Page 39 of Any Port in a Storm

“I’ll give her a call,” I promise.

After I hang up from my mom, I tentatively slide the balcony door open and tiptoe back inside.

“I promise, Lucy,” Nick’s saying, his accent out in full force, “I’m perfectly fine here.”

I catch a glimpse of his sister’s face on screen as I try to slip covertly to the kitchen.

“Oh my god!” Lucy shrieks. “Is that Laurel?”

When Nick and I were dating, we’d video chatted with his family almost every week. We even played long-distance charades with them a few times, and I’d gotten to know his sisters pretty well.

Letting go of our Ireland trip, and Nick, and his family, who I’d started to feel were an extension of my own, all in one fell swoop, had been beyond heartbreaking.

“Oh—” Nick starts.

“You so didn’t mention that the friend you were staying with was Laurel.” Lucy’s tone bears the mischievous jubilance of a younger sister who’s just unearthed her sibling’s deepest secret.

“Hey, Lucy,” I wave, coming closer to Nick’s laptop. “Great to see you.”

“So nice to see you, friend.” She’s beaming at me from her parents’ kitchen table. “My parents are out, as are Aisling and Aoife. But I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to know we can resume our group charades nights.”

“I’m not sure—” Nick tries again, but Lucy cuts him off.

“Work on him for me, okay, Laur? This needs to happen.”

I chuckle. “I’ll do what I can.”

“I’m going to have to let you go, okay, Luce?” Nick’s cheeks are flaming. “Bit of a bad connection here.”

“Whatever you say, big brother. Later, guys.” Lucy waves cheerfully and ends the call.

“Fuck.” Nick slams the lid of his laptop shut.

“What?” I shrug. “It’s no big deal.”

He spins in my desk chair and looks at me head-on. “Did you tell your parents I’m here?”

“Well, no, but⁠—”

“Exactly.”

I laugh nervously. “Okay, fine. I get it.”

“And, if I remember correctly, your parents never even knew we were together?” His tone is a little bit more accusatory than seems wholly necessary, but he’s right. I’d been planning to tell my parents that my friendship with Nick had turned into something more last year. I was just waiting for the right time.

And then we broke up.

“No, that’s true,” I admit. “Sorry again about that.”

He’d been a little offended when he found out, but, all things considered, I think I was the one who deserved to harbor most of the resentment, given everything that happened.

“It’s in the past.” He rolls his shoulders. “But my parents knew. They really knew.”

“Yeah.” I scuff my sneaker against the floor, remembering how excited his mom had been to meet me; how his dad offered to cook my favorite foods when we came to stay. “Sorry.”

“I just don’t want them to think that we’re…”

I shake my head. I can’t bear to let him finish his sentence. “They won’t.”