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Anger surged inside him, and he stood. He walked away from the computer and the beautiful woman in the picture. What was he doing? He ran a hand through his hair. Why would someone like her ever be interested in someone like him? Clearly, she’d been raised in a small town. She had roots here. She had friends.
He had Truman. And he was grateful for that, but it made him and this Lucy very different.
Irritation poured through him, and he reflected on his conversation with Lucy. She’d told him all about her problems, and that made her a perfect mark. Didn’t she know that? Didn’t she know there were people in this world who would take advantage of her?
He marched to the back of the beach house and pushed open the sliding doors he’d installed last week. He’d made the back deck nice on purpose. He bought furniture for it, although he’d re-stained those pieces before installing them. He’d put up lights for an even better ambiance.
Raine took off his shoes and then his shirt, leaving on his khaki shorts. On impulse, he went back inside to the unfinished bedroom and changed into his swimsuit, then went back to the patio. He moved off the steps and right onto the sand.
He closed his eyes. Yes. This was why he was in South Port. This was why he’d bought this dump of a house on the beach, so he could put his feet in the sand, close his eyes, let the sunshine warm his face, and let all of his angst run out of him and into the ocean.
He wasn’t the guy who saw ‘marks’ anymore. Hewassomeone else. He was a financially independent guy who was rehabbing a beach house. He was a guy who listened to the Bible and talked about getting baptized. He was a guy who had bought a motorcycle and was taking a beautiful woman on a ride tonight.
Raine opened his eyes and walked toward the water. He loved the scene in the Bible where Jesus got baptized. He loved the idea of going into water and coming out clean—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Yes, he loved thinking about how God could free him.
He strode deeper and deeper into the waves. Eventually, he let the ocean crash over him. He was different now. Things would be different here.
Chapter 5
“Hey, Matt! Could you work overtime tonight?”
Matt turned and braced himself as Zach Henley came striding over. Zach, the son of the man who owned Henley Construction, had been Matt’s boss since he’d moved to Raleigh. Matt didn’t particularly care for him. He was Matt’s age, and he’d been handed over the family business. A far cry from the way Matt had worked his butt off to build his. Unfortunately, Zach treated the company as if the other employees around him were dispensable.
Matt didn’t want to work overtime; he wanted to go home and be with Tatum. “I can’t. Sorry. I have my daughter, and she’s been waiting for me since after school.”
Zach crossed his arms. “I told you when I hired you, Matt, that I needed team players. Team players who could go the extra mile.”
“Sir,”—the man liked it when they called him sir—“I think I have gone the extra mile. I come in early. I have done excellent work. Isn’t that what you marked down on my performance review the other day?”
Zach hesitated. “I gave you good marks on your performance review because I thought you deserved a bonus, but with your behavior right now, showing you can’t be a team player, maybe you won’t get your bonus.”
Matt was still trying to pay his bills from South Port. He hadn’t wanted to let go of his place yet, and he needed that bonus. But this was his night with Tatum. The truth was, most nights were his nights with Tatum, because Charlene often called at the last minute and said she’d been called into work. And Matt was fine with that. But tonight was actually his night.
Matt sighed. “Give me a sec, Zach. Let me call my daughter’s mom and see if she can take her.”
“Fine.” Zach waved a hand, like a king might dismiss one of his minions.
Matt called Charlene, who didn’t pick up. That was typical. She always claimed it was because she was still working, but when he’d go to visit the hospital where she was a nurse, he’d often discovered she wasn’t there. Charlene would get infuriated if he confronted her about it, telling him she needed to work too, and what did he want from her? Frankly, he wanted her to do her share and do what they’d agreed: take Tatum for half the week, be a parent, and care. It wasn’t just the practical implications of sharing custody that were hard; it was the emotional toll he took from Charlene’s flakiness. Frustration had been the name of the game the past couple weeks.
If Charlene had flaked and he still lived in South Port, he would just call Lucy and she would answer.
He kicked himself for being such an idiot. He hadn’t spoken with her since he’d left almost two months ago. It’d been hard. He missed her so much. But he needed to be in Raleigh for Tatum. To try this co-parenting thing. Charlene had acted like she really wanted the best thing for Tatum, but now Matt didn’t know.
On impulse, or maybe out of desperation, he texted Lucy.Charlene flaked on Tatum. Can you talk?
He just needed someone to empathize with him. Someone to care.
She didn’t text back. He knew it was stupid, but he felt slighted. It was his fault he hadn’t talked to her since the day he’d left. And she was probably busy getting ready for the wedding and managing her boutique. Maybe she was with a customer.
Or she was purposely ignoring him.
That thought only made him feel worse. They’d left things so unfinished, and Tatum missed Lucy. Matt missed her too, though he hadn’t dealt with those feelings. He wasn’t sure he could.
His phone buzzed, and he saw a text from Tatum.Dad, when will you be home?
It wasn’t easy to be thirteen and the new kid at school. Tatum was frustrated with not having friends and seemed needier now that they lived in Raleigh. He had known it would be a hard change, but he’d determined he would make it to give Tatum the shot of having two parents around. Only now …
“Matt! Can you stay or not?”
