Page 97 of Meet Me at the Grand

His shoulders relaxed and a grin spread across his face. “I think I can help with that.” He mentally reviewed the list of handyman projects he had going—not too many right now. He’d cleared his calendar when he’d bought the boat, hoping to be back on the water soon. Even this small salary would go a long way toward the parts he needed. And it would be more regular work than the odd jobs he’d been taking around town. “Just tell me which places we’re talking about.”

Dani hopped off her stool. “Thank you. Come by my office tomorrow and I can get you the list and a bunch of master keys.”

He could make that work. “I planned to check Mia’s lawnmower in the morning. It shouldn’t take long, so I can be there by ten or so.”

A strange look passed over Dani’s face. She opened her mouth then clapped it shut.

“What?” He pushed off his stool. Dani started walking for the door, and he went with her.

“It’s just that I think—never mind.” She waved a hand in the air. They rounded the boat. Straight ahead, a line of light shone through the gap in the bottom of the door leading out of the shed.

“At the risk of repeating myself, what?” He reached for the doorknob and twisted it open. The warmth of the May sunlight streaming in chased away the chill always present in the metal building.

Dani gave a little shrug. “I know it’s not the same without your third Musketeer, you and Mia and Troy were always inseparable, but I don’t think Troy would want you hiding away.”

“I’m not hiding away.” He gazed out toward the boardwalk running past his place, not really seeing it. “I’m keeping my head down. Working toward getting this business back.”

“I’m probably way out of line here, but maybe it’s time to ask her out.”

He whipped his gaze to her. “Ask who out?”

She speared him with a look. “I think you know who I’m talking about.”

Of course he did. But…“We’re just friends.” The words felt wrong in his mouth, but honestly, it didn’t matter how he felt about Mia. It mattered how she felt abouthim.

And the fact that Troy would always be between them. “Not gonna happen.”

Dani lifted a shoulder and let it fall. “Okay, maybe I imagined it. But Mia could use someone like you in her corner.”

His heart squeezed. “I’m in her corner. I’ll always be in her corner. As afriend.”

“My mistake.” She waved as she walked into the sunlight. “See you tomorrow, Cody.”

After Dani left, Cody plugged in the sander fitted with a heavy grit paper and began attacking the peeling paint along the boat’s midsection. The rhythmic motions soothed his nerves. Dani knew Mia best. If she thought he was good enough for Mia then…Maybe…No. He couldn’t go there.

He popped his earbuds in, donned a pair of safety glasses, and tugged a mask over his nose and mouth. In his ears, the rap artist Flame sang about joy in Christ. Maybe if he listened long enough, some of the truth would sink into his heart.

He soon fell into a rhythm, the sander in his hand swishing across the surface of the boat until he could make out the fiberglass hull underneath. He needed to take off a layer of paint and all of the barnacles and other accumulated biofouling before he could hit the whole thing with a blast of primer. If everything went well, he could be putting the second coat of marine paint on by the end of the week.

After two feet more of the hull gleamed in the harsh light of the shop, he stepped back to admire his progress. Between all the interruptions, he’d finished four measly feet this afternoon. So much for his personal timeline. So much for this part of the project getting done anytime soon.

His smart watch buzzed with a text from his mom.

Mom

Can you stop by the house? Dad needs a hand clearing that branch that fell during the storm last week.

He unplugged the sander, gave the boat a hard stare, then pushed the safety glasses up onto his forehead.

This boat had waited a long time for this paint to be stripped. It wouldn’t hurt for it to wait another day.

Now that he had some guaranteed income, it wouldn’t be long before he’d be back on the water for good.

And maybe, just maybe, keep his last promise to Troy.

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