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Phil’s eyebrows rose above his sunglasses. “Odd choice.”
Wes shrugged. “I don’t know. I had originally thought so, too, but I’m starting to think Dove knew exactly what she was doing leaving it to Sarah. She’s upgrading it to be competitive in the tourism market, and now she’s planning to stick around a few more weeks to host a reopening event.”
A development he hadn’t at all expected. Her announcement that day was one he didn’t exactly hate. Marissa was ecstatic, but he’d almost been hoping she’d be leaving soon so he could shake off this unexpected attraction to her and get on with life.
Yet, some part of him was happy she was sticking around a bit longer, even if he was determined not to act on his attraction. “For someone outside her comfort zone, she’s kinda killing it,” he said.
“Uh-oh,” Phil said, studying him, one hand shielding the sunlight from his eyes.
“What?”
“Something going on there?”
His buddy had always been perceptive. “Nah…she’s just an old friend.” One with delicious lips and a rocking body. He took a swig of beer. “And Marissa’s really taken to her…the whole computer technology thing has bonded them, I guess.” He paused. “She’s actually spending the weekend there with Sarah,” he said as casually as possible.
But Phil’s warning, knowing look had him even more uneasy. “Be careful, buddy.”
Be careful…Why did it feel like that warning was coming a little too late?
Chapter Twelve
Empty ice cream bowls, pop cans, and bags of Doritos littered the desk in the den between their laptops, and they hadn’t changed out of their pajamas all day. If she was being completely honest, it had been one of the best days Sarah had had in a long time.
“This app is incredible. I can’t believe your dad won’t use it,” Sarah said, her mouth full of Doritos as Marissa displayed the features and functionality of the coaches’ app she’d developed. Sarah had helped her fine-tune a few things that day, and they’d uploaded it to the app store under a new account Sarah created for her a few hours ago. It was linked to her bank account for now, but she’d talk to Wes about transferring it to Marissa’s once he got back.
“He says his paper and pen are more reliable,” Marissa said, dipping her finger in her empty ice cream bowl and then licking the melted chocolate sauce.
“Well, they can’t be hacked, I guess,” Sarah said.
Over her career, she’d met a lot of technology resisters. People like Wes who were reluctant to get on board with online trends or systems that could make their life easier. For most it was fear of change, and for others it was the inability to learn something new. Sarah suspected that with Wes, it was the former. He liked consistency and routines. He trusted things he could rely on. But if he gave this app a chance, she knew he’d quickly appreciate the efficiency.
“He doesn’t like technology because he says no amount of science and technology was able to save my mom,” Marissa said quietly.
Sarah’s stomach lurched. This was the first time Marissa had mentioned Kelly or her illness, and she wasn’t exactly sure what to say. She’d let Marissa lead. If she wanted to talk about it, Sarah would listen. “I can see how he could feel that way,” she said gently.
Wes and Marissa had been through the unimaginable, losing a wife and a mother. Sarah wouldn’t even pretend to know how hard that must have been. And it could be easy to lose faith in medical advances and technology when they hadn’t worked to save the most important person in their lives.
Marissa sighed. “I was little, so I don’t remember a lot about it, but I remember how sad Dad was all the time.”
Sarah nodded. “I was very sorry to hear about it.”
Marissa crunched on a chip and looked pensive for a moment before asking, “Did you know my mom?”
Sarah nodded as she curled her legs under her on the chair. “We had different friends in school, but we had some classes together, and she was on the debate team with me. I remember her personality the most. She was as vibrant as her red hair.” Kelly was fiery and bold and brave. Everyone liked her. It was impossible not to—she had a magnetic personality. Her presence lit up a room, and she was kindhearted and nice to everyone.
“People say I look like her,” Marissa said.
“You do. So much,” Sarah said, reaching out to brush a strand of the little girl’s hair out of her face. “But I see a lot of your dad in you, too.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Mainly your facial expressions, and of course your smart-assery,” she said with a grin.
It made Sarah feel good that Marissa trusted her, but it also made her slightly uneasy. They were getting close, and she’d miss her when she left town and went back to L.A. Leaving after high school had been easy, and she’d been so busy in college and then working to prove herself in a male-dominated industry that she hadn’t paused long enough to acknowledge any void of personal connections she had in her life. She maintained her friendships with Whitney and Jessica as best she could, but even those had started to slide. Being back here was making her realize that maybe she was missing out on some things. Important things.
“So you said you needed my help with your work. What’s up?” Marissa asked, suddenly all business.
Sarah grinned. “Well, I’m kinda stuck and I’m hoping your perspective as a nine-year-old can help. You use apps all the time, so if you could have an app that did anything, what would it be?”
