A Spirited Gift

“Not anymore. Not for a long time.” He grinned. “You give up drinking and your old life and all your friends are like rats getting off the sinking ship. I’ve never had family out here. They’re all in Virginia. I left Duck after your mother and I broke up, came back just a couple of years ago. I didn’t have a reason to stay in Virginia anymore.”

I felt sorry for him. But I couldn’t offer him the spare room in our house as I would another Duck resident. If Gramps even knew we were speaking, he’d hit the roof.

“Come with me,” I said. “You can stay in the shop until the house, bar or van is fixed. It’s not much, but it’s dry and warm. Do you need money for food or clothes?”

He dug his hands into his dirty jeans. “I can’t take that kind of help from you. You don’t know me. You don’t know if you can trust me.”

“Maybe not. But I have an instinct about these things. It’s never let me down.”

I refused to think about that niggling doubt—he’d taken the makeup case from the counter. I couldn’t live that way. Besides, he was my father. If I didn’t help him when he needed it, who could I help?

“Yeah, well, your instinct isn’t so good, Dae.” He took his hand out of his pocket and in it was the gold makeup case. “I’m sorry. I won’t make excuses about being desperate. Old habits die hard.”

I took it from him with a smile. “You were desperate. I can’t even imagine not having anyone I could depend on. Besides, you gave it back to me.”

“It won’t happen again,” he promised. “I was thinking how I could give it back to you without you knowing about it. This is it for me. I have a different life now.”

“A different life is good,” I told him. “But if you need money, I’d rather give it to you upfront.”

“I could use a few bucks,” he admitted. “The owner of the Sailor’s Dream evacuated before the storm with my paycheck. I’m broke, and I haven’t eaten since I got out of the hospital.”

I fished forty dollars out of my purse and put the gold makeup case in its place. “I’d invite you home—”

“But Sheriff O’Donnell has a long memory?” He shook his head. “You don’t have to tell me about it. That’s why your mom and I broke up, you know, all those years ago. He found out who I was and told me I wasn’t good enough for Jean. He threatened to put me in jail—make my life hell. I laughed at him. My life had been one long hell until I met your mother. But I guess he got to Jean. I never saw her again.”

I was surprised by the story but didn’t let on. Maybe it was the truth—or at least his version of it. Gramps hadn’t said anything like that to me. He’d said Danny kicked my mother out after learning she was pregnant with me.

And while Gramps had lied to me my whole life about my father being dead, I couldn’t completely distrust him either. I didn’t know Danny well, but he’d obviously had a troubled life. I didn’t want to start making him a hero when he obviously wasn’t.

But I was interested to know which way the truth lay on this path.

“Come on. Let’s get you settled into Missing Pieces,” I said after handing over the forty dollars. “There’s another curfew tonight. I don’t think either one of us wants to be out after dark.”

We walked up the stairs to the shops on the boardwalk in the evening stillness. He turned to me before we got to Missing Pieces. “Why are you doing all this, Dae? I know you’re the mayor and everything, but I don’t see you out rescuing every lost soul in Duck. Why me?”

I smiled as I opened the door to the shop. “I try to help as many souls as I can every day.” Literally—since there’s a pirate ghost standing at my shoulder, no doubt. “I think that’s part of my job as mayor. There aren’t a lot of people in Duck. We have to stick together.”

He smiled and put his arms around me. “You’re so much like your mother. She wanted to save the world too. I’m sorry she’s dead. I always thought I’d see her one more time.”

I felt tears welling in my eyes and blinked them back before they could roll down my cheeks. “I’m sorry she’s not here too.” I changed the subject to something less emotional, pointing out the hot plate—if the power came back on during the night—the Sterno if it didn’t. I showed him where the extra key was over the door and where to find the spare blanket and pillow. I always kept one in back in case I decided to spend the night.

“That should do it,” I said, fastening a smile on my face and holding on to it despite the dangerous emotional undertow this man represented for me. “If you need to get in touch with me, here’s my cell phone number.”

“I’d say thank you, but it wouldn’t really cover it. I’ve never met anyone like you and your mother, who always see the best in everyone. I hope I can do something for you sometime when you need it.”

Again, I was ready to cry. I hugged him, then got out of there before I started blubbering and told him I was his daughter. It wasn’t the right time yet. I didn’t know when the right time would be, but it wasn’t now.