Chapter 22 - The Roots Deepen
As Lily grew older, Liam taught her how to fix engines.
She spent her weekends at the docks with him, her face smudged with grease, learning how to listen to the rhythm of the pistons and the hum of the motors.
She was brilliant, inheriting his sharp, analytical mind, but applying it to creation rather than destruction.
"You turn the wrench until it pushes back, right Papa?" a ten-year-old Lily asked, tightening a bolt on Mateo's new boat.
"Exactly," Liam said, wiping his hands on a rag. "You have to feel the tension. You don't want to break it."
Mateo watched them from the deck, a fond smile on his weathered face.
"She's going to be a better mechanic than you, Arthur," Mateo teased.
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"She already is," Liam replied proudly.
He watched her work, knowing that the skills she was learning were not for survival, but for passion. She was growing roots in a town that loved her, building a foundation that would never crumble.
