smooth seas//john b

forty four

"Hey, sweetie. It's me," Ward says. I look at him in shock. "I know this is impossible to you, and I'm gonna explain..." I don't let him finish before slapping him in the face. "You're right. I'm sorry. I deserve that. I do. I know I do. You have been through hell, and that is my fault. And I'm sorry. I'm so..." He tries to follow after me as I walk away but I swat at his hand. "I'm so sorry, Maisie." I sit back down on the bench Ward sitting across from me. "I can promise you that I didn't have any other choice. I didn't. I don't expect you to understand that now. All I can do is tell you what happened, and I'll answer your questions. Maybe you'll see it was the only way. I know you don't believe that, and I know it's hard to hear. But I... It was my only choice. It was the only way to make sure that we were all safe and we were all together. It was the only way to be a family again."

I sit and wait for him to explain to me how the hell he is possibly alive.

"I used the scuba gear on the Druthers," Ward explains. "I had it all set up in advance, timed to the second." I wince as I remember the explosion. "It was touch and go getting off. I almost didn't make it." Rafe walks into the room. "Sweetie, what I need you to understand more than anything is that I never imagined that you or Sarah would be there. I wanted to call you immediately to tell you that I was okay, to explain it all. It broke my heart that I couldn't. But I had to make sure Rafe got away."

"Thank you, Dad," Rafe tells him. "At least one of us is grateful."

"That's psychopathic, both of you," I protest.

"I promised Rafe that he wouldn't go to prison for helping me," Dad explains, like it makes anything better. "I had to make good on that promise."

"Not that you care," Rafe remarks.

I scoff. "Did it look like I didn't care when I thought Dad was dead?"

"It looked like you cared about running off with some asshole," Rafe argues.

"It looked like all you cared about was the inheritance," I counter.

"Yes, you cared! You cared! That's the point!" Dad shouts. "Anybody on that dock could see how much you cared, sweetheart. And I know you're angry right now and rightfully so. The important thing is that it's all behind us now. It is. We're gonna live a new life, all of us together."

"Together," I scoff.

"Maisie, where I'm taking you, it's paradise. It's off this place called Guadeloupe. And oh, by the way, all those A's you got in French are about to pay off, 'cause they speak French there," Dad tells me.

"I want to call my friends, and I want to call my boyfriend," I tell him. "Can I at least just tell them that I'm, okay? Maybe we can find out where Sarah is."

Dad tenses up. I haven't seen Sarah and I can only assume she got away. She must be with the crew. At least I know she's somewhere safe with our friends.

"Yes, of course you can. As soon as we get there, you can call John B," Dad tells me. "He knows you're here, right?"

I shake my head. "No, he doesn't."

"Yeah, he does," Dad insists.

"What are you talking about?" I ask in confusion.

"When you were getting ready, he came by the house, and Rose talked to him. You know the cross you've all been looking for? Rafe was able to get it," Dad tells me. I sigh knowing that we lost it to him. "Turns out that, I guess, historically, it belongs to the Heywards."

"Yeah, I know," I tell him.

"It also turns out that the most important thing to me is you, so I gave John B the cross for you," Dad tells me.