Page 23 of Meet Me on Lilac Lane

“And here, you can see another local attraction, Cody Hart. Say ‘hi’ Cody.”

Their eyes met. Hers danced with a merriment that shot electricity straight down to his toes.

He grinned. “Hi, Cody.”

“Hi, Cody,” Finn echoed.

“Hi, Cody,” Maggie said. She patted Cody on his head.

“Anyway. This is our home. We welcome you to come and check it out.” Mia fumbled her phone. Her cheeks pinked. She turned away from them. “I’ll, uh, just get this posted.”

Local attraction, eh? He liked the sound of that. He spun in a circle, the kids squealing.

“Faster!” Finn put his arms out like an airplane. Cody spun around again then collapsed to the ground, cradling Finn and Maggie to him on the way down.

“You two are wearing me out.” Cody sprawled on the ground. Finn climbed to his feet and ran around, arms outstretched, making airplane noises. Maggie snuggled into Cody’s shoulder. “Come join us, Mia!” He snagged Finn and pulled him back with a mock growl.

“Join you on the ground? No thanks.” She turned back to him. “Besides, I have to get these things posted.”

“Let’s make a deal. If you come over here and play for a minute, I’ll help you with anything you want today.”

“You’ve already helped enough.”

“What can I say,” he said. “I like helping.”

“Thanks, but no thanks, Code.” She sat down on a bench nearby.

He didn’t know the first thing about social media. He preferred to work with his hands over spending time online. What had he been thinking, offering his help? Of course, Mia said no thanks. Cody lay in the cold grass, mud seeping into his shoulder, Maggie still snuggled up to him, the bobble of her fuzzy hat tickling his nose.

But then again, how could he not offer to help? The widow of his dead best friend was hurting, and he couldn’t stand by and watch.

Maybe she didn’t want any help from the guy who lived through the accident that stole her husband’s life.

Or maybe she blamed him, even just a little.

Kind of like he did himself every day.

Beside him, Mia got up from the bench and brushed herself off.

“Thank you for inviting us out here,” she said. “It was nice.”

Yeah, that was him. The nice guy. He clambered to his feet, Maggie sticking to him like a barnacle clinging to a boat’s hull. “We should do this again.”

“Sure,” she said. “Another time.” She reached for Maggie, and the little girl went into her arms. “C’mon, Mags. We’d better get home.”

Cody felt a sudden chill. He reached out a hand to Mia, but she’d already moved toward the remains of their picnic.

“Finn, time to get going.” Her call to Finn appeared as though it went in one ear and out the other as the boy continued playing airplane. “Finn!” Mia’s shoulders slumped.

“I’ll get him.” Cody ran the few steps to where Finn made his circles. “Time to go, bud. You heard your mom.”

“Will you walk us home?” The airplane stopped mid-flight and looked up at him. Cody looked to Mia and raised an eyebrow. She nodded. “Yep. I can walk you home.”

They retraced their steps from earlier, the fishy and wet scent of the harbor replaced by the loamy aroma of the damp lawns they passed. The silence drew long between them. Even the kids were quieter, though he suspected fatigue in their case. Mia carried Maggie the whole way while Finn scampered ahead.

This quiet was too much.

“I’ll keep you posted about the places I’m working on,” he said. “You can get some footage for your reels or whatever. Of the updates I make.”

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