Page 38 of Meet Me on Lilac Lane

His dad moved a step away and Cody followed him. Up near the blue-gray stone walls of the church sat two empty lawn chairs. “Want to sit a minute?”

His dad nodded in agreement, and they threaded their way through the other picnickers to the chairs.

They sat in silence for a while, finishing their pie, Cody tasting none of it. He put his plate on the ground, and Jack came over to lick the crumbs. He dropped his hand down and scratched the dog’s ears.

Beside him, his dad sighed and then rubbed a hand over his face. A gesture that Cody knew well, had even picked up as a habit himself. “What’s bothering you, Dad?”

His dad laid his hands on his knees, the leathery knuckles whitening as he gripped. “I sold some of the equipment. Your mother thought I should tell you.”

“What?” Cody rocketed up, the lightweight chair tipping behind him. “Dad, you knew I wanted to buy that from you.”

“Sit down, Cody.” His dad leaned over and righted the chair. Cody slumped into it, the nylon and aluminum construction groaning in protest. “I only sold a few of the outriggers and a couple of other things. Turns out the place that had made the offer for everything couldn’t afford all of it.” He scrubbed his hand over his face again. “I wanted a little extra cash to take your mother someplace nice for a vacation. We’ve never really taken one. I’m taking her to Arizona. It’s supposed to be a good climate for arthritis.”

And, yeah, this was probably the most words Cody had heard his dad say over the past couple of years, but he could hardly concentrate on what he was saying. He should be happy that his mom would get some relief from the aching that plagued her. He should be a good son. But all he could think about was how his dad had chosen someone else to sell to. He almost didn’t want to give voice to the question on his heart, but in the end, he couldn’t stop himself.

“And the fishing license?”

In the silence between them, Cody heard the tap-tapping of a pileated woodpecker in a tree nearby. The rapid tapping echoed his own heartbeat.

“I still have it.” The words dropped from his dad’s mouth and straight into his heart. “Your mom is right. I ought to hang on to that a while longer.” His dad stood. “Anyway. Thought you should know.” Then he made his way off into the crowd.

A moment later, Mia flopped into the chair next to him then lifted Maggie onto her lap.

“Guess what?” Her eyes sparkled. She’d removed the bandana that had covered her hair earlier and now it spilled everywhere. Her sun-kissed cheeks glowed. Maggie settled against her mother’s chest, and Mia wrapped an arm around her.

“You sold Finn to the circus?” His mind still scrambled over his dad’s revelation, but he welcomed the distraction.

“An old friend from college is one of the applicants for our revitalization effort.” She patted Maggie’s back and the girl’s head dropped lower. Wouldn’t be long before she was sleeping in her mother’s arms. He’d put money on it.

“Mia, that’s…” But what was it actually? Good? Bad? From the light in Mia’s eyes, it must be a good thing. “That’s great.”

“It really is. He’s such a fantastic artist.”

“He?” Wow. His voice squeaked like a prepubescent teen.

“Mm-hmm. I think his gallery will be an amazing addition to the island.” Mia brushed a hair off her forehead. “He was always pushing all of us to get better. At the time, he seemed so wise, so mature. Some of the girls had huge crushes on him.” Her gaze grew distant.

“And you?” Cody could barely speak.

“There was a time…” Then she shook her head and laughed. “Anyway, that’s all in the past. I can hardly wait to see what his paintings are like now. He’ll be coming on the ferry in a few days. Maybe you can meet him.” She sighed and leaned her head back on the chair, closing her eyes. “Today was a good day. It’s the first time I honestly feel like this can work—like I’m going to save my house.”

“I’m so glad. You deserve it.”

She gave him a knowing look. “Because of all the bad things that have happened to me?”

“No. Because you’re a hard worker and brilliant.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.” She made a face, laughing at herself.

But he could only be serious. “I would. You don’t give yourself enough credit, Mia.”

She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. Leaned back against the seat again. “Thanks, Cody. And hey, you’re getting closer to achieving your dreams too, right?”

Considering his dad still wasn’t budging on the license and the girl of his dreams was excited about an ex-crush and his art gallery potentially moving to town?

Yeah, he was totally living the dream.

But instead of doing what Dani suggested and going after what he wanted—what was seeming more impossible by the day—Cody just gazed across Lake Huron. “Yep.”

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