Chapter 15

"So where should we try to go today?" Tony asked.

Tim pulled out the map of the park and looked it over. As he did, he thought about what Tony had said, all the things he'd explained to try and justify what he'd done. If Tim was honest with himself, he wasn't quite so ready to let go of his anger, but at the same time, the last thing he wanted to do was rub Tony's face in it. Irritating or not, the thing Tony had been hiding was a death and that wasn't something Tim was willing to take advantage of. He tried to put it aside and not let himself get sucked into the anger again.

He wasn't sure they should get on the loop road again today. That would mean they'd have to retread, which they would tomorrow if they decided to do it, but they wouldn't have all that much time today to drive back over the same stuff until they started see new things and then have to stop because it was getting dark. Not worth it.

"Anything?" Tony asked after a couple of minutes.

"Lots, but figuring out what to see is the harder thing," Tim said.

"Well, why don't you give me your ticket and I'll see if we can get on the tour tomorrow while you're doing your thing."

"Okay," Tim said, absently handing over his ticket. His mind was on figuring out what to see today. Maybe it shouldn't matter so much, but after the frayed feelings this afternoon, he wanted something to make it better.

As he examined the map, his eyes were drawn to a part of the park that was fairly far removed from the rest of it. It was still on the island, but it was on the western part. He'd been surprised at how patchy the park was. Where Yellowstone was just this monolithic square in the northwest corner of Wyoming, Acadia was scattered all across Mount Desert Island in a patchwork of public and private lands. It was very different.

And down in the southwestern portion of Mount Desert Island was another patch of Acadia. The Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse and something called Ship Harbor were close to each other and also in the park, but how far from Bar Harbor? He figured it out at about 20 miles. Not bad. They could get over there in good time and see some things and then come back to Bar Harbor for dinner...or rather, for lobster, since Tony was determined to have it, and Tim could admit that they probably should while they were in Maine.

He was glad to have something in mind to suggest and see if Tony liked the idea. All that remained to do was wait and see if Tony got to do the whales again. If Tim was honest, he wasn't entirely thrilled at the prospect. Yes, he could take Dramamine and likely would, but it didn't change the fact that he got seasick. Sometimes, the pills only made it tolerable; sometimes, the nausea was completely gone. He just never knew which would be the case. Still, he figured that he could handle it for a couple of hours and let Tony see something he was excited about.

His mind now free to wander, it settled back on Tony and their argument this afternoon. Tim still felt that he was justified in being upset, but at the same time, it felt wrong to be upset when Tony was likely trying to work through his desire to be indifferent and his inability to be indifferent about his dad's death. Besides that, Tony had talked about what was wrong. He had been willing to discuss it and that mattered.

At this moment, though, Tim wasn't sure it mattered enough. Tony had only been willing to discuss it when Tim had forced him to. But at the same time, it probably should. And besides all that, they were on a vacation and what had happened today should be it...at least for now.

As soon as he came to that conclusion, Tony got back, looking triumphant. ...which meant that Tim would have to get on a boat tomorrow.

"We got on the tour tomorrow! They said there were some last-minute cancellations. We must be living right," Tony said.

"Or I'm living wrong," Tim muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Do you not want to go?" Tony asked.

"I'm just not sure about the seasickness, but I'll take some dramamine and it'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Tony asked, looking concerned.

"As long as you're driving after we get back. Sometimes, the dramamine leaves me feeling a little drowsy."

"I think I can handle that."

"Good. Then, it's fine."

"So, any ideas for today?"

"Yeah. There's a lighthouse over on the other side of the island, and something called the Ship Harbor. They're pretty close to each other, and it's only about a 20-mile drive to that part if we go directly there. We should be able to go over there and then come back to have our lobster."

"Sounds good to me," Tony said. "I'll even drive. You navigate."

"Okay."

Tim gave Tony directions to get to the southwest corner of Mount Desert Island. It only took about half an hour to get there and then, they were approaching another lighthouse. Supposedly. They couldn't actually see it on approach, but there was a parking lot and that was encouraging.

"So someone apparently owns the lighthouse. We can't go inside."

"Figures," Tony said.

"Well, you know, if it's actually functioning, then, we'd just be in the way," Tim said.

"Yeah, okay."

"But there's supposed to be some really great views of the lighthouse and we can walk around the area."

"Sounds good...enough," Tony said and smiled.

Tim rolled his eyes a little, but he smiled, too.

They parked and got out. There were quite a few people around at this time of the day, but it was early enough in the summer that it wasn't completely crowded. Together, they walked around the grounds of the lighthouse, but then, they saw the trail that was supposed to lead them to a great viewpoint. So they followed the path down some rough stairs and then they got to scrabble across some granite rocks to get to a good vantage point. The lighthouse was above them on a cliff and they were seeing it from behind. However, the view was really amazing with the rocky cliff and the trees around it.

"This is really cool," Tim said, taking some pictures that would probably end up looking like hundreds of others taken on these very same rocks.

"Can you imagine living here and having people take pictures of your house all the time?" Tony said.

Tim laughed. "I'm sure they knew what they were getting into by living there. There's a parking lot!"

"True. I can't believe that they wouldn't have known."

They both took turns posing and then, they climbed back up to the parking lot, got into the car and headed for the Ship Harbor.

"So what's this one?" Tony asked.

"There's a trail that goes to the coast through the forest. It's about a mile, and there are tidal pools and rocks and stuff like that. Just another scenic place."

"Scenic and ocean-y," Tony said. "Works for me."

When they got to the right spot, there was a place to park, but they had to go onto the other side of the road from where the actual parking stalls were. They were all full. However, they didn't have to walk far to get to the trail head.

"Looks like we can go two different directions," Tony said.

"Let's stick with the one that goes by the water. Trees are trees," Tim said.

"Can't you see the forest for the trees, Probie?"

Tim groaned at the terrible pun and shoved Tony forward toward the right fork.

"Just go, Tony," he said.

Tony laughed and started walking. They wound through the trees, with the forest on one side and the narrow harbor on the other. Since it was headed toward high tide, there was water in the harbor, but it looked like this could be a place that dried up during low tide. They kept walking until they got to the end of the trail where it dumped them out onto more granite outcroppings. They had passed a few people on the trail, but there were plenty of places to explore at the end of the trail and so, even with other tourists around, they were far from crowded. They climbed around and took pictures. The tidal pools were mostly filled and covered as the ocean levels headed for high tide. Still, the views were great.

However, Tim had to admit that, even with the interesting views, his mind was still at least half on their conversation from earlier. Tony had been eager to set it all aside as soon as Tim had let him. He didn't really blame Tony for that, but it was kind of like when Tony had come back from looking for Ziva. He didn't want to talk about it and he avoided it as much as he could. It was a little disappointing, really, that he was still not opening himself up...especially after all the times he had told Tim how important doing that was. ...but Tim lacked confidence that he could really do any good.

"Tim?"

He had let Tony talk...or rather forced him to talk, but he didn't know what to do about it once the conversation had happened.

"Tim."

That was why he'd let Tony stop talking about it. While Tony had always seemed to know what to do, Tim never did.

"Tim? You in there?"

A hand grabbed his arm and Tim jumped, startled out of his thoughts. He almost lost his balance, but the hand was giving him the stability he needed. He looked over and saw Tony looking at him with concern.

"Sorry, Tony. I was thinking. Did you say something?"

"You must have been thinking pretty hard. I said your name three times," Tony said. "What were you thinking about?"

Tim knew that Tony wouldn't really want to hear his private musings, so he just shrugged.

"Nothing much. You want to take any more pictures here?"

"What was the nothing much?"

Tim raised an eyebrow. "Nothing serious, Tony. Don't worry so much, okay?"

As he had thought, Tony backed off.

"Okay, okay. Ready to head back?"

"We'd probably better. Otherwise, we'll be too late to get lobster," Tim said, smiling.

"Never too late for lobster," Tony said.

"Yeah. McDonalds is open all night long," Tim said, his smile widening to a genuine grin.

"We're not getting lobster at McDonalds," Tony said. "No way."

"I'm just saying..."

"Don't say. We're getting real lobster."

"Then, let's go."

They climbed back over the pink granite rocks, back to the trail and headed along the path to the car again. They made pretty good time since they didn't stop to take more pictures. Tim drove them back to Bar Harbor while Tony looked for the place where they'd get their lobster.

"Aha! I found the place, Tim."

"Where?"

"It's called Geddy's. It's back near the pier where we were earlier, and I know what we should get."

"Don't I get to decide my order?" Tim asked.

"Of course, but you want to get lobster, and they have a great meal option. It comes with clam chowder, a whole lobster, corn and blueberry pie! How can you get better than that?"

"How much is it?" Tim asked.

"Market value. So I guess it depends on what lobster costs right now."

"So it's going to be pricy."

"Probably, but it's worth it once."

"It had better be. People talk up lobster a lot, but I don't know if it's really worth it."

"It used to be what the poor people ate. Then, rich people realized what they were missing and the price went up."

Tim laughed. "That's crazy enough to be true."

"It's true. Scout's honor."

"You're not a Scout."

"I could be."

"You're not."

"Well, you okay with the place?"

"Yeah. Do we need reservations?"

"Nope. They don't take reservations unless the group is big."

"So we might have a long wait."

"We might, but what else are we going to do tonight."

"True."

They got back to Bar Harbor and it took a bit of maneuvering but Tim managed to find a place to park. Then, they walked back to the restaurant and had to wait for twenty minutes before they got a table. Tim got a menu and looked at it, but he had to admit that, if they were here to eat lobster, he might as well get lobster. No matter the cost, he would go along with Tony's suggestion. They ordered, enjoyed their clam chowder and then, it was time to actually eat the lobster.

"I don't know what to do with this," Tim admitted. "I've never had a whole lobster before."

Tony grinned.

"Claws first. Twist them and rip them off."

"Sounds violent," Tim said.

Tony just grinned again and demonstrated his lobster technique. Tim grimaced slightly but then followed suit. Then, he again copied Tony as Tony got the lobster pick and pulled the meat out of the claws. Finally, Tim could try real Maine lobster. He could feel Tony watching him, waiting for his reaction. He paused before putting the meat in his mouth.

"Tony, you're making me nervous," he said.

"Just eat the lobster and tell me what you think."

Tim took a bite.

And it was good. Maybe it was just that he now had years of worrying about supporting his family, but Tim wasn't sure it was good enough to warrant the high price, although in Maine, at least, it was cheaper than other places.

"Well?"

"It's good."

"That's it?"

"I said it's good! What's wrong with that?"

"It's not...stupendous?" Tony asked.

Tim laughed at Tony's choice of words. "Tony, I like the lobster. I probably wouldn't order it regularly, but it's good."

Tony gave a long-suffering sigh.

"Let's just say that I'm not a fancy-food person. I take it you like it."

"It's great. Way better than when you get it further inland. I remember the first time I..." Then, he stopped and stared down at his plate.

"What? Tony, what's wrong?"

Tony grimaced and looked up. "The first time I had lobster was when my dad dragged me with him someplace and needed me out of the way while he was making another deal. The waiter cracked it for me because I couldn't figure out how to do it and he..." Here, Tony actually smiled. "...he saw me playing with my lobster like a toy."

Tim laughed, even while he was surprised at Tony's initial reaction. It was clear that he was still really bothered about his dad.

"I might have done that this time, if I was alone," Tim said.

"Ha. No, you wouldn't."

They finished eating the claw meat.

"Now what?"

"The tail. You have to rip it off and then, you need to make sure you don't eat the green stuff."

"Why? What is it?"

"You sure you want to know?"

"I know I'm eating lobster innards, Tony. I think I can handle it."

"It's the liver, but the lobster liver usually has pretty high levels of mercury and other gross stuff, so even though it's sometimes considered a delicacy, I'd recommend not eating it."

"Gotcha." Tim, again, copied Tony and tore off the tail and then scraped away the green stuff.

Tim basically did whatever Tony did with the lobster until they had even sucked the meat out of the legs.

It was good.

Finally, they finished off the meal with blueberry pie. Tony said they had to get it with ice cream and Tim agreed with that one. They were both stuffed by the time they finished eating everything, but it had been a good lobster experience.

"How was your meal?" the waiter asked.

"It's ruined me for ever eating lobster again," Tony said.

"It was good," Tim said.

As the waiter left, Tony grabbed the check.

"This was my thing, so I've got this one, Tim," Tony said.

"Are you sure? We could split it."

"Nope. I've got it."

"Far be it from me to stop you from willingly picking up the check for a meal."

"Hey! I pay all the time!"

"For yourself, maybe."

Tony stuck out his tongue and then pulled out his wallet. They paid and then drove back to the hotel, got ready for bed. Tony fell asleep pretty quickly after the very full day. He had sent a quick text to Jo and then lay down. Tim felt he should call home, but he didn't want to disturb Tony so he went into the bathroom and closed the door.

"Tim, it's pretty late. I had decided you weren't going to call," Delilah said. "How's it going?"

Tim debated whether or not to tell Delilah what had happened, but he didn't want to get into details right now when he hadn't decided if he was over it or not.

"Tim, those long pauses make me nervous."

Tim smiled. "I'm fine. No physical damage."

"Was there some other kind then?"

"Well, kind of. Only temporary, I think."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that I don't want to get into details over the phone. I'll tell you when we get back. But Tony's dad died. Two months ago."

"What?! And he never told you?"

"Not until today."

Now, it was Delilah's turn to be silent.

"I see. But everything is okay?"

"Yeah. I promise that I'll tell you everything when I get home. Have you talked to Tommy?"

Delilah laughed. "I've listened to Tommy. I barely got to do anything more than say hello before he was telling me about all the cool things my parents are doing for him."

"I hope they're not spoiling him too much."

"Nope. Just enough according to my mother."

"Right. Are you okay with us delaying by a day?"

"Of course. There's no real rush. Tommy is still living the high life and he'll be excited to see you again anyway."

"Good. We just need to...work things out. I hope."

"You're really mad, Tim."

"I was. Not as much now, but I'm hoping for something better tomorrow and I didn't want to leave Acadia with us not on the same page still."

"I get it. You tell me everything when you get back and remember that you're out there to have fun."

"I know. I love you."

"Love you, too."

They said their good-byes and then Tim hung up and went to bed. He was tired, but it did take a little longer to fall asleep.

Finally, though, he drifted off, wondering what the next day would bring.