Page 38 of Until We Break

He glanced around, looking for the evidence. “Huh. You’re always surprising me.”

I noticed the folder in his hand.

“What is that? More tax bills?” I asked.

“Actually, it’s the plan I wanted to talk to you about.” He handed the folder to me.

I opened the top page. My eyes scanned the letter. “A loan?” My voice creaked when I said it out loud.

“It seems like you might want to hang out here a little longer. Maybe the island is growing on you. Why not make a real go of it and put some money into the Blue Heron? You have good ideas. The ice machine for example.”

My stomach was churning, and I felt my throat tighten. “But then I’d have more debt, Dean. More lenders. More people expecting payments.” I shook my head and tried to hand it back to him, but he wouldn’t take it.

“It’s a business loan, Margot. It’s not toxic. It’s a relationship with a bank. A good one. One of my friends works at the local branch on the island and I ran all this by him. With what this property is worth, you could easily get a small loan, pay off the back taxes, which would be a requirement of course, and then use the rest to fix up the rest of the marina. Repair the docks, and the slips, get the other boat ramp functional, and try some of your new ideas like ice and drinks.”

I stared at him. “I’m not a business person. I got a D in Econ,” I revealed. “This is not something I can do.”

“I can help.”

My breath hitched. “You don’t need to do that, Dean. You’ve already done enough.”

He shook his head. “Walt had a lot of problems, and it’s not fair that he left you with them. I don’t think you want to sell the Blue Heron.”

“I should sell it. It’s the most logical way out of this mess,” I contended.

“But you haven’t asked me once about listing agents or getting an appraisal.” He folded his arms across his suit and leaned against the railing in the shaded part of the porch.

“I-I haven’t been here that long.” I jumped up, knocking over the glass of sweet tea. “Shit!” The rest of the glass had landed in my lap.

He dashed inside, returned with a kitchen towel, and handed it to me. I tried to sop up the tea.

“I was thinking maybe you could come over tonight. I’ll make dinner and we’ll go over?—”

The jet skis raced into view in the marina. The three girls were laughing as they slowed to a crawl.

“Hold on. I have to help them,” I lied, jogging toward the ramp. “Hey!” I waved at them. “How was it?”

“Great!” Their faces were pink in places where the sunscreen had worn off. The blonde edged up toward me, cutting the engine so she could drift.

“It was beautiful on the water. We had a great time. We trailed a pod of dolphins. It was amazing.”

“Really? That sounds incredible. It was probably cooler out there than here.” I smiled. I felt Dean’s eyes watching the entire scene. I had to think of something I could do to look useful.

As the blonde stepped on the dock, I unwound a rope off a nearby piling and offered to tie it to her jet ski. Her friends bobbed up and down waiting for her to bring the trailer over.

“Sure. Thanks. I’m going to back in now. I’ll be right back.”

She unsnapped her life jacket and dropped it on the pier next to me. She walked off toward the Jeep while I stooped down to try to figure out what in the hell I was doing. I just had to keep the jet ski from floating away. Luckily, the other girls floated over and one of them offered to jump on and drive the jet ski onto the trailer.

They got both loaded and were ready to go. The blonde hopped out of the Jeep. She shoved her hands in the back pockets of her cutoff shorts.

“I’m Josie by the way,” she introduced herself.

“Margot.”

“It’s cool you’re working here.”

“Well…I…” I had no idea how to explain what I was doing here. “Thanks,” I managed.

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