EvieHe held my hand as we made our way from one animal exhibit to the next. He was saying all the right things and smiling and was acting perfectly normal. That was what bugged me.He was too normal. He wasn’t being his usual self. I could feel him trying too hard to be the normal guy. Xander was naturally reserved, but just then, he was being very—for lack of a better word—normal.“Something to drink?” he asked with a friendly smile. That was when I knew something was definitely not okay.“Yes, please.”I stood to the side while he got in line to get the sodas. I spotted a small table in the shade and took it over. When he turned to look for me, I waved my hand to get his attention. He carried the drinks and sat down. Again, I could see there was something on his mind.“Hot?” he asked.“It’s not too bad. What about you?”“Fine.”I sipped on the soda before I decided the best way to find out what was on his mind was to ask him directly. “How are you? Like really, how are you?”He fro
EvieI wrinkled my nose. “He’s a nice guy and easy on the eyes, but perfect? That’s a stretch.”“Okay, if you keep telling me how good looking my brother is, I’m going to feed you to the lions.”My smile erupted over my face. I liked his little jealous side. I liked that he wanted me all to himself. “Speaking of, let’s go. They should be getting fed about now.”We got up, both of us carrying our sodas in one hand while we held hands. “You really are worthy,” I told him.“My dad doesn’t see it that way. Him and your dad would get along very well.”That stung. “I’m sorry.”“Don’t be. I rub people the wrong way.”“You rub me in all the right ways,” I said.“Be careful,” he warned. “I am still thinking about taking you back into the penguin palace. There were plenty of dark corners.”“I’m thinking that could be a little cold. The chill might cause some performance issues.”He slowly shook his head as his eyes raked over my body. “I could never have any issues when it comes to you. I don’t
XanderI parked my car in the massive parking lot reserved for the hundreds of dock workers. I checked my watch, wincing when I confirmed my suspicions. I was late.For the life of me, getting to where I was supposed to be on time seemed like an impossible feat. I tried and I tried but something always happened.I made my way down to the right dock and immediately spotted Charlie. He had his hands on his hips and was staring out at the massive cargo ship in the harbor. By his stance, I could see he wasn’t happy.He had called and asked me to come down and give him some ideas. Apparently, there was a ship coming in for repairs. Charlie was stumped and needed some fresh eyes on how to take care of the issue.It was my thing. The ship wasn’t one of mine, but I didn’t mind offering some advice to a friend. It wasn’t like I needed the money, so I never charged him a consultation fee. There were a few companies that I did charge because the owners or CEOs were dicks. Probably not the most p
Xander“Just checking. You are an odd duck. I never know what gets you off and what pisses you off.”“I’m not that odd. She said I’m selfless because although I didn’t go into the Marines and go kill bad guys, I am changing the world in my own little way.”“Dude, I’ve been telling you that for years,” he said with disgust.I shrugged. “I guess I wasn’t listening. You aren’t as pretty as she is. When she said it, it meant something.”“It meant something when I said it,” he protested.“You sound like a jealous lover,” I warned him.“You are changing the world. If you can figure out this rudder problem, you will not only change the world but change my life. I’ll have weekends off. I’ll get to work a normal eight-hour day. I might even get to take a real vacation.”“I don’t want to put you out of work,” I teased.He laughed, shaking his head and pointing toward the harbor. “There are a lot of old ships out there. I’ve got enough work to last me three lifetimes.”“This is true.”“It really
EvieIt was just after five when I pulled into the shopping center. I had tried to get off work earlier, but with the day off on Monday, I was swamped. I couldn’t neglect my friends. At least, that was what Nelle had said when she demanded I take part in some retail therapy. I called her to find out where she was.I walked into the clothing store she was at and quickly spotted her. “I like it,” I said as I walked up to where she was holding up a pretty blouse.“Who are you?” she asked without looking at me. “You sound a lot like my friend Evie, but I think she fell off the face of the earth.”“Ha ha. I’m sorry. I’ve been busy.”“Not too busy for your man,” she said.“Actually, I saw him Monday and that’s it. Well and Sunday, but that doesn’t count.”“You are forgiven, with one stipulation,” she said.I groaned. “What would that be?”“Have dinner with me,” she answered.I burst into laughter. “Yes. I’m free for the rest of the night.”“Good. Now, I need a skirt to go with this.”I bega
Evie“What are you going to do about your dad? You can’t let him get in the way of your happiness.”I slowly shook my head. “I have no idea. I tried to talk to him. He isn’t budging.”“Maybe try to explain to him Xander is important to you. He should understand love. He loved your mother.”The memory of his grief still tugged at my heart. “Yes, he did.”“What if that’s why he is so against you getting together with Xander?”“What? That makes no sense.”“He loved and lost, and it cut him deep. There could be a chance he doesn’t want you to experience that same kind of pain.”“Plausible, but not likely.”“Fine, then back to the original question. What are you going to do?”“I don’t know. He won’t talk to me. I’ve been calling him all week, and once again, he’s dodging my calls. He’s being very childish about all of this. It’s really pissing me off.”“He’s probably been busy writing his speech,” she said nonchalantly.“Speech? For me? I don’t need another speech from him. I’m good. He sa
XanderCharlie thought I was crazy. I probably was. He told me to come up with a way to save his ships’ rudders and I had.Well, I hoped. Maybe I did. I wasn’t sure. I was still working out the details. Right now, it was all an image in my head. I wasn’t sure how or if it was even possible to make it work out in real life.Then again, the ship designs were once nothing more than pipe dreams. I’d made that a reality. I was sure there was a way to make the rudders stronger and more effective.Charlie didn’t say it, but I knew what he was thinking. He was thinking what Marsh had thought. What my dad thought. I was crazy.He thought I was getting ahead of myself. People had been building ships for hundreds of years, and here I was, young and dumb, thinking I could change what had always been done.I got in the car, checked the time, and figured I would see if Evie was free. I doubted it, given it was a Friday night, but I was going to try anyway. There was an elderly woman selling pretty
Xander“It isn’t that he wasn’t nice. It was more about me being young and looking for a little reassuring. I don’t blame your dad for laughing at me. I was laughed at a lot back then. He was one of many.”“He didn’t tell me about the award,” she said, and I could hear the hurt in her voice.“You two still haven’t made up?”“No. He won’t talk to me. I found out about the award through my friend who saw it in the paper. I called him and he let it go to voicemail.”I reached for her hand. “I am really sorry he’s this upset with you about me. If you want us to stop seeing each other or being friends, I will totally understand. I don’t expect you to ruin your relationship with your father for me.”“No,” she adamantly said. “He is not going to get to ruin this, whatever this is.”“This is us having a good time,” I said, not sure what else to say about the situation.“Right. Exactly. It’s nothing for him to get his panties in a bunch about.”“Are you going to go?” I asked her.“No! Why woul