Page 5 of Under the Island Moon
“Good.”
“I plan to race locally once she’s fixed up,” Miles said. “But it’s perfect for an afternoon in the harbor.”
“What if—” Molly caught herself. She refused to put her fears onto Bryce. “What if there’s no wind?”
“It has auxiliary power. We never need to worry about being stranded.”
There was no “we” in Molly’s mind. It would be challenging enough when Bryce started his lessons. “Good,” she said, a beat too late.
“Molly—”
She stepped back. “We should let you get back to the fun. Say thank-you, Bryce.”
Her son obeyed, waving at Miles. “Happy Halloween!”
“Molly, one more thing.” Miles tucked his hands into his pockets.
“Yes?”
“I…” His gaze dropped to Bryce. “Why Brookwell?”
She appreciated that he didn’t accuse her of being afraid of the water or boats in front of her son. It was bad enough she had to pretend to like lizards and worms when they caught Bryce’s attention.
She wasn’t trying to be perfect, but she was trying to prevent her son from taking on her fears as his own. It had taken her years to get over driving in the rain, simply because her mother never stopped sharing the story of an awful car accident she’d barely survived.
As if cars and tires hadn’t improved a thousand times over in the decades since.
Boats and water safety had evolved as well, and she leaned into that.
She gave Bryce a big smile. “Aunt Sharon made us an offer we couldn’t refuse.”
“My daddy is dead,” Bryce volunteered with his typical candor. “But we are family.”
“You sure are,” Miles patted his shoulder.
“Will you take me sailing? I’ll swab the deck,” Bryce promised.
“This boat needs loads of work before we can take it out on the water. You can help me whenever your mom says it’s okay.”
Molly couldn’t imagine her son being of much help at all, but Miles seemed sincere.
“The grown-ups will talk,” she said. “We’ll talk,” she repeated firmly when he started to protest. “For tonight, we need to go find Auntie Sharon. She’ll want to hear all about this.”
“Okay.” He stretched his arms up and she relented. He was heavy, sure, but these days would soon be gone.
“Thanks for everything, Miles.”
“Everything?” His wry smile tugged at her heart. It wasn’t his fault she was afraid of way too many things.
“Yes, everything.” And she meant it. She appreciated his kindness with her son and his genuine friendliness toward her. For Molly, friends were pure gold.
“Happy Halloween, Miles.”
“Happy Halloween, Molly.”
She tucked the echo of his baritone voice next to her heart and carried it with her all the way home. Held it close through the daily ordeal of getting one small, overtired child into bed.
And when she was alone in her own room, she brought it out. It was good to remember there were kind, warm, sincere people in the world. Good role models for her son. And as she drifted off to sleep, she gladly let the sweetness of the evening carry her into a sexy dream starring Miles.
It was better than candy.
