by S. E. Smith
By the end of the drive, she had finally given up. Now, whether she liked it or not, she had half of the huge mutt lying across her lap. Her fingers absently stroked the soft fur behind Breaker’s left ear.
“So, what is this place?” Makayla asked, looking around at all the boats.
“Boatyard,” Henry said, slowing as he drove across some railroad tracks then continuing along a partially paved road and through the gates of the marina.
Makayla snorted. “I can see that,” she muttered. “Why are we here?”
Henry drove slowly along the road before turning between several boats and pulling to a stop. He shifted the truck into park and turned off the engine. Reaching behind the seat, he grabbed a wide-brimmed hat from the back seat before pushing the door open.
“To work on a boat,” he said with a slight twinkle to his eye as he stood back so Breaker could jump out before he shut the door.
Makayla stared at the closed door in frustration. Why the old man thought she needed to be here, she didn’t have a clue. She knew nothing about boats. She knew they floated on the water and they sank. The Titanic proved that. Pushing door open, she slid out of the truck and followed Henry and Breaker as they disappeared around the back of a large sailboat.
Makayla looked skeptically at what looked like an ugly piece of junk. The upper part of the hull was a chalky white, while the bottom was a faded blue. On the back of it was the faint outline of one word, Defiance. Walking around it, she could hear the sound of Henry talking to someone.
She shielded her eyes and glanced up at a tall column of metal stairs. Henry was standing on the upper platform talking to another man. Both of them turned and glanced down at her for a moment before resuming their conversation.
A small whine pulled Makayla’s attention back to where Breaker was lying on an old blanket in the shade under the boat, a long leash attached to his collar. A huge bowl of fresh water and a small ball were next to him. Makayla turned when she heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Her eyebrow rose when she recognized the young guy who had been at the house earlier.
“Hi, Makayla,” Brian said with an easy smile. “Welcome to the graveyard.”
“Graveyard? I thought Henry called it a boatyard,” she replied in confusion.
Brian laughed as he came to a stop beside her. He had a plastic bag in one hand and what looked like a power tool of some sort in the other. His light blue eyes glittered with amusement and curiosity as he looked back at her.
“Technically, that’s what it is. Henry hired me to help him this summer. I guess he roped you into working on the Defiance, too,” he said with a grin before he grew serious. “So, what happened to you?”
Makayla stiffened. “What do you mean?” She asked warily.
Brian shrugged. “You’re sporting a nice shiner,” he said, nodding toward her. “I just wondered if I needed to be careful. You might kick my ass or something.”
Makayla’s lips twitched when he took a step back and raised his full hands as if to defend himself. The fact that he stood at least a foot taller than her only added to the humor of his comment. Since she didn’t think it was any of his business about how she was sporting a black eye, she decided to play along with him.
“You guessed it,” she said with a shrug. “Women’s sixteen to twenty kick-boxing champion. The other girl is in worse shape than I am.”
Brian’s eyes widened at her statement. He slowly looked her up and down, a slight expression of surprise and awe on his face. She knew what he would see. She was average height and weight for her age.
At five foot five inches and one hundred and ten pounds, she wasn’t a delicate freaking flower, but she also wasn’t a female Amazon warrior either. She had pulled her long, dark brown hair back and braided it to keep it out of her eyes and she had the same chocolate brown eyes as her mom and grandfather. She had taken Henry’s advice and slipped a long sleeve, white cotton button up shirt over her light blue tank top. She was wearing a pair of dark blue cutoff shorts. On her feet, she wore a pair of white tennis shoes.
“Wow,” Brian muttered, staring at her like he was seeing her for the first time.
“Brian, do you have that part I needed?” The man standing on the sailboat asked.
“Yeah, be right there,” Brian replied before turning back to face Makayla. “Are you coming up?”
“Sure,” Makayla said with a shrug. “So, what are you doing?”
Makayla listened as Brian told her that he was helping Jason and Henry refurbish Henry’s sailboat. She vaguely remembered Henry taking her out on it a few times when she and her mom lived with him and her grandmother. Henry never talked about what happened to her grandma, but she remembered her being sick while they lived with them.
“Here you go,” Brian said, handing the plastic bag over the side to Jason. “I’ll start sanding the other side. There are still a few places that need to be done before it's ready to be primed.”
“Thanks, Brian,” Jason said. “I’ll take a look at it in a bit.”
“OK.” Brian turned and grinned back at Makayla. “Glad you won your fight.”
Makayla shifted uneasily when Henry raised an eyebrow at her. Shrugging, she put her hands in the back pockets of her shorts and nodded. She glanced sideways at her grandfather, hoping he wouldn’t say anything. Why she thought he might, was a mystery to her as he rarely seemed to say anything.
They waited until Brian disappeared down the steps again before anyone spoke. She could feel the other man’s eyes on her face, but he didn’t say anything to her. Her lips twisted in wry humor. She didn’t know what it was about the people over here, but with the exception of Brian, they didn’t seem to talk that much. Of course, she hadn’t exactly met a lot of people, so it could just be those her grandfather knew.
“I’m going to work on the wood trim and doors. Makayla here has volunteered to polish the stainless steel,” Henry said, wiping his brow.
“I’ll show her where the stuff is,” Jason said. “It’ll be nice to have another pair of hands.”
Makayla made a face at Henry when he stepped around her. “I didn’t volunteer,” she said, watching him walk back down the stairs.
Jason chuckled. “Neither did I, but we’re here so we might as well get it done,” he said. “Come on, I’ll show you where everything is.”
Makayla sat down on the side of the sailboat and swung her legs over the side before standing up again. Curious, she looked around. Most of the boat had been stripped of almost everything. She wiggled her nose in distaste at the chalky white dust left on the palms of her hands. Wiping them against the seat of her shorts, she followed Jason to the front of the sailboat. A large canopy had been strung up to provide shade for those working on the boat.
“So, you’re Teresa’s kid,” Jason commented as they wove their way to the front of the sailboat where a table had been set up and a short, folding chair sat next to it.
“Yeah,” Makayla muttered with a shrug.
Jason stopped and looked at her with a raised eyebrow that looked so much like Henry, that Makayla had a funny feeling in her stomach that he was related. Her mom never talked about her family, at least not in front of Makayla. In fact, her mom didn’t even have any pictures that she knew of. They had moved so many times over the years, it had been easier to not have much to carry from one place to the next.
“You don’t know who I am, do you?” Jason asked in a quiet voice.
Makayla shook her head. She didn’t know what else she could have said. No, I don’t. Are you related? You must be related to Henry because you have that same annoying grin he does? That wouldn’t win her any brownie points.
Jason released a deep sigh and shook his head. “I’m Jason Summerlin, your uncle. I was away at college, then the military when you were born and living with dad and mom,” he explained. “Your mom was always hard headed.”
Makayla’s lips pressed together for a second before she scowled at him. “Yeah, that’s
what the old man said,” she responded in a slightly bitter tone.
Jason turned to look at her face. Makayla knew what he was thinking. He thought her mom had beaten her. She didn’t owe him any more of an explanation than she owed Brian. Lifting her chin, she stared back at him.
“I’m glad you’re here,” he surprised her by saying. “Let me show you what needs to be done.”
“Okay,” Makayla said, biting her lip.
She listened carefully to the instructions that Jason gave her. He demonstrated how to clean one piece before he had her slip on a pair of latex gloves and do a piece. Once he was satisfied she knew what she was doing, he told her he was going to be working on patching some places on the deck and if she needed anything to let him know.
“There’s cold water in the ice chest as well as some fresh fruit,” he said with a smile.
Makayla sat down on the chair and picked up another piece of hardware. She turned it over in her hand several times before she looked up. Calling out to Jason, she stared into his brown eyes before she spoke.
“It was mom’s boyfriend,” she blurted out, not sure why she felt the need to explain to Jason what happened to her. “He was trying to give mom a fix at the hospital. I… I had to stop him.”
Jason gave her a small smile. “I’m glad,” he replied in a quiet voice. “Teresa always acted like she was tough, but inside she really wasn’t.”
Makayla’s eyes burned at the emotion in Jason’s voice. She could hear the sadness and acceptance in it. Bowing her head, she nodded.
Focusing back on the polishing, she spent the rest of the morning carefully cleaning each piece until it shone in the sunlight. She looked up when she heard Brian’s voice. A smile tugged at her lips when she saw the streaks of dirt on his face.
“Lunch!” Brian called, holding up a white bag. “Henry picked up some subs.”
Setting the last hinge down on the table, Makayla rose out of the chair and stretched. She blushed when Brian released a low wolf-whistle when her tank top rose up and reveal a thin section of her stomach. She laughed and shook her head when Jason slapped Brian across the back of his head and muttered under his breath for him to knock it off.
“Hey, she’s a fox,” Brian laughed, dancing away from Jason when he started to hit him again.
“And you’re the wolf,” Jason retorted good-naturedly. “You’d better watch out or Henry will be using you as bait once the Defiance is done.”
Makayla followed them to where Henry was clearing off another table toward the back. She smiled her thanks when he handed her a cold bottle of water. Sitting down in the chair next to him, she spent the next hour listening to the three men talk about what still needed to be done on the boat. For the first time, a glimmer of hope began to blossom that maybe things would work out.
Chapter 7
A month later, Makayla slipped outside to sit on the front porch. She glanced down at her cell phone when it vibrated. A grin curved her lips. Tonight was Laura’s turn to call her. Each of the girls took turns either calling or texting her to make sure she was okay.
Debbie and Tisha had resorted to text messages since neither could call. Debbie’s texts consisted mostly of pictures of her daily visits to the museums and the cute boys in whatever country she was currently visiting. Tisha’s messages on the other hand consisted of ways she was going to drown her dad’s newest girlfriend, toss her off the cruise ship, or how the ‘witch’ could accidently get left behind in some foreign port of call.
“Hey, Laura. How’s it going?” Makayla asked, walking over and sinking down into one of the chairs on the front porch.
“Okay, I guess,” Laura said with a tired sigh. “I had to work a double shift because the jerk my boss hired last week didn’t show up. My mom went for an interview today. Hopefully she’ll get a job soon so we can finally get ahead. How’re you doing?”
“I’m good,” Makayla replied, pulling her legs up so she could rest her heels on the edge of it. “The sailboat is almost done. The sails are supposed to be in tomorrow and Jason and Brian are going to install them.”
“Have you talked to your mom?” Laura asked. “Do you know if you’ll be back for the start of school?”
Makayla bit her lip. Yeah, she had talked to her mom – several times. Each of their conversations had been strained and confusing. The first time had been a week after she arrived. Her mom was only allowed five minutes on the phone at the rehab place she was at. Most of that conversation had been her mom crying and saying she wasn’t sure she could do this.
The next few calls hadn’t been quite as bad, but they had still been tense. Each one had left Makayla feeling drained, depressed, and confused. Their next call was scheduled for tomorrow night.
“She’s doing okay,” Makayla lied. “She is working on getting a new job herself. I should be back before school starts. The good thing about being here is that Henry has paid me for the work I’ve been doing so it isn’t a total waste.”
“That’s cool. I really hope you can get a job here when you get back. It would be neat to work together,” Laura said. “Guess what! I’ve met a really nice guy. He came into the store yesterday. He asked me out.”
Makayla smiled. Laura was shy, and because she was the only one working, seldom talked about any guys as she didn’t have time for much else but school and work. Personally, Makayla wondered if Laura was a little wary that Tisha might want to get a job there when she got back. Tisha was definitely boy-crazy and she wasn’t ashamed to admit it.
Makayla listened as Laura talked about the new boy, Todd. She made the appropriate noises and asked a question here and there, but her mind wasn’t really on what Laura was saying. Instead, it was on the sun setting over the water and a flock of pelicans flying down along the river. A light breeze had picked up, and even though it was summer, the wind coming off the water held a slight chill to it. Tucking her bare legs into her zipped up hoodie, she watched as the condo lights on the barrier island across the water came on.
“I guess I’d better go,” Laura finally said as the sound of her yawning echoed through the line. “I’m beat and I’ve got to open tomorrow. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Yeah,” Makayla replied in a quiet voice. “Later, girlfriend.”
Makayla pressed the disconnect button on her phone and tucked it into the sleeve of her sweatshirt. She leaned forward to rest her chin on her knees and sighed. Life went on whether you were ready for it or not, she thought silently.
“That sigh sounded like it had a lot of thought behind it,” Henry said, pushing open the screen door.
Makayla looked up in surprise. A small smile tugged at her lips when she saw he had a cup of hot chocolate in his hand. She could smell the delicious scent as he handed it to her.
“Not really,” she said before taking a sip. “This is pretty good. It doesn’t taste like the powdered stuff.”
“That’s because it’s not,” he said, walking around her to sit down in the other chair. “Your grandmother loved hot chocolate, but only if it was made with fresh milk and melted chocolate.”
“What happened to her?” Makayla asked, glancing sideways at her grandfather. “I know she was sick, but that is about it. Mom never talked about her.”
Henry sighed and leaned back in the chair. For a moment, Makayla wasn’t sure he was going to answer her question. He stared out at the river for several long minutes before he spoke.
“She had cancer,” he said in a gruff voice. “It was in her liver. The docs found it too late. She only lived a few weeks after being diagnosed. She and your mom, well, Mary Rose was the only one who could really get your mom to listen. Your mom didn’t handle your grandmother dying very well.”
“I remember you and mom fighting, but I never knew why,” Makayla replied in a quiet voice.
“Your grandma’s dying hurt both your mom and me,” Henry admitted with a soft sigh. “She was the buffer between us. Without that buffer… Let’s just say your mom’s
stubborn streak didn’t come from your grandma.”
A low giggle escaped Makayla. “I think I’ve figured that out since I’ve been here,” she said dryly.
Makayla patted her leg when she saw Breaker coming around the side of the house. He didn’t like it when she was out of his sight any more. Henry liked to grumble that the damn dog was a traitor, but secretly, Makayla knew that he was the one that let Breaker into her bedroom each night.
“Hey, boy,” she said, scratching the Akita’s ear when he rested his chin on the arm of her chair.
“So, when is the Defiance going to be ready?” She asked.
“It will be ready to sail day after tomorrow. I want to test the engine out. Do you think you’re up to going out with me? The weather’s supposed to be good. It has been a quiet season so far,” Henry replied. “It’ll be good to get out on the water.”
“You mean, go sailing?” Makayla asked in excitement.
“She’ll need a shakedown cruise,” Henry said with a nod. “It’ll be a good time to show you what she can do and for you to learn how to sail her.”
Makayla bit her lip. She had seen the sailboats that went up and down the river and thought it looked like a lot of fun. She had been reading up on some of the books Henry had on the bookcase in the small den off of the kitchen.
“I’d love to learn,” she said with a grin.
Chapter 8
Early the next morning, Makayla made her way down the staircase. A frown creased her brow when she didn’t hear her grandfather. She glanced down at Breaker who paused on the step next to her and looked up with an expectant expression.
“Where’s the old man this morning? I thought it was your turn to keep an eye on him,” she teased.
She turned and walked through the dining room to the kitchen. She spied a folded piece of paper with her name sprawled across the front of it. Walking over to where it was propped up against the coffee maker, she picked it up and unfolded it.