Salt Water Wounds (Oyster Cove #1) (12 page)

Chapter 13

I’m not about to let Perry’s ex get away with damaging her moped, so after dropping her off, I head straight to her parent’s house.
They don’t need to know about our friendship, or how I stumbled upon the information, but if she isn’t willing to tell them then someone else has to. She’s in danger, yet too damn stubborn to admit it.

I've known Mr. Perry since I was a young boy getting into trouble with the other town kids. My oldest son once got caught spray-painting the back of his restaurant.

Pulling up into his personal residence feels odd to me. We deliver daily to his business, and everyone knows I frequent the tavern, yet this is a different ordeal. I'm not trying to be a tattletale, or involve myself in Perry's personal affairs, but I've already witnessed this guy in action, so before he does something to physically harm Perry, I have to reach out to him.

He comes to the door without having to knock. I can already tell he's wondering why I'm making a personal visit to his home. "Buck, it's Saturday morning. Is there a problem with today's delivery?"

"I don't run the boat on the weekends, and that's not why I'm here. Look, it's probably none of my business, but I thought you might want to know your daughter's ex-husband is back. He got released from prison early and has been bothering your daughter for the past few days. She thinks she can handle the guy on her own, but he's the one who did this to my face. I don't trust him."

"Have the police been notified?"

"I'm not sure. She found her bike demolished this morning and suspects he was responsible."

The old man puts his hands in his pockets and looks out at the road as a car drives by. He waves to the person behind the wheel before responding. "Thanks for letting me know, Buck. I appreciate you looking out for her. My daughter is stubborn."

"Yeah, I've gathered that much." I don't want to go into detail about how we're friends. At this point I haven't had enough time to figure what's going on between us. I enjoyed being with her until I was stricken with sadness. I've never felt that way, and hated doing it in front of Perry. I know she hates me right now. Hell, I can’t blame her. I hate me too. I screwed up something nice, and didn't even apologize for it.

“She doesn’t like us to be involved in her business. May I ask how you came to know all of this?”

I put my hands in the air. “I just happened to be there when the shit went down. Do me a favor and check on your daughter today. I drove her home from the tavern. Hopefully she’s still there.”

“Will do.”

I don’t stick around for more third degree. There’s obviously a reason Perry doesn’t trust her parents, and it’s not in my nature to pry. If someone wants to tell me something I’ll wait and hear it from their mouths.

Still in the same clothes as the day before, I head home to shower and change. The boys’ head out Saturday mornings before the sun comes up, so I only have a few hours to prepare for distribution. I’d planned on calling them at first light and letting them know I wouldn’t be around, but now I’m itching to keep busy to spare myself the agony of thinking about how I ended things with Perry.

When I get to the house I notice Dane’s vehicle parked next to the twins’ shared Jeep. I haven’t seen Weston in a few days, but know if he didn’t show up for work his brother Brant would hunt him down and make sure he got his ass in gear, so I can only assume they’re out on the water together by now.

Dane is sitting at the kitchen table with one piece of peanut butter toast on a paper towel in front of him. He motions with his head before picking it up and taking a bite. “What’s up, Dad? Where you been all night?”

“What are you talking about? I was here,” I lie.

“The hell you were. I dropped by around nine and passed out in your bed. I figured you’d wake me up and send me on my way when you got home, but that never happened.”

“I was out on the Layla.”

As soon as I say it I know he believes me. The only ever time I’ve taken her out overnight is on my last anniversary. I drank a six-pack and passed out while still docked at the marina.

Dane finishes his breakfast, stands and pats me on the back once before leaving the kitchen. I wait a few minutes, leaning on the cabinets and taking in the considerable amount of cleaning Perry did the day she was over. It still smells nice, which is odd since the labs usually make the whole house reek of wet dog.

After checking the clock on the wall that says its a quarter past nine, I make my way to Bristol's room. She'll still be sleeping, though I'm not in the mood to wait this out. I've given her a couple days to get her act together and I've yet to hear the slightest apologies, so I beat on the door until she answers.

Her hair is the first thing I notice. She's put bright blue streaks throughout, making her look like an animated character instead of the beautiful young woman I know she hides from me. She rolls her eyes when she realizes it's me waking her up. "Dad, it's the weekend."

I barge right in and sit on her bed before she's able to climb back under the covers. My hands pat the spot beside me for her to sit. She crosses her arms, refusing to oblige. "Can't this wait?"

"Tattoo. Let's see it."

"I don't have one."

I hold out my hand. "Then you won't have any problem returning the money you stole from your brother."

She slams her fists downward. "I told him I'd pay him back."

"Bristol, I'm not going to ask you again. Show me the damage or else I'm going to that parlor and letting them know one of their employees is doing work on minors."

"Fine! It's my skin. Why do you care anyway?"

While I watch her lift the bottom on her shirt to reveal her ribs, I feel the need to explain. "Because you're my daughter. You're still my child."

"I'm not a kid. I'm almost eighteen."

"But you're not."

The moment I see the art, I know the significance, and don't know how I'm going to punish her. It's my late wife's initials with her birth year followed by her year of death. "See. I got it for Mom."

"Why didn't you just ask permission?"

"You would have told me to wait and I didn't want to. It was my present to her, something I'll carry with me forever."

I almost want to tear up. This is a side of Bristol I haven't seen in months. It gives me hope that my sweet little girl is still somewhere in there.

"Oh, and I'm sorry about your friend, but her son is a jerk. Everyone thinks so."

Her idea of a jerk is probably not the same as mine. Bristol tends to over-exaggerate, so I ignore the comment and go straight to another issue. “Have you told the guy with the motorcycle that you’re not to see him any longer?”

She shrugs.

I start walking out of her room. “Do it today, Bristol. If I catch him picking you up, I’m finding out where he works and having their license taken away for tattooing minors. I’m not screwing around.”

“But Dad.”

“I mean it.”

I’m still irate while at the house, and since Perry has done more work here then I’ve managed to keep up with in years, there’s nothing for me to do but sulk.

All I continue to focus on is her moped. Her smashed headlight. The damaged seat. Possible engine tampering. I know how much she enjoyed riding that around town, and how the cost of a new one would be too much for her to handle while looking for a place to live. Since I screwed up the night before, I’m obligated to do something to make it up to her, so after getting myself cleaned up and enlisting the help of Dane, we head out.

It’s right where it sat the last time I saw it. Dane, driving his big brother’s Scout so we can easily lift it inside the vehicle, hops out to access the damage, while I peer at the tavern door to see the sign displays that their open for business. I excuse myself and make my way up the few steps until I’m able to walk inside.

There’s a familiar guy behind the bar holding a clipboard. “We’re not actually open for another hour,” he says without looking up.

“I thought Perry might be here.”

He’s still focused on the paperwork as he responds. “Na. She’s off today, and from the looks of her moped probably not planning on stopping by for work purposes. I come in early to do inventory since I cover the Saturday shift already. Do you have her number? I’ve been trying to call all morning. I hope she didn’t get into an accident on her moped.”

I’ve already started to walk back out. “I saw her this morning. She’s fine. Her moped was vandalized. I’m here to pick it up and take it for repairs. Thanks for the information.”

By the time I reach the parking lot, Dane has already loaded the moped into the vehicle. I climb in and we head to a nearby moped and scooter shop. They mostly do rentals, but repair their own equipment in a back hobby station. Van Miller, a local of Wallop’s Island, a nearby community, owns and operates the business. He sees us pull up and comes to inspect the moped we’re getting out of the back.

We shake hands first, then he does the same with Dane. “What’s up, guys?”

“Dad’s lady friend had some trouble with vandals. He thinks he can impress her by fixing it up.”

Van gives the bike a quick look and recognizes the stickers Perry has strategically placed around it. “This belongs to Ally, right?”

Dane frowns like he’s confused, while I answer to clear the confusion. “Yeah, Ally Perry’s bike. That’s right. You think you can put a new headlight and seat on this for me while we wait?”

“Sure.”

“Oh, and if it’s not a lot of trouble, can you check to make sure all the brake and gas lines are in tact. I wouldn’t want it malfunctioning while she’s on it.”

“Give me an hour. I’ll take care of it for it you.”

We shake again. “We’ll grab some lunch and pick it up afterwards. Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”

“No problem, Buck.”

“You want anything from Smokey’s?” Dane asks him.

Van tells us to pick him up a pit beef sandwich before we head down the road to kill time.

We’re not even out of the parking lot before he’s on my ass. “Enough is enough, Dad. I know you’re a good person, but what’s going on between you and this woman? I haven’t seen you this interested in helping a woman since Mom was still alive. What gives? Were you really on the Layla last night?”

There’s no sense lying to Dane. He’s got his mother’s ability to read people. “I was on the Layla, but I wasn’t alone.”

His eyes light up. We could have walked to the outdoor pit beef stand, but took the twenty second drive because it was easier. “No shit? Perry?”

I don’t know why talking about her makes me nervous. I scratch my head and look in another direction when I answer. “Yeah, Perry.”

“You’re tapping that? Damn, you go. She’s hot.”

“Don’t say it like that. I’m not tapping anything.” My grin tells him I’m lying.

Dane shakes his head. “You’re totally into her.”

“She’s not into me, so it doesn’t matter. I’m going to fix her moped and then stay out of her way from now on.”

“Wait, didn’t you say you spent the night on the sailboat? Was she with you the whole night?”

“Yeah.”

“Then she said she wasn’t into you? That doesn’t make sense.”

We put in our orders and sit in the beach decorated seating and entertainment while we wait for it to be prepared. Dane’s give me a look and then finally a nudge with his foot. “Keep talking, old man. What did you do?”

“I did fine at first. We were having a fantastic time together, but afterwards I let my emotions get in the way. She stormed off the boat and basically gave me the impression that I screwed up my chance.”

“Do you like her? I mean, do you think you’re ready to move on?”

“I thought so.”

“Dad, no one said it would be easy. You’re always going to think of Mom. It’s not your fault.”

“In this instance it is. I could have been better at hiding my feelings. She thinks I regretted what happened.”

“What happened,” Dane repeats. “Whoa. So what did happen?”

I grin and make eye contact with my son. My hands are clapped in front of me as I lean forward. He’s easy to talk to, and right now I need someone to listen. This isn’t like me to open up, but I’m mad at myself and need someone to give it to me straight without ragging on me. “I think you can guess what happened. I took her out and we anchored in the bay. We had fun, and then I messed it up. End of story.”