Page 100 of Until August

“No problem. Thanks. Appreciate it.”

“I’m not doing it for you. See you Saturday,” he said with a sigh, like this whole thing was a huge imposition, and he was pissed off that he’d agreed to it.

But he was taking us out on Saturday, so I didn’t give a shit what he thought of me.

He walked away without another word, and I watched him retreat. He was wearing another garish Hawaiian shirt.

“Don’t mind him,” Shane said. “You caught him on a bad day.”

“As long as he’s nice to Sage, that’s all I care about.” For some reason, he’d made a good impression on Sage, who had mentioned the captain no less than three times on our drive back to his house yesterday.

Shane nodded and fell into step with me. “What do you think of Costa del Rey so far?”

Was he just making small talk, or was this question leading to something? “Nice town. Seems like a good place to live. And raise kids,” I added, hoping he’d take the bait.

“It is. I’ve been to plenty of beautiful beach towns over the years, but this one is special. The only place I’ve ever called home.”

This was the perfect opportunity to plead my case. To a total stranger. Which just went to show how truly desperate I’d become that I was grasping at straws.

But what did I have to lose? So when we stopped next to my truck, I asked, “Any chance you can talk Travis into staying?”

“I’ve tried. And I’ll keep trying. Sage is settled here. All his friends are here. And now that you’re back, I think it would be a mistake to uproot him.”

Thankfully, we were on the same side. “My thoughts exactly.”

“What will you do if they decide to move?”

“I don’t know.” I didn’t know how much he knew about me, but I’d be willing to bet he knew a fair bit. “I can’t move yet even if I wanted to. Guess we’d have to stay in touch with video chats.” Just the thought of being unable to spend time with my son cut me to the core. “But whatever happens, I plan on being a big part of Sage’s life.”

Shane nodded. “It’s tough, isn’t it?” His gaze drifted to the boats in the marina. “Getting out of prison… trying to rebuild your life after all your freedom got stripped away… being angry at the whole world and feeling like you lost a big piece of yourself.” He met my gaze. “Or maybe that was just me.”

“Nah. You pretty much summed it up.”

“It gets better,” he assured me.

I huffed out a laugh. “Every time I think that things get worse.”

“Been there. Done that. Got the fucking t-shirt.” He clapped me on the shoulder. “Keep the faith. And if I can do anything to help, you can usually find me at one of the breaks or Firefly Surf Shop.”

I tipped my chin in thanks and slid behind the wheel, wondering what crime he’d committed. He didn’t strike me as the type of guy who would have had an easy time in prison. He seemed too easygoing and laid back.

Not that doing time was easy for anyone. But I’d been a fighter all my life, and when I got locked up, I made it clear that I wasn’t the right guy to mess with.

Unfortunately, fighting with my fists wouldn’t do jack shit to solve my current problem.

All I could do was hope and pray that Travis would decide to stay in California.

CHAPTERTHIRTY-FOUR

Nicola

On Saturday morning,when I knew August was out on the boat with Sage, I waited for the yoga class to finish and approached Sasha. It was the first time I’d ever seen her up close. She was beautiful. Breathtakingly so.

One of those pregnant women who looked as if she was glowing from the inside. No swollen ankles or blotchy skin for her. “Hi. Sasha, right?”

She gave me a friendly smile. “Yes.”

“I’m Nicola. August is my sous chef.” I swept my hand toward The Surf Lodge.