Dreams Adrift (A River Dream Novel) (18 page)

I wondered about that. She hadn't mentioned
anything about it before. Then again, we hadn't really had a chance
for small talk.

“
That’s nice,” I said.

“
Yeah,” she said, “I think
so.”

If Rhiannon was moving back to Wilmington,
she’d need a place to stay.

“
Do you have a place to stay?” I
asked.

“
I thought I would stay with my
folks until I found a place,” Rhiannon said.

It didn’t sound like the idea appealed to her.
There was a way I could help with that.

“
Could you do me a favor
then?”

“
For you, Mike, yes, I could do
you a favor. What’s the favor?”

There was something hard to place in the way
she said that. It had gotten dark and I couldn't see her face, so I
couldn't be sure.

“
Would you stay in the Nadeau
House while I’m gone? That would save you both rent money and
having to live with your parents.”

Maeve and I had still called the house at
Wrightsville Beach the Nadeau House though we’d owned it all these
years. It was never home. River Dream had always been our
home.

I could tell by the way she hesitated before
answering that my suggestion wasn't what she’d been
expecting.

“
Thank you, Michael,” Rhiannon
said. “I would be glad to do that for you. But I insist on paying a
fair rent.”

“
Then you can’t stay there,” I
told her.

For a minute she didn’t say anything. I think
she expected me to say I was joking or something. I
wasn’t.

“
Are you serious, Michael?” she
asked, sounding annoyed.

“
Yes,” I said. I didn't want or
need to rent the place out. I did need someone to stay there and
look after it while I was gone.

“
Why?” she asked.

There were a lot of questions packed into that
one word.

Taking a deep breath, I explained. “Because I
need someone to stay in the house while I’m gone. If you don’t,
Malori will somehow convince my folks to convince me to let her,
and I don’t want her staying in the house.”

“
Why not?” Rhiannon
asked.

Her tone let me know she didn't agree that
letting Malori stay in the house was a bad idea. Well, I thought it
was a bad idea and told Rhiannon so.

“
She’s not old enough or mature
enough to live there on her own,” I said.

“
You were living up here by
yourself for a good bit of the time when you were her age,”
Rhiannon reminded me.

“
Yeah, I know,” I said looking at
her with a raised eyebrow. I don't think she could see that, but my
voice conveyed my meaning well enough.

“
Oh, I see what you mean,”
Rhiannon said. “What if she lived there with me? I could kind of
keep an eye on her. We could be roommates.”

It was nice of her to offer, but I couldn't
ask her to do that.

“
Wouldn't that put a crimp in your
love life?” I asked.

“
Mike, that is not a worry,”
Rhiannon said, and then there was a long pause.

I looked toward her, but the silhouette of her
profile told me she was looking out at the river.

“
Tomorrow we can ask my mom and
dad what they think and then talk to Malori,” I said. “Besides, she
doesn’t turn eighteen until next May.”

“
Okay, Mike, I’ll stay in your
house,” Rhiannon said with a mixture of amusement and
resignation.

We sat there and listened to the sounds of the
night on the river.

Twenty-six

The next day, over breakfast, I talked to my
mom and dad and told them Rhiannon would be moving into the Nadeau
House.

My father set down the forkful of eggs that
had been halfway to his mouth.

“
I thought you were planning to
sell it,” he said. It didn’t sound like he was that keen on the
idea of her moving in.

A small burst of anger flared inside me. I
don't think I’d ever spoken to my father in a way that dared him to
argue with me, until then. “The plan’s been changed. Besides, if
Malori decides to stay around after college, she’ll need a place to
live.”

My mother set down her tea cup. “Yes, dear,
but that is still a couple of years away.”

I don’t think she liked the idea much either.
“I know, but Rhiannon thought that after Malori turns eighteen,
maybe she could move in and they could be roommates,” I
said.

I didn’t care much if they liked the idea or
not; it was my house, and Rhiannon was my friend.

“
That might not be a bad idea,” my
father said, whether because he suddenly agreed with me or realized
he couldn’t convince me otherwise, I couldn’t tell.

“
Malori effectively has her own
apartment now in the loft. I do not see why she would want to move
in with Rhiannon,” my mother stated.

She was clearly set against the idea. Her gaze
traveled from me to my father and back. Then she picked up her tea
cup again as if her statement had closed the discussion, and took a
sip.

My mother may have thought the discussion was
closed, but my father didn't.

“
I’m sure you don’t, dear. When
the time comes, we’ll let her decide,” he announced.

My father didn't directly contradict my mother
very often, but when he did it was final. It appeared he’d come to
agree with me.

I let Rhiannon know that when she was ready to
move into the house, all she had to do was let my father know and
he’d get things set up for her. It was then I realized that the
place was still full of mine and Maeve’s stuff. When I mentioned
this to my father, he said it would be taken care of. We told
Malori that Rhiannon was moving into the house. No one mentioned
anything about Mal moving in with Rhiannon after Malori turned
eighteen.

My mom and dad left after lunch to head back
to Wrightsville Beach. Rhiannon left for Greenville shortly
thereafter. Malori was going to fly back to Wilmington with me. I
would leave the Cessna in the hangar at ILM while I was
gone.

Malori had earned her pilot’s wings that
spring and asked if she could fly us back. Since I’d taught her to
fly the Cub years before, I had no qualms about letting her take
the controls. She did a good job and put us on the ground in
Wilmington in one piece.

“
Have you flown the twin-engine
yet?” I asked her, gesturing to the Seneca.

“
No,” Malori said resignedly. “Dad
wants me to wait until I have more single-engine hours.”

I was willing to defer to our father's
judgment on that.

“
I suppose that’s not a bad idea,”
I said. “I wonder if I should even keep it.”

Malori looked stricken. “Please keep it, Mike.
I’d like to be able to use it after I transfer.”

Malori was transferring. This was news to me.
“Transfer, where are you transferring to?” I asked. It was the
first I’d heard about her wanting to leave UNCW.

Proudly, she explained. “Notre Dame, I’ve been
offered a chance to go to Notre Dame to major in Romance Language
Studies. I haven’t told anyone…”

Her lip began to quiver and her eyes grew
moist. “…anyone but Maeve.”

“
Maeve never mentioned it to me,”
I said.

That Malori had shared it with Maeve didn’t
surprise me. The two of them had become very close. Their common
interest in horses had really brought them together. For the first
time I began to recognize I wasn’t the only one who’d lost someone
they loved when Maeve died.

Malori swallowed hard. “I made her swear not
to tell until I was ready to tell. I knew if Mom found out, she’d
try to stop me. She’s gonna have a fit when she finds
out.”

Malori’s lips tightened into a thin line.
“Mike, I have to get away from Wilmington.”

“
I think you underestimate Mom,
Malori. If this is what you truly want to do, I think she will back
you all the way.”

Malori made a face like she just tasted
something sour.

“
I don’t know. She still treats me
like a kid,” she complained.

“
Sister mine, I hate to tell you
this, but you are still a kid,” I said with a big brother
smirk.

“
When you were my age, you were
practically on your own and, may I remind you, still in high
school. You spent more time at River Dream than you did at home,”
Malori reasoned. “I’m already in college. Listen, Mike, I love Mom
and Dad. I love Wrightsville Beach. But I’d need to get away for a
while. This is a great opportunity for me.”

Maybe my kid sister wasn’t such a kid anymore.
“Do you want me to talk to Mom and Dad for you?” I
asked.

“
No, just be there and be on my
side when I tell them tonight,” she said.

With a newfound respect for my baby sister, I
told her, “That I can do.”

That night after supper we sat down in the
living room, and Malori announced her plan to transfer from UNCW to
Notre Dame that coming spring semester.

Mom was beaming as she exclaimed, “Malori, I
think that is wonderful. Why have you not shared this with us
earlier?”

I gave Malori an ‘I told you so’
look.

“
I didn’t think you’d want me to
go,” Malori said, somewhat abashed.

A perplexed look crossed our mother’s face.
“What on Earth made you think that? This is a great opportunity for
you. Notre Dame is a fine school.”

Malori hadn’t expected such a quick victory
and didn’t quite know what to say. I decided this would be a good
time for me to say good-night and headed to the Nadeau house. I
parked the GTO in the otherwise empty garage and made my way
upstairs. Checking the clock, I decided it wasn’t too late and
picked up the phone.

“
Hello,” Rhiannon said with a bit
of a yawn.

Thinking maybe it was too late to call after
all, I said, “Hi, I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“
Mike, no, I was just getting
ready for bed.” Rhiannon said. “I’m surprised to hear from
you.”

I shifted the phone to my other hand so I
could adjust myself into a more comfortable position in the
recliner.

“
I just wanted to call to tell you
some interesting news I heard from Malori tonight.”

That piqued her interest. “Really, what kind
of news?” Rhiannon asked.

“
She’s transferring to Notre Dame
after this semester,” I told her, with just a smidgen of
pride.

“
Well, how about that,” Rhiannon
said, sounding surprised and pleased. “Wait, that means she won’t
be moving into the house with me.”

“
I guess not,” I said, suddenly
concerned that Rhiannon might change her mind about staying
there.

“
Do you still want me to live
there then?” Rhiannon asked, sounding like she was afraid I might
have changed my mind.

I quickly put that worry to rest. “I would
very much like you to still live there, I mean, here. Will you?” I
asked her.

“
As a favor to you, Michael, I
will force myself to accept the offer of your waterfront home to
live in. Thank you,” Rhiannon said with a laugh.

I laughed too, “Good, that’s good.”

Changing the subject, Rhiannon asked, “How
soon are you leaving for the Islands, Mike?”

Mentally, I thought through all I would have
to do before departure.

“
The boat arrives Wednesday,” I
said. “I’d like to take her out and shake her down a few times. I
probably won’t leave until after Labor Day.”

“
Then you’ll still be around when
I move back to Wrightsville Beach,” Rhiannon said. The way she said
it, it was more of a question than a statement.

“
I’ll be at River Dream, but if
you want help moving I’m sure my dad and I can bring the Suburban
to Greenville.”

“
That would be a big help. Between
that and my dad’s truck, we should be able to handle my little bit
of stuff,” Rhiannon said, clearly relieved.

“
Just let me know when you need us
to come up.”

She didn’t say anything for several seconds. I
started to think we had lost the connection. When she spoke again,
it was in a very quiet voice.

“
Will you always come when I need
you, Michael?” It was almost a plea.

“
Yes, Rhiannon, if you need me, I
will come,” I assured her.

“
Thank you, Mike, I’ll let you
know when I’m ready to move,” Rhiannon said in her normal
tone.

Twenty-seven

The next morning I got up and worked out for
the first time in days. I usually tried to get in some kind of
exercise every morning. These weren’t quite the vigorous workouts
from my high school or Navy days, but they helped keep me in shape.
My run-in with those two gents at the Minnesott Grill confirmed
that. I followed up with a quick swim off the dock and had just
gotten out of the shower when I heard my father come in.