Bruce Corbin drove through the open gate and Matt shoved it closed and locked it behind his stepfather’s truck.
Looking every one of his sixty-five years, Bruce climbed slowly out of his truck. His face was deeply lined from years of working outdoors. Since his brother John’s death over the winter, Bruce seemed to have aged ten more years.
“Looking good, Matt,” Bruce said, his voice raspy.
He leaned heavily on his truck, took a deep breath that moved his entire chest and gestured toward the construction area. Mounds of dirt. Holes ten feet deep. Dump trucks. Earthmoving machinery.
It was a mess.
“I love the smell of dirt,” Bruce said. “It’s the smell of something getting done.”
“Most people would think we’re not getting much done.”
“Most people don’t know diddly about building something this big.”
Do I know diddly about building something this big?
Matt leaned against the truck next to his stepdad. “It’s been slow work digging out concrete footers from the previous construction on the site.” He watched his stepfather’s face, then added, “Big footers.”
“I know what you’re talking about,” Bruce said. “It was that roller coaster my brother’s company built. I knew they were there when I bid this job.”
Although he was tempted to ask about the taboo subject, Matt saw the grief in Bruce’s expression and didn’t press him. Bruce’s congestive heart failure took more and more out of him every day, and Matt knew his mother was worried.
“We’ll have them all out in a few more days.”
“Good.”
“So we’re still on track with the project,” Matt said. “It would help, though, if some of the old blueprints were still around.”
Bruce shook his head. He drew another long breath. “Destroyed. All of them. Years ago.”
“It’s a little ironic,” Matt said, his voice quiet. “Digging up something Uncle John built and putting something new in its place.”
He was taking a huge risk. The Loose Cannon was a shadowy topic in their family, something he’d realized in subtle ways in the twelve years his mother had been married to Bruce.
The ride was a failure, but it wasn’t the construction company’s fault. Starlight Point had decided to dismantle the ride after only one season, and his uncle’s company got the contract to tear down something they’d just built. It had, according to whispered family stories, broken his uncle’s spirit and caused him to sell the company to his brother. A boon for Bruce Corbin, but Matt suspected his uncle had never been the same since. John moved thirty miles away and started a small home renovation company with a few trusted employees.
Matt hoped he wouldn’t follow in his uncle’s footsteps. He wouldn’t let this ride be a failure if he could help it. He wouldn’t let down his family, not when there was so much at stake—for Starlight Point and for himself. A success in the location of an old failure might help Bruce let go of his grief for his brother and give him hope for the future.
Bruce cleared his throat but didn’t say anything.
Matt was sorry he’d brought it up, sorry for the sorrow on Bruce’s face. He needed to change the subject or he was afraid his stepfather would cry, and tears from the venerable old man who had changed his life were not something Matt could handle.
“I’m giving this project everything I’ve got,” Matt said. “I’ll make you proud.”
Bruce laid a huge hand on Matt’s shoulder. “I know you will, son.”
“IS THIS THE best you can do on your day off? Have lunch with your brother?” Scott asked.
Caroline pointed at the windows of the employee cafeteria, which were streaked with heavy raindrops. “You’re my rainy day plan. And you usually buy my lunch, unless I’m being particularly difficult and you’re mad at me.”
“If I spring for an extra pudding parfait, will you consider my alternate career plan for you?”
Caroline rolled her eyes. This was a conversation so old it was practically scripted.
“I’m not going to become a kindergarten teacher.”
“Zoologist?”
“No.”
“Librarian?” he suggested.
“No.”
“Dog walker. And that’s my final offer.”
Caroline grabbed a handful of fries from her brother’s plate and took her time chewing them. “I’m thinking of joining the Marines. I want to work on my upper body strength.”
“No pudding parfait for you,” Scott said.
Caroline laughed. “I’ll go easy on you and be a nice safe cop instead of a marine.”
Scott cleared his throat and drew his eyebrows together. Caroline knew the expression well, had labeled it the big brother look. Here it comes.
“You know Evie and I have an extra room in our apartment downtown. In case you’d like to escape the heat in the employee dorm. You’d have your own shower. Air conditioning. A fridge full of whatever you want.”
“And the privilege of living with two newlyweds who are disgustingly in love. One of whom is my boss.”
“I’m not really your boss.”
“I didn’t mean you,” Caroline said. “And I like the employee dorms. My friends are there. It’s a short walk to work. If there’s any serious action going down, I’m right there ready to get in it.”
Scott’s frown deepened. “Those dorms are a fire hazard. I’m trying to tolerate them for one more season knowing they’re being replaced this fall,” he said. “I may burn them down myself in October.”
“My brother, Mr. Fire Safety, would burn something down?”
“It would be a good training session for the fire department. Can never get enough training.”
Caroline shoved her tray aside and uncapped her bottle of water.
“I probably shouldn’t be eating this greasy food. If the rain stops, I’m going to go for a run along the water downtown later.”
“Are you worried about passing the running test for the police academy?”
“Not worried about passing. I want to beat all the other guys.”
Scott laughed. “You probably will.”
Caroline leaned back in her chair and crossed one leg over the other. She watched her brother shovel in his food.
He wore his Starlight Point Fire Department uniform. His name tag said Chief Bennett, a promotion he’d earned through a combination of his education, experience and a heroic rescue of Evie Hamilton from a burning building the previous season. No doubt, her brother was a hero. He’d always been hers.
He worked part-time for the city of Bayside’s fire department, acted as the fire inspector for new construction in the city and led the department at Starlight Point. His inspector’s job was a major area of conflict between him and Evie when they were working through the hotel renovation plans last summer, but they’d