dry dock faster? This one is coming in with a rudder problem. There are always rudder problems. It has basically left this ship incapacitated. Thankfully, the captain is an experienced guy and has been able to get her this far.”
“Propeller?” I said the word without asking a specific question.
“It seems to be fine.”
“These ships are losing valuable time having to come in here. This one should be halfway around the world and yet it’s going to be sitting in my dock for at least a week. The company has to pay to unload it and load the cargo on a new ship. Valuable time is lost.”
“I get it,” I told him. “I do.”
“Your ships seem to be doing okay with rudders. Granted, they haven’t been in service as long as some of these antiques, but can’t you come up with a way to fix this? Don’t you have some genius plan that could make rudders flawless?”
“No.”
He smirked. “All right, then.”
“No, I don’t have a plan yet, but I have some ideas. I’ll come back once you’ve got her pulled out of the water.”
“Really?” he asked, looking a little surprised.
“It’s why you called me out here, right?”
“Yes, but I didn’t think you would have any ideas that fast.”
I smiled and patted him on the back. “It’s why they pay me the big bucks. I need to do some thinking and a lot of math, but I will try and get something put together. I don’t know if it will be in time for this ship but maybe for the next.”
“Wait,” he said, furrowing his brow. “I think I just turned you onto a new design. You are going to put it on your ships and make a shitload of money. I might be owed a finder’s fee or something.”
“We’ll see. I don’t know if anything I’m thinking will work. I need some time.”
“I can already see your wheels spinning. This is what you looked like back in college. You would space out and then come back with some wacky idea for a ship. That’s what you are doing.”
“I’m trying, but your yapping is interfering with my thinking.”
He chuckled. “Come on. Let’s go get some really shitty coffee from Oscar over there.”
I looked at the small stand that did not appear to be all that inviting. I followed him, each of us getting a small coffee before sitting at one of the mismatched table sets dock workers would normally take their breaks at.
“How did it go with Kade?”
“Good, really good. I introduced him to Evie.”
His eyes widened. “No shit? That’s a big step.”
I shrugged. “It wasn’t that big of a deal.”
“It sure the hell is a big deal. Did he hit on her?”
“He didn’t dare. I would have beat his ass if he did.”
Charlie laughed. “Yes, I’m sure you would have.”
“Kade wants me to go up to Oregon,” I said, kind of testing the waters.
“Are you going to do it?”
“I doubt it.”
“Still don’t want to see your dad?” he asked.
“No. I don’t know. For so long, I have felt like a failure in his eyes. I have felt like I wasn’t worthy to be in his presence. Now, I’m not so sure about that.”
“What’s changed?”
“Evie. Evie has made me feel differently about the whole thing.”
I didn’t miss his sly smile. “Color me shocked.”
His sarcasm was warranted. “I know you’ve been saying it for years, but you are not as pretty or as eloquent as she is.”
He laughed. “I’m not sure that’s an insult.”
“She called me selfless.” I didn’t want to brag, but it was the first time in my life I had been called selfless. I had been called selfish more times than I could count. Even when I gave to charity and the grateful members of one board or another would call me generous, selfless felt completely different.
“Does that make you happy?”
“Yes, asshole,” I muttered.
“Just checking. You are an odd duck. I never know what gets you off and what pisses you off.”
“I’m not that odd. She said I’m selfless because although I didn’t go into the Marines and go kill bad guys, I am changing the world in my own little way.”
“Dude, I’ve been telling you that for years,” he said with disgust.
I shrugged. “I guess I wasn’t listening. You aren’t as pretty as she is. When she said it, it meant something.”
“It meant something when I said it,” he protested.
“You sound like a jealous lover,” I warned him.
“You are changing the world. If you can figure out this rudder