Enid, a pretty brunette with more brains than anyone Harlow knew, smiled at Austin. “One day I’m going to call your bluff.”
He winked. “Just say the word, Enid mine.”
“He’s all talk,” Harlow said with a laugh. “Let me go see my dad for a sec, then I’m ready to head out.”
“Where are you going?” Austin asked Enid. “Want a handsome guy to escort you?”
“Do you know one?” Enid asked teasingly as Harlow went into the building. The door closed, cutting off Austin’s response.
She found her dad on the phone in his office. The tone of his voice and the way he was rotating his chair back and forth told her he was on with one of his women.
Since her parents’ divorce four years ago, Cord Caldwell had been enjoying the single life. He was a serial dater who always had a girlfriend. The longest she’d known him to be without someone in his life was maybe three days. Her mother, on the other hand, had waited a year to start dating. She told Harlow that she hadn’t met anyone interesting enough to see more than a couple of times. That had changed about a year ago, when her mom had gotten involved with Jase, a local cardiologist. They’d become a thing, dating exclusively. Her mother rarely shared details, unlike her dad, who sometimes told her too much.
She waited a couple of minutes, but her father showed no signs of ending the call. Finally she caught his eye and tapped on her watch.
“Hey, let me call you back,” he said, his tone low and sexy. “Uh-huh. Me, too.”
Harlow did her best not to gag. Yes, she and her father were both adults, but she didn’t like seeing this side of him. He was her parent, not a friend. But Cord had never been big on boundaries.
“What’s up?” he asked when he’d ended the call.
“We’re back from the charter.” She tossed him the keys. “She’s clean and ready for tomorrow. Austin’s off, and I’m taking out the fishermen. I’ll be back at five thirty.” In the morning. Not her favorite, but part of the job. “You’ll look over the paperwork from the lawyer?”
Her father hesitated just long enough for her to guess the truth. “Dad, why won’t you read through the offer? You have to agree to the terms before we can move forward on buying the business.”
“I’ll get to it.”
“It’s been nearly a week. Can you read it tonight?”
“Sure. Tonight.”
She ignored her surge of frustration. “We talked about this all last summer. You said it was a great idea for us to expand into the easy money of kayak and paddleboard rentals. I did everything you said. I found a good business to buy, I came up with a business plan, I talked to a lawyer, and now we’re ready to present an offer as soon as you say go. Have you changed your mind?”
“I’ve been busy, Harlow. I’ll get to it.”
When? But she knew there was no point in pushing. Her father moved at his own pace.
“Then I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said before walking out of his office.
She collected her handbag, then joined Enid out front.
“What?” her friend asked. “You upset?”
“It’s just my dad. He’s dragging his feet on the purchase.”
“Of the business you want him to buy?”
“Yeah. But I’ll let it go. Come on, you. We’ll have the best girls’ night out ever.”
Enid laughed. “That’s a very high bar.”
* * *
“So, yes on the eighty-inch TV?” Austin asked hopefully, as he helped clear the dinner dishes.
“No.”
“But you never use it.”
“Your apartment comes with a TV already.”
“A tiny one. It’s the size a mouse would buy. Please, Mom? I’ll be careful. You know I’m a responsible kid.” His eyes brightened. “I’ll wash your car every week in exchange. How’s that?”
“I’m interested in getting my car washed, but I want a set time. No texting me and saying you’ll get to it soon. Every week you have to make an appointment with me and keep it. Otherwise you bring the TV back.”
He considered her offer, then held out his hand. “Deal. I’ll wash your car this Saturday morning before I move in.”
“And vacuum the carpets.”
He made a low noise in the back of his throat, but kept his hand in place. “Sure.”
She shook hands with him. “Then you have yourself an eighty-inch TV for the four months you’re gone.”
He whooped and jumped up to touch the light fixture on the ceiling. “You’re the best, Mom.”
“I’ve heard that before. It’s starting to go to my head.”
Austin was still laughing as he took the stairs, two at a time, to the second floor. Robyn had just started for the family room when her phone rang. She glanced at the screen and smiled.
“I miss you,” she said by way of greeting.
Her great-aunt Lillian laughed. “Then come visit me, darling.”
Robyn sank onto the oversized sofa. “How are you? Feeling all right?”
“Never better.”
“Salvia is taking good care of you?”
“You know she is.”
Salvia had been with Lillian a decade, but still, Robyn worried. Lillian was ninety-four and getting more frail by the year. Her mind was as sharp as ever, but there had been a fall three years ago and a bad cold she’d taken months to shake.
“So how are you?” Lillian asked. “How are Harlow and Austin?”
Robyn hesitated before saying, “They’re good. Harlow seems to be enjoying working for her dad, and Austin’s loving his summer after high school.”
Which was all true, but somehow missed the spirit of what was happening in her life, Robyn thought, ignoring the surge of guilt.
“Have you listed the house?”
“Not yet. There are considerations. Austin for one.”
“He’ll be happy as long as he’s with you.”
Robyn smiled. “Probably. But Harlow still wants to have her wedding here.”
“She’s too young to get married.”
“Feel free to tell her that. She won’t listen to me.”
Lillian laughed. “Tell her to call me and I will. Oh, I know. Sell the house, but explain to the new owners they have to let you host a wedding in their backyard.”