As soon as she got the go-ahead from Mr. Wirth, she began to spread the word, and as she suspected, people were eager to help. Crisis and tragedy bonded people together, and while what happened to Jackson was horrible, it seemed the community was willing to unite around his cause.
Now Louisa stood at the back of the yacht club, supervising the decorating for the Coastie auction, part one of her grand plan. They’d sold tickets to the event that night, and thanks to the buzz she’d created around it, they were already in a good place.
She watched white lights being strung over a pergola on the beach and whispered a quick prayer that everything would go off without a hitch. Not only because she truly wanted to do something meaningful for the Wirth family, but also because Eric was going to be there.
Ally had broken the news to her the day before, and after her initial shock, she remembered that she was a confident, almost-successful business owner. If Eric wanted to show up and watch her be amazing, let him.
At least that was what she’d told Ally. The truth was, it had knotted her insides, knowing she might run into him. She’d mostly learned how to avoid him, though it wasn’t always easy. Tonight it would be impossible.
But tonight wasn’t about her. And it really wasn’t about Eric. It was about a family who could use some hope. She would focus on them, and she’d be fine.
“Louisa!”
She turned and found McKenzie Palmer standing on the deck overlooking the private beach Louisa and her team had just finished decorating.
“Wow, what an amazing job you’ve done here.”
Louisa forced a smile. She hadn’t wanted to invite McKenzie, but Ally talked her into it because “if McKenzie blogs about The Good Life, that will book us for the rest of the summer.”
Leave it to Ally to make perfect business sense.
She tried to remember that now. “Hi, McKenzie.”
“I was so excited to hear y’all were doing this for poor Jackson Wirth. Cody said you two saw him this week? How is he?” Her eyelashes fluttered.
Cody said? “You talked to Cody?”
Stop it, Louisa. Your jealousy is showing.
“Oh, darling, I’ll talk to that man every chance I get.” She flashed a smile.
Shameless.
“Didn’t you two grow up together? Do you have any pointers for me? Anything I should know?”
Louisa’s heart raced and her palms turned cold. The image of Cody and McKenzie cozied up in his one chair invaded her mind even though she had no idea what that one chair looked like. She was not going to discuss him with this blogger.
If McKenzie wanted Cody, she’d have to find her own way over the giant wall he’d built around himself. Louisa certainly wasn’t going to draw her a map. Not that Louisa would know where to begin, sadly.
“Will you be coming to the auction tonight?” Louisa turned her attention to the flowers at the center of the nearest table.
McKenzie’s smile widened into a wry grin. “Are you kidding me? All those Coasties decked out in uniform? I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
“Great.” Louisa was fairly certain her tone communicated a lack of enthusiasm, but then she never had been able to fake much of anything.
“See you later.” McKenzie sauntered off, leaving Louisa feeling frumpy and a little less excited than she’d been feeling ten minutes ago. She’d rather gouge her eyeballs out with a fork than watch McKenzie flirt with Cody all night.
She shoved the thought aside and walked across the deck and through the restaurant, waved to the manager, who’d been a godsend in ironing out the details, then headed out front toward her Vespa.
She’d almost made a clean break when she heard laughter coming from the parking lot. She turned just in time to see McKenzie’s epic hair flip. The woman was parked right next to Louisa’s scooter and at her side was (of course) Cody Boggs. He’d said he might stop by, but she’d expected him an hour ago.
Louisa wished she could turn and run the other way, but that might be a little too obvious, even for her. What did she care if McKenzie had a thing for Cody? It wasn’t like she had any claim to the man.
Unfortunately.
She swatted that thought away and soldiered on.
McKenzie perked right up when she spotted Louisa. “Oh, Louisa. We were just talking about you.”
Cody looked away.
She resisted the urge to ask what exactly they were saying about her, slung her bag across her body, and gave them both a nod.
“Do you need help with anything?” Cody took half a step away from McKenzie, who still wore that precious smile Louisa couldn’t stand.
Her inner monologue chastised her. Be nice, Louisa. This is not good behavior.
“I think we’re good,” Louisa said sharply. “Just finished up.”
“I got caught out on the cutter,” Cody said as if he were apologizing.
McKenzie practically purred. “Did you save someone else’s life?”
Cody’s eyes were still fixed on Louisa, who thought she might collapse under the weight of his gaze. “Just routine. Mechanical issues. All good now.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” McKenzie said. “We sure wouldn’t want you to miss the auction tonight. Would we, Louisa?”
Louisa clenched her teeth together so tightly she thought they might crack. “We sure wouldn’t, McKenzie. I’ll see you guys later.”
She would’ve loved for Cody to dismiss McKenzie and tell her he’d like to talk to Louisa for a moment and say he’d been thinking about it and she was right to clear the air, and he was wrong to make her feel bad for a mistake she’d made so many years ago, and he’d given it a good thinking over and he’d forgiven her after all. And oh, by the way, could we try that whole relationship all over again from the beginning? Clean slate and everything?
But he didn’t dismiss anyone except Louisa, with a slight wave goodbye and a complete removal of attention. And he didn’t say a single one of those things. Instead, he glanced at McKenzie, who asked if he’d like to go see where the auction would be held, and then followed her off toward the restaurant like a stray dog in desperate need of a warm bath and a cuddle.
Louisa swung her leg over the Vespa and gave her bag a tug. While she absolutely refused to glance in Cody and McKenzie’s direction, she did note out of her peripheral vision that he tossed a quick look back at her.
Well, how do you like that?
She steeled her jaw—something she was incredibly good at—started the engine, and drove away, trying her best not to imagine a conversation that would draw him closer to a woman with whom he had no past, no baggage, and no cross words.
She wondered if maybe it was all better this way.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
LOUISA KNEW TONIGHT WASN’T ABOUT HER. She knew that, and yet she’d stood in front of the full-length mirror in the room that used to be Cody’s for a solid thirty-five minutes fussing over which dress to wear, then which shoes, then hair up or hair down.
Truthfully the whole scene made her entirely disgusted with herself.
She was not that girl. She was the girl who could pick up and leave at a moment’s notice. Low maintenance. Hair in a ponytail, makeup-free—that was Louisa.