He’d measured everything out, drawn up a rough plan, and now was busy starting on the frame. Since he’d left Lily this morning, he felt antsy, restless. He picked up a pizza and a six-pack on his way home from the store and went to work. For six hours now, he hadn’t thought about Maddie. He’d been too busy replaying the conversation he’d had with Lily. He was still no closer to figuring her out than he was before. At least when he thought about her, he didn’t close himself off and fall into memories. At least with Lily, he really had no memories, good or bad, to trip on.
The sun was still a few hours from going down, so Jake figured he’d keep working until either darkness or exhaustion set in.
He was in the garage he’d turned into a workspace cutting planks for the floor when Lily walked in, six-pack and sandwiches in hand.
She watched him for a few minutes. He was unaware of her presence and she didn’t want to scare him. He was working the circular saw like a pro. After a minute or two of watching him, she turned on her heel and walked out.
She went over to the deck he was building. It looked really nice. It wasn’t close to being finished, but she could see where he was going and what his plan for it was. She appreciated someone who could create something with their hands. Her parents had always hired contractors and Lily never understood why. Wouldn’t it be more satisfying if they’d done the work themselves? She looked at the deck and smiled.
Lily thought her parents were amazing people. Her father was a doctor and her mother stayed at home. Lily had grown up in an upper-middle class neighborhood, had lots of friends, and never wanted for anything. When her parents had wanted to send her to a private school, she balked until they allowed her to attend the public school. It was a decision she appreciated. Her parents trusted her, mostly because she never gave them any real trouble. Sure, she drank at a few parties, brought home the occasional boy, and got into a little mischief now and then. Like all teenagers, she had gone through a short “you’ll never understand me” phase. But all in all she’d been a good kid.
There were things in this life she wanted to experience. She’d never consider herself sheltered but she probably was. It wasn’t jealousy she felt over the fact that Jake could build his own deck. It was more of an I-want-to-do-that-too.
When Jake walked out of the makeshift workshop, he noticed Lily standing with her back to him. She was running her hands over the wood that he’d framed. She looked different than before. Her hair was down and curly. Strands got caught up in the slight breeze, reminding him of a willow tree. Her jeans were simple but tight enough to highlight her legs and rear. She was wearing a simple pale-purple T-shirt that highlighted the red in her hair. When she turned around, he saw that the neckline plunged just a little and gave a hint of what was just below the opening. She looked freshly scrubbed and beautiful and, for a moment, when the breeze picked up, he smelled lavender. Their eyes met and neither one moved. She just smiled. The ice surrounding Jake’s heart melted, just a little.
“Hi.”
“Hey.”
“The deck looks good so far. How long have you been working on it?”
“About a year.”
“Really?”
“Well, I tore it down last year and decided today that I should probably get it done, so I went to the store, bought the stuff, and went to work. Hey, you want a beer? I have some pizza left over from lunch, if you’re hungry.”
She turned from him and bent down. When she turned back she was carrying a six-pack and a bag.
“I asked Uncle Billy what kind of beer you drank, and I had him make you one of those crab cake sandwiches. I hope you don’t mind. They were supposed to be sort of a peace offering.”
She looked down when she said this, and the annoyance he’d felt earlier today disappeared. When he didn’t say anything, she put the items on a makeshift table.
“Well, I just wanted to say I’m sorry for before. It wasn’t really my business. I’ll let you get back to work. See ya later, Jake.”
“Wait. Aren’t you gonna eat with me?”
“I ate earlier. I had to run home and shower so your sandwich is probably cold. I had to get the smell of food out of my hair, ya know?”
“Yeah. Well thanks.”
“No problem. And Jake? I really am sorry if I made you mad.”
She was halfway down the driveway when he called out, “Lily! At least have a beer with me. I haven’t talked to anyone all day. Well, since this morning. I could use a break.”
She turned and looked at him. “Sure. I could hang for a beer.”
He took the six-pack she’d brought into the house and put it in the fridge. Grabbing two cold ones, he popped the tops off and walked back outside. He had no idea why he asked her to stay. He certainly hadn’t planned to. “Here you go. Thanks for the sandwich. I’m getting a little sick of cold pizza, to be honest.”
“Anytime. I haven’t seen you in the bar lately, so I figured you’d need something. Presumptuous, I know, but that’s me.”
Jake dug into the brown paper bag. “Aw, you brought me cole slaw, too?”
She laughed. “Yeah, Uncle Billy wouldn’t let me leave without it. I think it’s a peace offering from him, too. There should be a plastic fork in there.”
While he ate, he talked between bites. “So, Lily Burns, you grew up in Connecticut?”
“Yup. Lived there my whole life. Well, except for when I went to college. Spent four years of undergrad in Pennsylvania and lived in New York for graduate school. But I’ve never really been out of the Northeast.”
“Not even to come down here?”
“Nope. My dad and Uncle Billy don’t get along. Something about money. It kills my mom.”
“Money and family is always a bad combination, I guess.”
“I guess so. My dad’s proud and when Billy loaned my mom some money, he flipped. Made her give it back. I don’t even know why she needed it. I got scholarships to Penn State and we had enough money, minus a small student loan, to pay for graduate school. Grown-up problems, I call them.”
Jake laughed and pointed his fork at her. “I hate to be the one to tell you, but you’re a grown up now, too.”
Taking a long pull from her beer, she thought about how grown-up she actually was. “Huh. Never really thought of myself as a grown-up but then again, I never really had to fend for myself until now.”
She told him about where she grew up, about her parents, about college. He asked a lot of questions.
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“Nope. Just me. My parents tried and tried but they couldn’t get pregnant. Then, when my mom was forty, I surprised them. Is Danny your only sibling?”
“Yeah. He’s two years older. He’s married with kids. He was my best friend growing up.”
“Was?”
“Still is, I guess. He’s a good guy.”
“He seems like it. I saw him today. We didn’t talk much, I just took his order, but he seemed nice.”
“Was he with the wife and kids?”
“Not unless the wife and kids are an older man that looks just like him. Your father, I presume?”
“Yeah. Probably Dad. They were probably hatching up another plan to fix me.”
“Why would they need to fix you?”
When he looked up, she saw the sadness seep back into his eyes.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m always sticking my foot in my mouth. You don’t have to answer that.”
“It’s okay. I opened that one up. They just think it’s about time I moved on.”
“Well,” she said as he finished up his meal. “It looks like the deck is a good place to start. Could I help? I’ve never built anything before.”
She saw relief pass through him as he relaxed.
“Sure. Let me grab another beer. You want one?”
“Absolutely.”
For the next few hours, Jake showed Lily how to work the circular saw, how to hammer a nail, and how to use the power d
rill. She caught on quick and the deck was moving along double time. By the time the sun began to fall, the floor was done.
They’d talked about nothing, laughed at everything, and Jake, who’d considered himself a relative of the Tin Man for the past few years, began to soften. Lily took his mind off of everything that plagued him. He felt good, he felt loose, and he felt like his old self again.
Lily took in everything Jake told her. She learned fast and felt excited that she was a part of creating something. If she’d had a Bucket List, she’d have had to remind herself to cross this off the list. Jake was fun. They got along easily, and she felt like she did more than help him build a deck.
Standing back with a hammer in his hand, Jake took in what they’d just accomplished. “I can’t believe the floor is done.”
“I can’t either. This was so much fun, Jake. Thanks. I was gonna go home and watch the latest Lifetime movie. You rescued me from sad stories of unrequited love and tragedy. How can I ever repay you?”
His laugh was sincere. “Oh, man. Good thing we had a deck to build then. And I think we’ll call this even.”
“Good thing. I have no money. Thanks, Jake. I had a great time.”
“Me, too.”
Stretching her arms over her head, Lily felt the pull of a hard day’s work. “Well, bud, my muscles ache in places I’ve never known. I think I’m gonna go home, shower again, and pass out.”
“Yeah. Me, too. Thanks again, Lily.”
“You’re welcome.”
“No. Not just for the deck.”
“I know. See ya around.”
She grabbed her keys and Jake walked her back to her Jeep. She waved as she backed out of the driveway. He’d thought about kissing her but the idea was fleeting. It wasn’t a path he wanted to explore yet. For now, he was just happy she’d blown a tire. Were it not for that, he wasn’t sure she’d have shown up in his life like this. For now, for today, he decided he’d be happy.
He cleaned up his tools, closed the garage doors, and walked into the house. He showered and went to bed. And for the second night in a row, Maddie didn’t haunt him.
CHAPTER 11
The next morning, Jake woke up ready to start the day. His shift started at 7:30, so he had two hours to kill before he had to show up at the docks. He bolted out of bed, dressed, stretched, and jogged out the front door.
Half an hour later, Lily awoke to a knock on her window. When she pulled back the curtains and looked through the basement window, she saw Jake dressed for a morning workout. She smiled, held up a finger, got dressed, and met him outside.
He was smiling. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
“Wanna go for a run?”
“Ah, sure. Long or short?”
“Long or short what?”
She giggled at his confusion. “Run.”
“Short. I have to be at work at seven thirty.”
“Then let’s go. Follow me.”
Jake raised his eyebrows and followed her. Winding her way to the back of her uncle’s house, she started down a path through the brush. The path was narrow and Jake ran behind her instead of beside her. Not that he minded. The view was great.
He searched his brain, remembering the path and where it led. He hadn’t been back there since middle school.
Jake kept the pace Lily had set. It wasn’t a slow jog but it wasn’t the intense, leg killing run he’d subjected her to the first day they ran together either. It was quiet out there. Neither of them spoke. He was amazed at the slight sounds of nature waking up. He saw birds and squirrels and lizards scuttling across the dirt. The smell of the ocean was strong. Salt permeated the air, the humidity was beginning to rise, and the sun peaked through overhead. It was gonna be hot today.
A mile in, they were both dripping with sweat. She slowed at a clearing, and he saw where she’d taken him. It was an old saltwater pool. The tire was still there attached to a high branch on the tree next to the bank. He used to come here when he was younger. He and his friends had their first cigarettes out here, drank their first beers. A flood of happy memories overtook him. Good memories that had been suppressed by the bad. Suddenly, he pulled off his shirt and ran toward the tree. He jumped up, grabbed the tire, swung himself out into the middle of the water, and dropped. His loud “woohoo” made Lily laugh.
“Try it!” he yelled to her, laughing as his head broke through the surface.
“What?”
“The swing. You need a running start. It’s high. Grab it and jump!”
“You’re crazy!”
“I know. Isn’t it great?”
The admission was just what Lily needed. She stripped off her shirt so she was wearing only her sports bra and shorts. She kicked off her sneakers and pulled off her socks. Smiling wickedly at him, she crouched and took off, grabbing the tire on the first try. As she swung out to the middle of the pool and splashed in next to him, she heard his laugh. The water was cold but neither of them minded.
Jake was as giddy as he’d been when he first discovered the pool. “Holy crap, Lily! I haven’t been here in years! How did you know it was here?”
“I found it the morning after I got here. I woke up early and decided to go for a walk. I was itching to take some pictures. I had noticed the path so I decided to see where it led. This is great, isn’t it?”
“You have no idea. Years, I am telling you. Man, I have the greatest memories of this place. Unbelievable.”
“I hadn’t tried the swing when I was here before. That was fun.”
“Wanna do it again?”
With the excitement in his voice, she couldn’t say no. They jumped a few more times before climbing out of the water and sitting on the bank.
“Thanks, Lily. That was fun. I can’t believe I haven’t been here in so long. I guess kid stuff doesn’t matter so much when you’re a grown-up.”
“Sure it does. If you don’t stop and let go once in a while, the grown-up stuff can suffocate you. And besides, when’s the last time that tire saw a twenty-eight year-old man? And that last flip was a nice touch.”
“It was, wasn’t it?”
Jake sat for a few minutes reveling in how good he felt. It was like he’d woken up that morning for the first time in a long time. “Hey, I have an idea.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Lily looked at him with interest. “Oh yeah? What’s that?”
“How about I call out of work today and we go back to my place and finish the deck?”
“Can you do that? You aren’t giving much notice.”
He frowned a minute then smiled. “True, but I haven’t taken a day off in two years. I even went in once with a broken wrist.”
“You broke your wrist?”
“Yeah. But listen. They won’t mind. Mr. Olsen has been telling me I need some time off.”
His smile was contagious. “Has he now?” she asked.
“Yeah. So what do you say?”
“Well, Uncle Billy did give me the day off, and I had nothing planned other than taking some pictures.”
“So you will?” When she nodded, he yelled, “Awesome! Come on. Let’s see if we can’t knock this thing out today. Maybe I’ll take tomorrow off, too. The house needs painting and the shutters need to be fixed.”
“Hold on, slugger! Take it one day at a time. Work through today and then think about tomorrow. Come on. Let’s get back. I’ll shower and get dressed. I’ll meet you at your house in an hour.”
“Good. I’ll pick up some bagels or something. Maybe I’ll make sandwiches for lunch. This feels great!”
“Okay, okay. You are crazy, Jacob Morgan. Let’s go.”
They ran back like they were running toward something. Within an hour, Lily was at Jake’s house, hammer in one hand, bagel in the other.
“So,” she said between bites, “where do you want to start?”
“The floor is done, so I figure we’ll knock out the steps then work on the railings.”
“Sounds good. No
w what should I do?”
“Let’s measure out the steps then go back and cut the wood. I figure we’ll have a small space over there for the steps.”
“Why small? If you make the steps small then the railings will take up the rest of the space and when you sit out here, you won’t be able to see anything.”
“What would I need to see?”
“Jake, look around you. The trees, the dunes, the grass. It’s beautiful out here. You should make the deck an extension of that beauty.”
She was right. He’d never thought of that. He’d never thought about the deck as a place to really hang out. He’d used the old one mostly to hold his grill and a lawn chair. He liked the idea of creating a space he could use for more than a few minutes at a time. “That’s a good idea. I never thought of it that way. I’ve just been so preoccupied, I never really noticed. So what do you think we should do?”
She liked the “we” when he said it. It made her feel like he appreciated her input. She walked the perimeter of what they’d built. It was twelve by twelve on the main deck with a step down to a second level about a foot off the ground.
“What if we build the steps over by the driveway first? Then extend the deck the length of the house so it meets your bedroom? Then if you ever want to knock down a wall and put in a slider, you’d have a deck off your room?”
Jake followed her thought process. He’d never thought about opening up his wall to the outside. To be honest, he hadn’t thought much about changing anything over the past two years. He’d been stuck in the past and hadn’t moved forward.
“You know what, Lily? That’s a great idea. I’m gonna have to get some more wood but I think I might have enough to frame it out. And I think I have a couple bags of cement to start the footings. Why don’t we measure that out first then go back to the steps around the driveway and backyard? I think I’m gonna return the railings. I don’t think I want them. You’re right. I don’t want to feel closed off.”
“All right. Let’s go. What should I do first?”
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