Home to the Harbor--A Novel

by Lee Tobin McClain

  Like his father.

  But it had turned out that he hadn’t been there when Jenna had needed him the most.

  Picturing the guy who’d come in and shot Jenna, William nodded at Paul. “Stack on some more.”

  Paul put another couple of plates on the barbell. “That’s 240,” he said. “Sure about that?”

  “Yeah.” He’d been able to bench 300 at one time, but he’d been younger and working out hard, several times a week.

  William grimaced and lifted and did six reps.

  He’d be sore tomorrow, but it was worth it to see the expressions on their faces. Respect. Every man wanted it.

  They worked around the gym, doing a circuit, and William stopped trying to impress anyone. His muscles would be crying tomorrow.

  On the way out, they stood in front of the gym’s TV where a baseball game was on, watched a couple at bats. “So what are you doing once you’re finished with Victory Cottage?” Paul asked.

  “Kids are sure going to miss you in the teen program,” Drew said. “Seems like it’s going good.”

  William shrugged. “Back to the community college,” he said. Funny, it didn’t sound quite so imperative as it had before. He’d talked to his old boss, who’d told him his temporary replacement was working out.

  “You ready to go back?” Drew asked.

  “Good question.” William paused, looked around to see if he could get out of talking about it. But the other three men were looking at him, obviously expecting an answer. “Don’t know if I’m healed,” he said finally. “In fact, I don’t think I’ll ever get healed from losing my daughter and blaming myself for it. But I’m better.”

  “Makes sense. Man, you never would heal from losing your child.” Drew’s voice was thoughtful. “I can’t even think about it. Makes my problem I came here for—losing my vision—makes that seem like a walk in the park.”

  “I was here for a back injury,” Trey said, shaking his head. “That’s nothing.”

  “Yeah,” Drew said, “though you’re still using it as an excuse for not lifting worth anything.”

  Paul frowned like he was thinking. “You know,” he said, “there’s a lot you could do right here, if you would decide you wanted to stay,” he said. “You do developmental ed, right? Kids who aren’t quite ready for college?”

  “That’s right.” And he loved it; it was his passion. He felt for the kids who hadn’t had advantages and were still trying to better themselves.

  “We have a lot of kids like that around here. Some you’re already working with, in the teen program, but there are others, as well, here and in nearby towns.”

  Trey drank from a water bottle, then nodded his agreement. “Erica was saying there’s an opening in a college prep program upshore,” he said. “She asked me if I knew anyone who’d be interested, because they’re having trouble finding someone with the right background. I could put your name in.”

  The idea of it tugged at William. To help teens from the same background he’d had, to give them the kind of support he’d received, that had made him successful. “I don’t know,” he said. “It does sound good, but I don’t think I can stay.”

  Paul waved at a couple of guys, then turned back to their group. “I’ve heard all good things about your work here,” he said to William.

  “If it was just work involved, I’d stay in a heartbeat,” he heard himself say, and was shocked. This place had been drawing him closer than he’d realized.

  “Problem with Bisky?” Drew asked. “I’m just guessing, but I hear my daughters talking, and they seem to think you’ve got something going on with her. She’s a great lady.”

  “She is.” And William was proud of her, that she was so highly regarded in the town. “I’m not good enough for her. I screw up right and left. Like with the boat thing.”

  Paul looked confused. “I heard you helped save the kids,” he said.

  “Helped,” William said, disgusted with himself. “Bisky did most of it.”

  Drew laughed. “I get that. You grew up thinking men ought to do everything themselves, while the women cooked dinner and admired you.”

  The blunt description made William smile. “You pretty much nailed it.” Although in the home where he’d grown up, the woman had mostly cowered in fear and tried to avoid the man of the house.

  “Turns out,” Drew said, “things go better when you work at it as partners, not the man trying to do everything. I had to learn that fast when I lost my sight.”

  “Doesn’t seem to hurt your marriage.”

  “Nope. Better than ever.”

  Paul had grabbed a couple of hand weights and was curling with them. “I came here with PTSD, and I needed a lot of help.”

  “No kidding, you were a wreck.” Trey grinned, showing that he was joking, but Paul still tossed him a hand weight, making him dodge to catch it.

  There was a bases-loaded triple in the game then, and they all watched, and a few other people came to see what was going on, so the personal conversation stopped.

  “Beer at the Gull?” Drew suggested. He turned his face in William’s direction. “You, too.”

  To William’s own surprise, he wanted to go. “Sure.”

  It would be nice to stay on in Pleasant Shores. He’d like to hang out with these guys. Maybe even learn something from them. Because maybe they were right, and it was okay that he’d just helped Bisky rescue her daughter, not taken over and done it all himself.

  Anyway, knowing Bisky, she wouldn’t have allowed herself to be excluded or for him to take over. And that was kinda great. Took some of the pressure off of him.

  But he still didn’t feel like he could do it to her, give her himself, all damaged, up and down. And anyway, he’d probably screwed it up too bad already.

  * * *

  AT GOODY’S MONDAY NIGHT, Bisky paid for two milkshakes and sucked on her straw, and the chocolaty goodness calmed her distressed emotions. She looked over at Sunny and could tell the same was happening to her. By mutual agreement, they headed to Goody’s new outdoor seating area. Goody had one of those heating lamps up, trying it out, but so far, nobody else was brave enough to sit outside this late in the evening.

  “See, I was right,” Sunny said. “Chocolate is the only thing that’ll help us stop picking at each other.”

  “When we both have PMS,” Bisky said.

  “Hey.”

  “Am I wrong?”

  Sunny tried to frown but ended up laughing. “Nope. Not wrong.”

  The sun was setting over the bay, making the sky a watercolor painting of purple and orange and pink. A few late customers straggled into Goody’s, and a few more people strolled the bike path across the road on the bay side. But it was quiet enough to talk, which was what they needed to do.

  “So what’s up that made you so upset?” she asked after she’d judged Sunny to be chocolate-happy again. She knew Sunny felt the boat escapade had been a disaster, and she was right, it had been. Additionally, she’d heard Sunny and Kaitlyn yelling at each other. And from Sunny’s veiled remarks, Bisky knew she was worried about Caden, who apparently had been staying somewhere else before the boat escapade had alerted his parents to his whereabouts, causing him to have to be back home. That was the most worrisome, a kid possibly at risk.

  “Have you heard anything more from Caden?” she asked now.

  Sunny swallowed another mouthful, then spoke. “William invited him to do the teen program,” she said. “So maybe we’ll find out more when he does it, if he’s even allowed to do it.”

  Just the mention of William made Bisky wince. He’d seemed set on apologizing to her for being caught with his ex-wife, but then Sunny’s rescue had taken their attention all away from that, and now, he didn’t seem to want anything to do with her.

  “Are you and William friends again?” Sunny aske
d.

  Bisky shrugged. She didn’t want to inflict her adult problems on her daughter, who had plenty to deal with in her own life.

  But Sunny had put her finger on the issue: were they friends?

  A breeze swept their napkins off the table, and Sunny jumped up to chase them down. Bisky steadied Sunny’s nearly empty cup while she thought about the question.

  If they weren’t talking to each other, how could they be considered friends?

  Besides, she’d never figured out what was going on between William and his ex-wife. If he was still involved with the woman, then no way could his relationship with Bisky be anything more than friends. And truth to tell, since they’d kissed, she was miserable at the thought of him going back to his ex.

  She never should have let that kiss happen.

  “Earth to Mom.” Sunny was back in her chair and tapping Bisky on the arm.

  “Sorry,” she said. “A little distracted.”

  “You and William seemed to be getting along okay on the boat, when you were hauling me and Caden in,” Sunny said. “He’s pretty strong. I was glad he was there.”

  “I was, too,” Bisky said. Had something happened on the boat that had turned them off? Before they’d discovered Sunny was in danger, he’d been trying to apologize and she’d been cranky, putting him off. And then the emergency with Sunny had blotted out everything else. After that, he’d turned away and was refusing to speak to her.

  “I don’t know,” she said slowly. “I guess something did happen on the boat ride. Maybe he didn’t like me being in charge, which would be just like a man.” Then she felt bad for saying that. She hated to teach her daughter to believe something negative about a whole gender.

  “That’s my problem too!” Sunny burst out. “I’m too much in charge with all my friends.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. Kait and Venus didn’t like me making the decision about going to the island without them. They thought I was trying to keep Caden for myself.”

  Bisky fought back a smile. “Well, realistically, for him to date all three of you would be a little much for him.”

  “No kidding. But also, Venus got sent to Teaberry as a punishment, and she might have to stay with her family instead of living in Pleasant Shores. That would be a disaster.”

  Here, at least, Bisky could provide some good news. “Ria said Venus is staying with them again, so it seems like that punishment didn’t last long.”

  “She is? That’s great! She always did say she could talk her mom out of grounding her.” Then Sunny’s face fell. “But why didn’t they tell me? They must still be mad.”

  Bisky nodded. “It’s soon for them to give up being mad. Girls can hold a grudge.” And there she went again, generalizing about a whole gender. “Anyone can hold a grudge,” she corrected herself.

  They sat for a few minutes, the heat radiating down from the standup heater, a couple of customers coming out of the shop, licking ice cream cones. “Look,” Bisky said, “being a strong woman can be hard. It’s against stereotype.”

  Sunny sucked the last bit of milkshake from her cup. “What’s that mean?”

  “Sometimes your friends want to act all girly. And there’s no problem with that, but you might not want to do it, and you don’t have to. You’ll still have friends if you stay strong.”

  “Not Kait and Venus, apparently.”

  “I bet they’ll come back,” Bisky said. “Especially if...” She trailed off, knowing that any advice she offered would likely fall on deaf ears.

  “If what?”

  “If you let them in on your decision process. If you listen, as well as telling other people what to do.” She held up a hand against Sunny’s protest. “And I know, it’s hard. We both have pretty good leadership qualities, and usually, we do have a better plan than a lot of people. But if people don’t feel heard, they don’t want to come along.”

  “Voice of experience?” Sunny asked.

  “Yeah.” Bisky looked up at the sky, where a couple of stars were just appearing, then smiled at her daughter. “There are always some ladies who don’t care for the way I am, but real friends will let you be yourself.” She thought of Ria, Amber, Erica, Mary. They were all so different, and different from her, but they liked her as she was. They’d made her life warmer, made her feel more supported, in recent years.

  “I need to get some real friends, then,” Sunny said.

  “I bet Kait and Venus will come around. You three have been through a lot together.”

  “I hope.”

  “For now, focus on what’s working. You said the therapy dog training is going well?”

  “Yeah,” Sunny said, visibly cheering up, “it’s been great. You can’t believe how much William is doing with Xena. It’s like he’s come around, too.”

  I wouldn’t know, Bisky thought, and then felt like a teenager herself, and not in a good way.

  “And you know Muffin’s better all the time.” Sunny went on, talking about the desensitizing she was doing with both dogs, and how they planned to take them out into the community more and more, to teach them how to manage around distractions.

  Bisky loved seeing Sunny’s enthusiasm, and she was pretty sure everything would turn out well for her daughter. And the fact that every mention of William hurt, well... Bisky would just have to learn to deal with that.

  Until he left.

  The thought of him leaving made her heart ache like it was going to fall out of her chest, and she realized, uncomfortably, what a mistake she’d made to let herself care for him that much.

  “Will you, Mom?”

  She’d spaced out again. “Will I what?”

  “Will you come and see my dog training with William tomorrow?”

  “No.” That was the last thing she wanted to do. “You can’t do it tomorrow, anyway, because it’s the teen program day. And I want you to start coming.”

  To her surprise, Sunny didn’t complain. “Maybe I’ll make some new friends there. Plus, Caden will be there, I hope, so maybe he and I can make up.”

  “Good.” She stood and patted her daughter’s back. “Thanks for being good about it. I think we should head home, though, because Goody’s trying to close up.”

  “Okay.” But as they tossed their cups in the trash and started home, Sunny looked over at her. “Will you come see the training on Wednesday, then? I really want you to.”

  Bisky blew out a sigh. Sunny wasn’t going to let up on this. “Okay, sure,” she said. Even though the thought of seeing William, her old friend William, made her stomach twist with nerves.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  SUNNY BREATHED OUT a sigh of relief the next afternoon as she and the twins headed toward Mary’s store.

  Working with the other teenagers in her mom’s program didn’t seem like it was going to be that bad. She liked the twins, and she liked Mary and the bookstore. Apparently, there was some work Mary needed done outside the place, and Mom had volunteered them.

  That meant she didn’t have to watch the awkward interactions between her mother and William. Couldn’t they just admit they liked each other and get on with it?

  It also meant she didn’t have to work with Caden and feel guilty about getting him discovered by his weird parents. That was a relief, especially since he wouldn’t even look her in the eye.

  And then she heard a voice behind them. “Hey, hold up,” William called. “Caden’s going to be on your crew.”

  They all looked back, and there came Caden, trudging toward them with all the enthusiasm of a prisoner on his way to the electric chair.

  “What’s he doing this program for?” Aiden asked. “He’s not a dock kid.”

  “He’s nice,” Avery said, and that made Sunny look at her with narrowed eyes. Did Avery like Caden?

  “How do you even know him?” A
iden asked.

  “Math Camp, a few years back. Hey, Caden.”

  Caden brightened for a second, seeing Avery, and then frowned again when his gaze met Sunny’s. He looked away.

  “Know anything about working with tools, building stuff?” Aiden asked. “Working at all?”

  Sunny figured Caden would take offense at Aiden’s tone, but he just snorted. “Unfortunately. My parents are crap about fixing things, so I had to learn.”

  “You fix stuff at your house?” Avery asked. “I’d have thought you’d get workmen in.”

  “Sometimes it’s easier to just do it myself.” Caden clearly didn’t want to talk more about it.

  And sometimes, Sunny thought, when your parents have issues, neither you nor they want outsiders to come in. That was why, according to William, the threat of having someone from the school interview Caden’s parents had pushed them into letting him do the program.

  They reached the bookstore and got their instructions from Mary. She wanted big window boxes for flowers built, to cheer up the front of Lighthouse Lit. They hauled out her supplies and tools, and then they all stood looking at the stack of wood.

  “Um, well...” Sunny actually wasn’t good with tools herself. She’d volunteered for this gig just because she liked Mary and the bookstore, not because she knew how to build things.

  “Video?” Avery pulled one up on her phone and they all gathered around.

  Except when Caden ended up next to Sunny, he made an excuse and moved to the other side of Avery.

  Fine. She ignored him as they sketched out a plan and started sawing boards to the right length.

  It was actually kind of fun. It was sunny, warmish, and lots of people stopped to ask questions and even admire their work. Pretty soon, they’d nailed together a couple of decent window boxes and were taking a break before figuring out how to paint and then attach them.

  “So,” Avery said, “that was a pretty spectacular fail on your boat the other day.”

  Sunny glanced at Caden. “Yeah, it was my fault. I was being stupid.”