Her shoulders slumped. Oh damn. I didn’t want to be added to the list of disappointments in her life. She’d had enough of those already; Mom hadn’t even given her a card for her graduation before jetting off to Ireland. Staring out the windshield, I thought about going to Tofino. Going into the surf again; facing the fears that wanted to swallow me, even here, this far from the ocean. I broke out into a cold sweat at the thought of going into the water. But this wasn’t about me, this was about Ashling.

“Never mind, we aren’t going to let Grandpa and some crazy voices inside our heads stop us. This is, after all, your graduation gift.” I squeezed her arm and she looked up, a small smile on her lips.

“Really?”

I shrugged. “How about we just don’t talk about the craziness that is our family or what happened with Grandpa today. We’ll go and have fun; deal with whatever this is after we get home. Okay?”

She smiled, and I leaned back in my seat, rubbing my arms, trying to get my own gooseflesh to calm down. “Now, onward chauffeur,” I said, pointing to the highway.

Ashling let out a laugh and hit the gas, squealing the tires of my Explorer, spitting gravel out behind us. I clamped my eyes shut, the vehicle swerving out into traffic, multiple angry honks greeting us.

It was going to be a very, very long drive.

~~

3

This room is amazing Quinn!” Ashling squealed. She dropped her bags, and inspected the corner room I’d rented for the three nights we were here. Five hundred bucks a night, but the smile on her face was worth it.

The Wickaninnish Inn was the best hotel on the west coast, and my wallet could attest to that. I’d saved up money every month for the last year in preparation for Ashling’s graduation gift. I knew that Mom wouldn’t do anything, though I had tried to persuade her to before she left for Ireland.

That hadn’t gone well.

“Come on Mom, at least a card, maybe a gift certificate. Money, anything. She’s your daughter!” I had said, anger fuelling my words. How she could be so callous to her daughters was beyond me. I knew from experience that Ashling would get nothing for her graduation, but I had to try.

Mom—or Darcy, as she demanded Ashling call her—had just shrugged and looked away. I could see the shame in her eyes, the guilt. What I didn’t understand was why she kept on acting like she did. “I have to go Quinn. Look after your sister.”

“I always have Darcy.” I’d never called her that before, and her whole body had stiffened, as if an iron rod had been shoved down her spine.