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It was just because he didn’t like or trust the man. That was all. He didn’t think the man had Port Serenity’s best intentions in mind and he knew Carly would see through the bullshit, but it still made him slightly uneasy. His best friend might be swayed by the man’s charm—at least for a while—and he didn’t like the idea that she might get hurt. Personally, or if the guy destroyed generations of progress the town had made.
Oliver finished hammering in the nails in the float base and stood back to examine it. At ten feet long and five feet wide, it would definitely check off Carly’s requirements for bigger and better that year. It would also require a lot more work to fill the space. After the base was handed off, Carly usually recruited some friends, including Tess, to complete the design aspect, and that year, he suspected she’d need all the help she could get.
Maybe he’d even offer an extra set of hands.
He pulled out his phone and snapped a photo of it. Opening a text to her, he attached the photo and started to type...then deleted it.
He wouldn’t interrupt her evening.
Even though he really, really wanted to.
Instead, he locked up the shed and headed into the house. His stomach growled. He hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast.
Carly must not have eaten hers. Otherwise, she would have commented about the message he’d written on the back of the receipt for her.
Too busy educating Sebastian.
“Tess! Where you at?” Maybe they could head into town for dinner...go to the diner or The Noodle Hut on Main Street. Not that he was hoping to run into Carly and Sebastian at the more popular local restaurants. He just didn’t feel like cooking that evening, that was all.
“In here!”
He followed the sound of her voice to the living room and found her tangled in Scotch tape and ribbon. “What are you doing?” A long run of Christmas-themed wrapping paper was rolled out on the floor and a large metal cage sat on it.
“Trying to wrap this for Darcy.”
“You’re giving her an empty cage?” He immediately scanned the room in case there was supposed to be something in the cage. He wasn’t a fan of rodents. Tess had been asking for a guinea pig for years and his answer was always the same.
A bighell no.
He didn’t deny her much, but the idea of having a furry little creature loose in his house gave him the heebie-jeebies.
“Relax, Dad,” she said, sensing his anxiety. “Callan and Rachel are giving her two new rabbits for her birthday and they said I could give her the cage. We only had Christmas wrapping paper upstairs, but I think she’ll think it’s funny,” Tess said, tearing off a long stretch of tape and trying to secure the paper in place.
“Let me help,” he said, entering the room now that there was no sign of a critter present. He lifted the cage so she could cover it more easily with the paper.
“Thanks,” she said, folding the ends and securing it. Then she took a long strand of red ribbon, wrapped it around the cage and tied a large bow.
“Perfect,” he said, setting it down on the table. “When’s the party?” He remembered Rachel giving her the invite the week before, but he’d been too preoccupied with the start of tourist season to pay much attention to the details.
Tess shot him an exasperated look. “I told you ten times already. It’s tomorrow.”
“What time?”
“Boat sails at noon,” she said casually, avoiding his gaze.
“Boat?” His tone was anything but casual and he didn’t even try to hide the worry in his tone.
“The party is on the family tour boat. You already said I can go,” she said, preempting any argument from him.
“Yeah, I know...” He ran a hand through his hair. He actually couldn’t remember agreeing to this. He suspected any conversation they’d had about it must have been while he was suitably distracted. But Darcy was her best friend, so there was no way he wouldn’t let her go. Though he would have preferred the party be somewhere on land, it wasn’t his call to make. “Of course you can go.”
She looked relieved. “Speaking of birthdays, what were you working on in the shed?” she asked mischievously.
He suspected she suspected he was making her something for her birthday. No doubt she’d already peeked around the shed for evidence of it. His daughter was a little snoop. Every Christmas, she found all the presents hidden for her in the closet or the attic. She’d unwrap them all and rewrap them again before Christmas morning. She had no problem ruining the surprise and she could win an Oscar for her performance.
“I was actually working on the parade float base for Carly,” he said.
His daughter’s eyes lit up. “She showed me her design. It’s going to be badass.” Her hand covered her mouth as the word slipped out.
