Page 37 of Meet Me on Lilac Lane

“Okay, well. Great. I guess I’ll see you la?—”

“It will be really great to see you again, Mia.”

“You too, Matt.” She hung up the phone and clutched it to her chest for a minute. “You too.”

The air buzzed with the laughter and conversation of a hundred of her friends and neighbors, and a warmth lit in her heart that hadn’t been there a moment before.

Huh.

Life sure had a way of surprising you sometimes.

Was his dad avoiding him? Throughout the workday, Cody had noticed his father working alongside his mother. Every time he approached the two of them, his dad had seemed to find something to do a few steps farther away.

Whatever was going on, Cody was determined to figure it out at the picnic.

Cody watched as Mia guided Maggie’s hand, chubby fingers clutched tight around a paint brush almost as big as the toddler herself. Did she even know how amazing she was? The two of them had joined him after the garbage crew had finished. Finn was occupied with petting Jack just down the block. Cody shook off the thought and forced himself to stop staring at Mia.

He turned and looked at the progress the rest of the townspeople had made. It was as if Main Street had transformed in the space of an afternoon. The old peeling paint covering the window boxes of the store fronts had been sanded off, and fresh new white paint brightened up the street. The garbage and leaf cleanup crew had left Main Street’s cobblestones nearly sparkling. And slowly, the newly painted window boxes were being filled in with fresh flowers he couldn’t identify, their jaunty red and yellow heads bobbing in the light breeze coming off the lake.

He glanced back at Mia and Maggie. The toddler now had a streak of white along the front of her shirt. He laughed as she grinned up at her mother. He walked over to the two of them and crouched down. “Let me help you with that, little lady.” He took the paintbrush from her hands and stood again. “Let’s go find a place to wash this out.” He took Maggie’s hand, and together he and Mia and Maggie walked toward a spigot where people were washing out their brushes. After this was finished, they all began making their way toward the little stone church.

At the church, the scent of smoky barbecue filled the air. Tables had been arranged all over the lawn, and food was piled high. His stomach grumbled, and Mia laughed. She elbowed him in the ribs. “Sounds like you’ve worked up an appetite.”

He rubbed his stomach. “You know it.”

Just as he was about to ask Mia to eat dinner with him, Elise Jonathon walked over. “Want some help with getting the kids’ plates, Mia?”

Mia agreed and they headed off. He watched them go, a creeping fatigue stealing over him.

“How long are you going to stand on the sidelines of your own life?” Dani, hand wrapped around a dripping pulled pork sandwich with her plate balanced in the other hand, stood next to him.

“What?” His ears rang as though he’d just been hit with a sucker punch.

She nodded at Mia. “I see the way you look at her. I know you want your friendship to be more. So, why aren’t you making it happen?”

“You know why.” Hunger had turned to something else. A churning ache.

She shook her head. “I know what you say, but I don’t quite believe it. I think something else is holding you back. I just can’t figure out what. But, if you wait too long, you’re going to lose her.” Without another word, Dani took another bite of her sandwich and walked away.

Reeling, Cody looked around for a place to sit. Something solid he could lean on.

Was Dani right? Could he lose Mia altogether? Nah. She loved the island too much. Whatever happened, they would always be friends.

Over by the dessert table, his dad paused, hand hovering above the choices. Cody jogged over. “You can’t go wrong with Tara’s blueberry pie.”

His dad jumped. “I didn’t see you there.”

Cody reached for a plate and then served them both a slice of pie. “Are you avoiding me?” May as well jump in with both feet.

“What do you mean?” His dad forked a bite of pie into his mouth.

“Every time I came near, you walked away.”

“I was busy, we all were.” His dad shrugged and took another bite.

Cody took a bite too. The normally sweet and tart treat tasted like cardboard in his mouth.

Around them the people of Jonathon Island laughed and talked. He heard Jill Kelley complimenting Janine Dirks on the pretty arrangement of flowers in the boxes.

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