Page 8 of Meet Me at the Christmas Cottage
Hunter
Ha! Just missed it. Hang tight, we’ll get you here.
Jonah pushed out a breath. He could always count on Hunter.
Shaking off the snow and folding his arm across his chest, Jonah stood under the small partition at the end of the dock and waited for his ride home.
Almost an hour later, certain he was frozen to his bones, Jonah heard the chugging motor of a boat. It sounded a bit bigger than the MasterCraft he knew Hunter to have. Five minutes later, he realized why it sounded different. It wasn’t Hunter’s boat.
A head poked out of the captain’s cabin. “Hunter said a major needed a ride home!”
“Cody? What are you doing here? Where’s Hunter?” Cody Hart was closer in age to Holland’s twenty-five years—and she was ten years younger than Jonah—but Jonathon Island was small enough that the families who had been here forever, like the Whites and the Harts, were friendly. “What are you doing?”
Last time Jonah had been home, Cody had been working on his dad’s fishing boat. Since then, he’d lost his best friend in a tragic accident but gained a very serious girlfriend in Mia Franklin, if Holland’s gossip could be believed.
“Looks like I’m your ride to the island. Hunter’s at his engagement party, so he sent me to pick you up.” Cody’s grin could be seen from where Jonah stood on the dock.
“Engagement party? Aw, man. I’m sorry to pull you away from that.” He hadn’t realized Hunter and Daisy had gotten engaged. Although, the last time he’d chatted with his sister Mika Beth, she had mentioned they were getting close.
“No worries, man. I’m glad to be your ride.”
“Well, in that case, permission to come aboard?” It took everything in Jonah to keep his voice from shaking. He needed to get out of the cold and somewhere warm.
“You’d better hurry before you turn into a full-out icicle. I’d have a hard time explaining that one to your mom.”
“Thanks so much for doing this, Cody.”
The man nodded, scratching a thumb at his stubble as he expertly steered the boat away from the dock toward Jonathon Island. Toward home. “Of course.”
Jonah dropped his suitcase to the floor with a thud and tugged his backpack from his shoulders before propping it up against the wall. The captain’s cabin may have been small, but it was clean and warmed by a small space heater. Not the warmest, but it sure beat standing in a snowstorm. “How have you been? How’s Mia and her kids?”
“Doing good. The kids are growing like weeds.”
Jonah nodded his thanks as he accepted a cup of coffee Cody offered. “How old are they now?”
“Finn’s five and Maggie’s three. I think Maggie talks more than Finn.” Cody smiled. “They’re really great.”
What Jonah wouldn’t give to raise a family on Jonathon Island—just like his parents before him. That had been the plan—get through med school and ten years in the Army, then take over his dad’s practice, but now…
“What about you?” Cody asked, and Jonah was glad for the question. “How’s the Army life treating you? Keeping you busy, I guess. I haven’t seen you back island side for…” He trailed off.
“Two and a half years.” Too long. But with the extra deployments and throwing everything into not coming home and having what-if conversations, it’d just gotten away from him.
Cody let out a low whistle. “The town’s sure gone through an upgrade since you were last here.” He set his coffee mug down and put both hands on the wheel, ready to guide the boat into the dock slip. “Everyone will be so excited to see you. It’s a little unexpected, though, yeah? Your family?—”
“My family’s thrilled I’m back.” At least, they would be once he arrived. Until he had the conversation with his dad that Amy had said would break his heart.Please, don’t let him be too disappointed…
Cody shrugged. “Cool. I’m sure it’s nice to be home.”
Jonah grunted in response. He was excited to see everyone—really, he was—but it had been so long. The last time he had been home, Holland, his youngest sister, had just started talking with their parents about purchasing their childhood home. George and Renee White had started dreaming about RVing around the US when his dad retired from his medical practice, which had finally happened earlier this year. Amy, Mika Beth, and Halle had just signed the papers for their wedding planning business. Yes, there had been the weekly FaceTime calls, but it wasn’t the same. So much had happened in two and a half years. So much he had missed out on, and he had no one to blame except for himself.
“I’ll tie her off.” Jonah slipped outside, the frigid air stealing any thoughts of his family.
He sucked in a deep breath. Being back on Jonathon Island felt like being home, a feeling he hadn’t realized he’d been missing. After grabbing the ropes from the dock, Jonah secured the boat.
“Man, thanks again.” Back in the captain’s cabin, Jonah shouldered his backpack and hefted his suitcase up and over the side of the boat. “I really appreciate you giving me a ride, especially since I pulled you away from the party.” Jonah grabbed Cody’s hand in a firm shake.
“Sure thing. It’s nothing. Glad I could help.” Cody tugged his black beanie further onto his head and walked with Jonah to the end of the dock. He hooked a thumb toward the shops downtown. “Want to come back to the party with me? I’m sure everyone would love to see you.”
