It was based off of the work she’d done at the hotel—work she’d been very good at. She only hoped the nearly dying thing didn’t cramp her style today. Would she even be able to concentrate?
She walked to the door and smoothed her blue sundress, straightening her white jean jacket and noticing her toenails needed to be repainted already.
As was customary, she whispered a silent Help me nail this one, Lord, and opened the door, surprised to find two men in blue uniforms on the other side.
Cody Boggs and a man she didn’t recognize.
“What are you doing here?” she asked without thinking.
A surprised expression washed over the other man’s face, and Louisa quickly pivoted.
“I mean, if you’re here to check up on me again, I really am fine. I have nothing but high praise for the Coast Guard in the wake of my accident.”
“Louisa—”
“I know you guys have an image problem on the island, but you won’t hear a negative word from me. In fact, you won’t hear anything from me. I just got a request to talk with a very popular blogger here on the island, and I turned her down.” Why am I still talking? “I don’t need to share the gory details of my stupid mistake, but if you need me to help make you guys look better, I can try to figure out a way to do that without tanking my own reputation. Or telling my father what happened.”
Both men were frowning now.
“Louisa, this is Master Chief Duncan McGreery.”
“You brought the master chief? Was that really necessary?”
“We aren’t here to talk about the accident,” the master chief said. “May we come in?”
“I have a meeting; I’m sorry.”
“I set up the meeting with your assistant. Or your business partner?” The man smiled warmly. “Alyssa Martin?”
Louisa pulled out her phone and opened the calendar, realizing she really should’ve made that—and not McKenzie Palmer’s email—her priority for the morning. “You’re my nine o’clock?”
The master chief’s smile held tight. Meanwhile, Cody’s expression could only be described as terse.
“I’m sorry. I misunderstood.” No matter how many times she made a fool of herself, it never got any easier.
“May we come in?” the master chief asked again.
“Of course.” She stepped out of the doorway to allow them to pass, first Duncan and then Cody, who leaned toward her and said, “You talk too much,” so quietly she was certain his superior didn’t hear.
She closed the door behind them and willed herself to stop acting like an idiot.
I am a professional. I am good at my job. I just want to tell him how sorry I am.
That last thought slipped in without her permission. She swatted it away.
“How can I help you gentlemen?” Now she’d switched to full-on formal. It was a wonder she didn’t spin in a circle and emerge dressed in a designer business suit fit for a sixty-year-old woman.
Judging by Cody’s stance, he wanted to be here as much as she wanted him here. Following orders again, she assumed.
“Please, have a seat.”
Her palms were sweating. She remembered her plan to invite his family to Maggie’s birthday party. His family and her family and him and her. Suddenly it all felt like one giant ridiculous idea. She couldn’t even sit in the same room with him without sweating.
But it was for Maggie. It would make Maggie happy, whether the old woman knew it or not. And Louisa needed the closure. She needed to at least try to make it right.
How can I make this right, Lord?
Her so-called prayers were feeling frantic these days, but she hoped God could sort through her neuroses and send her answers.
Anytime, Lord.
“I’ll get right to it, Miss Chambers,” the master chief said.
“First things first,” Louisa interrupted. “Can you tell me what to call you? Because in my mind I’m calling you ‘the master chief,’ which is a long title that takes up quite a bit of space, but I want to be respectful.”
“Call him Master Chief McGreery,” Cody said, clearly annoyed.
“Oh, even longer,” Louisa said.
“You can call me Duncan,” he said. “I’m not much into titles.”
“Isn’t that disrespectful?” she asked.
“Not at all.” Duncan smiled.
“Yes, it is,” Cody said. “At the very least call him Chief.”
Louisa glanced at Cody, then back at the other man. “I think I’ll call him Duncan.” She thought of a list of things she’d like to call Cody, too, but she kept those to herself.
“What should I call you?” Duncan asked.
“Louisa,” she said. “Or Lou. Most of my friends call me Lou.”
“It suits you,” Duncan said.
Her eyes drifted back to Cody, who apparently didn’t share his master chief’s kind demeanor.
“I’ll get to the point, Lou,” Duncan said.
Cody stiffened.
“As you mentioned, we have an image problem.”
“Sorry for the rambling,” she said.
He held up a hand and smiled again. This guy was the perfect person to handle their image problem. He was handsome, kind, and he had a lovely set of very white teeth. At his side, Cody looked miserable and grumpy like a man auditioning to play Scrooge in a community theatre production of A Christmas Carol.
Any director would cast him, too.
“We would like to improve our reputation here and our relationship with the community.”
Louisa forced herself to listen as the master chief explained his hopes for the Coast Guard as it related to the people of Nantucket. Of course the Coast Guard had been a presence on the island for years, but the goal was to integrate more with the locals, the idea being that if they won the respect of the people, the people would be more willing to listen and therefore obey the advice of the Coast Guard.
Advice like “Wear a life vest.”
“You know about Jackson Wirth and our issues there,” he said. “We’ve come under fire, and his family isn’t about to let it go, not as long as their son is in a coma.”
“Would you, sir?”
Duncan paused, a thoughtful expression on his face. “You don’t beat around the bush, do you?”
Cody’s eyes were full on her—she could feel it—and she didn’t like the effect it had on her. Louisa was confident in this space. She knew her business, and she knew what she was good at.
If only that confidence carried over into her personal life, where she was something of a disaster. Sometimes she felt like two people occupying the same body. One, smart and self-assured. The other, full of doubt.
“I don’t like to, no,” she said.
“That’s refreshing,” he said. “Too many people tend to hold back what they’re thinking.”
She dared a glance at the neatly dressed Coastie at Duncan’s side. Cody held back everything he was thinking, didn’t he? Whom did he tell his secrets to?
“You think the Wirth family is justified in their criticism of the Coast Guard?” Duncan asked.
“I think they’re hurting—grieving—and people sometimes say and do things they don’t mean under those circumstances,” Louisa said.