Barefoot Summer Read Free Page B

thank God. A nice quiet evening with Rigsby and ESPN, a short day tomorrow, and then a day off.
    Several minutes later he turned into his gravel drive on the other side of town. The front yard was hardly big enough to host a flea, and the house wasn’t much bigger, but it was home. Had been since he was a boy. The backyard was more generous. After saving for years, he’d put up an outbuilding last year. It took upmost of the yard, but that only meant less mowing. The building was spacious, heated, and well lit. The perfect place to build boats.
    His landline was ringing as he unlocked the door. Rigsby, his black Labrador mix, barreled him over on the threshold. “Hey, big guy.” Beckett gave him a quick scratch behind the ears before reaching for the phone.
    He shrugged from his work shirt as he answered. “Yeah?”
    “Hey, Beckett. It’s Evan Higgins.” His old friend sounded winded.
    He greeted Evan as he flipped on ESPN.
    “I’m in a fix,” Evan said. “Wondered if you could help.”
    “Name it.” Evan ran a crew for Exterior Solutions. He had helped Beckett put up his outbuilding.
    “I donated sailing lessons for that auction last week, but I just found out I’m going to be working a lot of Saturdays. The crew on an apartment complex in Louisville quit, and they were way behind. Left it in kind of a mess, and the owner’s ticked. I’m headed there now to straighten it out. Long story short, can you fill in for me tomorrow . . . and maybe a few other Saturdays? Your boss donated rental of a sloop.”
    Rigsby barked, facing the back door, his black tail nearly knocking over the wastebasket as it swished around. Beckett let him out, turned on the porch light.
    “Sure, I don’t see a problem, as long as Dewitt doesn’t mind me taking time off. I can fill in as much as you need.”
    “I ran it by him first. He was happy to donate to the cause.”
    “All right then. What time tomorrow?”
    “One o’clock at the marina. Listen, I appreciate this. The package was for lessons with a racing pro, so my options were prettylimited. I think she’s a beginner, so you’ll have to start with the basics. We’re crewing together for the regatta, so teach her well.”
    Evan, saddled with a beginner. That only upped his own chances at the regatta cup. Beckett chuckled at the thought.
    Evan caught on. “Hey. No giving her bad instruction.”
    Beckett opened the door and let Rigsby back in. “No worries. I like to win fair and square. So one o’clock at the marina. Who am I meeting?”
    “One of the McKinley girls—the vet. She’s eager to learn and bright, so she should pick it up quickly.”
    His hand froze on the door. “Madison?” Her accusations from two weeks ago returned with enough force to sting. Last thing he wanted was hours alone on a boat with Madison.
    She wouldn’t be any happier about the change of plans than he was. But he’d already agreed. Why hadn’t he asked more questions first?
    “Does she know?” Beckett asked.
    “I left her a voice mail. I’m sure it’ll be fine. I mean, you’re almost as good as me.”
    Beckett ground his teeth. Well, things just went from bad to worse where she was concerned, didn’t they? First the supposed date with her sister, now this.
    “Just kidding,” Evan was saying.
    “Yeah, right, I know, I was just . . . thinking about something else.” He squeezed his eyes closed, pinched the bridge of his nose.
    He couldn’t believe this was happening. How many lessons had he agreed to?
    “Well, I’m almost there. Let me know how it goes, and thanks again.”
    “No problem.”
    After they said good-bye, Beckett set the phone on the counter and beat his forehead against the tight mesh of the screen door.
    Lessons with Madison. Great. Just great. How could he be alone with her, out on the water where he could see her, smell her, touch her?
    Why is this happening, God? I promised to stay away from her, and now look.
    For the thousandth time he chided