Last Chance Harbor (36 page)

“I don’t mind people knocking on my door to borrow my lawn mower, but if I don’t put a stop to the idea they can just show up anytime they want at all hours without notice or calling, I may give this up.”

“No one’s using that old Springer place. The realtor’s former office would be perfect for a police station. With a little remodeling in the back you could add a holding cell.”

He picked her up, planted a kiss on her lips. “And that, Mrs. Cody, is why I love you. I’m so desperate I’ll go see Murphy about it now.”

On the short
drive to work, Ryder considered Brent’s words. Could he give up the pursuit of Bethany/Crystal so easily and let it go? He wasn’t sure he could do it. Spotting Troy unloading his tools from his truck, Ryder waved him over.

“Where should we do this list thing?”

“We still have thirty minutes before work. I say we go around back to the loading dock as soon as Zach gets here.”

A few minutes later the three men gathered on the back dock.

“Who goes first?” Troy asked, nervous.

Ryder rubbed his palms on his jeans and said, “I’ll go. My lists are fairly short.”

He turned to Troy. “I’ll start with you. It upsets me how you don’t value your own worth. You don’t think you’re good enough for Bree. You are.”

He immediately pivoted to look at Zach. “And don’t look at me like that. If he makes Bree happy what more could you want for your sister? There are worse guys out there she could date. Troy here is a good guy. You know it’s true. You’ve seen how hard he works just like you do.”

Before either man could say anything, Ryder barreled on. “And that’s what I like about both of you. You’re hard workers. You’ll commit to a job and won’t look for ways to shirk a responsibility. That goes a long way in my book.”

Ryder looked Zach in the eye. “What I don’t like about you is that major chip on your shoulder you carry around. It’s a real problem. Ask yourself why you do it? My guess is you’d like to see a little more emotional support from the people close to you. But how can anyone give you what you need when you refuse to let them? We’ve all tried to be your friends here but you do your damnedest to push us away at every opportunity.”

“Are you done?” Zach demanded. “Because I don’t like how bossy you are.”

“But Logan made him foreman when the project started,” Troy reminded him. “With all Ryder’s construction expertise Logan thought he was the best man for the job.”

“I don’t care. He’s always pointing out how to do this better or that better,” Zach insisted.

“How many construction sites have you worked on?” Troy asked, his voice rising.

“It’s okay,” Ryder said to Troy. “Let’s hear it all, Zach. This is a clear-the-air venue. Get it out now or forever keep your trap shut.”

Expecting the worst, Ryder stood there waiting for Zach to take a swing at him. Instead, he watched as Zach dropped down on a wooden crate that held laminate and put his head in his hands.

“God, I’m so angry.”

“About what?” Troy said.

“I got arrested in Colorado Springs on a job for stealing.” He quickly lifted a gaze at Troy. “I didn’t do it, so I know what it’s like when everybody looks at you as though you’ve committed a crime. Turns out, a few of my construction buddies set me up to make it look like I’d pilfered supplies and equipment. The owner, Jacob Hettinger, bought into the whole thing and pressed charges.”

“That’s why he owes you a favor?”

“Yeah. But not before I spent almost a week in jail. Those so-called ‘friends’ of mine thought they’d set up the stupid guy from out-of-town because he’s a chump and wouldn’t be able to figure out what was going on.”

“How’d you get out of the mess?” Ryder wanted to know.

“Sheer luck. Before I rolled into town there were other major thefts at sites going back five years. It turned out the cops had been keeping track of the players, waiting to bust them. But I was furious that these guys I thought were my pals would turn on me like they did. They never saw me as a friend at all. From the get-go I was nothing more than their convenient scapegoat.”

“I got framed for murder. How’s that for world-class chump?” Troy uttered.

“Yeah, I guess that trumps stealing.” Zach waited a beat. “I don’t have a problem with you and Bree.”

“That’s good because I think I might want to marry her.” At the frown on Zach’s face, Troy added, “One day, not like, June or anything.”

Brent’s earlier words came back to Ryder. “You two aren’t the only ones who have ever been conned.”

“But you wouldn’t so easily get set up like that,” Zach shot back.

“Wanna bet?” Ryder decided then and there if he was going into business with these men he needed to come clean about what happened with Bethany, all of it. “We’ve all crossed paths with people we wish we hadn’t. As Brent reminded me this morning, we’ve all had incidents that put a major ding in our egos. Bethany was my personal disaster, a major regret in my life I can’t change.”

“I’m sorry,” Zach finally said. “Not about Bethany but about coming across as an asshole. I’m really not like that. Ask anyone that’s known me here in town, they’ll tell you I’m a pretty decent guy.”

“So is this it?” Troy wanted to know. “Because I couldn’t really come up with anything I don’t like about the two of you. I mean, except for the fact Zach’s been pissed off about me spending time with Bree. That was the main thing on my mind. But now that that’s out of the way…”

Ryder started laughing and shook his head. “I’m sweating bullets about getting a business loan and this guy’s thinking about his love life.”

“Do you think we’ll get it?” Troy wondered.

“Hey, even if we don’t I’m convinced there’s plenty of work around town to keep us all three busy with renovations.”

“What do we call our business?” Zach asked hopeful.

Ryder looked at his watch. “A discussion for another time. Right now, we’re on the clock.”

A
week later, Julianne sat on one of the pews inside the auditorium at the Community Church waiting her turn to address the town council.

The sanctuary was jam-packed. Apparently, word had spread about the vote tonight. Everyone wanted to be a part of it. From young to old, she recognized many faces in the crowd, especially those she’d met during the street fair. They seemed excited which had her a little nervous to speak before such a large assembly.

When Mayor Murphy called her name, she rose and walked to the podium. “Although I haven’t moved here yet, I feel as though I’m already a part of your community. I almost feel like I belong here already. What I’d like to propose is simple. I think the town should turn the tract of land between Murphy’s Market and the bank into a park and that it be officially dedicated and renamed for one of your longtime residents, Scott Phillips. Everyone knows the soldier who grew up here and lost his life in Iraq. I recommend the name be Phillips Park.”

Applause broke out. Julianne cleared her throat and leaned into the microphone again. “And if you do agree, then I’d like to further suggest we add more benches, make some improvements to remove weeds and trash along the back so that the children have more room to play and to picnic, maybe add a swing set or slide.”

More clapping had her waiting for it to die down before going on. “I’d also like to suggest that once we dedicate the park, come summer, we begin holding movie nights there during the week throughout the months of June, July and August, movies that the entire family will enjoy.”

Another roar went up and again Julianne waited for calm. Since she seemed to be on a roll, she quickly added, “Further, I think it would be a good idea if we used the wharf to hold concerts on Friday or Saturday nights. It would offer a venue for any local musicians who want to try out and perform there. We could call it something like, ‘a night of music over the bay.’”

The room erupted in more applause. Hoots and hollers rang out as everyone got to their feet to show their support. Even the entire council stood up and started applauding her ideas. That’s why she was shocked to hear a dissenting voice drone from the back.

“Big plans but who pays for all this?” Joe Ferguson grumbled. “I’m not doing it.”

Julianne turned to address the hardware store owner. “I made a spreadsheet before I suggested this. Knowing how tight city budgets are these days, I calculated the cost, Mr. Ferguson.” If we have donated labor and hold a few bake sales along the way, it won’t cost the taxpayers anything.”

From his seat at the council table, Nick glared at Joe. “Your attitude is one reason we won’t trouble you further. Since we’ve had this discussion with you over other improvements many times before, we’ll leave you the hell alone from now on. We’ll take our business over to San Sebastian and order the benches from someone there.”

“Now wait a minute,” Joe returned. “That isn’t fair.”

“Sit down, Joe. You’re out of order anyway,” Murphy said, banging his gavel. “Your objection is duly noted. Since it’s already been resolved, we’re moving on. Anyone else?”

From the back, another voice rang out. This time it was Milton Carr. “Who says the park should be named for Scott? My daughter Sissy’s dead, too. Why not name it for her?”

Even Julianne knew about Sissy Carr’s history with the town. Stolen money didn’t prevent a father from grieving for his daughter. She didn’t want to upset the older man but felt the need to defend her proposal. “Scott is a fallen hero, a shining example to the community. That’s my reasoning for putting forth the idea,” Julianne explained. “But if you’d like to dedicate something to your daughter, we could certainly plant a tree there in her honor, or you could pay for one of the benches and add a nameplate to it in her memory.”

“That’s an excellent suggestion,” Wade Hawkins tossed out from the stage, not waiting for any further discussion. “I say we bring this to a vote.”

“I second that,” Nick said in fast agreement.

From there, each idea passed without further rancor. In addition, the council voted for a resolution to pay for the benches and any playground equipment would be paid for by donations or fundraisers. Murphy called for volunteers to clean up the property and scheduled another meeting to choose a date for the park dedication.

With business concluded, once everyone started to leave, Ryder leaned in with an amused twinkle in his eyes and whispered in her ear. “Have you ever thought about a career in politics?”

She snickered. “I play politics every day at school. That’s good enough for me.”

After the meeting broke up, Julianne and Ryder met up with Troy and Bree and Zach at the Diner. As they slid into the largest booth in the corner, the jukebox cranked out the old Beatles song,
All My Loving
. While the five waited for Mona to take their orders, they pitched names for the boat enterprise. Which Nick had agreed held opportunity as a moneymaker.

“Smuggler’s Boats.”

Ryder shook his head. “Sounds too much like a drug-trafficking operation. Wrong connotation.”

“How about a combo of your initials? ZRT, RZT, TRZ,” Bree suggested.

“Nah, I don’t like that. Too gimmicky,” Troy asserted.

“Blue Water Boats.” 

“That isn’t bad, but… Too bland.”

“You know, River has a fantastic old canoe ready for display when she opens the museum. Maybe you could somehow build off that,” Julianne proposed.