Page 86 of My Brother's Forbidden Friend

Since I come here three times a week now, most people in the marina know who I am and what I do.

“Hi, Bella, just a Coke and…” I signal to my dad, who’s crossing the room.

He takes off his suit jacket and puts it on the back of the chair.

“Can I get you something?” Bella asks him.

My dad looks at where the menu is posted on the wall. “Just an ice water actually.”

“I’ll be right back.” Bella’s braids bounce as she goes to get our drinks.

He looks around and out at the marina. “This is a nice place. Not as many slips as we have, but…”

“Yeah, it’s smaller. They don’t get the fishing boats we do. But they had room, and I didn’t want to be in Sunrise Bay.”

“That was a question I wanted to ask you the day you told me about all this. Why were you so worried? I’ve seen those boats, Cameron. They’re exceptional.”

I shrug.

He sighs and steeples his hands. “Listen, your mother and I had a long conversation the other night. She made me realize that maybe I’ve been too hard on you.”

I open my mouth to speak, but Bella comes over with our drinks. We both order the daily special of fish, fries and hushpuppies.

“Dad, I—”

“No, please let me finish. This is important.” He pauses. “The marina has been in our family a long time. I was different than you. I was eager to run the marina. My dad was hard on me like I am on you, and I followed in his footsteps because I thought that’s what you do. The more you rebelled, the harder I pressed you.”

I don’t say anything but sip my drink. Hearing my dad talk about something he thinks he should have done differently is surreal—it almost never happens.

“I never bothered to ask you what you wanted, and when you disappointed me, I felt like you were disrespecting me, oftentimes on purpose. A lot of times, it felt like the whole town knew you’d rather be with the Greene family than your own. That hurt me. But instead of talking to you about it, I was angry. If you love building wooden boats, then okay, you should do that.”

He looks out the window a little wistfully, and I get the feeling it’s because he can’t handle looking at me after being so open and vulnerable.

“I never meant to disrespect you. I thought I wanted to run the marina too. I never saw myself doing anything different. Until it wasn’t fun anymore. Until I saw how some of the decisions we’d make would affect people. I don’t like the business side of it, Dad. The one where we have to kick people out or watch families suffer while we take such a huge cut of their catch. Restoring and selling boats… it’s not the same. I still need the education you gave me, but I don’t have to worry about hurting anyone when I’m just selling a luxury item.”

He sighs. “You think I enjoy that? It’s the worst part of the job. But it’s part of business, and it has to be done.”

“It’s the part I hate.”

“Well, clearly, if you stayed in the position, you’d bankrupt the marina.” He smiles, so I know he’s saying it in jest. “Paying their slip fees for them isn’t helping. Not long term.” He gives me a hard glare.

Guess he figured out about Rowdy’s bill.

He laughs. I’m not sure the last time I heard my dad laugh. “When I saw that, I was proud and pissed all at the same time.”

“You should also know that the reason I didn’t want to start the fishing charter business is because it would compete with Chevelle.”

His head rocks back. “That’s my second reason for coming here. I see you two around.”

“We’re together now.”

“I know.” He nods.

Bella brings our meals and sets them in front of us. I dig in right away.

“That’s another area I should’ve listened to you. I’m sorry, Cam.”

“It’s okay. It ended up not really affecting her business. Those two boats are for different kinds of people and budgets.”

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