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“How do you do that? How do you…win a woman over, I guess. For good, or at least for…something more than just sex.”
“It’s not rocket science,” he replied. “You just show an interest in them. Show them that you care. Do nice things to make their lives a little easier. Talk to them and ask them about what they’re thinking. If it’s meant to be and the chemistry is there, the work pretty much gets done for you as long as you’re a decent, considerate person towards them.”
“Pfft, easy for you to say,” I grumbled. “Have you met Lana? You can do everything right, and she’ll still find some reason to go off on you.”
“Then maybe I can’t help you here. You’re a different kind of guy, so you go for a different kind of woman than me,” he suggested.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
He winced. “Ah, come on, Keith. Don’t act like you have no clue what I’m talking about. You like a challenge because it’s exciting. Lana is giving you a run for your money. She always has, and you’re not used to being told no. What you really need to be asking yourself is, once she stops running, are you still going to be into her?”
I stared off at the lake water rippling in the breeze, shaking my head and wondering just how I came to be known as such a player. Okay, maybe I knew the answer to that. Sure, I couldn’t blame anyone for thinking those things about me…given my reputation. But was there no chance at redemption? The scarier thing I wondered was…what if Derek was right? What if I hadn’t changed at all, and the minute Lana gave into her feelings for me for longer than one night, I lost all interest?
I turned around and leaned against the railing, watching her through the open doors and windows of the marina lobby. She spread her hands across the work table and studied all her notes and plans intently. A strand of her light blonde hair fell in front of her freckled cheek. Her fingers curled gracefully to tuck it back behind her ear, revealing those stormy blue eyes that I was so fond of. My eyes drifted down her body, and I was hit with the flashing memories of the night we ran back into my place, out of the rain. It was unlike any hook-up I had ever experienced with a woman. It just felt different. She was different. How could I ever forget that enough to lose interest?
The problem was…if Derek was right, Lana’s heart could get broken. I would be the world’s biggest jerk for breaking through her walls, only to retreat and make her worst fears come true. Was that a risk I could take?
“Keith, I hate to interrupt our little brotherly bonding session over your disaster of a love life, but I really do need to talk to you about something.”
“Yeah, alright. What is it?”
“Come with me,” he waved.
I followed him down to the edge of the water, but I was still half-distracted as he started to talk. He rambled on, saying something about bigger boats and low tide. I didn’t really perk up to pay attention until he mentioned people around town already complaining.
“There’s a lake just outside of town, near the lumberyard. The other day, I heard Russell and Jim saying they were going to fix up their boats, but dock them there instead. If we don’t get this straightened out, we’re going to start losing business before we’ve even had a chance to open.”
“What do we do?” I asked.
“We have to pay to have this dredged out. We’re looking at about five acres all the way around that needs to be worked on.”
I cringed, afraid to ask my next question, but knowing I had to. “And how much is that going to cost?”
He whistled. “At least three-hundred grand. The lake’s changed a lot since granddaddy started this place, you know?”
It felt like the wind had been knocked right out of me, leaving me speechless for a moment. Before I could gather my thoughts or words, Lana’s voice appeared.
“Everything okay?” she said, staring down at us from the dock. “I saw you two talking…and it looked like there was a problem. Is there anything I should know?”
I glared at him, not wanting to break the news. But it wasn’t something we could hide from her. It was her marina, too. Derek shot me a knowing nod, then braced himself to break the news to her.
“How could we have missed something like this!?” she fumed when he was done.
“It’s been a long time since anyone around here has done this kind of work,” he defended. “Even if they had caught it sooner, it would have been the same story…just on a different day. We were going to have to face this regardless, whether it was day one or now.”
“Yes, but if it had come up during the planning stages, I could have considered the options before sinking so much money into this place!” she argued. “Do you realize what a disaster this is? Or am I the only one who bothered to read the budget and scope of this build? We can’t afford to be set back by hundreds of thousands of dollars. We won’t be able to afford the payroll for the workers!”
I chewed the corner of my mouth, racking my brain for some way to salvage this. Derek’s advice lingered in my mind. Do nice things to make their lives a little easier. Granted, the gesture I was considering didn’t just make Lana’s life easier, it saved my ass and the whole project too. But the added benefit of maybe working my way into her favor was definitely worth a lot.
“We can put all Mullins Construction projects on hold,” I suggested. “Me and the guys will take over for the crew. They’re less expensive, and I’m…well, I’ll work for free. We’ll try to speed up the construction so by the time the dredging is done, we’re ready to open and start making money.”
Lana thought it over with careful consideration. “I could invest more into the plans for the grand opening, and we could try to reserve as much as possible in advance. Especially if we opened at least a month early and caught the rush of tourist season. But…Keith, that’s putting a halt on your entire business, not to mention all of your income. And it still might not be enough to pay your guys.”
“I have a little saved up,” I told her. “Not a lot. But I have an old car I can sell and some other things I can move around. I’ll find a way to make it work.”
Derek, always the responsible one, was usually dead set against any kind of bold or rash financial decisions. So I was surprised when he chimed in and said, “Granddad had put aside some money for repairs on the house. But it only seems fair that the money counts for repairs on this place, too. I can pitch that in along with some of my own savings. If we put it all together, we just might pull this off.”
“You two would seriously put that much on the line for this place?” Lana asked.
