Page 73 of Meet Me on Lilac Lane

“A little. You only had him for a short time, right?” Crossing her slim legs in front of her, she leaned against him, settling in.

He picked up her hand and laced his fingers with hers. “I had begged Dad for a dog for years. Finally, he brought home Cheezit.” He could still recall the joy of that day. The squirming puppy in his arms.

“I don’t think I like the direction this story is going.” Mia shuddered.

“Yeah, it’s not a happy one.” He gathered his thoughts. “I had promised to walk Cheezit every day, and I kept my word.”

“I remember how smart he was. You taught him tricks, right?” She snuggled in tighter.

A shooting star raced over the sky, he pointed to it.

“Make a wish,” Mia said.

Why would he? He had everything he needed right here.

“Better finish your story.” Mia poked him in the side. “It will be good. Catharsis.”

“You already know sort of where this is going. One day I walked Cheezit, and I put him in the backyard, but I didn’t latch the gate.” Cody swallowed hard. “I ran inside to watch some show I didn’t want to miss, and Cheezit got out. It wasn’t until bedtime that I realized he was even missing. We looked for him for several hours but didn’t find him.”

Mia was stroking his knuckles now. “I remember how frantic you were. You even came to our house way out on the tip of the island.”

“A few months later I saw a dog that looked like Cheezit walking with someone else. I tried calling to him, but he wouldn’t come.” A lump grew in his throat, but he swallowed it away. “I ran up to the man he was with and tried to explain that Cheezit was my dog. The man said he’d foundhisdog badly injured and had cared for him since then.”

“Oh, Cody.” Mia rested her head on his shoulder.

“My dad said that losing Cheezit was typical of me. And that I always lost important things. My mom tried to tell him that I was only a child, but he said I couldn’t be trusted with anything important.”

“What a terrible thing to say to a child.”

He squeezed her shoulder. “I suppose. And he probably was speaking in the heat of the moment. But he wasn’t wrong. I do lose everything that is important to me. Cheezit was a little thing compared to the loss of Troy and now, maybe, the fishing business.”

“Okay, but loss is a part of life. You’ve got your focus wrong. Instead of always looking at the things you’ve lost, fight for the good things you’ve gained.”

Seemed like everyone in his life was telling him something similar lately. “I can do that.”

“Besides,” she tipped her face up to him, “you haven’t lost me.”

Her skin looked like porcelain in the moonlight, and he noticed a few freckles sprinkled across her nose.

Darn that promise to go slow.

He dropped a kiss onto her forehead. “I’ll take that good thing any day.”

And Mia was right. He’d done far too much focusing on the bad things in his life. It was time to focus on the good.

Chapter Fourteen

Mia should have been thrilled. She counted the applications on her lap. Never mind that she’d already counted them seven times already. They always added up to thirteen. Thirteen applications stamped with approval from the town council. Thirteen new businesses coming to Jonathon Island, new owners moving into abandoned houses, thirteen new reasons to woo tourists back.

A part of her was excited to see the town she loved come alive again. Except thirteen meant she was still short of her goal.

That morning, she’d gotten an oh-so-delightful text from Martha reminding her of the deadline and her commitment to filling all of the businesses they’d agreed on.

Martha

I’m not doubting you can do it. Just wanted to remind you.

Way to keep the pressure on.

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