobDan to finish whatever he was doing in his office, so he could leave the island. For good, this time.

“Women, huh?”

Anders looked up, squinting against the sun’s bright rays—which did nothing to warm the chilly late-fall air—and right into Jeffrey’s mocking face.

“Told you to steer clear of her.”

Anders dropped his head, not in the mood to speak with anyone, least of all Jeffrey. Maybe if he ignored him, he’d leave. But then he considered Jeffrey’s words, and a rage that had been brewing in his gut boiled over.

“You know what? You didn’t tell me to steer clear of her, actually. You told me I should seek her out—that she’d be the perfect person to help me with my podcast, if I recall. It’s almost as if you take some sick pleasure in orchestrating people’s embarrassment. Or pain. Is that it?” He paused, his jaw twitching. “All the while, you’re madly in love with her. That’s pretty sick, if you ask me.”

Jeffrey scoffed, his blazing eyes matching Anders’s. “For an observant guy, you really do miss everything, don’t you?”

Anders stared at him, wondering what he had missed, and then something clicked in his mind. He’d heard that phrase before. Or seen it, anyway.

“You’re the emailer. NoManIsAnIsland.”

Jeffrey narrowed his eyes. “What are you talking about?”

Anders mirrored Jeffrey’s expression. “You didn’t send me an email? A few months ago?”

“No.”

“Oh,” Anders said. He’d been so sure for a split second. “So wait—what are you talking about? What have I missed? You’re saying you’re not in love with Piper?”

“No,” he said, with a sad chuckle. “I’m not in love with Piper.”

“But I overheard you, at Piper’s. You were so upset and she said . . .” What had she said? It was never meant to be. But then he remembered Mrs. Olecki’s reaction as well, when he had asked if Jeffrey was in love with Piper, and he wondered what he was missing. As he searched the corners of his brain, Anders stared at Jeffrey and really looked at him. And it was then that he saw the raw pain in his eyes, the same pain he’d seen mere moments ago . . . in Piper’s. And that was when it hit him.

“Oh my god. You’re in love with Tom.”

Jeffrey didn’t respond. He just chewed his lip and studied the toe of his boot, as he dug it into the wooden plank he was standing on.

“Did Tom know?”

Jeffrey tilted his head to the sky as if the answer were somewhere floating in the clouds, and then, exhaling slowly, sat at the opposite end of the bench. “I never came out and told him, if that’s what you’re asking. I’m