The Hitchhiker in Panama (Love and Wanderlust Book 1)

by Liz Alden

  “What are you doing?” Eivind asked.

  “I’m going to send some of these to my dad. He’s been super excited about my trip and has been reading books and watching all these TV shows about the canal. He’d like seeing this.”

  Eivind cocked his head. “Your dad is an engineering nerd like you?”

  “Worse than me.” I grinned. “He’s why I got my engineering degree.” We moved to the next display, which showed a model of a Panamax ship.

  “But you do not work as an engineer?”

  “Not yet.”

  Eivind studied the model. “Right. Not yet.”

  “When I get back to Australia, I’ll find a job. What about you? Do you want to go home when this trip is over?”

  “Yes, Jonas and I will move back to Norway.”

  “What about work?”

  Eivind sighed and ran his hand over his head. “I might get my job at the restaurant back.”

  “Oh.” I couldn’t imagine having so few plans in life. It killed me not to be able to interview for jobs yet, but it would be too complicated while traveling. “You don’t want to do something with your degree?” I peered into a display to look at a diorama of the construction of the canal.

  “No.”

  I waited a moment, but Eivind didn’t elaborate.

  We took seats in the theater to catch a cheesy fifteen-minute video about the canal, complete with an animated mascot and nineties soundtrack.

  Then we went to the highlight: the shaded bleachers overlooking the lock. We sat and watched—you could even buy popcorn—as several rounds of boats came and went. Sailboats similar to Eik came through with more drama than we experienced. Sometimes we were sure they were going to hit another boat during their maneuvers.

  Watching while outside of the canal made it easier to see the process of pulling and stopping the big ships, and we could watch the mules and the crew of the canal work to position everyone.

  Eivind kicked his feet up on the seats in front of us. Out of over a hundred seats, we had the place mostly to ourselves. While in the stands, Eivind looped his arm over my shoulders.

  “We should go out to dinner tonight.”

  “Look at you, all fancy, wanting to take me out on a date,” I said.

  “We did miss out on the sunset and dinner last night. So tonight let us go, just the two of us.”

  “That sounds good. I don’t have many nice clothes, so I’ll have to wear the same thing I wore last night. Backpacker problems.”

  “I do not care what you wear,” he said. “As long as you are with me.”

  I smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the lips, and we resumed watching the ship traffic.

  I sipped a cocktail at our table. We sat at a different rooftop bar in Casco Viejo, no less beautiful than the one last night. Eivind and I had arrived about an hour before, and I was on my second mojito of the night. We’d had a stellar view of the sunset and now the skyline was lighting up as daylight faded.

  “So, how many girls like me have you hooked up with?” I asked.

  Eivind once again looked sexy in shorts and a polo shirt. His sunglasses sat on top of his head.

  “Like you? None.”

  “Smooth.”

  He grinned.

  “I’m really curious. It seems like, being single, there would be a lot of casual sex going around.”

  “No. In the Caribbean there were a few places where superyacht crews, like Marcella’s, hung out and partied together. But the cruisers . . . most of them are married and older. There are a few single crew members here and there, and I think we have met one or two female solo sailors, but no, there have not been many opportunities.”

  “So, with Elayna and Jonas, is it the opportunity, or . . . ?”

  Eivind grunted. “I am not sure. For Elayna, maybe she really does like him. But they do not seem to be on the same page sometimes. Jonas is a . . .” Eivind waved his hand, looking for his words. “He likes to stay at home. Elayna, I do not think she sees how he tires out sometimes.”

  I hummed and thought about it. “Nah, yeah. I can see that. There is no one waiting back home for either of you?”

  “No,” Eivind said, smiling. “I am all yours. As for my brother, his wife left him a few years ago.”

  “Right, I remember you said he was divorced.” I cocked my head. “Did you like her?”

  He hesitated. “I did. But I think I was a little blind to her. Looking back, after seeing how hurt Jonas was when she left . . .” He shook his head. “I still don’t really know why she left. I do not understand it.”

  “That must be hard for Jonas.”

  “It was maybe the first time I saw my brother as just a man. He needed to do something different, to find happiness. He loved sailing as a kid, so I could see that this would be a chance for him to recover and move on.”

  “You are a good brother.”

  “Thank you.”

  “And you are good at other things, too.”

  Eivind pinched my thigh under the table, and our waiter appeared with our food. We ate and talked, learning more about each other.

  After dinner, we strolled through Casco Viejo, the old town of Panama City.

  “Did you know this is the second capital?”

  Eivind shook his head. “How many are there?”

  “Old Panama City was the first, burned down by Captain Morgan. Casco Viejo is the second, and modern Panama City is the third. The first city was founded in 1519.”

  “That is very old for the New World, ja?”

  I nodded. “That’s before a European ever set foot in Straya.”

  We walked up and down the streets. It was night, but Casco Viejo was one of the popular tourist destinations, so it was still busy. The buildings surrounding us were old, colorful examples of Spanish colonial architecture.

  “This is what I imagine Havana must be like.”

  Eivind nodded toward an open storefront. “I bet Havana doesn’t have that.”

  It was a shop selling nothing but ice blocks—or Popsicles, as Eivind called them. The ice blocks were beautiful—kiwis and lemon slices glinted under their icy coats, and exotic flavors were available. Eivind ordered guava cheesecake and I went with classic strawberry. We walked to the shore and tried not to let the ice blocks drip on our hands while we ate.

  Casco Viejo was surrounded by an elevated highway that circled the old city. Once the highway joined land again, pedestrians could cross the road and walk along the shore. With the last of our Popsicles, we walked along the sidewalk, which was called the Cinta Costera.

  In front of us lay the glittering lights of modern Panama City. Behind us, the softer lights of the old town. To our right stretched the dark, inky Pacific Ocean.

  “I can’t believe you are going to sail away.”

  “Sometimes I can’t believe it either.”

  “How do you afford to do this?”

  Eivind stopped us and gazed out over the ocean, the horizon visible in the moonlight. “Jonas supports me.”

  I looked up at Eivind, his face unreadable in the shadows. “That’s nice of him.”

  “He has done very well for himself in his job, and needed a crew member.” Eivind looked down at me. “It was a win-win for both of us.”

  I stretched up to kiss his cheek, and he smiled faintly before turning back to look out over the ocean.

  Twenty-One

  I woke up alone in the morning, dim light shining through the window onto the tousled bed. I vaguely remembered Eivind leaving me, and wondered what had woken me up.

  I stretched and recalled last night: coming “home” to the boat, tumbling into bed together, tender kisses and quiet moans.

  Something thumped over my head, then another thump, and the sounds of footsteps walking down the deck.

  I slipped my pajamas on and headed into the main salon. Marcella, bleary-eyed this early, wordlessly offered me a cup of coffee and I climbed up to the cockpit and into the morning. I leaned out the ca
nvas enclosure and found Eivind and Jonas at the mast. Jonas strapped himself into a harness, which attached to a line going all the way up to the top of the mast.

  Eivind checked the harness and the lines, preparing Jonas as if he were belaying a rock climber. He was shirtless, wearing a pair of board shorts and a set of sailing gloves. When he was satisfied, he moved around to the winch, heaved the line around it, and the lines attached to Jonas tightened.

  Eivind put a handle on the winch and started to crank. His bare back was to me, and I watched the muscles flex and release with each crank.

  I was so distracted by Eivind that at first I didn’t notice Jonas rising up off the deck. He used all four of his limbs to grip the mast as he rose.

  “No way.” I gasped, shading my eyes to watch as Jonas climbed higher and higher. It started to hurt my neck, staring up and craning to see. I looked down at Eivind and he was watching Jonas too, breaking into a sweat while cranking the winch.

  My eyes went back to Jonas. He approached the top of the mast thirty meters up in the air. When he reached out with a closed fist, Eivind stopped cranking.

  “Hey, darling.” Eivind winked at me and gave me a naughty grin.

  “Morning.” I sauntered over and gave him a kiss. Sipping from my mug, I sat down on the deck near the base of the mast. “What’s he doing up there?”

  “He is checking the rigging. We do this before every big passage: check the lines, the stays, the blocks. We make sure she is strong and ready to sail.”

  I let Eivind stand and watch his brother with silent focus. After a few minutes Jonas gave a hand signal and Eivind took the handle off of the winch. Carefully, he gripped the line while unwinding it, and I watched as Jonas was lowered slowly down. He gave the fist signal again, and Eivind wrapped the line around the winch to hold it.

  They repeated this several times, Jonas going lower and lower every time. When he was low enough, I could see what he was doing. He stopped at every fixture and wire on the mast, and from a pocket in his harness he withdrew several items. He had a flashlight to shine into the shadows, his phone to take pictures, and a few tools I couldn’t identify from where I stood.

  Finally Eivind lowered Jonas all the way down to the deck.

  “How is everything?” Eivind asked.

  “Good. She looks good. I see no problems.”

  I smiled into my mug and watched the two brothers talk more about shrouds and antennae and other boat parts I didn’t understand.

  “Now that project is done,” Eivind said, “breakfast time.”

  We sat down in the main salon together as Marcella finished preparing breakfast. This morning she’d made us a quiche with lardons and spinach.

  The crew all talked about their plans, the things they needed to do before they took off across the ocean. Marcella and Elayna were going to buy more food, and Eivind was in charge of refilling their cooking gas tank.

  Jonas drove everyone to shore in the dinghy, leaving me alone on the boat for a few minutes. I tucked myself into Eivind’s cabin and called my dad.

  “Sweet pea, it’s so good to hear from you.”

  “Thanks, Dad! I’m not calling too late, am I?”

  “No, it’s fine. Your mum’s gone to bed, but I’m up watching the late news and working on my puzzle.”

  Dad had found a Panama Canal puzzle to do while I was here.

  “I loved the pictures you sent me yesterday. Some of those facts are really interesting, and of course, some are contrary to what I’ve learned from my shows. I will have to do some research to try to find the truth.”

  I told Dad more about the museum the day before and the past few days in Panama City, and that I was still staying on Eik.

  “You spent the day with Eivind yesterday?”

  “Yep.”

  “Dinner too, eh?”

  “Yes, Dad.”

  “If this guy is spending all day with my daughter, I think I deserve to know what he looks like. Just in case.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I’ll send you a picture. We took some photos yesterday.”

  “That’s my girl.”

  When I was off the phone with Dad, I spent a few minutes tidying up the few personal effects I had around Eivind’s room.

  I wandered into the cockpit to look for Jonas. He sat in the shade, a black bucket at his feet and an old towel spread out on the bench.

  “Hallo,” he said. “How are your parents?”

  “Good. Dad said to say thank you for letting me go through the canal with you.”

  Jonas smiled at me. “They are welcome. You were a good crew.”

  “Even if I didn’t do anything?” I grinned.

  Shrugging, Jonas said, “Everybody did something. You may not have handled lines, but you helped where you could. It is hard to throw people together in close places, but having you here has been good.”

  “Thank you. What are you doing?”

  “This is the winch.” He pointed to the bucket. I peered in and at the bottom was a collection of metal parts, gears, and pins, covered in a layer of water: the guts that made the winch work. “It needs to be taken apart and cleaned every so often. This one I had not had time to clean before the canal.”

  “Can I help?” I asked.

  “Sure. Take a rag here, and take a part out of the bucket and clean and dry it. Then lay it here on the towel.”

  “What’s in the bucket?”

  “Baking soda and vinegar. There is grease on many of the parts, and it helps to cut the grease.”

  “Cool,” I said. I picked up one of the pieces and began to work, using my short fingernails wrapped with the rag to clean the old black grease out of the gears.

  “What about you? What do you think of the crew?” Jonas finished cleaning a piece and set it down on the towel between us.

  “Well, I like Eivind.”

  Jonas snorted. “I heard.”

  My face went scarlet. “Oh. My. God. We try to be quiet!”

  “Lila.” Jonas laughed. “It is not that bad. We live on a boat, there is only so much space, and we get used to very little personal distance pretty quickly. It happens.”

  “Still. That’s mortifying. I didn’t realize you were such a perv, Jonas.”

  He laughed again.

  “Honestly, it kind of surprises me to have as little drama as you do. Especially with a bunch of young, attractive single people.” We both went quiet. “What about you and Elayna?” I asked him.

  Jonas sighed. “Nothing. We have not done anything in a while.”

  I hummed in sympathy.

  “Actually,” Jonas started. “Would you be okay with moving into Eivind’s room? And Elayna can go back to her bunk?”

  “Yeah, no worries. Sorry about that.”

  Jonas waved a hand. “It is okay. But maybe it is best if Elayna and I do not share a room anymore.”

  I nodded. “Well, I’m sorry to be saying goodbye so soon. I guess that’s part of the cruising life, right? Moving on to the next place.”

  Jonas studied my face. “Do you like my brother enough to stay?”

  “Yes, of course I do! He’s fun and a good person and I like the way he treats me.”

  “But you will not stay?”

  My brain tripped for a moment. “Wait, ‘stay’ as in, sail across the Pacific with you?”

  “Ja.”

  “Honestly, I didn’t think that was possible.”

  Jonas didn’t look up from his work. “Why not? I told you to stay as long as you wanted to.”

  I rolled my eyes. “There’s a difference between staying a few days here in Panama and committing to a month out at sea together. Plus, like, yes, I appreciate the offer, but I don’t know how Eivind feels about that.”

  A skeptical eyebrow popped up. “Really?”

  I blushed again.

  “You should ask him.”

  We continued our work in silence while I thought about the possibility of sailing across the ocean. After having met so many p
eople, boat owners like Peter and Edith or hitchhikers like Elayna and Marcella, I realized this was a golden opportunity. If I wanted to experience something that would be life-changing and so different from the life I would go home to in Australia, this was that opportunity. Shouldn’t I take it?

  And yet it terrified me. All of my detailed plans would be tossed overboard. Yes, I enjoyed every moment with Eivind: he was bright, funny, and so kind that he made my heart ache. But I’d never lived with a guy, never crossed so many boundaries that we would encounter while out at sea.

  And yet, if I could make it across the Pacific Ocean and still feel so strongly about him, wouldn’t this be something worth keeping?

  Jonas and I kept working and talked about other things. I was delighted when he let me put the winch back together, following the exploded view in the manual.

  When the winch was reassembled and working properly, I packed my things up from the bunk cabin and moved them into Eivind’s room. I tucked them into a corner, trying to take up as little space as I could.

  Marcella and Elayna returned first, and I helped them unload the provisions into the galley and put things away as best I could. When we were done, I retreated to the room to read until Eivind got back.

  Raised voices carried through the door, and I opened it to see what was going on. Marcella was in the galley, mixing some dough for biscuits, and shot me a look. The argument came from the aft cabin—Jonas’s room. It sounded a little one-sided: Elayna’s voice was emotional and desperate, while Jonas’s was calm but insistent.

  I ducked back into the room.

  Later that afternoon, Elayna moved her items back into the bunk cabin.

  Twenty-Two

  Later that night I lay in bed, letting my heart rate slow down. Eivind sprawled next to me, catching his breath after another session between the sheets. We’d gotten better at keeping quiet, and anytime I had been too tempted to let out a moan, my conversation with Jonas drifted into my head and I bit my tongue.

  I turned to look at Eivind. He was flat on his back, legs splayed out and an arm over his face. I would have thought he was falling asleep, but his other hand was in mine, running a thumb over my knuckles.