Eight Days in the Sun Read online

  “Um, Dana, there are no people on Mars.”

  She lifts up her bottle, holding it out in a mock toast. “And that would be my point.”

  I recognize the same enthusiasm and wry sense of humor in both the Cutler children. Actually, I’m not sure if Mason has those characteristics anymore. But I can see why he’s so proud of her. She has the energy of a hundred rabbits, a brain Stephen Hawking would find sexy, and a contagious passion.

  “Wow.” I hold out my glass for a real toast. “That’s incredible. I feel really lazy next to you. I think my biggest accomplishment this year is doing my own taxes.”

  Dana clinks my glass. “Well, I’ve never done my own taxes so I’ll drink to that. But I’d disagree. The article you wrote about the refugees won an award, didn’t it?”

  “How do you know about that?”

  She shrugs. “Mason told me about it.”

  “Mason reads my articles?”

  She gives a slight nod, playing with the label of her bottle. “He subscribes to online magazines and has an app on his phone that reads everything out loud. About the article, I thought you had an interesting take about losing your homeland and identity.”

  So maybe he read it by chance and wasn’t seeking me out. Either way, what did it really matter? The man had made his feelings clear. Dana shifts in her seat. Clearly, she isn’t comfortable revealing this bit of information about her brother. “Thank you. Tell me more about Antarctica.”

  “It’s rare for someone my age to be invited, let alone raise the grant money. I passed it up at first. When Mason found out, he insisted I go. He pressured me so much I finally agreed on one condition.”

  “That he agrees to a companion?”

  “You are smart, just as he said. The rest of that stipulation is that I get to choose. I’m afraid his stubborn butthole self is going to fire them before I even step foot on the boat.”

  I stifle a giggle. She called Mason a butthole. “How’s the search going?”

  “Horrible. We can’t pay a large wage so we’re getting the worst of the riff-raff. You saw evidence of that today.”

  “You mean Dorothy?”

  Dana leans into the table. “I was so frustrated I told her I’d pay for the taxi on the condition she leaves straight away.” She shakes her head. “My grams would roll over in her grave at my lack of manners and southern hospitability.”

  “But you have other applicants?”

  “A few. I have to make a decision soon. I leave in a few days. I get we’re not paying a lot, but it seems we should have better candidates. It’s not like the job requires much, and it comes with free rent for a month. Don’t get me wrong, I still think he needs someone there because all this is still new to him. But it’s more for my peace of mind than anything. He’s very independent. But he’s also obstinate. He overdoes it. It would ease my mind to know someone was there to watch over him.”

  “Just watch over him?”

  “That and keep the house clean, make sure he eats more than frozen TV dinners, drive him to the VA hospital in Charleston three times a week for his therapy.” She counts off the duties on her fingers. “Oh, and show him where the North Star is.”

  “The North Star?”

  She responds in a one-shoulder shrug. “Don’t ask me why. I have no idea what his obsession is with that damn star. But since we’ve been back, he asks me to go out in the backyard with him and point it out.”

  The fire I’ve been trying to smother all day flares once more.

  Do you walk away from someone you love just because they ask you to? A smart girl who believes in self-preservation probably would.

  Maybe next time I meet a girl like that I’ll ask her.

  Me… I want to help him. In whatever way I can, even if it makes no sense.

  An idea begins to form. I squash it like a tomato. It starts up again, growing wilder. I pull it from the ground like the unwelcomed weed it is. Still it grows. It continues long after Dana has said good night and I’m in my pajamas lying on the king-sized bed in room 203 at the Wilshire. The idea continues to beckon me while I eat a bagel from the continental breakfast. I actually scream at it to go away in the rental car on the way to the airport. Yet, instead of going the four miles to the airport, I turn around and go the forty miles back to Goodrich.

  Chapter 22

  Mason

  “We have to make a decision,” Dana says. She flips through a bunch of papers, shuffling them back and forth a million times.

  I’m still reeling from Kiran’s visit. All I want is to be alone in my studio. Not to mention Dana is frustrating the hell out of me with her endless babble. I reach out and snatch a paper from her. I hear the other ones fall to the ground.

  “This one,” I say, flapping it around like a white flag.

  “You don’t even know which one that is.”

  “I don’t fucking care. They’re perfect.”

  She takes the sheet from me. The paper starts to rip before I let go. “This is Jim. Remember Jim?”

  “Of course I do. Nice guy. So we’re all set. Give him a call.” I move to stand. “Now that it’s settled, I’m going out to the shed with Molly.”

  She grabs my arm. “Not so fast.”

  I hold back a frustrated sigh and sit my ass back down. “Dana—”

  “Jim twitched the whole time he was here.”

  “Cut him some slack. He was nervous.”

  “Or he was on meth.”

  “He complimented Gram’s tea set.”

  “Because he was interested in stealing it. I swear he was casing the place.”

  Damn, why did I have to pick Jim? All the lawyers in the white house couldn’t defend that guy. The doorbell rings before I can come up with another argument.

  “Another interview?” I ask.

  “No. There isn’t anyone else. I have no idea who it is.”

  Thank you unwelcomed solicitor for saving me. I shift, gearing up for Dana to walk away so I can make a hasty escape.

  “Don’t even,” Dana says. “I’ll be right back.”

  Dana says hello with a surprise in her inflection. The footsteps are soft, tentative.

  “Who is it Dana?”

  The sun’s bright today, and it flows through the open door. My heart pounds as the steps grow closer. She still smells the same.

  “It’s Kiran,” Dana says.

  “What is she doing here?” I curl my fingers around the wooden armrests of the chair.

  “Why don’t you ask her yourself?”

  “Hi, Mason,” she says. “I’m sorry to come uninvited once more, but I hear you’re looking for a live-in companion. I’m here to apply for the position.”

  I wonder if my ears are going bad too.

  “Are you serious?” Dana asks.

  “Yes.”

  “No,” I say. “We’re fine.”

  “We’re not fine, Mason,” Dana interjects. “I’m leaving in two days. We don’t have anyone. Please sit down.”

  “Dana—”

  “This is my house too, Mason.”

  I’ve done my best to make sure Dana is an independent woman, the kind who can stand up to any man. Right now I wish I hadn’t worked so hard on that cause.

  Kiran sits in the spot closest to me. It has to be her because Dana isn’t as demure. She plops down, almost bouncing. Did my sister always exhibit the traits of a baby kangaroo?

  “Are you crazy?” I ask, my voice quiet so Dana doesn’t hear.

  “Mason!” Okay, so I guess the baby kangaroo is closer than I thought.

  “Hard to say. The jury’s still deliberating,” Kiran says.

  I fight the smile. She has the same sense of humor, one flavored with a lot of salt. I hate her for this. For showing up just when I’ve gotten over her.

  God, Kiran, it’s so fucking good to hear your voice.

  “Can you take leave from your day job?” Dana asks in her intervie
w voice.

  “I’m a freelance writer. I can work anywhere in the country as long as I have my laptop, which I do. Of course you’ll have to understand this will be moonlighting for me. But I can set my own hours so it shouldn’t be a problem to work around Mason’s appointments.”

  “Excellent,” Dana says.

  “No,” I say.

  “What about your home?” Dana asks, completely ignoring me. “Don’t you have to pay rent somewhere else?”

  “I rent an apartment in Newark. My roommate will save my room and take care of everything until I return. She’ll probably enjoy having it to herself.”

  I am pretending not to be interested on the outside. On the inside, I want to hear more. Ask her what she thinks of Goodrich, Dana. Ask her if she’s had any relationships. Ask her… Oh fuck, what am I doing? Why the hell would Dana ask her any of that? More importantly, why the hell do I care?

  “What about your stuff? You’ll have to go home and get it, right?”

  “I have a suitcase here. I can shop for what I need. My roommate can send me anything vital.”

  “So you can start right away?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you realize we cannot pay you that much.”

  “I don’t need a salary at all.”

  “No,” I say again.

  “Fine,” Kiran says, “pay me if you insist.”

  “That’s not what I meant,” I say through gritted teeth. I sigh in exasperation. “She has no qualifications,” I say in Dana’s direction as if Kiran isn’t in the room.

  “She has the most important qualification, Mason,” Dana replies, her voice huffy. “She cares about you. That’s really all we need.”

  “Dana—”

  My sister puts her hand on my knee. “Shuttie. Listen to me, butthole.”

  Butthole—a term of endearment I haven’t heard since I was fifteen. It brings back such sentimental memories.

  “Dana, get away from me. You stink.” Yes, I’ve also reverted to my teenage self.

  She sniffs. “I do not. This is my new perfume. It’s organic and environmentally friendly.”

  “Organic? What do they put in it? Decayed fruit and rats?”

  “No, that’s just what I put in your dinner last night.”

  “I thought it was an improvement from your normal cooking.”

  She sighs, signaling we are done. Kiran is here. I can’t keep changing the subject with my really awful comebacks.

  “Listen to me, bro.”

  “Say your piece.”

  “Do you really want me to go on this trip?”

  “Of course I do, Dana. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for you.”

  “Then don’t stand in my way. You promised you’d let me pick someone. I choose Kiran. I know this is awkward and weird, but I don’t trust anyone else with you.”

  “You don’t even know her.” I wonder how Kiran looks as she hears this. I don’t have to see her face to know how much I’ve hurt her. Maybe it’s a good thing. “I don’t even know her anymore.”

  “Doesn’t matter. She still cares about you.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “She’s here, isn’t she? Look, Mason, if you don’t go through with this, then I’ll cancel the trip.”

  “You can’t cancel. You’ve committed. You’ve accepted grant money.”

  “If the choice is going to Antarctica or leaving you with someone unstable like Jim or downright sour like Dorothy, then I won’t go. My reputation will be ruined, but whatever.”

  Damn Dana and her extortionist arguments. She didn’t need to go that far. My sister has been through hell, and I would never stand in the way of her dream. “You can go.”

  “I didn’t hear you. Say it again.”

  “You heard me just fine.”

  “I know what you’re thinking, Mason.”

  “That your perfume is crap?”

  “That you’ll tell her to leave after I go. I’ve got that all figured out too.”

  “Have you?”

  “The reception will be spotty when we’re at sea, but I’ll be able to connect to the Internet once we reach port. Kiran will e-mail me every week with an update. If you fire her, I will fly back here and kick your ass.”

  This isn’t lip service. Dana will really do it.

  “Do you know how difficult it is to arrange emergency flights from an ice cutter in the almost frozen Ross Sea, Mason?”

  “No idea.”

  “Me either, but it sounds ridiculously expensive. So don’t make me do it.”

  “Are we done?”

  Dana kisses me on the cheek. “Thank you.” She claps her hands. “Where are my manners? We have a guest, and I haven’t even offered her anything. I’m going to make us tea. Would you care for tea, Kiran?”

  “I’d love a cup.”

  “Cool. Mason hates tea. Coffee, right Mason?”

  “Affirmative,” I say, although I’m really thinking of the bottle of whisky inside the liquor cabinet.

  The kitchen door closes. Kiran’s breaths are soft and steady.

  “Why are you here?” I’ve asked the question so many times it’s on auto-play in my mind.

  “Because you’re here.”

  “That’s not an answer. I’m in an impossible situation.”

  “Maybe so, but here we are. You were there for me when I needed a friend. I’m trying to return the favor. I understand your feelings have changed. I’d be lying if I said it’s not…” Her voice drifts off. She’s struggling to finish the thought. “Difficult. But I can deal if you can swallow down that stubborn lump of pride and let me help you.”

  “That’s it?”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s a stupid plan.”

  “It wouldn’t be the first time I followed a stupid plan.”

  Chapter 23

  Kiran

  My stepmother, Linda, called me last night. She knows about the pact between Mason and me. There are only two people who know about the true extent of my eight days with Mason Cutler. Linda and Sidney. Linda because she kept commenting how much I’d changed when I came back. Finally, I broke down and told her. As a hopeless romantic, she thought it was a beautiful idea.

  When I told her the outcome of finally meeting him again, she wept. She tried to comfort me, but in the end I had to console her. I spoke to Papa too, and told him I was helping out a friend and would be out of town for the next few weeks. It was the truth, or the closest to the truth I could disclose. He would freak I am even living with a boy, let alone whatever is going on here. Not that I even have a clue on that account.

  Confiding in Sidney eased my mind. We renewed our friendship over the years. Also, she is one of the few people who actually met Mason. I needed confirmation he did actually exist and our eight days wasn’t a figment of my over-active imagination. Sidney consoled me for two hours last night as we Skyped with matching bottles of wine.

  Today, Dana shows me around the house. I spent the night at the Wilshire again to give Dana and Mason some privacy. She has decided to fly into the Falkland Islands early. Apparently, there are equipment issues and decisions she needs to be involved in. So today is the day I officially start.

  There are many intricate details in the Craftsman house. Mason and Dana’s grandfather built the home himself. I try not to salivate as I take in the built-in bookcases, but it’s hard to pass up a shelf lined with leather-bound books without checking out the contents. Everything is immaculate and organized.

  Dana clears her throat, drawing my attention away from the collection of Langston Hughes poetry. “You can borrow anything you want.”

  “What about Mason’s appointments? Should we take a cab?”

  “That’ll cost a fortune. Besides the carbon emissions on those vehicles…” Dana shudders as if I’ve suggested mining for coal in her backyard. “You can use my car for any trips or if you just need to go out. Ma
ke sure you plug it in every night, though.”

  “It’s electric?”

  “A hybrid. Mason’s car is in the garage too. But it’s a freaking gas-guzzling stick shift man-car.”

  “Man-car?”

  “He rebuilt a Trans Am from scratch.”

  Okay, hybrid it is.

  He must have finished the car, the one he talked about the day we drove to the little airfield to jump out of a plane. I’m so proud of him and sad for him, since he can no longer drive it, but I barely have time to process it all. Dana talks a mile a minute. She walks into a large room off the living room. “This will be your room. Does that work?”

  It has double French doors leading inside. On the far wall there is another set of glass doors leading out to the patio. “It’s perfect. Is this a normal bedroom?”

  “This is actually a study. When we first moved back in, Mason lived in here until he got used to the layout of the house. Then he moved back to his room upstairs.” She points to a treadmill. “Do you mind if this stays in here? Mason uses it every day. We can move it out if you want, but I’d rather leave everything the way it is. Mason has it all memorized.”

  “I don’t mind at all.”

  Dana opens a dresser drawer and hands me a black binder. “This is for you.”

  “What it is it?”

  “A handbook of sorts. Its general instructions, a few interesting articles I’ve printed, the names and numbers of Mason’s doctors. Oh, and my top ten list of dos and don’ts. That’s very important.”

  I take the thick book. I open it to the first page, which is her list. “Always announce when you enter or exit a room.”

  Dana smiles. “These are things I figured out as we went along. Once I walked away to get myself a drink. I must have been quiet because he didn’t know. When I came back he was talking to himself. It turns out he thought I was still there.”