AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I think you’ve got a good list of ideas in place to start with,” Wynn says. He looks just like his father, only a couple decades younger. He and I have always gotten along well because of our more serious personalities, but the difference is that Wynn is now married and aboard the Set-Seth-Up train. I’ve been trying to get off that train at the station for years now. “A lot of times it’s best to start—after making sure everything’s secure, of course—and then ideas will come as you go. I did want to mention that, if you do want a porch, you’ll probably have to build new. From what I saw when I stopped by there yesterday, the porch is done for.”
“The steps aren’t even there anymore,” Luka says. “Oh, and the doorknob is broken too.”
Wynn chuckles. “I noticed that. Nothing a little elbow grease can’t fix. Honestly, you guys have a prime location for when they want to resell the property. If the house passes inspection, I don’t think you could ask for a better house to renovate.”
“And you have a good view while you’re working,” Marshall adds. “Shoot, if you get hot, jump in the lake. They’re forecasting hot temps this summer, so you should dry off quickly.”
Have I mentioned that Marshall is the spontaneous one here? The fact that he and Jess got married hardly a month after he proposed is a prime example. Granted, he did come to me to ask permission before proposing and I guess they could’ve eloped, so I’m not mad about it. Plus, they’ve known each other for most of their lives, which is why I willingly gave Marshall my full permission.
I just cannot fathom being quite so spontaneous. I like things planned and laid out.
“Well then, that probably about wraps this up.” Wynn closes his notebook, sliding his pen into the spiral binding, and leans back in his chair. “Does anyone have any questions?”
“I, um…” Mazzy pauses and glances down at her clasped hands, then back up. “My dad…he doesn’t know I’m doing this. And I don’t want him to.”
This is news to me. I knew he wasn’t around when I spoke to her, but I assumed she’d tell him. But if she doesn’t want him to… “He doesn’t have to know right now,” I tell her. “Why don’t you stay a couple minutes after we’re done so we can talk about it, okay?”
For the first time, I see a crack in Mazzy’s otherwise stony façade as she gives a quiet nod.
“What if I don’t have gloves or anything to wear for the work?” This is from Alessia, and she pokes her glasses up on her nose.
“My wife and I will see to it that you each have the proper boots and gloves,” John says before I can answer. “I told Seth to give each of you my phone number, so text me your shoe and glove sizes, and we’ll get them. If any of you ever need something, please get in touch with Seth or Jenna or me. I can’t promise we’ll be able to necessarily fix everything, but don’t hesitate to ask for help. Trying to do it all on your own is one of the worst things you can do. Got it?”
Colin rolls his eyes, which doesn’t please John if the look he sends the kid is any indication, but the other three teens just nod. Maybe I ought to hand this project over to John entirely if he’s going to be so good at it. If not for the fact that I’m a little too invested in helping these kids succeedandJohn has a wife and family and business, of course. I’m just happy to have him help us when he can.
After I promise to get the inspector lined up and text the group after I hear from him, the meeting is officially over. Colin’s the first to go—quickly, and without saying a word to any of us—followed by Alessia and then Luka. I considered asking to speak with Luka after Mazzy because I feel like something’s bothering him, but I really need to get back to the station, so I refrained. There’ll be another time.
Wynn and Marshall hang around only a few minutes longer before they head out, leaving only John, Jenna, Mazzy, and myself. A part of me wants to speak to Mazzy alone because I don’t know how much she’ll say with an audience, but I also would like John to hear anything she does say, and she seems more comfortable with Jenna present.
“So. Your dad doesn’t know about this.” I’m cautious in how I choose my words, unsure of how she’ll respond. If I know anything about dealing with situations like this, it’s to approach them with the least accusation possible. “Is there a specific reason you don’t want him to know?”
Mazzy shakes her head emphatically, and I already can sense her guard raising. “No! I mean, he just has a lot on his plate and stuff, so I don’t want to bother him or anything.”
John leans back in his chair, clearly deliberating over what he wants to say. I can always appreciate when a person measures their words carefully. Because though words can’t physically inflict damage on their own, they can easily be one of our most powerful tools. Both positively and negatively, depending on how a person wields them.
“I don’t want to toss around any accusations or assumptions here,” he says slowly. “But if your father is abusive in any way, physical or verbal, it would probably be wise for us to know. Not to do anything right now—unless he does get physically harmful—but so you can A, have a safe place to go if you ever needed to, and B, so Seth can monitor things. Especially if your father doesn’t know about this project.”
“I should’ve known.” Mazzy shakes her head with a mirthless laugh as she scoots back, the legs of her chair scraping against the hardwood floor and swings her backpack onto her shoulder as she stands. “All you care about is finding the wrong that people do! And what, since I was a part of the group who vandalized Dairy Dock last year, I’m on yourwatchlistor something? It wasn’t my fault!”
“Mazzy, hold on a second.” I start to stand, but John gives a firm shake of his head.
“Let her go,” he advises, his voice low. “Trust me. She likely won’t talk right now, and it’s not worth upsetting her more. Give her some time to cool off, and when you feel the time is right to bring it up again, go ahead. I just know that help is rarely properly received when the recipient is unwilling to listen.”
A part of me wants to go after her anyway, but I know he’s correct, so I force myself to sit back down. My gaze does follow Mazzy as she gets in and slams her car door, then takes off down the street. Something John said clearly struck a nerve, which puts my senses on high alert. I’ll be driving by the Young household sometime later today.
“You picked a good group of teens, Seth,” John says, as if he can sense me second guessing myself. “I think all of them will somehow benefit from this project. That said, my best advice for you is to keep the personal questions at a minimum. The less intrusive you are, the more likely they’ll trust you. I probably shouldn’t have been so blunt with Mazzy just now, but it did provide an indirect answer.”
I nod. “I agree.”
“I did want to mention that it’s also a good idea to find any possible common ground that you can with them.” John gestures to Jenna. “For instance, Alessia is interested in sketching. It may or may not give you insight into her life, but if she feels comfortable with a topic or similarity, chances are she’ll find you more relatable. I’ll be honest with you, those kids probably have the two of you up here—” he holds his right hand up in the air, his left one lower as if mirroring a shelf “—and themselves down here. That’s not to say their perceptions of you are valid because they’re not, but that’s part of the reason Mazzy just left like she did. Part of building trust comes from both parties putting in the effort and part of it comes from realizing that, though we’re all a little bit different from the other, we’re all also a little bit the same. Once they realize they’re not better than you and vice versa, you’ll see a shift in their accountability and trust. Or, for someone like Colin, he might think the opposite—he’s up there and you’re down below. I’ll be blunt with you—he needs to be knocked off his damn high horse. If he were my son, I can tell you I wouldn’t tolerate the attitude. Cockiness was one of my biggest pet peeves when I was a cop. It still is, as you can see, but I just can’t grasp how some of the guys I dealt with could be so cocky when they weren’t going to get away with whatever they were scheming. Of course, it did make it a little more satisfying when we caught them.”
I release something between a laugh and a scoff. “Yeah, well, that makes two of us. I can tell you nothing has changed since you were on the job. If anything, I think it’s gotten worse because of social media and the fact that they can do things so much more easily than back then.”
“I don’t have social media, but I don’t have anything against it if it’s used properly. Ember’s been able to build a decent following for the inn on whatever social platform it is that she uses, and I like that she gets creative with pictures and stuff.” John pushes back from the table and eases to his feet, slipping his hands into the pockets of his jeans, speaking of his youngest daughter with a tenderness he really does reserve for Ember. “After you get the inspector out there, it’ll probably be time to get everything out of the house. Let me know what day you’re planning to do it and I’ll round up a few extra volunteers. Never hurts to have some extra hands, especially for the furniture.”
“I’m really not looking forward to that part, but yes, that’ll be next,” I say. “I’ll let you know. Oh, and I don’t expect you to pay for the gloves and boots. I can handle it.”
John shakes his head. “Nope. We’ll take care of it.” He turns to Jenna, his smile best described as kind and paternal. When I didn’t have my father in my life, John was there. I can’t tell you how many times he just came and sat next to me on the porch after he’d get home from work. Not to talk, just to sit there. Or when he’d find me on the dock behind the inn after school and we’d skip rocks over the lake’s surface as he told me about something he did that day. I’m not sure he knows because I’ve never directly told him, but he’s the main reason I became a police officer. And if Jenna would give him the opportunity, I think he’d extend that kind of relationship to her, just like Jackie would as a mother-figure. “As always, Jenna, it’s nice to see you. Sometime you should bring the kids up to the inn. My wife always has a goodie ready—especially with Jess’s kitchen right next door—and we have an area with easy access into the water for them to swim. Or, if we’re not busy, we can take a boat ride, too.”
