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"You should have done a little homework before you came to us," Burke told Aiden.
"I just came up with the idea. Give me a break."
"Why doesn't Dad buy the boat?" Drew asked.
Aiden shrugged. "Lynda gets seasick, so it doesn't really work for them, but it could work for us. Burke, don't you remember that summer we raced in high school? It was a blast. There are a bunch of regattas coming up this spring. We could be racing by May. Wouldn't you like to breathe some fresh sea air for a change?"
"How do you have money to buy a boat?" Burke asked. "Isn't every spare dime going to your wedding?"
"Sara's dad is taking care of the wedding expenses. He's compensating for being a lousy father for most of her life," Aiden replied. "And I have enough cash saved to invest in this boat, if we go three ways."
"You do?" Burke asked, a skeptical note in his voice. "Last I looked you didn't have a job."
"I've been working for Uncle Kevin doing construction," Aiden replied, irritation in his eyes.
"And that's what you're going to do now? That's going to be your career? You're a firefighter, Aiden. If you don't want to be a smokejumper anymore, you can work here in the city."
"I don't know if I want to fight any kind of fire anymore," Aiden replied. "But let's put my career choices aside for the moment. I have the money. I think you both do as well."
"What about the rest of the family?" Drew asked. "Maybe someone else wants to go in—Sean, Emma."
"I think it would be simpler to keep it to the three of us. Of course, everyone else can be considered at a later date, and we'll share the boat. But it would be a nightmare to try to work with too many people on this."
"Now that I agree with," Burke said.
"Good. All I'm asking you to do today is take a look at the boat. I thought we could drive down to the marina after the party and check it out."
Burke sent him an enquiring look. "What do you think, Drew?"
"I'm not that into boats," he said.
"You're into anything that goes fast," Aiden reminded him.
That was true. He did like speed. "Does this boat go fast?"
"It will when we fix her up and get some new sails," Aiden said. "Look, there will always be reasons why we shouldn't do this, but the bottom line is that this is a great opportunity and something we can do together as brothers. How long has it been since we did anything together?"
"Probably at least ten years," Drew said. "Maybe longer." In fact, he couldn't remember the last time the three of them had teamed up to do anything.
"There you go," Aiden said.
"Maybe," Burke said with a nod. "I'll consider it after I see the boat."
"I will, too," Drew agreed.
"Great. This is going to be great," Aiden said, with a light in his eyes.
"We'll see," Burke said. "It's easy to think something will be good before you know all the facts."
"I'm optimistic," Aiden said.
"Or crazy," Burke suggested. "I'm going to see who else is here."
As Burke wandered into the living room, Drew said, "Is Sara really okay with you buying a boat, Aiden?"
"Sure, why wouldn't she be?"
"Time away from her."
"Sara can go on the boat, too. And she's not a clingy person. She's independent. She has her own life. One of the things I love about her."
"You got lucky when you met up with her again."
Aiden grinned. "I did." He grabbed a plate and perused the buffet table. "So what's good?"
"Everything," Drew said, reaching for another sandwich.
* * *
"Aiden wants to buy a boat?" Emma asked in surprise as Sara sat down on the carpet next to her. Across from them, Brandon was busy building some sort of fort with a huge bucket of blocks. He hadn't even looked up when Sara joined them. Nor had he done much to acknowledge Emma's presence in the attic playroom, but at least he wasn't playing alone.
"Yes," Sara said, drawing Emma's attention back to her. "It's your grandfather's boat."
"The Eleanor?" she asked with a frown. "He loves that boat. He used to take us out on it all the time when we were little."
