Page 24 of Meet Me on Lilac Lane

“Thank you.” Her quiet reply kept him from saying anything more. The chatter of the kids the only sound on their walk.

They turned down Lilac Lane. He could see her house partway down the street. The gray Craftsman looked wholesome, surrounded by its white picket fence. He remembered replacing the shingles with Troy just three summers ago. It felt like a lifetime. A few branches had come down from the elm in the backyard. He’d have time this week to come and clean that up.

They passed Constance Franklin’s house. She was standing on her front step, sifting through some mail. “Hi, Grandma,” the kids called to her.

“Hi guys!” Her smile died as she saw Cody walking with them. He raised his hand to her, but she looked back to her stack of mail. A sharp ache buried itself in his chest.

“Is Grandma Harmon all settled in?” Mia paused at the end of the short sidewalk leading up to Constance’s front porch.

Constance’s face brightened again. “She’s doing remarkably well. Come by sometime to say hi.”

“Will do.” Mia gave a last wave and started on again. “Troy’s Grandma Harmon, Constance’s mom, fell and had to have a hip replaced. Since she doesn’t have any other family, Constance brought her here. I think it’s nice for her to have someone to share her house with again. It must get quiet there at night.”

They walked past the Franklins’ place.

“Hey, remember when Troy and I ran over that sugar maple with a four-wheeler?” In the corner of the yard clung the bent tree.

“I still can’t believe the tree stayed bent like that.” Mia moved her hand in an elongated, sideways s-pattern mimicking the shape of the tree. “I used to love sitting on that tree.”

He remembered. If he closed his eyes, he could see Mia sitting on that trunk holding court over him and Troy as they both vied for her attention, wrestling in the grass, telling fish stories, and goofing around.

Cody had been friends with Mia first when she came to the island, and then when Troy moved to the island in sixth grade, they’d all been best friends. He didn’t know when Mia had fallen for Troy, but after Troy asked her to the junior prom, well, that was that. For a long time he had kicked himself for not speaking up when they first started high school. He should have told Mia how he felt about her, but then it was too late. Anyone with eyeballs could see she and Troy were head over heels for each other.

So, he’d done the right thing and buried his feelings, going all in on supporting their relationship.

When Mia had gotten pregnant, there was no doubt about who the father was. He walked with Troy through his feelings of guilt. Then he stood as best man at their wedding.

At least, despite his many failings, Cody had done something right—he’d let Mia go.

Not that she or Troy ever knew it. And Cody had never admitted it to a soul.

Finn bobbed ahead of them, returning to them once in a while to comment on something he’d seen.

A few steps later, they reached the sidewalk up to Mia’s front step. Cody put one hand on the white picket fence. It wobbled. “I’ll come by and fix this,” he said.

“Thanks for walking us home.” Mia’s voice was subdued. She shifted Maggie on her hip. He longed to ask her what she was thinking, but she turned away from him and was walking toward the house. Maggie waved at him before burying her face in Mia’s neck. At the front step, Finn had pushed the door open.

“Thanks for the picnic,” he called to her retreating back. “Let’s do it again.”

She looked back over her shoulder, a slight smile on her lips. It didn’t make it all the way up her face to her eyes. “I’m going to be pretty busy with the job for Dani, but today was nice. I’m sorry, Code.” She turned back to him. “I know you mean well, but I just…It’s hard for me to accept help. I need to prove that I can take care of things on my own.” She shrugged as if each word wasn’t a knife to his heart. Then she went into the house and shut the door.

And, sure, she didn’t slam it shut, but Cody felt the impact.

He spun on his heel and headed back to his place. The walk would be twice as long without company.

“Cody!”

He glanced over his shoulder. Liam raised a hand in greeting from down the block as he jogged to catch up to him. Cody had helped him update a house near Mia’s on Lilac Lane when Liam had decided to move to the island. Liam had moved in a week or so ago.

“I was going to text you, but when I saw you walking, I thought I’d shout instead.” Liam clapped him on the shoulder.

“You caught me heading home.” And now he had company, but it wasn’t the same.

“What’s wrong, man?” Liam peered at him.

“What do you mean?” Cody turned and started walking. Liam fell into rhythm beside him.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you this solemn since, well, ever, really. Of course, I haven’t known you very long.” Liam raised an eyebrow. “If I didn’t know better, I’d guess woman trouble.”

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