Alyssa stepped forward as if presenting herself to Cody. “I’m Alyssa.”
He extended a hand, which she dutifully shook, and Louisa willed her friend not to say anything else that would embarrass her.
“Most people call me Ally.”
Cody nodded, then looked down at their hands. Alyssa seemed to have no intention of letting go.
“I’m Lou’s friend. We met in college. I tutored her in economics. She’s told me about you. Not just about today, but before today—”
“Ally,” Louisa cut her off. “Don’t you need to go help Maggie?”
Ally looked stunned for a quick second, then finally let go of Cody’s hand and walked into the kitchen.
“Sorry about that,” Louisa said.
“I really can’t stay,” Cody said.
“Good luck telling Maggie.”
A conflicted expression washed over his face.
“Sit down, Cody.” Maggie was back, this time carrying a glass of iced tea. “I had to get good tea while I was out because Louisa never remembers to buy it. And you can’t have a well-stocked kitchen without good tea.”
He reached out and took the glass, then did as he was told.
It was strange to see, really. Cody had never been much for rules or taking orders. Why would someone like that choose a career in the Coast Guard? And why wasn’t he the guy in charge by now?
“I suppose you’re here to do some damage control,” Maggie called out as she walked back to the kitchen.
“Ma’am?”
She popped her head out and shook a spatula in his general direction. “If you call me ma’am one more time, I will swat your backside with this and don’t think I won’t.”
Cody almost smiled at that. Almost.
It was enough of a teaser to convince Louisa that the only thing in the world she needed to see to die happy was a genuine smile from Cody Boggs, though she had a feeling that would be hard to come by.
He was still every bit as icy toward her as she expected him to be.
Dumb mistakes. Can I just get a do-over?
“I’m wondering if they brought you in to do damage control since that boy almost drowned.”
Cody faltered, clearly unaware of what Maggie was talking about.
Was it triggering to work around people who drowned or nearly drowned? Did it bring back all the unwanted memories she’d been working so hard to bury all these years?
If I could just get him to forgive me, maybe then I could move on.
Maggie was in the doorway again. “Kid’s name is Jackson Wirth. He’s seventeen or so.” She paused. “They didn’t tell you about this when you got here?”
“I’ve only been here two days,” he said. “They haven’t had a chance to tell me much of anything.”
Maggie straightened. “Were you even on duty when you found our girl out there in the water?”
Cody pressed his lips together. “No. The guys were showing me the rescue boat. We were doing an equipment test when someone called it in.”
“Someone spotted her out there?” Maggie asked.
“Someone spotted something,” he said. “They weren’t sure what it was.”
“It was me,” Louisa groaned miserably.
“Yeah, we got that.” Maggie sounded annoyed. “Good thing you saw her.”
“We almost didn’t,” he said. “We were just about to turn around when I—”
Louisa remembered her prayer. She needed a miracle. God had brought her Cody. Maggie was right—luck had nothing to do with it.
“When you what?” Ally asked.
“When we noticed something red in the water.”
“See, Lou?” Ally said. “It is a good thing you have red hair after all. Aren’t you glad you didn’t dye it?”
“Not my hair, Ally,” Louisa said dryly. “My paddleboard.”
“Oh.” She disappeared into the kitchen.
Maggie laughed. “An equipment test. Isn’t that just like Jesus?”
Cody’s eyes found Louisa’s, but she couldn’t hold his gaze. Suddenly the magnitude of what he’d done weighed heavily on her. I could’ve died. If he’d turned back one second earlier. If he’d given up on seeing anyone out there in the water. If he’d been less attentive or meticulous—she wouldn’t be alive today.
Her heart sank.
“Food’s ready,” Ally called.
“All right,” Maggie said. “Let’s eat at the table like civilized humans, shall we?” She got up and returned to the kitchen.
Cody stood. Louisa knew she should follow suit, but the heaviness of the realization had pinned her in place.
“You okay?” The concern in his voice unnerved her.
Quickly she shook the thick cloud away and forced a smile. “’Course.” She didn’t need anyone else fussing over her. Hadn’t she caused enough drama for one day? She’d sort through the mess of emotions later, when she was alone and there was nobody to bother.
Or not. She could just as easily sweep them away under a mental rug somewhere with all the other pesky emotions she’d prefer not to entertain.
Louisa swung her legs around to the side of the sofa and put her feet on the ground. “You ready for this?”
He seemed to not want to speak to her, but that would be rude, and she knew he hadn’t been raised to be rude.
“I’ll be fine.” He stopped beside the couch and reached out a hand in her direction.
She stared at it like it was a foreign object, then realized he meant to help her up. He was still thinking of her as an invalid, as a person who’d nearly drowned.
Little did he know that if her legs were wobbly and her heart gave out, it would have nothing to do with her accident that morning and everything to do with him. She’d keep that to herself.
She slipped her hand in his and allowed him to help her up. It didn’t escape her, the way it felt to touch his skin, to feel the warmth of him so close to her.
But once she’d found her footing, he took a step away, to let her go in front of him. It was politeness that caused him to offer her his hand—of course it was.
Yet the simplicity of it made her wish it had been something more.
That was something she had no right to feel, and she knew it.
CHAPTER SEVEN
CODY DIDN’T WANT TO SIT across the table from Louisa and smile and eat lobster rolls and pretend everything was fine.
But here he was.
Maggie bustled around the table the same way he always remembered her doing. It seemed impossible for the woman to sit still. She poured drinks. She fetched extra napkins. She piled freshly made potato chips onto their plates even though nobody was asking for seconds. She mothered. It was what she did.
Maybe that’s why his insides had twisted into a tight knot. He didn’t want to be mothered. Not by his own mother and certainly not by Maggie. Cody had become the one who took care of things. That was his role. He didn’t need anyone else looking after him.
Louisa’s hair had darkened to a deep auburn, a color you didn’t see often and one that only made her blue eyes look bluer. If he sat here too long, he’d get lost in them and convince himself everything really could go back to the way it used to be, back when he was young and foolish and impulsive.