Page 57 of Meet Me on Lilac Lane

Cody complied then helped Liam navigate back to the dock. “Sorry for the worst boat ride ever.”

“Thanks for telling me all that. Takes courage to spill your guts.” Liam grabbed a line and began tying the boat to the dock.

Cody took the other rope and secured the front of the boat. “Let’s go out again. Maybe once I’ve gotten this,” he gestured to himself and then the boat, “figured out.”

“Works for me.” Liam took off his life jacket and stowed it.

Cody gripped his shoulder before letting go and removing his own jacket. “Thanks for listening, man.”

“Anytime.”

When Liam had gone, Cody made his way into his shop and laid down on his bed. His body shuddered as it came down from the adrenaline.

So much for figuring things out. He’d been on the water once and freaked out.

He sat up again. Okay. He was just going to have to go on the water again. And keep going until he didn’t freak out.

No one else was going to solve this for him. Which meant it was time to stop sitting on the sidelines of his own life once and for all.

Chapter Ten

Seeing Lily again soothed Mia down to her soul.

Cody’s big sister had tagged around with them often and had grown to be a good friend of Mia’s, despite Lily being four years older. The curvy blonde in blue leather leggings stood on the ferry dock, shielding her eyes, until she spotted Mia. Lily let go of her baggage and ran, squealing, into Mia’s arms. Mia held on for an extra beat, not wanting to let go.

“It’s so good to see you, Lil. I love the lavender streaks you’ve added to your hair. I hope you don’t mind that I’m the one to pick you up.” Mia reached out and tweaked a strand of Lily’s hair. “Cody and your parents all had a minor emergency. Something about the washing machine overflowing? So, Cody called me.” Her heart had given a little jump when she saw his name on her caller ID. Maybe he’d called to commiserate with her about the failure of her efforts. Maybe even to return to that discussion they’d had about their relationship. But, no. He’d jumped straight into asking her to pick up Lily, his manner distracted.

“I’m happy for it,” Lily said. She walked back to where she’d dropped her luggage. She lifted a bag onto her shoulder and pulled a small suitcase behind, giving it a tug over a rough spot. “It gives us a chance to catch up a little. Have a little girl talk.”

“I brought our wagon, so you don’t have to try to wheel that thing across the cobblestones.” Mia gestured to Lily’s suitcase, its small wheels already stuck between two pieces of the road.

“Thanks,” Lily said. She stowed the suitcase’s handle and then put her shoulder bag into the wagon.

Mia hefted the suitcase into her wagon, and they walked up the inclined Ferry Road. “Want to walk down Main before I drop you off at your folks’ place?”

“I’d love that.” Lily stopped at the top of the road, eyes wide, head on a swivel as she looked around at Main Street. “Wow. Everything looks so nice. People must really be pitching in to spruce up the place.”

Mia’s chest swelled. She loved this little town. She blinked against a sudden hot pricking behind her eyelids.

“I love Jonathon Island.” Lily echoed Mia’s unspoken words. Was that a note of longing?

“You could come back, you know.” She pulled the cart to a stop right outside the old fudge shop. “We could use someone like you in town. I know Cody already talked to you about it, but I was hoping to convince you.” A line of excitement frizzled through her. Lily could help make her quota. It was perfect. “No one is interested in opening a fudge shop. You could move right into the space your family already occupies—and we could throw in a house for a dollar. Give your two weeks’ notice down in Florida and be here and ready to go by mid-July.”

Lily’s face twisted into a grimace. “I don’t think so, Mia. I’m too addicted to the Florida sunshine.”

“That’s not a good reason.”

“I know.” Lily twisted a piece of wavy hair. “I just…I’ve got a good thing going there.”

“A good thing? I thought your boss was an egomaniac who worked you hard without any recognition.” Mia raised a brow. “Or so Cody says.”

Lily laughed, something strained in it. “That’s the candy business.” But despite her words, the way she was looking at the cute pop-out shop windows, and the white siding and the porch, at the green roof on the old two-story building…well, she clearly wasn’t as indifferent to the pull of the past as she pretended to be.

And Mia wasn’t above begging at this point.

Because she needed at least two more people to meet her quota. It would be the icing on the cake if one of those people was Lily. Or maybe the crumbled cookie on top of the fudge. Or something. Mia wasn’t good at metaphors.

“Just come inside the fudge shop and look at it.” She hurried to the front door then waited for Lily to catch up. Her friend walked like she waded through a vat of cookie-topped fudge.

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