Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 88220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88220 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Scott turned to face me in a rare serious moment. “Couples argue. It’s part of havin’ a relationship. Life’s tough. It’s not about a single moment. But if it was, how could you have changed what happened? They don’t know what made him sick.” He angled his position to stand in front of me. “Nothin’ would have changed except that maybe you’d have gotten sick too. Where would your family be then? Maybe the universe was in play by gettin’ you away.”
I let those words roll around in my head, my chin lowered hitting my chest. “I don’t know what a good parent I am. If Dash died, I wanted to too.” Extreme fatigue set in hard at my confession, slumping my shoulders. I loved my children. How had I ever let my thoughts slip to such a selfish place?
“You know how I feel about Lauren. I get it. And it’s not exactly your choice to die when Dash does, but I get the sentiment.” He mirrored my posture, crossing his arms over his chest. “So about work. I wanted to tell you that my old man came to help. We’ve had a crazy amount of last-minute charters for some reason. We’re booked solid every day. I didn’t want to bother you, but he’s helped me keep it goin’. I adjusted the pricin’ once we were full. I’ve been puttin’ money in your account. Dad’s gettin’ paid five dollars an hour. But now he wants to invest in us. He wants to buy a Nautic Star to help get us to the next level. My parents wanna move here and help us. All of us.”
“Okay,” I said and paused. That was a crazy expensive boat designed for deeper sea fishing. We’d be able to charge double or triple our pricing for a standard charter. “Does your dad want to operate a boat? It’s gonna be a minute before I’m back. Maybe if I get Dash set…”
“That’s not what I’m suggestin’. We got this handled for however long you need to be gone. He wanted to invest in us and help fill in for you. He appreciates what you’ve done for us and wants to give back. Maybe we can all sit down in January and work it out.”
I nodded. I didn’t have a grip on my family’s financial situation. Dash took care of it all.
“Forget I mentioned it,” Scott said and slapped my arm. “I’m headin’ home. We’ll talk later.”
“No, actually the idea’s pretty damned intriguin’. We gotta talk to your dad. What does he want for the boat, stuff like that? January’s better for me to have that discussion. I feel like I’m twisted up in my family’s finances. Dash isn’t workin’, and I don’t know what that means for us. Maybe I need to pick up shifts at UPS or open some overnight charters. We could charge a lot more for those.” My worried gaze riveted on Scott. “Dash takes care of our finances. I’m not sure what we have.”
“I still have funds available if you need it,” Scott offered. “You put all that money in college funds for my kids. Take it back, or we can borrow against it. It’s my responsibility to put ’em through college, not yours.”
I stared at him, the best friend a guy could have. I wanted to cry again. “I’m not takin’ the kids college funds. It was right to secure all of our children’s future, but who knew we’d have so many kids?” And I built this house too big. Dash made many expensive changes. What did we have saved for a rainy day?
“Let me figure out what’s happenin’ with us, and let’s reconvene,” I finally said, shaking my head free of the crazy, escalating, wild thoughts.
Scott nodded his agreement.
“I think buyin’ another boat’s the right thing to do,” I added. “What does he want for it, again?”
“He doesn’t want anything except to be here with his grandchildren and to fish. He’s proud of us, and my mom won’t be on his back about fishin’ so much if he’s helpin’ us.”
The chuckle I gave was genuine, because I knew all the players involved, and Scott was telling the absolute truth. His parents also treated my kids like they were their own. I pushed off the rail and scratched my hairline, knocking back the ball cap I hadn’t realized I was still wearing.
Scott snapped his fingers and pointed at me, locking my attention on him. “We’ll make him a silent investor that only gets paid if we can pull this all off.”
“Sounds good,” I said.
Scott was already trotting down the front steps. He lifted a hand, jogging toward his house. I went inside. The kitchen lights were off, the house silent. It was barely eight thirty. The girls had to be in the bath. Instead of going to my bedroom, where I really wanted to be, I took the stairs up to help with the children’s nighttime chore duties. Amelia had carried this load for weeks. She deserved a night off.