Page 56 of Meet Me on Lilac Lane

“Fine.” He gritted his teeth. Suddenly, his view of the sun-dappled lake in front of him was replaced by an image of a stormy night, a sinking boat. The air filled with a remembered scream.

“Cody, sit down.” Liam’s commanding voice broke through the memory. His hand was heavy on Cody’s shoulder, forcing him back into the captain’s chair behind him. Liam turned the key to shut off the boat’s engine and silence rushed in. “Want to tell me what that was all about? Pardon the expression, but you’re as white as a ghost.”

Sitting very still was helping clear Cody’s head. The white lights subsided, and his heart rate came back to baseline. Tell Liam? Yeah, he supposed he owed the man an explanation.

“I haven’t been out in a boat like this since Troy and Steve died.”

“Coulda warned me.” Cody cut his gaze to Liam. Liam’s eyes twinkled. “I’m just kidding. It wasn’t like we were in any danger. We weren’t going fast enough. I was just afraid you were going to pass out.” Liam rummaged around in an old cooler Cody kept on deck. He came up with a bottle of water. “I don’t know how old this is, but the seal is intact. You need to take a few sips.” Liam cracked the cap and handed the bottle to Cody.

His hands shook as he took a long pull. Cool water slid down his throat.

“Want to talk about it?”

No. Except his mouth didn’t get the memo. “We were out on a late-night run, chasing a school of fish. Like usual, it was Dad, Troy, Troy’s dad Steve, and me as a four-man crew. Dad had asked me to check the forecast, and everything looked fine. Or at least…Well, I saw a threat of a storm, but it was far off, and I didn’t want to call our night.”

He could still picture that radar screen, its bright colors seared onto his retinas. Reds and yellows to the south, but those storms were tracking east. Plus, they were far enough away there was no danger to Lake Huron.

Right.

Cody swallowed, but his tongue had run dry. He sipped at the water. “We headed out to the Straits of Mackinac like we always do, but I was distracted. A bunch of chatter came over the radio about the storm north, and suddenly, it hit us. We didn’t have time to get off the lake.”

Liam nodded. His eyes were intense. Cody looked away.

He remembered the wind blowing sideways, the rain like bullets. “We’d been in rough waters before but nothing like this. Dad was reeling in the fishing lines while I fought to keep the boat under control. I should have asked for help—I was in way over my head. And then the storm pushed us onto the rocks.” He shut his eyes, but the scenes still flashed in front of him.

“Steve, Troy’s dad, got thrown overboard. He went under instantly. My dad held Troy back from jumping in after him, but then the boat began taking on water and heeled over on its side. Troy was dumped in, along with my dad.” Cody swiped a hand over his eyes.

“It’s okay,” Liam said. “You don’t have to say it.”

Except, this felt like catharsis. Because he’d never actually told the story in its entirety, out loud—just relived it over and over again in his mind. Torturing himself. But there was something different about processing it verbally, for someone else who hadn’t been there.

His voice dropped to a whisper. “I called SOS and then went for the life preservers. By then, the ship was listing so badly, the deck was a playground slide. I pitched in, barely hanging on to the life preservers.”

“What? I can’t even imagine.”

“I don’t even know how I reached my dad. Gave him one of the life preservers. Then I spotted Steve and managed to get a life vest under his arms. The waves were crazy, taking us down, slamming us toward the rocks. I finally spotted Troy. He was limp, and I thought he was already dead. I got to him—and no. Alive. But he’d broken his back, was nearly drowned, his lungs full. Barely breathing. I kept telling him to hang on, that he had a family to get back to…I couldn’t get us up on the rocks, so I held Troy to me, and we floated together until the Coast Guard arrived. The last thing he said to me was to hold on to his wife and kids for him. He died in my arms.”

“Sounds like a hero move.” Liam laid a hand on his shoulder.

“No. Desperation. I should have read the storm, should have turned for home. And maybe if I’d gotten the life preservers to them sooner—I don’t know.”

Cody blew out a breath. “We were rescued by the Coast Guard, but it was too late for Steve too. He probably was dead before I gave him the preserver.” Cody’s voice broke. He cleared his throat.

He could still picture Mia from those days. How she’d met him at the hospital, hope in her eyes, only to be crushed by the truth. He had failed her. Her mother-in-law too. They were both widows now.

“That’s horrible, man. I’m so sorry.”

“I am finally starting to believe that it wasn’t all my fault. Everyone around me keeps reminding me of that fact. It’s sinking in.” The admission tore out of him. But, like removing a splinter, he felt a little better when it was said. “But bad things happen to me. And I let them happen to my friend too.”

“Doesn’t sound like it to me. All I hear is that you saved your dad, tried to save your best friend, and were all the victims of a storm no one predicted. Bad things happen to everyone. What matters is how you deal with it.”

Cody barked out a sound that could have been a laugh if it weren’t so bitter. “My dad blames me. That’s why he wants me to get out of the business.”

“I don’t know your dad, but he should be proud of you, not holding you to something that wasn’t your fault.”

Cody shrugged. Then his shoulders slumped. “Nevertheless…”

Liam stayed silent a while. The choppy lake banged against the hull of the boat. “Drink the rest of that water. Then let’s get you back to shore.”

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