Fisher's Light(33)

Chapter 14




Fisher

Present Day


“How does it feel to be the talk of the town? Again? Jesus, you’re mister popularity,” Bobby says with a laugh as I help him wash his gear down by the water.

Bobby runs his parents’ snorkeling and scuba hut during the summer season as well as a golf cart and bike rental business, doing so well for himself that he doesn’t need to work during the winter months. One of the perks of being friends with him is that I can dive anytime I want as long as I help him wash down all the gear when I’m finished. Bobby and I went for an early-morning dive before all the tourists woke up and it was a good way for me to clear my head. There’s nothing like being all alone, down on the ocean floor, surrounded by fish and coral with nothing but the sound of your breathing apparatus filling your ears to think about things.

“It’s not my fault this town has nothing better to do,” I complain as we move all the cleaned gear to buckets to take back to the hut for the next diving tour.

“It’s true, this place was pretty boring while you were gone,” Bobby admits.

His phone beeps with an incoming text message and he takes it out of the pocket of his cargo shorts, smiling and chuckling at what’s on the screen.

“Who’s that?” I ask, nodding towards the phone.

He looks up guiltily, wipes the smile off of his face and quickly shoves the phone back in his pocket.

“No one, nothing, it’s nothing,” he replies quickly.

“Really? It didn’t look like nothing. You giggled like a little girl,” I joke as we make our way up the beach.

“I do not giggle. I never giggle. Fuck off,” he grumbles, shoving one of the buckets up on the counter of the hut.

I put my own bucket up next to his, turn and face him with my eyebrow raised, waiting for him to spill the beans. It only takes a few seconds for him to crack.

“Fine! It was Ellie. It’s no big deal.”

I stare at him in shock and then toss my head back and laugh. “Ellie? Are you serious? I thought you couldn’t stand her. Why in the hell is she sending you text messages that make you giggle. And don’t try to deny it, you totally f*cking giggled.”

He starts unloading the equipment from the buckets and lining it up on the counter so it’s easy for the people in the tour to grab after they’ve received their instruction.

“Look, don’t make a big thing about this. I like her, okay? She’s not as big a bitch as I thought she was. She’s actually kind of sweet,” he says with a shrug.

“You are such a shitty liar,” I laugh again. “You never thought she was a bitch. You’ve been trying to screw her since the first day you met her, and you got pissed when she blew you off.”

“Of course I have. Have you seen that chick? Long, thick black hair, big blue eyes, tits that are more than a handful and an ass I want to sink my teeth into. Who wouldn’t want to screw her?” he asks.

I raise my hand.

“Well, no shit. She’s your ex-wife’s best friend. And she hates you. She’d probably cut off your dick if you got within five feet of her.”

We take the empty buckets inside the hut and stack them against the back wall.

“Let’s get back to the more important matter at hand. What in the f*ck are you going to do about Lucy? You know your window of opportunity is about ready to slam shut, right? As we speak, she is on another date with Sphincter. Sorry, I mean Stanford. I heard from Ellie that it’s a romantic picnic on the beach,” he informs me.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath, trying not to picture Lucy and Stanf*ck snuggled together on a blanket in the sand.

“I’m trying to do this the right way. I don’t want to invade her space or piss her off. Right now, I just want her to know that I’m back and I’m not going anywhere.”

“I think it’s high time you ‘invade her space’,” Bobby tells me, complete with air quotes. “Stan the Man is not about to back down. There’s talk that he wants to buy Butler House from her and she’s not really in a position to say no to him. He wants to partner with her and turn it into a resort, complete with a waterpark and spa. If they go into business together, you’ll never be able to get close to her.”

“What the hell do you mean she’s not in a position to say no to him? Why in the f*ck would she ever sell the inn? It’s been in her family for three generations and she loves that place,” I tell him, my anger on her behalf starting to grow.