“Leave it to the PK to know for sure.” Cade tugged at his line.
Owen grinned good-naturedly, though the pastor’s kid references had to get old after a while. “You guys could know as much, too, if you read a little more.”
“I know Scripture, but I’m bad at the references.” Cade shrugged.
That was more than Noah could say. He was bad at all of it. In fact, his grandfather’s funeral had been the first time his rear had landed in a pew in nearly a decade.
After all, if he couldn’t fully trust God, it was probably better to stay off his radar.
“So what are you going to do?” Linc brought the conversation back around to its unfortunate origin. “Is Bergeron shutting you down?”
Noah shook his head. “Isaac technically can’t, but he did point out I can’t operate until it’s handled. Threatened to go to Judge Morrow to make that official if I don’t take this seriously. And right now, the innseriouslycan’t afford any more loans.”
Cade sighed. “I’m afraid Bergeron’s right on that one. And my father is big on safety, especially post-hurricane. So I couldn’t get him to sweet talk Morrow for you if that happened.”
“At this point, I’m hoping insurance will kick in.” Noah drummed a nervous rhythm on the cooler. “They covered some of the earlier repairs right after the storm, but I’m not sure if this is going to qualify.”
“What about your dad?” Cade asked.
Noah cut his eyes hard to his friend. “Whatabouthim?” He heard the poison dripping from his own voice, so it was no surprise Cade immediately shot him a “never mind” look.
Russell Hebert might be making a name for himself on the west coast with his hotel chain, but he wasn’t an option for borrowing money—and not only because he would probably say no.
“Sorry.” Noah took a deep breath. “I decided years ago I didn’t need him, and I’m not going to start now.” Their semi-annual phone conversations were plenty. Even then, it was hard to shut out Noah’s teenaged urge to earn his dad’s attention.
But his father had made his choices years ago—ones that didn’t include Noah.
“It’s all good, man.” Cade adjusted his line. “Just making sure it wasn’t an option.”
“You never know about insurance coming through.” Owen sprang to his feet, holding his successfully baited line like a prize. “Life can surprise you sometimes.”
“That’s for sure.” Noah hesitated. Did he really want to reveal the next surprise of the day? Might as well get it over with—they’d hear eventually. He stood and ambled to the edge of the pier with his rod, bracing one hip against the low wooden railing. “I got another one of those life surprises at August Bowman’s office today. Turns out my grandfather left more inheritance for me.”
“Dude!” Cade slapped him on the back, jostling his fishing pole. “That’s huge! Why didn’t you lead with that? Won’t that solve your money problem?”
Noah winced. “It’s a bit of a game to get it. Literally.” He took a deep breath, flinging his line into the waters as he rattled off the next words. “I have to solve clues to find it. Like a treasure hunt.”
“That’s not so bad. Kind of fun, huh?” Owen squeezed past Linc to the ice chest.
Linc scoffed. “Aye, your grandfather was a character. I’m not surprised at all.”
“It’d be almostmoresurprising if he didn’t have some kind of last laugh from the grave.” Cade chuckled.
That was true—frustrating, but true. Noah watched as his red and white bobber danced on the waves. Grandpa had always been eccentric—the kind of man equally as likely to scold Noah for lying as he was to invite him onto the roof of the inn with a paper towel roll to watch for pirates. Or spend an afternoon out on the boat, rowing and offering brain teasers for Noah to dissect, like his favorite quote fromThe Count of Monte Cristo—To learn is not to know; there are the learners and the learned. Memory makes the one, philosophy the other.
He missed him.
“That’s not all.” Noah cleared his throat and tightened his grip. “I have to do the hunt with Elisa Bergeron.”
Silence filled the space between the men. Only the cry of a seagull interrupted the sudden stillness.
“Okay, so maybe you can appeal the will.” Cade raised an eyebrow at Noah. “That’s a thing.”
“I’d have to ask August.”
“Seems to me if that was an option, he’d have presented that in the moment.” Linc shrugged in that annoying, no-nonsense way he did when he was right.
“I agree. Just play it out.” Owen rummaged around in the cooler and retrieved a can of sparkling water.
