He just hoped that would be enough to sustain him after he lost Tate.
On Saturday, Doug waited until midmorning to call Tate. Tate liked to sleep late on the weekends since he had to get up early during the week.
His heart pounded when Tate answered with a sleepy-sounding, “Hello, handsome. Long time, no talk.”
“Hey. Sorry, it’s been a wild couple of days.”
“Yeah, tell me about it.” He heard Tate yawn. “So, tell me about the new job.”
Doug didn’t want to. It meant another step on the road to saying good-bye to the man he loved. “I want to hear about yours, first.”
Tate laughed. “No, you don’t. Same job basically, only now I’m taking over Jenny’s supervisor duties, and she’s being promoted to take over for someone else who’s leaving. Come on, tell me.”
“Well, I’m training to take over for the assistant to the company’s CEO.”
“What company?”
“Wells Technology. Aerospace stuff. Her assistant is retiring.”
“Wow. That sounds like big bucks.”
“It is.” He resisted the urge to clear his throat. “The bad part is, I’m going to be working really long, crazy hours and travelling a lot. Especially at first.”
“Ah.” Tate fell silent.
“You okay?” Doug’s stomach twisted into a painful knot.
“How’s Mom?” he finally asked.
Doug took the out. “She’s aggravated the doctors won’t let her do more right now. She needs to let her foot heal first.”
An awkward silence descended. Tate finally broke it. “Let me guess. You’re trying to tell me I shouldn’t move down right now.”
Dammit. He wanted to deny it, but he couldn’t. “Well, we weren’t expecting you to get that promotion. I’d really hate to pull you from that. And after a couple of months, once I’m settled in my job, we can figure something out.”
“Ah.” More silence. “So when do I get to see you again?”
Doug closed his eyes. “I’ll be up next weekend.”
“Okay. I miss you.”
“I miss you, too.” More than you’ll ever know.
“Life’s going to get pretty crazy for a while, isn’t it?” Tate asked.
“Yeah. Looks like it.”
“Okay.” Tate’s silence told Doug more than he wanted to know. “I’ll let you go. I need to get up and get moving. I’m supposed to meet Bill and Kevin at noon to help them move.”
“Okay. Love you.”
“I love you, too, buddy.”
Doug stared at the phone in his hand, tears running down his face. Tate wasn’t an idiot. He cursed himself for being a coward.
Next weekend, he promised himself. I’ll do it next weekend.
He just hoped he could do it.
Chapter Eight
“Seriously, Dad, you realize I’m not an invalid, right?” Harper griped as her father refused to let her help unload the truck. They’d stopped for groceries in Englewood before heading across the toll bridge to Gasparilla Island. Once the truck was unloaded, they’d most likely only use the golf cart he kept for toddling around the small town of Boca Grande.
“I gave you a job to do, sweetie. Go turn the A/C down cooler in the house and mix me up one of your great virgin margaritas.”
She rolled her eyes as she grabbed her keys and purse and headed up the stairs. It wouldn’t do any good to argue with him. The Boca Grande house sat perched on twelve-foot concrete pilings due to local building codes against tidal surge flooding should a storm hit the island. She felt badly that her dad would make several trips back and forth up the stairs when she was perfectly capable of toting her fair share.
She unlocked the door, turned off the alarm, and headed immediately to the thermostat to turn the air down. By the time her dad made it upstairs with the second load of bags, she already had the blender full of ice and her own special margarita recipe. When he finished unloading, they sat out on the screened lanai with the ceiling fans lazily stirring the cool evening sea breeze. The sun slowly sank into the Gulf of Mexico, painting the sky in vivid oranges, reds, and purples as it dipped below the horizon.
“Red sky at night,” he said as he sipped his drink. “That’s a good sign, sweetie.”
She smiled. “Sure, Daddy. It’s a good sign.”
“No, really, it is. You know the old saying. ‘Red sky at night, sailors’ delight.’” He pointed down, toward the canal, where his twenty-four-foot Carolina Skiff hung from davits under a covered dock. “I had George come over this afternoon and crank the boat, make sure everything was okay. He said we’re ready for tomorrow. Just need gas, ice, and bait.”
“And sunscreen.” She smiled. And patience.
“So, what do you think of your new guy?”
“He’s nice. I think he’ll work out well.”
“He’s young.”
“I prefer someone young. I’m hoping he’ll want to stay with the company for his entire career so I don’t have to replace him.”
“Nice-looking young man.”
Aaand there it is. She gave him credit, it took him several hours, a long drive, and dinner together before he broached the subject. “He’s my employee, Daddy. Don’t even go there with the matchmaking.”
He held up a hand in surrender. “Of course. My apologies.” He took a sip of his drink. “Besides, knowing how stubborn you are, if I like him you’d refuse to date him just to spite me.”
“Would you like me to pay him to sleep with me?”
“Whoa!” As she’d hoped, that kicked him back into reality. He might want her to settle down, but she knew in the back of his mind he hoped she’d do it immaculately, like the Virgin Mary. “Okay, I surrender. You win.” He shook his head. “You play hardball, honey.”
She smiled. “I learned from the best.”
The next morning, Harper arose at daybreak. She had the coffee brewing and was in the process of making them omelets when her dad emerged from his bedroom.
“Morning, sweetheart.” He kissed her on the cheek on his way to the coffee maker.
“Morning, Daddy. Did you sleep well?”
“Of course.” He grinned. “Dreamed about tarpon all night long.”
“We’re really not going to fish the pass, are we?”
He gave her a you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-me look. “What do you think?”
“Well, you mentioned tarpon yesterday.” Fishing Boca Grande pass this time of year was like trying to score a fifty-dollar laptop at a Black Friday sale. Crowded, obnoxious, and probably unsuccessful due to the large number of boats.
“George told me about some reports around Useppa Island, where the fishing’s hot. Don’t worry, sweetheart. I know what I’m doing.”
She couldn’t argue with that. He definitely knew what he was doing. They had scrapbooks full of pictures of successful fishing trips.
While she ate breakfast and made them sandwiches to take with them, she thought about Doug. Actually, she wouldn’t be averse to something developing between them. Then again, that wouldn’t be very professional of her. It definitely would keep her father off her case, though.
Her father behaved himself until later in the afternoon, while they were sitting on the boat and eating their lunch after a morning of hot fishing in the harbor.
“Gorden and Olivia are driving down tonight. They’ll spend the night and go out with us tomorrow. Maybe I should have him extend an invitation to Doug.” He cast her a sideways glance.
“Okay, Daddy, seriously, will you please stop?”
He grinned. “I love yanking your chain like that. But no, seriously, I wouldn’t mind seeing you indulge in a little after-hours association with him. Gorden seems to like him.”