Mr. Dayton, looking like he was imagining another time, smiled into the distance. Beckett recalled how he’d sighed into his bite of burger the night before.As good as I remember.
The man’s lips twitched as he rubbed his jaw with a wrinkled hand. “Before your time. I was just a kid. We used to spend our summers there. Then hard times hit, everything got sold off. I’ve been coming back for the last five years. Thought I might buy it, but it wasn’t for sale. It’s changed a lot. The cabin beside the one you’re fixing up? It was the only one when I was a boy. It was mostly trees and animals. My brother and I used to stay in tents, as did most people who visited. Even needing repairs, it’s a lot fancier than it was.” He chuckled.
Beckett glanced back once again. “That’s really amazing. I had no idea. I thought you knew the woods well.” He turned back, easing off the throttle.
Another laugh, this one ending with a bit of a cough. “I knew them without all that trimmed greenery and the shortcuts. Been lost more than once in those woods.”
“I’m glad you keep coming back,” Beckett said. A strange feeling of nostalgia lodged in his heart. He couldn’t explain it. How could he miss something that wasn’t ever his?
They said nothing else for the remainder of the trip but Beckett couldn’t wait to tell Gray, Jill, and Presley. The thought made his hand slip again. Not Presley. She wasn’t part of his circle, because his circle was already jammed tight. A few kisses didn’t equate a life together. What the hell was he doing getting all wrapped up in a woman just because she made his heart feel like it was full of sunshine?
Once they docked, Beckett headed for his car. He glanced at Mr.Dayton. “Can I give you a ride somewhere?” If he used to visit the island, he was likely very familiar with the surrounding area. Smile, Michigan, was a tourist town. In two weeks, the town would be overrun with them. Beckett would be grateful for the island refuge.
“Nope. I’m good, son. You take care, and I’ll make my own way back.”
Like they’d been lying in wait, Anderson Keddy swung into the lot, got out of the bright green Mini Cooper they used as a cab, and greeted Mr. Dayton. Catching sight of Beckett, they waved.
“Hot Mountain Man! Almost time for a trim, buddy,” Anderson yelled across the lot. They held up a lock of their own wavy, brown-blond hair in case the message was lost.
Beckett groaned. Mr. Dayton chuckled.Awesome.Anderson was also the hairdresser and barber for most of the locals. Beckett lifted a hand in an acknowledgment he didn’t want to give, then hurried toward his car.
Slipping inside the stale-smelling, warm vehicle, he started it, then got the windows down for fresh air.
Beckett headed for his apartment. He’d do some laundry, repack, make sure nothing was growing a new life in his fridge. It was Tuesday, so Adam would be waiting to go to the store and get his groceries. Adam was a twenty-two-year-old gaming wizard who lived across the hall from Beckett. The kid was beyond shy but liked Beck. He was still learning how to navigate the world on his own, having lost his parents in a car accident a few years back. On the cusp of becoming an adult, he’d been catapulted into a life he couldn’t have predicted.
The town took care of their own. When Adam sold his childhood home, unable to stay there with all of the memories, he’d moved into Beck’s building, and the two had struck up an unlikely friendship.
A hot shower in his own apartment, one where he could actually turn around without touching the sides, soothed a lot of the kinks in his neck. He grabbed his wallet, keys, and phone and headed out the door. Before he could knock, Adam’s door swung open.
“You were almost late,” Adam said.
Beckett laughed. “Which makes me on time.”
Adam stepped out into the hall, locked his door behind him. He had his reusable shopping bags in the backpack he wore.
They took the stairs down and walked out to Beckett’s car without chatting. Once inside, Adam triple-checked his seat belt. Every time he did, it made Beckett’s heart feel like it had claws jammed in it.
“Did you decide yet?” Adam asked, awkwardly trying to pull his phone out of his pocket around the confines of the seat belt.
“No.” Beckett shook his head, realizing that his confidant was a twenty-two-year-old kid who wouldn’t even go to the grocery store alone. He shrugged off the uncomfortable feeling. Adam was nothing if not impartial and exceedingly blunt. He also knew more about bikes than anyone other than Beck and looked at a situation from interesting angles.
“You might lose money the first year, but in the end, I believe you’ll be successful enough to make it worth it. Especially if you choose a lot over a building and partner up with your brother to offer excursions. Have you told him yet?”
Beck shook his head. “No. And there’s something I haven’t told you.”
Adam turned his head. “Tell me.”
Taking a deep breath, keeping his gaze on the road, he told him the final piece of the puzzle: “Brian says I could buy in to the store, open a second location in Whitney.”
“Whitney is a ferry ride and three-hour drive.”
Yup. Adam knew his facts. “I know. But I’d be part owner.”
Beckett pulled into the parking lot of his favorite deli. When he cut the ignition, Adam was still staring at him.
“If you open a bike shop, you’ll be full owner.” Adam grinned.
Laughter bubbled up in the space between them. Unlike Beckett, who added unnecessary roadblocks and layers to his own thoughts, Adam boiled it down to the simplest of points. And usually, he was right.
