Page 236 of Sing with Me

“Whoa.” Skye stepped away from the commotion.

Diehl stood in front of Skye to shield her.

The two guys in the water—one shirtless and the other in long sleeves—started standing up.

The shirtless man was furious as he watched his frisbee float away into the ocean. “Look what you did! You’re going to pay for the frisbee.”

The other man, hair matted to his head, trudged out of the water. Diehl laughed when he saw who it was.

“Malik?” Skye asked.

Some stranger went in the water to help Malik out. Malik waved him away, refusing any help. He came up to Diehl.

“Sir, are you okay?” Malik asked. “That was close.”

Diehl glanced at Skye’s hand. The diamond was still there. “We’re okay.”

“Wow,” Skye said. “I’ve never had security detail before. This is new.”

“He’s not actually keeping an eye on us,” Diehl said.

“Oh?”

“Nope. He’s keeping an eye on your ring.”

Skye stared at the ring. “Well… I suppose this means I shouldn’t wear it when I do dishes.”

Malik looked beyond alarmed. “No, ma’am. Never.”

“Don’t scare her.” Diehl wrapped his arms around Skye.

“Carry on, sir.” Malik walked away.

Skye eyed Malik shaking off water from his drenched clothes.

“Don’t worry. We have privacy,” Diehl said.

“Privacy on a public beach?” Skye laughed.

“Maybe we should consider a beach of our own. Know of any available oceanfront land?” Diehl asked as he held Skye’s hand.

They walked along the water back toward Brinley’s beach house.

“So you know my land is oceanfront.” Skye smiled. “Every now and then, Brinley hints that Brooks Renovations might be willing to build me a cottage. Maybe we can talk to her about some ideas.”

“Meanwhile, I wonder what God is doing in our lives.” Diehl glanced at Skye to see if she knew what he meant.

“He’s doing a lot, for sure. Which of the many things are you thinking of?”

“For example, we haven’t talked about the fact that you now have an office in Alpharetta, forty-five minutes from my house—which I was going to sell in the spring before we move here.”

“I want to downsize Watt’s for Dinner,” Skye said. “Between you and me, I think Watt sold me his company for a song because it’s not worth that much the way it is now.”

“Oh?” That, he didn’t know. Then again, sometimes the news inflated the company’s worth for public relation gains.

“Watt overextended the company, I think. He has personal chef plus corporate catering,” Skye explained. “Catering is Seb’s department. He’s moving to Atlanta next year, so I don’t want to mess with his restaurant’s catering arm. I’d rather see Watt’s for Dinner stick to personal chef services—which might include cooking for dinner parties but not in a way that might compete with my brother.”

“Makes sense. In my case, I don’t want my Brooks Properties to compete with Brin’s Brooks Renovations either. I’m focusing on commercial properties henceforth, and she’s focusing on residential and historic preservations—which could include commercial properties, but not in the areas I work in.”

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