Page 96 of Fire Island
“Have you been there before?” I study his expression, trying to discern from his answer whether he and Iris eat together and how often—besides at the café, that is.
“Nope. You must be special.”
Well, that gives me nothing to work with, Em.Disappointing. Feeling a little nosy and a lot bolder than I should be, I ask, “So, you and Iris? How long are you going to make her wait, Em?”
He glances at me, too quickly, as his face surrenders to a blush I’m sure can be seen from space. Clearing his throat, he tightens his hands around the wheel. “Wait for what?”
I give him my bestyou have to be shittingme look and roll my eyes at him like some teenage girl.
“What?” he says with a chuckle.
“Nothing. Keep your secrets, Officer Bradford. But you should get onto that, if you ask me.”
“Well, don’t take this the wrong way, Miss Evie, but I didn’t.”
It’s all I can do to beam up at him. A smile wobbles over his lips, and he keeps his focus straight ahead.
“You want me to change the subject?” I ask, nudging his arm with mine.
“Please,” he mutters.
“Okay, sure, what’s with you and Cal and having old relics lying around needing to be fixed up? Old before your time?”
“Relics?”
“The Indian and the boat in your dry dock?”
“Oh yeah, I kind of forgot about those. Cal’s rolled the old dust bucket outta the shed, has he?”
“He has. We’re fixing it up.”
His stare holds for a beat. “That’s great. I never thought I’d ever see him ride that bike again.”
“So, about the boat? How much would it take to make her seaworthy?” I sound ridiculously like I know what I’m talking about, which is stupid.
He rubs a hand behind his neck. “The Pearl—and don’t laugh, Cal let Iris name her when we got the boat not long after their parents’ accident—would take a fair bit of fixing. But the bones are there. The problem is, nobody has the time. Not me, and least of all Cal. Especially now, he has something else consuming his every spare moment.”
“Ha, ha. Could we find someone to do it for us? What would it cost?”
“Geez, Miss Evie. That would take a significant cash injection.”
“What kind of numbers are we talking?”
“Well, she would need re-rigging, a new comms and nav system, paintwork. and probably some upgrades on the inside living area.”
“Can you put a price on it, even roughly?”
“Maybe somewhere between fifty and seventy-five, depending on who does the labor?”
“Okay, thanks.”
I turn my gaze to the water ahead, leaving Em hanging.
Serves him right for holding out on Iris, if you ask me.
Not that anyone did. But life’s too short to be indecisive about the things you want. The past six years have taught me that.
Twenty-Six
