Maxine spun. “Galen,” she said. “That’s enough.”
“And you’re just letting him go?” Galen turned his bitterness to her. “Dad would never let him go.”
“Galen...” Maxine said again. She narrowed her eyes. “Enough.”
“You didn’t ask if I wanted to go, too,” he continued. “Why didn’t anyone ask if I wanted to go?”
“I need you here,” his mother said and she walked over to him.
“He’s going to die,” Galen said and he burst into tears, burying his face into his mother’s chest. “He’s going to die out there and you’re letting him die.”
“Stop, sweetheart. Stop,” Maxine said and she pulled Galen outward and held him at arm’s length. Then she bent down so she could see him eye-to-eye. “You are my rock. You are my Galen-bug. You are my constant love and my hope. Don’t you lose it on me, okay?”
“But, Mom—”
Maxine kissed him and patted him on the back and then walked toward Lucy. Her hands outstretched. “Lucy?” she asked.
Lucy looked at her mother and her siblings; Harper’s pouting, Galen’s crying. Maxine was keeping it together—her hard exterior was tough to crack, but Lucy knew that soon she would fall apart, too. She thought of all the reasons to leave, and she looked at Grant. Her heart was bursting for him; she ached for him. He smiled at her and motioned for her to come over to him, and she did.
“Let me talk to you in the hall,” he whispered.
“Two minutes,” Ethan said and he dropped his bags and walked over to Galen.
Grant and Lucy left the sniveling and the crying into the silence of the hallway. Grant took Lucy’s hands in his own and he kissed her.
“You were the one who wanted to leave,” Grant said, laughing. He wiped his nose with the back of his hand. “This whole time...it was you...and always you.”
“And you wanted to stay,” Lucy replied. She leaned forward so she didn’t have to look into his eyes. She could hear his heart beating.
“Sure. I wanted to stay because as long as you were here, I didn’t have a reason to go. But I’m going to my dad,” Grant replied. “I spent a long time running away from him. A lot of years thinking that I hated him. But when I saw his face in that elevator…” Grant paused, “I can’t leave him. And it’s a decision I’m making without reservation. More than anything I want you to make your decision without reservation. You’ll regret it...for the rest of your life...if you aren’t sure.”
“My mom already said that.”
“It’s good advice. Be sure, Lucy.”
“How can I be sure in two minutes?”
“It’s probably one minute now,” he replied, beaming. He leaned down to her ear and whispered, “You’re beautiful…even when you made that stupid scowl. And I love you.”
“Did you see them in there? You talk about going to your dad and not leaving him without you. But if I leave with you, then that’s what I’m doing to my own family. Asking them to say goodbye to Ethan and me? Forever.” Her voice was raw and hoarse from all the crying. “And that’s how I should leave them? Crying and alone and in pain? I can’t hurt them like that...I can’t leave my sister and my brothers and not know if they’re safe...I fought to get here. What am I supposed to do? If I stay, I...” she stopped.
“So, then, you have made up your mind,” he said evenly.
“No,” Lucy shook her head. She wiped her eyes. “My heart is breaking. I can’t let you leave without me…”
Grant stopped her by putting a finger to her lips. Then he slipped a piece of paper into her hand.
“Some decisions aren’t made alone,” he said. “We each have to do what is right. And that may not be the same choice.”
She held the paper tightly, afraid to unfold it and read the words.
The door opened and Ethan stepped out. He had been crying, too. His eyes were red and puffy, and his nose dripped.
“Let’s go,” he said to Grant, and he took off down the hall. Then he turned to Lucy, “Are you coming?”
With her hands shaking, she opened the note and read the sentences Grant had written down for her. Then she read them again. And again. And with tears streaming down her face, she launched herself into his arms and soaked up the feeling of him against her, his kisses on her head. She wanted to memorize what it felt like to be loved so fully, so sacrificially. She wanted to remember what it felt like to love without fear.
She lifted her head to Ethan and with a sob, said, “No. I’m not.” Then she buried her head in her hands and her shoulders shook.
Ethan walked straight over to her and wrapped his arms around her small shoulders. He held her while she cried; all his hurriedness melted away as he took this final moment with her. Last time, she had said goodbye to him; she had left him. Now he was leaving her. Lucy let herself be comforted by her older brother. She soaked up his embrace.
“You have to take good care of them,” Ethan whispered into her hair. “You have to be the wise one…the strong one.” She nodded. “Help them understand that I had to do this.” Then he dropped his arms and stepped back. With a nod to Grant, he started to walk down the long interior hallway.
With one final moment of privacy, Grant kissed her one last time. He put his hands on her face and held her lips to his. Then without another word, he left her in the hallway, standing there with her hands dangling by her sides. She watched him disappear into the stairwell to the sky bridge. Right before he slipped out of sight, she looked up and saw him turn and blow her a kiss. She caught it as the doors were closing and she placed her hand over her heart. Everything inside of her was breaking, ripping to shreds. Her knees were shaking, her legs felt weak and wobbly. Her stomach threatened to pour out her breakfast contents all over the floor.
She stumbled back into the house. And Maxine rushed to her side, wiping away her tears and bearing her weight.
“Oh, my darling,” Maxine said and she carried Lucy to the couch. Tucked up in a ball next to her mother, she let out a wail. “Lucy...” her mother said. “Oh, Lucy. There is nothing worse. Nothing worse than saying goodbye.” And Maxine began to cry with her, letting her own tears fall. They sobbed together, and soon all the kids joined them. Harper, sucking her thumb, settled at Lucy’s feet, and Galen wrapped his arms around his mother’s shoulders. The twins wiped their own tears away and clung to Maxine’s arms.
Lucy listened to the cacophony of pain.
Her father had tried to spare them from loss, but he had only delayed it.
Opening her note from Grant once again, she reread the words and then clutched the paper to her chest. In Grant’s simple handwriting, it read: I can’t make your decision for you, but I can tell you the truth: You are needed here. If you leave, you can’t come back. If you stay, someday we will meet again at our place. I’ll wait for you like I promised. Cabin 206. I’ll be there until I die. I love you, for always.
CHAPTER THIRTY
With any luck, Hank had procured their helicopter ride. All the moving pieces of their escape played out in Ethan’s head over and over like a video stuck on a loop. Step one, step two, step three. And all the while, he couldn’t shake his mother’s face as he said goodbye to her and wrapped his arms around her body for one last time. He wished he knew where his father was; despite their differences and their arguments, despite his father’s cowardice, he owed him more than slipping away without some type of farewell. He owed him that, at the very least.
What surprised him more than anything was Lucy.
She had stayed behind.
All her bravado of leaving, escaping—all her hard work to save Grant, take on Huck—and in the end, she could not leave the rest of their family. Or maybe Grant had made it easy for her to chose Kymberlin over the mainland; he didn’t know what that note said and he wouldn’t ask. Privacy was underrated.