Sea Glass Cottage (14 page)

To be heard over the deafening racket, Thane had to shout. “Hey guys, could I ask you a question?”

All three stilled their hands, silence descended.

“I know you guys are busting your asses in here, but I was wondering.”

“What?” asked Zach, looking up at the ex-jock and removing his safety goggles. “Is there anything wrong with the work we did at the restaurant yesterday?”

“Nope, not a thing, going in an entirely different direction here. I don’t know if you overheard our discussion yesterday about the restaurant’s décor, but Isabella had this idea that I could use old surfboards for tabletops. I like the idea and was wondering if you knew where I could find enough broken surfboards to make that happen.”

All three men started talking at once. Thane had to hold up his hand to indicate one at a time. It was Troy who was trying to talk the loudest. “First, you’d have to find the tables you want repurposed so we’d know what kind of top to make, round, square, or anything rectangular. We can put a new top on any shape.”

“He’s right,” Ryder added. “I know a salvage yard that sells all kinds of stuff you can recycle. It has tables galore. Logan stumbled on the place when we rehabbed the school. It’s the old Atkins farmhouse between here and San Sebastian. There’s a lot of junk to sort through but there’s also a lot of hidden gems to be had.”

“Sounds perfect,” Thane noted. “So if I find the tables, you’d be able to put new tops on them, make them stand out and unusual to Longboard Pizza?”

“You bet. I’d love to be the one to work on a project like that,” Troy said. “How many are we talking about?”

“I’d need enough surfboard pieces to finish out at least ten tops for starters, the more colorful the design, the better.”

“What a unique idea,” Troy proclaimed. “If you want unique, don’t let the different sizes of tables throw you. I can tie them all together with the design and it won’t matter if they’re round or square.”

“Just what I wanted to hear,” Thane said. “I’ll start looking around for the tables this week.”

“In case you were wondering we plan to get started installing your appliances this afternoon after we spend some time in here. Shouldn’t take that long,” Zach assured him.

“On a Sunday? I don’t expect you to do that.”

“It’s okay. It’s the only spare time we may have in the next week.”

“Then I hate to add to your workload but is there any chance you guys could make me a couple surfboards when you get the time? Something bright and attention-getting for the restaurant—a focal point to hang above the counter with the logo on it—and then there’s the one I’d like to order for…” Thane nodded his head toward Jonah who was too taken with the design of the boat the guys were building to pay much attention to anything else. But Thane lowered his voice anyway. “It’s for him, for Christmas, a shortboard maybe?”

“That’s right up Troy’s alley,” Ryder said. “He’s been itching to get a guinea pig for experimentation.”

Thane laughed. “Really? Well, I guess Jonah and I don’t mind becoming your guinea pigs.”

“Excellent, then I’ll create you something guaranteed to cause a buzz for the restaurant and another that you’ll be proud to show off to your friends,” Troy pledged in a voice tinged with excitement at the prospect. “What design did you have in mind?”

“Lilly’s creating the sign. I have some of her sketches at the house. I’d like to coordinate that with what you’ll come up with.”

“Sounds like a plan. Let’s go into the office.”

For the next thirty minutes the two men disappeared into a stark hole-in-the-wall room in the back of the shipyard to talk surfboards. They went over a series of ideas until it soon became obvious to Thane that Troy had a passion for his work.

“When could you have something ready for me to look at?”

“Give me a week.”

Thane offered his hand to Troy. “Good deal. Let’s try to keep the one pegged for Jonah between the two of us though. It’s okay to show me what you come up with for the restaurant as soon as you can get around to it though.”

As Thane turned to leave, Troy thought of something. “Would you like to come to my bachelor party?”

“Sure. When’s the wedding?”

“Not for weeks yet. But Logan’s throwing me a bash at McCready’s the night before. I’d love it if you could stop in have a beer with us.”

“Great. Let me know when it happens. I’ll have to get a sitter.”

Thane and Jonah left and were almost back home when the boy wanted to know, “Can we go see Mimi now? And bring her the sweet-smelling flowers we brought last time?”

It occurred to Thane that maybe he should be concerned his son had an apparent fixation on visiting his grandmother’s gravesite. But then he’d picked up a book in Hayden’s bookstore about how to talk to young children about death and the grieving process. Thane didn’t want to overreact to what was easily becoming a frequent request to go out there. “We’ll stow our surfboards, change out of our wetsuits and go get those lilies.”

An hour later father and son were strolling among the headstones at Eternal Gardens heading toward the Delacourt family plot. At times, Jonah would stop to pick up little pebbles or rocks along the way and put them in his pocket. Thane would have to remember to go through them before he tossed them in the washer, otherwise he’d have a clogged mess on his hands.

When they reached the patch of grass with the gravestones, Thane pointed to one. “You never knew your grampa but he was good man.”

“He got cancer too and died when I was a baby.”

“That’s right.” Thinking he had his son’s attention, Thane was surprised when Jonah pointed across the lawn.

“Who’s that guy standing over there?”

“What guy?”

“That guy,” Jonah said, pointing to a man who stood in front of another memorial on the other side of the cemetery.

Thane followed Jonah’s gaze and spotted a man wearing tan shorts and a button-down shirt over one of the brightly-colored tees Malachi sold in town emblazoned with the Pelican Pointe logo. Even though the guy looked like a tourist, Thane recognized Scott Phillips.

“Well who is he?” Jonah repeated.

“That’s…” Not a real man, Thane wanted to say. How did one handle the topic of a ghost when it wasn’t even Halloween yet? Isabella had been right after all. He and Jonah were both staring at a guy who’d been dead for years. When Scott caught sight of them, Thane watched in amazement as he waved at them. Thinking on his feet, Thane looked over at his son. “That’s a… His name is Mr. Phillips.”

“I’ve seen him before.”

“Where?”

Jonah shrugged but then decided to divulge more. “The man surfs, like we do. I see him catching a wave. I see him at home too…sometimes.”

Thane did his best to keep his voice level without freaking out about that little tidbit. “How long have you been seeing him at the house?”

“Since we first got to Mimi’s. Can I put the flowers down now?”

“Sure.”

“Grampa can have some of my rocks,” Jonah stated as he started digging in his pants pocket for a variety of stones and pebbles. “I’ll pick the best ones. Are we gonna go see Izzy again?”

“How about we ask her to a picnic on the beach?”

“Yeah, I’m hungry.”

“Figured you were getting there. Let’s go, buddy.” As they walked back to the car, Thane glanced over his shoulder. Not surprising, Scott was nowhere around. He took out his cell phone, punched a number on speed dial.

Three thousand miles away in Manhattan, Fischer Robbins answered the call with a snark. “What did you burn this time?”

Thane ignored the sarcasm as he often did when it came from the man he considered to be more like a brother than a friend. “Not a thing, smartass. Haven’t you heard? I’m becoming a regular Rachel Ray in the kitchen. I do have a question though. Let’s say I wanted to create the perfect picnic basket, what would I put inside?”

“Before I answer that, I sense a female somewhere in the picture. If it were just you and Jonah, you’d find a way to brown bag it with a turkey sandwich. Am I right? You’ve met someone.”

Thane ignored the question. “Hey, you can’t argue with the fact that Jonah loves his turkey sandwiches. How about I make wraps, some type of meat and cheese?”

“It’s obvious you aren’t going to answer me. That’s okay. I’ll see for myself when I get there next week. In the meantime, buy some of Perry’s crab salad, make sure you keep it cold enough. Pick up a few fresh turkey slices and serve them on ciabatta bread with melted mozzarella, and a smidgen of honey mustard. Are you writing this down?”

“Yeah. How do you spell smidgen again?”

“Bite me.”

“Next time. Hey, I gotta run now. Jonah’s starving and I still have to line up the woman.”

“Sheesh, most men do that before they start making plans. You’re always getting lucky on your fame, Delacourt.”

“Yeah. Probably. But you love me anyway. See you when you get here. Drive safe.” Thane disconnected and then turned to fasten Jonah into his safety seat in the back. “Let’s go get some chow. Izzy can’t say no if we already have the food in hand, right?”

Jonah bobbed his head. “Right. ’Cause she’s probably hungry, too.”

Once Isabella opened
her front door and saw the eager faces on both man and boy, she didn’t have the heart to turn them down.

So, on a stretch of sugary sand they’d set up their blanket and picnic area near water’s edge. Thane handed Jonah his turkey sandwich while Izzy forked up a bite of Perry’s crab salad, a better bet than the wrap idea.

“So you aren’t mad about my leaving this morning?”

“No, I figured as jittery as you were about the whole thing you wouldn’t last till breakfast. You weren’t afraid to walk home at that hour?”

She decided to tell him Scott had taken care of that little problem and watched his face for a reaction. “You don’t seem surprised.”

Thane stole a glance over at Jonah who was busy woofing down his sandwich before telling her about the conversation at the cemetery.

“But you didn’t see him?”

“Sure I saw him, big as life, standing in front of another headstone. It’s just that I was surprised to learn Jonah had been seeing him around for several months.”

“Seeing who?” Jonah asked, done with his sandwich. In typical child fashion, the boy segued into another topic, one that had nothing to do with Scott. “Izzy, did you know we don’t have to worry anymore about people following us with big cameras?”

“You don’t? That’s good to know.”

Thane stretched out on the blanket and watched Isabella do the same, unfurling her long legs to get more comfortable while Jonah sat between them and every now and then peppered the conversation with a random display of his six-year-old wisdom.

“There aren’t many paparazzi hanging around here in Pelican Pointe,” Izzy noted.

“It isn’t that. Dad doesn’t play football anymore so he’s not one bit famous. No one wants our picture.”

Izzy let out a belly laugh, looked over at Thane. “Your son has a way of putting things in perspective that gets to the heart of the matter.”

“He definitely keeps it real.”

Tugging at her shirtsleeves, Jonah said, “Izzy, Izzy?”

“What?”

“Um, wanna hear a joke?”

“Sure.”

“What did the turkey say to the computer?”

“I don’t know. What?”

“Google, google, google.”

She cracked up again. “I see Jonah got most of the sense of humor in the family. What’s your favorite sport? Do you like football as much as your dad does?”

“We usually watch the games on Sundays together, except today, today Dad wanted to have a picnic with you instead.”

Izzy sat back, stunned. “Wow, you’re both missing football because of me? I’m… Wait, what time is it? You still have time to catch the second game of the day.”

Thane threw his arms out wide. “We’re devoted fans but we aren’t without our ability to commune with nature. Look at this place. It’s a gorgeous sunny day and we’re in the company of a beautiful woman. Aren’t we, Jonah?”

“Right. Dad said you were hot.”