Tangled Love on Pelican Point (Island County Series Book 3) by Karice Bolton

divine intervention. So, how can I help?”
    “Will you come with me to their house tonight?”
    “Absolutely.” Natalie nodded. “And I’ll treat you to dinner to celebrate the outcome.”
    “Let’s hope we make it out in one piece.”
    Natalie grimaced. “That’s right. Your stepmom has quite the temper.”
    “Only when she doesn’t get what she wants.”
    “Well, that sounds promising.” She chuckled. “Something tells me we’re in for lots of potholes on the road ahead of us.”
    “My hope is to avoid most of the big ones. Thank you so much for doing this with me.” I gave Natalie a huge squeeze and she hugged me back. “You don’t have to say a word, but being there will help me not chicken out.”
    “I wish I could do more.” She let go and took in a deep breath. “But this tells me exactly what we need to focus on. We need to get your business off the ground.”
    “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” I rolled my eyes. “Any other one-liners we should throw at the situation? Good things come to those who wait?”
    “I’ve never bought into that expression. Patience isn’t always a virtue, especially when there are bills to pay.” Natalie winked. “Now let’s get going. We’ll leave your car here and come back for it when we grab a bite to eat.”
    “Thank you.”
    “You have nothing to thank me for. I’ll drive so you can concentrate on what you want to say.”
    I nodded, following Natalie to her car, and I hopped right in.
    Natalie shut the driver’s side and off we went. I glanced at the crowd of people hanging out at Island Bluff. Too bad I didn’t have a shift tonight. It would be a lucrative night, judging by the people willing to wait in the cold for a table.
    “So she knows you’re coming?” Natalie confirmed.
    I nodded. “But she has no idea why. I just don’t want to upset my dad. I’m sure he has no idea what she’s been up to, and I’m not sure how he’ll handle it.”
    “Are you bringing up that certain situation?” she asked, turning on the road leading to my dad’s house.
    “You mean the possible cheating? No way.” I let out a deep breath. “One step at a time.”
    “I agree.”
    “There’s very little I can actually say at all about anything other than what I am or am not able to do for them any longer. They’re both adults, and his relationship isn’t my business, no matter how much it might tear me up inside.”
    “True, and I think if you go into the discussion with those parameters, everything should work out well. You’re just telling them what you can handle on your side.”
    “Exactly.”
    Natalie turned into my dad’s driveway, and my pulse accelerated as I sat in front of my childhood home. It was hard to believe that I grew up here with my brother, Charles, who shared the same name with my dad. The brick veneer on the mid-century modern crumbled away on the corners from the salty sea air, and even in the dark, the rhododendrons managed to hide the oversized living room window. Grass had grown over the once wide sidewalk leading up to the entry, making it nothing more than a narrow pathway.
    I imagined my dad sitting in his recliner, watching a football game and slowly sipping a beer. I swallowed the lump in my throat, knowing how hard it was for him to even swallow. The truth of it was that as long as it took him to get down one glass of beer with a straw, whatever release he was hoping to feel from the alcohol would never surface.
    Their car was sitting in the carport that my dad built the year my mom left him. She’d wanted a carport since we’d moved in, and she’d finally gotten one. She just didn’t happen to be in the state to see it, and she wasn’t married to my dad any longer to care. But that was how my parents’ relationship worked. Neither one gave each other what they wanted, purely out of spite, only to give each other exactly what they wanted when it no longer mattered.
    Their marriage thrived on hidden