Noel and Cavin talked openly about these things and decided to enjoy some of the water activities as well, especially since the kids loved fishing, tubing, and swimming.Noel had sold Fletcher’s boat not long after the accident to help pay for all the unexpected expenses that life insurance would have otherwise covered.Now that both Noel and Cavin were back on their feet, they talked about getting their own boat at some point in the future.
In addition to playing in professional golf tournaments regularly which Cavin expected would bring in a respectable salary and in time possibly a lucrative one, he agreed to handle Beaufort Candy Company’s accounting.Noel wanted someone she trusted to fill that role, and she couldn’t think of a better person.Cavin would also be in the candy shop helping with business operations on a normal basis.
Noel’s former accountant Walter Benson and his attorney Georgia would likely spend time in prison.Their defense lawyers were currently pushing back the criminal trial as far as possible although a judge already quickly ruled that the building adjacent to Beaufort Candy Company legally belonged to Noel Puckett.The court deemed the official papers signed by Noel’s and Walter’s fathers legal, and the register of deeds office filed them immediately.
This step not only allowed Noel to hire permanently the employees who were working out wonderfully in the shop, but she also carried out her father’s dream of making sure local artists and crafters had an opportunity to have a noticeable impact in Beaufort, North Carolina.The Olde Beaufort Farmers’ Market, which showcased the area’s finest talents, sent a variety of individuals her way to fill some of the spots in the other building that Walter attempted to commercialize.
Cavin found out his dad sent offers to Walter Benson and to the Town of Beaufort; however, as expected, those were not a top priority and showed up after Christmas.Cavin proudly stamped rejected on the offers for both buildings that now belonged to Beaufort Candy Company although legally Cavin knew the one for Walter Benson’s supposed building was null and void as soon as the property officially became Noel’s.A new draft would be required, but Cavin knew his dad wouldn’t bother at that point.He would not want to purchase the parking lot unless he just really wanted to provoke Cavin and realized he could potentially take away parking spots from Beaufort Candy Company and the residences above the buildings.However, the Town of Beaufort, no longer under the influence of Georgia, voted unanimously not to sell the lot.
Once all this transpired, Cavin asked Rudy how long his father held a grudge after Rudy walked away from the family business.“He eventually came around,” Rudy revealed, encouraging Cavin to be patient with his dad.“Your mother will talk some sense into him, and they will welcome you back with open arms.”
The townhouse above the adjacent building recently became vacant, and Noel offered it to Cavin who happily accepted it while on the verge of moving out of the home the elderly couple so generously let him occupy.Furthermore, Noel and Cavin began to dream of combining her home and the townhouse he quickly settled into knowing it would provide plenty of room for the two of them and Levi while the extra space would even allow for an adjoining apartment for Keaton and Laney.
Perhaps the Christmas miracle that involved Keaton turned out to be the best of all.On Christmas night not only did he come to dinner, but Rainey, Chelsea, Rudy, Scout, Mrs.Madelyn, and Jack also joined in on the celebration of family.By God’s grace at the end of the night, Keaton decided to go to rehab.Cavin knew the major turning point occurred when he, Keaton, and Rainey took a walk to Rudy’s boat to pick up gifts Rudy had gotten for everyone but couldn’t carry by himself.
At the end of the dock before the three of them stepped onto the mega yacht, Keaton fell on his knees and began to sob like a child having a breakdown.Rainey, as if their friendship had never been scarred, joined his lifelong friend on the freezing cold boards to hold him tightly until he could muster the energy to share his emotions audibly.
“The reason the boat hit the sandbar,” Keaton began struggling to find the words between gasps for breath, “was because I panicked when Fletcher told me to take over.”
The cold December air spitting and swirling snow above Taylor Creek where each flake disappeared upon landing on the surface of the water became silent for a few moments outside of the cries of grown men.
Why did you panic?Both Cavin and Rainey wondered this thought, but each waited for Keaton to speak again in his own time.
“I was standing next to Fletcher at the wheel when he suddenly became sick,” Keaton explained.“He mentioned feeling a little off earlier, but all of a sudden, he looked terrible and shouted to me, ‘Take the wheel,’ and I did, but then he leaned over the side of the boat and began puking into the water.”More tears streamed down Keaton’s face as he relived the terrifying moments that came next, memories he relentlessly tried to wash away with alcohol, sleep aids, and anything else he could find to take his mind off the reality of what happened on the water that day.“I was trying to steer and keep my eyes on him.Vomit was flying everywhere, and when Fletcher realized it was hitting Mom and Lexi in the back of the boat, he ran to the front and on the way yanked off his lifejacket which throw up covered,” Keaton explained while shaking his head.“Fletcher knelt on the opposite side of the bow from Dad, held onto the rail, and stuck his head so far down it looked like he was bobbing for apples.”
Rainey rubbed Keaton’s back as if sandpapering a piece of wood not even realizing the growing pressure he was asserting, and Keaton didn’t seem to notice either.By this time Cavin joined the two men on the frigid dock boards and couldn’t hold back his own tears.Although he didn’t know any of the others on the boat, he knew Keaton, and he also knew Noel, and as much as humanly possible, he saw the pain in their eyes when they talked about the accident.At this moment the pain pouring down Keaton’s face was excruciating—a pain that had been suppressed for far too long.
“I was trying to steer, watch Fletcher, and check on my wife and mother,” Keaton cried, shaking his head side to side, visually displaying that he didn’t do a good enough job to keep everyone safe.“In the midst of all this, the boat drifted in the wrong direction, and I didn’t even notice it,” he admitted.“Dusk was settling in, and I just screwed up.At any point I could have steered us in the right direction or just dropped the throttle,” he admitted.“In just a few seconds, I could have stopped the boat, and everyone would have lived.We could have all jumped into the water and washed off,” he reasoned just as he did in his mind thousands of times.It would have been so simple.He could have prevented the entire accident and saved all their lives.
Finally, hearing all the things Keaton was and wasn’t saying, Rainey spoke up.“Keaton, the accident wasn’t your fault,” he insisted sternly.“You did your best, man.You took the wheel like Fletcher asked, and you were trying to keep an eye on all of your passengers.It was getting dark, and that sandbar you all hit is one of those that is rarely even there,” he added vividly remembering intensely examining the accident scene after the incident and throughout the investigation.“No one could have expected you to analyze all these things in just a few seconds.”
Cavin wasn’t sure what to say; he didn’t know anything about the waterways around Beaufort or anywhere for that matter.However, he felt like he needed to say something, and the word brave came to mind as if someone spoke it aloud.“Keaton, it sounds like you were so brave out there,” Cavin noted.“Like Rainey said, you tried your best.”
Keaton’s whole jaw quivered profusely.“It wasn’t good enough,” he declared, sniffing deeply.
“Man, you are good enough,” Rainey proclaimed.“And you deserve to be treated better than you have been treating yourself.It wasn’t your fault,” he uttered slowly speaking the last sentence one word at a time.
By now the three of them sat basically huddled together in a group hug keeping one another warm and safe and barely feeling the elements all around them.
“You should talk to Noel about all of this,” Cavin suggested.“The unknown is causing her to suffer, too.You two need to grieve this together.”
“I can’t,” Keaton retorted.“I can’t ever tell Noel about any of this.”
“Why not?”Rainey asked.“Noel is your sister; she loves you dearly, man, and she will understand if anybody does.She deserves to know what happened out there.”
“That’s the problem,” Keaton murmured.
“What?”Cavin asked with a furrowed brow.
“Before the trip started, Fletcher went home; he even mentioned kissing Noel,” Rainey shared.“Noel will blame herself for getting him sick.”It took a few moments for the reality of that conclusion to settle in amongst the group although Keaton vowed to himself that he would never speak a word of this to Noel for as long as he lived.“You guys can’t tell Noel,” Keaton demanded.“You can’t tell anyone,” he added.“But I had to tell someone.”He paused for a moment as his whole body shivered but not because of the cold surrounding them.“I almost gave up on life today, but something told me to come to Christmas dinner,” he shared.“I swear I heard Fletcher’s voice saying ‘be brave.’He said that all the time.”
Rainey’s cries suddenly grew a little louder.“I will share this burden with you,” he suddenly postulated.“Noel got sick after being at my house,” he reminded everyone.“Chelsea and I were sick but didn’t realize it in time.”
Cavin jumped in.“Rainey, it’s not your fault either,” he insisted.“Fletcher chose to go home knowing Noel and the kids were sick,” he mentioned.“He was a grown man who made that choice, and none of you need to take the blame for his illness.”
“Noel will still blame herself,” Keaton declared.“I know she will.She might even blame Fletcher for coming home, and I don’t want that to happen.At least right now that last kiss has been one of her saving graces.I don’t want that special moment transformed into regret.”
The depth of that thought, one Keaton experienced over and over, reached Cavin and Rainey instantly.
