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Willis told her the name of Hannah’s YouTube channel, which Caitlin pulled up for later. He looked over his shoulder at the inside of the restaurant, which was still running smoothly without him despite the steady trickle of customers.
“I’ve got to get back to it,” Willis said. “You should take Pearl down to Little Clams Elementary School. It’s the summer session right now, and they’ve got a lot of fun activities for someone her age.”
“Thanks for the suggestion. We’ll check it out.” Caitlin smiled.
Willis said his goodbyes to both of them and went back inside. Caitlin let her shoulders slump now that she was alone again. Willis was right—they needed to start settling in beyond unpacking. Pearl was thrilled at just about everything they’d done so far, especially going to the beach, but she needed to start making new friends. This was their home now.
Caitlin looked out onto the water, spotting Michael on his board. He was hard to miss—his height, graceful muscles, and tanned skin stood out among the other surfers. Her eyes followed him as he easily caught a wave, riding it as if it were as easy as walking down the street.
She quickly looked away when she realized she’d been staring for a while, her face heating. She shouldn’t have been looking at him like that. Her life was too all over the place to entertain any form of attraction to any man. And how could she let her attention wander so easily? It had been a year since she and James had started working toward the divorce, so it wasn’t that fresh, but still. She’d been with James since college and still couldn’t imagine herself with anyone else, even a nice, handsome surfer like Michael.
CHAPTER FOUR
Michael had been on his boat about an hour, an iced coffee within arm’s reach as he took care of some routine maintenance. The dock wasn’t busy at this hour, so he had the place more or less to himself. Some mornings he liked to listen to music, but today, the sound of the water washing up against his boat was more than enough. He hummed to himself as he checked the engine, then moved on to cleaning the exterior.
Some people balked at having a boat for this reason—the upkeep—but he found it satisfying to keep his boat in good condition. Working with his hands and moving his body was gratifying too.
The sounds of seagulls and the water washing up against the docks was interrupted by the chugging of a huge cruise ship. It docked a few rows down from Michael’s boat. The cruise ship was probably a beauty a long time ago, the kind of ship that people went on for special occasions, but it needed serious work. Just from the sputtering sound of the engine, Michael knew it needed some overhauling. And the outside was sun-worn, the paint peeling. The inside probably wasn’t much better.
A man hopped out of it once he was fully docked and waved to Michael. Michael waved back.
“That boat yours?” Michael asked.
“Nope. I’m bringing it in for Daniel Ryan,” the man said.
Michael tried to keep the disappointment off his face, but his shoulders sank regardless. This was far from the cruise ship he’d imagined when Daniel told him about it. It had good bones, but it obviously needed a lot of work just to make it presentable.
The amount of work it needed was probably way more than he’d sell it for, unless someone was willing to take it off Daniel’s hands for cheap. If they could find someone like that at all. Michael knew a lot about boats, and he guaranteed that anyone with his level of experience probably wouldn’t bother.
“Ah, that’s good to know,” Michael said. “He told me about it, but I imagined it differently.”
“Yeah, she’s a little bit beat up. Bringing her over was like traveling back in time. It hasn’t been modernized since it was built, probably.” The man shrugged, taking off his hat and running his hand through his hair.
“I guess I’ll bring Daniel the bad news, then.” Michael sighed, hopping off his boat. “If that saves you some time.”
“It does, thanks.”
The man said goodbye to Michael and headed toward the parking lot. Michael started to pack up his things, thinking of the best way to phrase the bad news. Daniel had been worried, but excited about the cruise ship, so Michael had to let him down easy and give him a realistic picture of what he was dealing with.
Michael headed into town to Sandy’s, both to break the bad news and drop off some white chocolate-covered espresso beans that he wanted them to try before he placed a big order for the coffee shop and grocery store. Daniel was almost always there during business hours.
Sandy’s was slightly busy, but not to the point where he couldn’t steal a few minutes of Daniel’s time. Sandy and their new employee were handling the check-out with ease. When Sandy noticed Michael, she waved and passed control of the check-out to her employee.
“Hey, Sandy,” Michael said.
“Hey! How are you?”
“Not bad.” He held up the white chocolate covered espresso beans. “I have some new goodies for you to try.”
Sandy’s face lit up. “What is it?”
“White chocolate covered espresso beans.” He glanced toward the office door. “I was going to talk to Daniel about the boat and give him some, but here, try a few.”
He shook a few of the coffee beans out of the bag and into Sandy’s hand, then two into his own. They popped them into their mouths and chewed. Sandy nodded.
“Those are delicious. Are the beans different?” Sandy asked.
“They are. A bit lighter.”
