‘I’m gonna get to meet Mickey! And Goofy! Oh, oh, oh, and Elsa!’
‘Yep. If we’re lucky,’ Finn said, grinning. ‘You’ve been such a good girl, you definitely deserve it.’
‘I don’t think I’ve been a good girl,’ she sighed.
‘Hey, that’s dangerously close to putting yourself down,’ Finn cautioned. Then, he whispered: ‘And I can’t bend you over my knee in here.’
‘Sorry, Daddy,’ she whispered back. ‘I just mean, I feel like I should have been trying to escape or something.’
Finn shook his head. ‘You were in an impossible situation, kid. Nowhere to turn. It’s OK to rely on other people sometimes, you know?’
‘I know.’
‘I can’t believe what your dad was doing to you,’ Finn said. ‘Forcing you to lock away your things. Making you see a therapist thathechose for you. It sounds like he was trying to brainwash you.’
‘I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d ended up drugging my food,’ Tammy said breezily. ‘Hey, speaking of drugs, how are the inhalers working out for you?’
‘Well, so far,’ Finn reported, ‘I’m feeling much, much better. I don’t think I stuck at the steroid inhaler last time I tried it. Never had much faith in my old doctor… But now, with these inhalers, I’m feeling like a new man, frankly.’
She gave his hand a squeeze. ‘I’m so glad.’
‘Me too.’
‘So, what’s the deal with Shay?’ she asked. He was surprised that she hadn’t asked sooner. He was ready for the question.
‘I think all of us want him to have the chance to explain the situation himself,’ Finn said. ‘So I’ll just say that things aren’t what they seem. He’s been suffering for a long time, and he’s not a bad person. Not even close.’
‘You guys are all friends again?’
Finn nodded. ‘We’re brothers.’ The rumble from the aircraft changed tone, and with a smooth jerk, the plane pitched downward.
‘Oh my god,’ Tammy squealed. ‘I already feel, like, twenty percent happier!’
Finn was just as excited as Tammy, even though he didn’t show it in quite the same way.
He looked out at the blue water and the quaint bungalows that seemed to float on top of it. This was a dream come true.
‘How are we even affording any of this?’ Tammy said. ‘It must cost like a bazillion dollars.’
‘It’s actuallytwobazillion dollars,’ Conor joked.
‘Thank goodness you’re in charge of the money,’ Shay said. ‘You’ve always been good with figures.’ It was so great to have him joining in with the banter like this. It was only really dawning on Finn now how much he’d missed his little brother.
‘Luckily, Haze is covering this little trip,’ Finn admitted. ‘He said we could book anywhere we wanted, so we thought having a Polynesian bungalow to ourselves would be nice. Plus, the floor is glass! You can see the fish swimming under your feet.’
Tammy’s eyes flashed with excitement.
‘So,’ Tammy asked, ‘if we’re staying in the Polynesian bungalow, where’s Shay going to be staying?’
‘We thought,’ Conor said, ‘that he might stay with us too.’
There was a look of genuine surprise on Tammy’s face. But not just surprise. Something else. Excitement? Happiness?
‘But… I thought he hated me,’ Tammy said.
‘I don’t hate you,’ Shay said, shaking his head. ‘Far from it.’
‘Shay’s been protecting you all these years,’ Conor said.