Finally Ours (Harborview #2)

26. Angela

26

ANGELA

Good morning, Angel. I hope you have a good day at work.

I stare at my phone dumbly, trying to process the words on the screen. And who they’re from. I take another sip of the large iced coffee I got from Jack’s and read them again. And then again.

What is Carter up to? Why is he texting me good morning like he’s my?—

Nope. Not letting myself finish that thought, because Carter Steel is not my boyfriend.

Since getting back to Isle North two days ago, I’ve basically done nothing but work. And it’s been nice, actually. Having space from Carter for the first time in a week has given me the chance to put my head back on straight. Yes, he made me see shooting stars with his hands and mouth. Yes, he made a pretty romantic declaration to me on the boat ride back. But none of that means that he’s going to stick around. Hell, he could be out on a boat right now, sailing to some unknown island to do research on a species of bird I’ve never even heard of, for all I know.

His promises mean nothing.

I think, anyway.

I groan and bury my face in my hands. I look at my watch and realize it’s time to drive to work. I quickly fire off a text back that simply says, “Hi,” because I really don’t have the time to come up with anything better. Then I shove my feet into my crocs and am out the door, coffee still glued to my hand.

The drive to the hospital only takes me twenty minutes, but I sit in my car for five more, soaking in the sun coming through the windows and contemplating the work day ahead of me. My manager, Tony, has been up my ass since the minute I worked my first shift the day we got back to Harborview. He’s given me extra paperwork to fill out because I need to start “pulling my weight” and it’s apparently “piled up in my absence.” It’s clear he didn’t like the way I hung up on him the other day, but I’ve decided not to worry about whether I lose my job or not. They’d be hard pressed to find another nurse with my qualifications out here. I have a bachelor’s degree in nursing and a master’s degree in nursing and acute care as well, meaning I’m as qualified as Tony is to be the charge nurse for the ER.

I head into the hospital and am greeted by the smell of antiseptic, and Aline, a quiet but friendly nurse who started around the same time as I did. We’re working the same shift today. I haven’t seen her since I got back, and she gives me a big smile.

“Welcome back! How was your trip?”

“My trip?” I ask, raising a brow at her.

“Yeah, Tony said you were away on an island somewhere. I think that’s great. We don’t get enough vacations around this place,” she says, continuing to look and sound cheerful, which reassures me that she’s not fucking with me, Tony is just a rat.

I sigh, and consider what I should do. I can tell her that the charge nurse is lying, and that I was stranded, or I can give a vague answer and brush her off. But something about the way she said “we don’t get enough vacations” makes me think that I’m not the only one who dislikes Tony.

“I was stranded on Isle North after a bad storm,” I tell her. “Tony knows all of this so I don’t know why he didn’t let the team know.”

“Oh my god. Are you okay? What happened?”

“Yes, I’m fine. I was with my uh…my friend,” I say, “and he basically saved us.”

“Ohhh, like a sexy friend?” she says, surprising me. Maybe my subtle dig at Tony’s leadership has endeared her to me.

“Um, sort of,” I say quietly. Why not be honest? She doesn’t know Carter and lives in Bar Harbor, not Harborview. “He’s this guy I’ve known for a while, and we used to date,” I say, and nearly laugh at how simple I’ve made it all sound.

“Well if anything happens between you two, I want to be the first to know,” Aline says.

We head into the staff area, put our things away, and then go check in with Tony.

“Hey you two,” he says and gives us a wink and a smile.

Ugh. Tony loves to act like he’s my best friend and conspirator at times, but it’s all a facade. He’ll be rude to me whenever it’s just the two of us, and then act all nice when I’m with other nurses. Aline’s comment earlier makes me wonder if he does the same thing to her.

“Aline, I want you on triage and Angela, you’ll be back here finishing the paperwork you were doing yesterday.”

“I finished everything,” I say sweetly.

Tony’s smile slips, but he recovers it and says, “Fine. You can triage with Aline.”

“Great,” I tell him with a fake smile that perfectly matches his.

Thank God for that. If I was stuck at this desk for one more day I’d cry. Especially since Tony has been having me do things that should be his job anyways, like the shift report.

It’s a busy shift, and we get a few kids with unidentified fevers, a woman who is dehydrated and feeling faint, and by the time it’s past 6 p.m. more than one person has come in feeling sick after drinking too much. We also get an older woman who is in diabetic shock.

By the time I leave and head to my moms’ for dinner, it’s well past 8 p.m. and I’m dead on my feet from rushing around all day, but I’m filled with a sense of contentment having been back helping patients instead of squirreled away doing paperwork. And I’m looking forward to my moms’ beer can grilled chicken.

Both my moms envelope me in a hug as soon as I walk in the door. I’ve been so busy with work the last few days that this is the first time I’ve seen them since coming back. My mama holds on for longer than my mom, who has to go check on dinner outside, and her warmth seeps into me, and I feel myself fully relax for the first time in days. She’s wearing a familiar linen set that she loves in the springtime, with a colorful scarf wrapped around her dreadlocks. The familiarity of her presence almost makes me cry.

“Hi sweetie,” she says, and pats me on the cheek. “How are you?” Worry fills her eyes.

“I’m okay,” I reassure her. “I promise. Carter took care of me while we were on the island.”

“Good. I’m glad that boy stepped up for you.”

I follow her into the kitchen, where my mom is setting the table, and the chicken is steaming on the counter.

“Donna made cornbread,” my mom says. “And we’ve got margaritas going if you want one.”

I happily accept one, and help them finish up dinner. I chop veggies for the salad, garnish some watermelon with feta and mint, and help my mama carve the chicken.

Once we’ve sat down to eat, my mom only lets me take a few mouthfuls before she asks, “I heard you mention Carter earlier.”

I audibly groan.

“I was telling mama that he helped me out a lot, on Isle North. We only had shelter during the storm because he knew about a cabin we could stay in. And he hikes a lot and does a lot of trips for field work, so he had extra food and a first aid kit.”

“Did someone get hurt?!” my mom all but shrieks this, her blonde hair swinging around as she runs her eyes up and down me, looking for any cuts or bruises.

“Carter cut his leg,” I say, though I don’t add that I’m the one who cleaned the wound and bandaged it. “I’m fine, don’t worry.”

“Good,” my mom says, and stuffs a piece of chicken into her mouth. “But don’t think we’re done asking you about Carter.”

“ I’m done,” my mama says, rolling her deep brown eyes at my mom. “Angela will tell us when she’s good and ready.”

“Angie never tells us anything unless we pry it out of her!” my mom says, using her childhood nickname for me. “If we wait, we’ll never know.”

“Angie is also currently in the room and can speak for herself,” I grumble.

“Eat some more cornbread,” my mama says, and puts an enormous piece onto my plate. She may be less dramatic than my mom, but she’s just as concerned about me, I can tell. She must be worried I didn’t get enough to eat on the island and in truth, she’s right. Except for the meals we had at Shaky Jane’s, it was protein bars and muffins all the way.

Thinking about Shaky Jane’s makes me miss Archie, so I decide to tell my moms about him, and the town.

“It was nice being there,” I say. “Once we got out of the cabin and into the village, we met some really friendly people.”

I tell them about Margery and Mitchell and the beautiful apartment we stayed in, and the enormous meal we had at Shaky Jane’s, and they immediately say that we have to go sometime this summer. I also tell them about our adventures puffin watching and lobster pot hauling.

“I never knew Eileen Bennett had a sister,” my mama remarks.

“Sometimes she comes to Cat’s bookclub,” my mom says. Cat runs a romance novel book club at her store, and my mom always attends. I haven’t ever been, despite Cat and my mom hounding me about it. But I just don’t have much time to read.

“I hope Archie comes to Harborview and sees her. I can tell he misses his wife a lot, and I don’t know if he has much family on Isle North anymore,” I say.

“Aw, sweetie,” my mom says. “I’m sure he’s doing alright.”

The grouchy fisherman did seem pretty content, and Isle North seems like the type of place where people look after each other. Kind of like Harborview. I sniffle a bit at that thought. I skirted around moving home for years, mostly to avoid having to see Carter, but I decide that I’m really happy I did. Maybe Archie is doing perfectly fine, and I’m the one who is in need of some care and kindness.

Damn it.

“What is it Angie?” my mom asks, her voice soft now.

“I’m just really tired,” I say. “I have to work tomorrow, and then I get a few days off.”

“That’s good,” my mama says. “We’re doing a video dinner with your Uncle Benny on Sunday evening if you want to come.”

Uncle Benny is my birth father, and one of my mom’s oldest friends. Growing up in New York, I saw him all of the time, and he babysat me and was around for holidays and Sunday dinners. When I went to school in the city, we developed a fun adult relationship, and he spoiled me with brunches and Sephora trips.

“Definitely,” I say. “I’ll tell him about the island. He’ll go crazy for the drama of it.”

“He’ll love it,” my mom agrees.

We chat for a while longer, but I don’t have much time to stay after dinner, as I have another shift tomorrow, starting in the morning again. I kiss them both goodbye on the cheek and leave.

I check my phone once I’m in the car and see that I have no less than five texts from Cat, and two from Carter that I am scared to open. I call Cat and put her on speaker phone as I head out of the driveway.

“What’s up?” I ask her.

“ What’s up? What’s up?! That’s all you have to say? After being stranded with Carter on an island for a week!”

“Well, it’s not like it’s a big deal,” I say, outright lying.

“I know something happened on the island! Jamie and Hunter had this clandestine meeting with him as soon as you two got back,” Cat says. “But Jamie won’t tell me anything!”

“Oh my god, what did Carter tell them?” I screech.

“I have no idea! I only know that this meeting took place. And now Jamie knows more about my own best friend than I do,” she says, and sighs dramatically.

“Don’t tell me you need smelling salts,” I quip.

“I almost do!”

“I’ll tell you everything,” I say. “I promise. And not just because Jamie knows. I actually could really use a talk,” I tell her. “How about tomorrow night?”

“Jamie will be away in Portland for work, so you’re welcome to come here,” she offers.

“Perfect. I’ll bring ice cream.”

“And I’ll make tacos.”

“Can’t wait!”

We hang up, and I drive the rest of the way home in silence, contemplating the fact that Carter shared something about me and him with Jamie and Hunter. I’m used to no one in our friend group knowing. It’s not like Carter ever agreed that we wouldn’t tell anyone, but we’re both private and arrived at the same decision.

Carter is getting better at sharing himself with others. He shared so much with me while we were on Isle North—about his family, and his childhood, and yes, even a bit about his feelings for me. I can’t help but feel proud of him for sharing something with Jamie and Hunter, too. Even if I’d give anything to be a fly on the wall during that conversation, just to know what he said about me.

Carter is changing. He’s made that much clear. And when I park in my driveway and finally have the courage to look at his texts, he surprises me once more.

One is a picture of a desk, clear of everything but a huge cup of coffee and a laptop.

“Thesis writing crunch time,” the caption says.

The other is a photo of a puffin about to take off from the cliffs and head out to sea. It’s from the day we went bird watching with Archie.

Along with it he sent, “Thinking of you.”

And I have no idea how to respond.