Page 84 of Stony Point Summer
“So Jason knows.”
“And doesnotlike it.”
Shane eats a potato wedge covered in dregs of melted cheese. “No wonder. Kyle and Lauren haveyearstogether. Since they were teenagers,” he says, still chewing. “And you have a fewmonths?”
Neil practically lurches forward in defense. “But it’slegit, man. What we have. She’s the one.” He sits back, then.
“She love you?”
“Says she does. Believe me, it took us both by surprise.”
“Ah, Neil,” Shane says.
“It’s just that lately, I don’t know. It’s a hard situation,” Neil goes on. “Seriously. I never meant for this to happen. Kyle’s been my friend, hell, all my life. You, too. Ever since me and my brother bombed your toy boats in the marsh.”
“Yeah. And when Kyle finds out about you and Lauren now, you’re minced meat.”
“Maybe. Things definitely won’t go down easy with him—which was never my intention. So I get some doubts, but … then there’s Lauren.”
“There is.” Shane turns up his hands. “And I still don’t get why you’re really here.”
* * *
Neil quiets.
He looks out the window. People walk past the tavern. Inside, someone gives a yell over a pool game being played in a back room. A small group of friends pushes through the entrance door. They’re laughing and talking, some with arms around the other as they cross the room to a large booth.
“I’lltellyou why I’m here,” Neil finally says.
“Good, because I still can’t figure how beinghere’sgoing to change things for you in Stony Point.”
Again, Neil’s quiet. This time, he lifts that dripping meatloaf sandwich half and bites right into it. In a moment, he washes it all down with a hefty swallow of beer. Setting aside his glass, he tells Shane, “Bring me onboard ship.” His voice is so monotone, so level, you could almost miss it.
“What?”
Neil nods, leaning forward. He glances out at the lobster boats moored in the harbor. “Let me be a deckhand for a week. A fewdays, even. I’ll clear my head at sea. Breathe that Atlantic salt air. I can do the lobster work, youknowI can.”
“Oh, no.” Shane gives a shrewd smile. “No, no, no.”
“Why not?”
“I’ve seen it a hundred times. Guys bring their women onboard, in their minds.” Shane lightly taps his temple. “That head of yours that needs clearing, Neil? It’d sink the God damn boat.”
“But it won’t. I can handle things on the water.”
Shane shakes his head. “You’ll be distracted thinking of Lauren. You’ll trip up. Get caught in an uncoiling rope.” He reaches a tattooed arm across the table and claps Neil’s shoulder. “You’re actually a liability to the crew in that effed-up frame of mind.”
Neil stares at him. Then he looks away, out into the busy bar. “Comeon, Shane,” he says, his voice low and desperate. “Give me a break.”
“No. I’m not risking my job for the mistakes you’ll make on the boat.”
“But I drove all this way.”
They both sit back and take a breather when their waitress returns. She pulls an order pad out of her apron pocket and stands a little too close. “Dessert, boys?”
“What’ve you got?” Neil asks.
“Blueberry pie,” she says. “Berries are fresh picked, from over at Fiona’s Farm.” She raises an eyebrow, her pencil poised over the order pad.
