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CHAPTER 27
Cash
As I climbed aboard the Vitamin Sea which was anchored to the pier my nerves began coming to the surface. When I found out that Jimmy decided to have his wedding on his charter boat, I had to admit I’d been a little nervous. I wasn’t sure that Billy and I being in such a confined space with so many opportunities for a man to go overboard was really such a smart idea. Thankfully, I was a strong swimmer.
I knew that Billy and I needed to talk, but I hoped he wouldn’t make a scene on his brother’s wedding day.
I was headed straight for the bar to grab a glass of champagne when Miss Shaw stepped in front of me. “So, how was your fishin’ trip?”
“Didn’t end up goin’ fishin’.” I was sure everyone on this boat knew that Cheyenne and I had been away together.
“Ya don’t say?” she smiled. “Did you see your mama?”
“I sure did.”
“How is she doing?”
“She’s doing good.”
“Caroline, there you are. We need to get our seats.” Mrs. B waved Miss Shaw over. When she saw me she smiled. “Hello, Mr. Malone.”
“Mrs. Beasley.” I dipped my chin in a nod as Miss Shaw walked to join her friend. “Don’t you ladies look lovely today?”
Mrs. B lifted her fan to her face and began waving it. “You’re a charmer, Mr. Malone. Just like your daddy.”
Well, not exactly like him.
As I looked around the boat, I saw that there weren’t that many seats set out. Jimmy and Isabella had decided to keep the actual wedding small and then they were going to have the reception on the pier and the entire town was invited.
Since the seats were filling up, I figured I would skip the champagne and grab a seat when I felt a hand slap onto my shoulder. I knew it was Billy before I turned around because he was squeezing a little tighter than one normally would.
When I turned toward him, his arm fell to the side. From the expression on his face, he wasn’t happy to see me. I waited for him to say something, to punch me, to do anything but instead he asked, “How’s your mama? Was it good seein’ her?”
“She’s good. Yeah, it was great.”
“Cheyenne said that she’s going to try and help her, um, figure things out.”
“Yeah, she’s looking through all her old stuff.” My mom had told Cheyenne that she thought she had a picture of her father with his name on the back and she would look for it.
I wondered what else my mom had told her.
“Good. That’s real good.” Billy put his hands in his pockets, I wasn’t sure if it was because he was uncomfortable with the topic of who Cheyenne’s biological father was, or if it was a preventative measure so he didn’t fist them into balls and swing on me.
I’d never had an awkward conversation with Billy before. Neither of us beat around the bush. We meant what we said, and we said what we meant. I wished he’d just come out and say whatever it was he wanted to say, but I knew that this wasn’t the place.
“That was a pretty bad storm that blew through, glad you guys made it back safe.”
I nodded. I knew that he wanted answers to questions he wasn’t even asking. Everything he said was dripping with accusation.
“A Marissa came by the bar lookin’ for you.”
“Marissa?” I stared at him for a second, trying to place who he was talking about. I searched my memory and only came up with one Marissa that I’d ever known. “Marissa from Boston?”
For about three years in a row, I’d hooked up with a woman named Marissa. She was a high school teacher who lived in Boston who would come to Firefly Island every spring break with the senior class students as a chaperone.
Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t seen her last year. Spring break wasn’t for another month but maybe she was here early.
Billy shrugged and pulled an envelope out of his pocket. “Didn’t say where she was from but she gave me this to give to you.”
