Maui Winds by Edie Claire

Author:Edie Claire [Claire, Edie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: adoption, alaska, attachment disorder, baby, beach, biracial, birthfamilies, family relationships, family secrets, female protagonist, filipino, hawaii, international adoption, love, marine, multicultural, multiracial, ocean, parenting, romance, sisters, sweet, travel, vacation, whale, whale watching, wildlife
Publisher: Stackhouse Press
Published: 2019-01-04T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Anchorage, Alaska 1997

Wolf knew something was wrong as soon as he stepped off the school bus and saw his dad’s truck parked outside the duplex. His sneakers crunched in the dirty, day-old snow as he made his way to the front door. They’d been fighting lately, his dad and Shanna. He’d wake up at night and hear them through the wall. Whether the sounds were muted and tense or loud and angry didn’t matter. Any kind of fighting made his gut ache.

Bear loved Shanna. Bear called Shanna “Mama” now. He’d called Tori his mom, too, but Tori wasn’t around anymore. She’d left after Wolf started hearing those same kind of sounds coming through the wall at night.

Wolf opened the door and walked inside. His dad was slumped on the couch, his hand draped over his forehead.

Nels Markov pulled his hand away and sat up a little bit, then tried to smile at his son. The effort was pretty weak. “Well, hello there. How was your day?”

Wolf stared his dad down. He might only be eight years old, but he wasn’t stupid. His dad was never home from work this early. “Where’s Shanna?”

Nels sighed. His eyes were bloodshot and red-rimmed. “Listen,” he said gently, “Wolfie—”

“Don’t say it!” Wolf shouted, dropping his backpack on the floor with a thud. “She can’t have left!” Not her, too.

His father said nothing. Just sat there looking miserable.

Wolf’s vision got blurry. “No, Dad! Bear’s gonna hurt so bad. You know he’ll cry and cry and—”

Nels rose. “Wolfie, please listen. This isn’t about you or Bear. Shanna cared about you very much. It’s just that—”

“She did not!” Wolf argued, his voice beginning to crack as emotions long held in check exploded to the surface. “She didn’t give a crap about us! None of them did! They all lied! They’re all just a bunch of lying—”

“Wolf!” Nels took his son firmly by the arms. “That’s not fair. I told you that Tori and Shanna were not replacing your mother. They were never moving in to stay. They were just here for a little while. I thought you understood—”

“I understand they lie!” Wolf screamed. “Bear called her Mama, Dad! You heard him!”

Nels let go of his son’s arms. His lower jaw began to tremble. “I never should have allowed that. You’re right.”

“He’ll be up every night again!” Wolf raged on. “Just like when Tori left!”

Nels looked away. He swiped at his eyes.

“Where is he?” Wolf demanded.

“In his room,” Nels said quietly. Wolf took a step in that direction, but his father stopped him with a hand on the shoulder. “He’s asleep, finally. At least he was. He… he didn’t take it well. Please don’t wake him.”

Wolf couldn’t imagine what else his father expected would happen. He glared at his dad resentfully and shook off the hand, but stopped walking. “Why do you always fight with them?” he asked accusingly.

Nels took a deep breath. “Son,” he said quietly. “It’s all very complicated. I can’t explain it to you. But I’m sorry.

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