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Mateo flashed a guilty grin, looking relieved. “Still, I know I can come off a little intense sometimes.”
She held up her thumb and finger an inch apart. “Little bit. But we love you anyway.”
“That reminds me. I have something for you.” He reached down and pulled open a drawer of the big wooden desk.
“For me?”
He pulled out a rectangular package wrapped in plain brown paper. “Just a little something to say thanks for last weekend and all your help with Hope.”
She took the package from him, the thoughtfulness brightening her mood. “Thanks.” She stared at it for a moment, letting the warm glow of being appreciated wash over her before she flipped it over to unwrap it at the seam.
“Excuse me, Mateo. Do you have a second? I think we found the problem with that pump. You want to come see while we’re able to replicate it?”
“Yes.” Mateo popped out of his chair and headed for the door. “The big-boy job strikes again. Do you mind?”
“Not at all. I was heading out anyway.” She held up the package. “Thanks again for this.”
After he disappeared, she sat there in the quiet office for a second. It felt different without Grant in it. The framed family picture of him, Claire, and their parents that had sat on top of the filing cabinet was gone. The ballcap with his college logo that had always hung around the armrest of his chair wasn’t there. The wrappers from whatever lunch he’d eaten at his desk had been cleared away.
And, as if to rub it in, he hadn’t even been here for the exam.
She hugged the brown-paper-wrapped gift to her chest. “Time to get off,” she said aloud and stood.
She drew in a deep breath and took one more luxurious moment to burn every last detail of this place, of her time here, into her memory. And then she turned and walked away.
Chapter Twenty Three
Two more days. That’s allGrant could think when he pulled into the nearly empty parking lot Thursday evening. He turned off the engine and sat there for a second, staring at the entrance to the place he’d worked and lived for the past seven years. The place he’d considered his second home since the day he’d been born. It was strange to think he’d be leaving it in two days.
Of course, he’d left this place before. Plus, he’d come back with every intention of leaving again. He knew in his gut that this was not where he was meant to spend his forever. But he couldn’t get past the feeling that he was leaving more behind this time.
Regardless, it was time to go. He grabbed the bag of supplies he’d gotten in case he had to make any emergency repairs during the three-day sailing trip he andDream Catcherwould be taking from Emerald Cove to St. Pete, and climbed out of the truck.
Don’t get him wrong. He was beyond excited about the new job and all of the possibilities that lay ahead. This was the right decision. He knew it. But that didn’t mean that he was going to miss this place any less.
Feeling nostalgic, he decided to walk through the dark gift shop and office area to get to his boat instead of the faster route of walking through the side gate that led directly to the dock. He wanted to soak in every last second.
As expected, the gift shop was dark and empty, with only the fish in the tank on the wall making any sort of movement. He strolled through it, taking in the interactive displays they’d installed a couple of years ago and the new, revamped merch section they’d redone last spring. Molly was right. The plain front exterior didn’t do justice to the thriving education and rehabilitation experience that happened inside these walls. Perhaps they should earmark funds to do something about that.
Correction: perhapsClaireandMateoshould do that.
He made a mental note to mention it tomorrow and sped up his pace. He pushed through the door from the gift shop into what he was expecting to be the dark hall of the business side of the building. Only, to his surprise, the hall wasn’t completely dark. There was a thin ribbon of light coming from the office side. Either all the lights hadn’t been turned off, or someone was working well past quitting time.
He pushed the door open to check it out and instantly heard voices coming from his old office. Not just any voices, two familiar voices, and he strolled through the cubicles toward them.
“It’s after eight. What are you two still doing here?” He leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms over his chest, giving his father-knows-best look to Mateo and Claire.
Claire glanced up from the folders in her lap, tiredness pulling on her features. “You forgot to tell us how long all this stuff would take.” She motioned to all the papers in her lap and spread out on the desk in front of her.
“Rule number one, it always gets easier on the other side of the learning curve.” He knew something about that from his own experience. “And rule number two, all of this will be here in the morning. Go home.”
“I know, but—” Mateo started, but Grant held up a hand to stop him.
“No buts. There will always be one more thing. If you don’t find a place to stop, you’ll never leave.” He reached over and closed a couple of the file folders that were open on the desk. “You two have got this. There’s nothing here you haven’t done before. It’s time to call it a day.”
Mateo leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples. “All the numbers were starting to run together.”
Claire pulled out her phone and let her thumbs fly across the keyboard. “And Lance texted me not long ago that he made dinner. If I leave now, maybe it’ll still be reheatable.”
