poured glasses of orange juice, they took everything out to the deck.
She watched a flock of seagulls shift out of the way of a woman walking down the beach, like Moses parting the sea. “This is such an amazing place. I’m going to miss it.” Her gaze slid to him.
He could only nod, the missing of it and everything it meant lodging in his throat like a ball.
He mopped up the last bit of yolk with the last bite of toast. “I’ll be back around five-thirty. What are you going to do today?”
“Clean out the kitchen cabinets and the pantry. Tackle the closets.” She shrugged. “Maybe I’ll take a walk on the beach.”
“You should. I better get to work.”
It struck him how much they felt like a couple. Waking up together. Having breakfast. As he brushed his teeth and pulled on his uniform, he imagined her giving him a kiss goodbye at the door. A kiss hello when he returned, because he was already counting down the hours until he saw her again.
She did walk to the door with him, leaning against the frame as he stepped out onto the porch. “Have a good day.”
He turned once he was safely down the steps, and the sight of her punched him in the chest. “You, too,” he managed, clearing the hoarseness from his throat. “Call if you need me to bring anything home.”
Home. He’d never had a home, really. He and his dad had gone from place to place, until either the landlord kicked them out or the current lady “friend” reached the point of disgust at her lazy guest and his unwanted kid. His Airstream had been the first real home he’d had, and now his cabin. But mostly it was Mia, waving as he reached the car, that made him long for what home really was. Not a place. Not four walls and a small yard. Her.
“Get it together, man,” he told himself as he pulled away. “Just like that summer, this is only an interlude. A dream. And dreams always end.”
At Pete’s somber expression, the words echoed again in Raleigh’s mind. He knew what his boss was going to say before the words came out.
“They made an offer. Cash, closing in a month. No contingencies. They want an answer within two days.”
Raleigh swallowed hard, his chest heavy. “Okay.”
“They want to tear it down, build a three-story office building. How long do you think it’ll take to sell the cottage?” Pete asked.
So the garage wouldn’t exist anymore. No garage, no place for him to work. “It’s hard to say. We’ll have it ready to list by next week. That’s as definite as I can get.”
“This kills me, Raleigh.” Pete sighed. “My wife, she’s—”
“I know. She’s anxious to leave town.”
“I’ve been promising her for a long time. Putting it off, hoping you could get enough money to put down.”
“You’ve been putting off selling this place for me?”
“Yeah. You’re kinda like the son I never had. I liked the idea of you taking over. But…” He shrugged.
Raleigh put his hand on the man’s thick shoulder, touched by his sentiment. He’d had no idea Peter felt that way. “I always saw you as a father, too. I appreciate you waiting, but it’s all right. I understand.”
The loss wasn’t only the prospect of buying the garage he’d been working in for so long. He was losing Peter, too. Raleigh wasn’t about to lay that on him, though. The man clearly harbored enough guilt and angst.
“I’ll wait a day or two. Talk to the Realtor, see if he has anyone on the line for your cottage. Someone looking for just what you have. It could happen.”
“I’ll do that.”
“I excluded all the equipment, though. Some of it’s yours, but I figure they won’t need it anyway. It’ll all be yours. The lifts, equipment, and stock parts. No charge.”
“Is that out of guilt?”
“No. Well, maybe a little. But mostly it’s out of friendship, Raleigh. I’ll get enough out of this place. You keep the equipment.”
“Thanks.”
The day dragged, while Raleigh’s head spun. He would have to line up a work space fast so he could roll right into his next job. Some of his customers wouldn’t care if they had to drive twenty miles out of town to what was basically someone’s yard to drop off their car. Like the young guns who scraped together every penny for a homemade EFI. But the high-caliber clients Raleigh was now courting, they weren’t going to like it one bit.