The Last Song(82)

“I’m going to come to New York to visit,” he promised.

“I hope you do.”

“And I want you to come to Tennessee.”

“I suppose I could handle another trip down south if I had a good reason to go.”

He smiled as they began moving down the beach. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll do everything Scott wants to get ready for the tournament if you agree to come with me to my sister’s wedding.”

“In other words, you’re going to do what you should be doing anyway, and in exchange, you get what you want.”

It wasn’t quite the way he would have phrased it. But she had a point. “Yeah,” he said, “I guess that’s it.”

“Anything else? Since you’re driving such a hard bargain?”

“Now that you mention it, there is. I want you to try to talk some sense into Blaze.”

“I’ve already tried to talk to her.”

“I know, but that was what? Six weeks ago? She’s seen us together, so she knows you’re not interested in Marcus. And she’s had time to get over it.”

“She’s not going to tell the truth,” Ronnie countered. “That means she’d get in trouble.”

“How? What would she be charged with? The point is, I don’t want you to get in trouble for something you didn’t do. The owner isn’t listening, the DA isn’t listening, and I’m not saying that Blaze is going to listen, either, but I don’t see what other choice you have if you want to get out from under this thing.”

“It’s not going to work,” Ronnie insisted.

“Maybe not. But I think it’s worth a try. I’ve known her a long time, and she wasn’t always like this. Maybe there’s still something deep down inside her that knows she’s doing the wrong thing and all she needs is a good reason to try to make it better.”

Though she didn’t agree, she didn’t disagree, either, and they walked back toward the house in relative silence. When they got close, Will could see light flooding out the open door of the workshop.

“Is your dad still working on the window tonight?”

“It looks that way,” she said.

“May I see it?”

“Why not?”

Together, they headed toward the ramshackle building. Once inside, Will saw a bare light bulb dangling from an extension cord, over a large worktable in the center of the room.

“I guess he’s not here,” Ronnie said, looking around.

“Is that the window?” Will asked, approaching the worktable. “It’s huge.”

Ronnie moved to his side. “It’s amazing, isn’t it? It’s for the church they’re rebuilding down the street.”

“You didn’t tell me that.” His voice sounded strained, even to his own ears.

“I didn’t think it was important,” she said automatically. “Why? Is it important?”

Will forced his mind away from images of Scott and the fire. “Not really,” he said quickly, pretending to inspect the glass. “I just didn’t realize your dad had the ability to make something so intricate.”

“I didn’t either. Neither did he, until he started, anyway. But he told me it was important to him, so maybe that has something to do with it.”

“Why was it so important to him?”

As Ronnie related the story her dad had told her, Will stared at the window, remembering what Scott had done. And, of course, what he hadn’t done. She must have seen something in his face because when she finished, she seemed to be studying him.

“What are you thinking about?”

He ran his hand over the glass before he answered. “Do you ever wonder what it means to be a friend?”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

He looked over at her. “How far would you go to protect a friend?”

She hesitated. “I suppose that depends on what the friend did. And how serious it was.” She put a hand on his back. “What aren’t you telling me?”

When he didn’t answer, she scooted closer to him. “In the end, you should always do the right thing, even if it’s hard. I know that might not help you and that the right thing isn’t always so easy to figure out. At least on the surface, anyway. But even when I was justifying to myself that stealing was no big deal, I knew it was wrong. It was making me feel… dark inside.” She brought her face close to his, and he caught the scent of sand and sea on her skin. “I didn’t fight the charges because something inside me knew that what I’d been doing was wrong. Some people can live with that, as long as they get away with it. They see shades of gray where I see black and white. But I’m not that kind of person… and I don’t think you are, either.”