Chapter 27
Dylan
Kole was over again, using his day off to help Dylan renovate the gazebo on his property’s point.
This time he had come without Boone. Their somber friend had been picking up some shifts part-time, working as security for the large outdoor concert venue in Virginia Beach.
He told them there was some big country music artist performing there that night that he was pulled to work for, so he begged off the manual labor.
Dylan and Kole worked on securing the frame to the base of the gazebo as well as rebuilding the stairs. The wood from the original structure had all been dry-rotted, and Dylan’s leg had almost gone through a step when he gingerly climbed a few to test them. As if he needed another leg injury.
Earlier in the year he had mapped the schematics of the gazebo, measuring the space between the columns and the height of the roof. He’d torn it all down, ripped out board after board until all that remained was an empty spot on the ground. It was a blank canvas for him to use.
Now he was rebuilding, plank by plank, until it would match the old one perfectly.
To him, this was the most important part of the restoration.
When their moms became single moms, the owner, Mr. Walters, had stepped up and watched them so their moms could go to work or have some time to themselves.
The gazebo had been Kelsi’s favorite spot.
He remembered them sitting under here, side by side, passing Capri-Suns back and forth on hot summer days as children.
She’d said every time that it was very nearly the most romantic place in the entire county, and all it was missing was a string of fairy lights.
He smiled fondly at the memory, looking at the framed structure in front of him and imagining how it would look completed, freshly painted and lit by small bulbs.
What would Kelsi think if she saw it? If she knew that he had bought this house, where they’d spent so much time together as children?
His smile faltered. Would she like it? Hate it? Think he was a crazy-obsessed stalker?
Kole’s voice broke through Dylan’s reverie as he paused his hammering and called over, “So, what’s the update on your progress with Kelsi?”
Dylan focused on the board he was currently hammering, sparing Kole a brief glance before responding, “We’re friends again, I think.
” He shrugged, setting the hammer aside for now.
“She’s hard to get a read on. Every time I think we take a few steps forward, it feels like she throws a wall back up between us.
” He looked out over the creek, the water sparkling in the summer sun.
“I don’t know what I’m doing, man. I thought this whole time that she broke my heart for no reason, but the way she acts around me, it’s like she doesn’t fully trust me.
I don’t know what happened to get us to this point. ”
He looked at Kole again to find his friend watching him seriously for once.
“I think that if you two are going to make any progress here and move past the baggage you both so clearly carry, you have to actually talk to each other. Get everything out in the open until you both have the full picture.”
Dylan blinked, shocked at the sound advice his playboy friend passed on.
“That sounds great in theory, but whenever I try to talk to her about anything serious beyond the case, she clams up. She’s only given me a few details here and there about her ex.
” The reminder that she had an ex-fiancé had Dylan putting a little too much behind the swing of the hammer, sending a couple splinters up around the head of the nail.
Kole snorted at him, back to his typical demeanor. “Dude, do you need some pointers? My offer to come up with a game plan for you still stands.”
Dylan threw a damp rag at him that he’d been using to mop up his sweat all day. Kole only caught it and used it to swipe at the sweat on his bare chest before tossing it aside.
“I don’t think the man who can’t stay with a girl for more than one night is the person I want to take relationship advice from.” Dylan picked up his hammer and moved to the next plank, hammering the nails to fix the board to the support beam below.
“That is by choice, man, not lack of game. I don’t have what it takes to be in a committed relationship.
Plus, it wouldn’t be fair to the ladies to deprive them of all this.
” He gestured up and down his body. “But keep in mind, I could be an invaluable asset to you. I have a unique understanding of the female mind.”
“Kole,” Dylan spoke in a dry tone. “No, man. I promise you if I’m desperate, I’ll send out a bat signal, okay?”
Kole narrowed his eyes and pointed his hammer at him. “I will hold you to that.”
“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t,” Dylan replied, serious about it in a way that surprised him.
But, really, if it meant he’d have his Red back, he’d do just about anything.
Kole’s advice may be a last resort, but he’d take it if he needed to.
He looked around him, imagining the space when finished and Kelsi’s expression seeing it for the first time.
He allowed himself a small smile and indulged in the fantasy before he went back to work.