Sailing at Sunset

by Cindi Madsen

  A pang went through her as she thought about how hard it must’ve been for him to show off a project he’d been so excited about, only for everyone to pick it apart. He hadn’t even gotten to go home and get away from those people for a night, either. Part of her new job was to give critical feedback, but the fact that Franco was her closest friend in the office made it that much harder.

  Mark didn’t have any qualms voicing his regular disapproval, and then there were Vanessa and Paige. So far, they were squabbling more than ever, unable to agree on even what their departments were responsible for, much less an overall marketing plan.

  A pit formed in the center of Danae’s stomach. I’m totally failing at bringing the team together.

  Vanessa loudly sighed and propped her sandaled feet on the part of the bench kitty-corner to her. “I swear, Paige is getting on my last nerve. She won’t let me take the lead on anything, but she’s also too busy talking about her fiancé to focus. As if that’s not frustrating enough, she doesn’t even realize how good she has it. I’ve worked for a lot of people, and Mr. Barton is the best boss I’ve ever had.”

  Being in the middle while trying to be respectful and encouraging to both people was always a tricky position, one Danae didn’t feel that she had a handle on. “He is a great boss, and I’m sure Paige realizes she’s lucky. Or at least she would if she took a moment to think about it. She’s also in that exciting phase of love when it’s hard to think of anything else. Honestly, I’m a little jealous. I’ve never hit that level in any of my relationships.”

  “That’s because you’re a strong, independent woman,” Vanessa said.

  “As are you. Please don’t take this the wrong way, but you and I have also had a few more years to get there.”

  Vanessa closed her eyes and exhaled a long breath. “The idea of going back to my mid-twenties is literally the stuff of nightmares, so I hear you. But I’ll still be glad to get off this ship and put some extra space between us.”

  Looked like as far as the Paige and Vanessa situation was concerned, Danae would be heading back to the drawing board.

  The afternoon sun cast a golden sheen on Danae’s curls and highlighted her cheeks when she smiled.

  She’d been smiling a lot today. Josh was semi-tempted to ask if she’d put “smile more” in her planner, but she didn’t always understand his jokes and he wanted the happy vibes to continue.

  He was so focused on Danae that he nearly ran into Vanessa, who’d stopped without warning. She lifted her phone and swiped through several filters as she snapped pictures of the reddish-orange brick house and adjoining lighthouse. The A-frame part of the building had three floors, and a white porch added a welcoming touch. Like Come on in for a lemonade, and later we’ll save ships from crashing.

  “It’s beautiful. Not as elegant as the mansions we planned on filming, but if men don’t feel like men when they see the craftsmanship of buildings and lighthouses that’ve withstood the test of time, that’s not our problem.” Vanessa nudged Danae. “Right?”

  “Hear, hear!” Danae added, lifting her fist in the air.

  Josh surreptitiously checked the time on his watch. They were forty minutes late for their tour of the Block Island lighthouse, but Danae hadn’t mentioned the fact that they were behind schedule. Maybe there’s hope for her yet.

  The tour guide greeted the group and gave them a mini history lesson. Mariners had always given Block Island a wide berth, on account of the submerged rocks and sandy shoals. She also explained that though the tower was fairly short, its elevated location atop Mohegan Bluffs allowed its flashing green light to shine over two hundred feet above the water.

  Due to the narrow stairway, they were going to have to climb to the top in shifts, and Josh purposely hung back so he could go at the same time as Danae.

  While they waited for the first group, Josh, Danae, and Vanessa walked to the edge of the bluff and peered down at the shore.

  “Wow, that’s some drop,” Danae said.

  “About ten stories.” Josh leaned farther to get a better look, and Danae grabbed his wrist. He glanced over his shoulder at her, and he hadn’t realized before that a grimace could be cute, but on her it was.

  “Sorry. But you’re making me nervous.”

  “Aww. You worry about me?”

  “About your judgment, yes.”

  He laughed, as did Vanessa. Danae, not so much.

  “I figured to save time, we could just roll down to the shore instead of hiking it.” He tested the bounds of her grip, leaning another inch or so, and her fingers dug in, nearing cutting-off-circulation territory. “I know how much you care about sticking to the itinerary.”

  Vanessa tried to hide her laugh with a cough, but Danae still shot her a look. “Et tu, Brute?”

  “I can’t help that he’s funny,” Vanessa said. “Or that he managed to figure out how you tick in only two days.”

  “Full disclosure: Thanks to a couple of days of lengthy emails, I had a head start.”

  “Very funny. I bet the other group is almost done, so if you guys can take a break from teasing me, we should head back to the entrance.” With a grunt, Danae tugged him backward a foot or so. As soon as she let his wrist go, he immediately missed her touch.

  It almost made him want to find other ways to be devious.

  Since he didn’t want to stress her out, he followed after. She must have had some internal sensor, because sure enough, the other group was exiting the building as they walked up to the red-brick lighthouse.

  The inside smelled a bit musty, the way old buildings near bodies of water often did. The small entryway led to the narrow staircase, and then the metallic clink, clink of footsteps filled the air as they began to climb.

  Halfway to the top, Josh peered down at the inside of the cool spiral staircase. As a result of the humidity, the steps were a mixture of coppery blue and green shades. “It’s like art.”

  Danae hugged the outer curve of the staircase. “It’s also a century and a half old, so I hope you’re not trusting that railing to hold you. I’m done trying to pull you back from danger.”

  “At least take a look at it.” Josh held out a hand. “Here, I’ll anchor you.”

  She studied his hand, and he tensed as she didn’t make a move to take it. He shouldn’t care either way, but he wanted her to experience the bird’s-eye view. Wanted her to trust him.

  Wanted to have her hand in his again, like earlier when they’d been rushing through the rain.

  Just as he was about to charge up the stairs feeling like an idiot for putting himself out there, she stretched out her arm and placed her palm in his. “You have to be an anchor closer to the wall if I’m going to do this.”

  He bit back a smile. “Okay.” As requested, he hung near the wall, holding tight to her hand as she peeked over the railing.

  “It does look amazing.” Danae slipped her phone out of her pocket and, gripping her phone so securely her knuckles turned white, snapped a picture.

  “Ooh, make sure to AirDrop that to me,” Vanessa said, and Josh did a double take. He thought she’d gone on ahead, but she was parked only a handful of spiral steps away, taking pictures of her own.

  Danae scuttled backward until her body hit the brick wall. Since she was on the step above his, they ended up at eye level.

  Every cell in his body pricked up as their gazes locked together, her glasses superimposing his reflection over her hazel irises and dilated pupils. “You okay?” he asked, his voice coming out huskier than usual.

  Her chest rose and fell with a deep breath, and then she nodded. “Thanks for helping me see that. Now let’s keep going before I freak out.”

  “I’ll be right behind you. I won’t let you fall. Promise.”

  Another nod, and the she turned around to continue climbing, her fingers slowly pulling away from his. Whi
ch made sense. There wasn’t room for them to walk side by side. Although for the record, he totally would’ve taken the scarier side. Once they made it to the top of the lighthouse, Vanessa headed to the far end to take videos, leaving him and Danae as alone as they might get for the rest of the day.

  “Our earlier conversation got cut short since someone likes to focus too much on work.”

  Danae made a big show of glancing around. “That person sounds super cool, so maybe you can introduce me sometime.”

  “Ha ha,” he said. “You were talking about how your dad used to take you sailing.”

  Her features softened as she scooted closer to the panes of glass that separated them from the outside world. “There’s not much more to the conversation. Most every weekend we’d gather the fishing supplies and our boating gear and set sail at the crack of dawn.”

  “Dang, you fish, too? I’m seeing you in a whole new light.”

  “The lighthouse light?” she asked with a giggle.

  Josh rested a hip against the rail, facing her instead of the rolling green hills and ultra-blue ocean. “Something like that.”

  She pushed her glasses up her nose. “We’d always lose track of the time, and then we’d be racing the sun home so my mom wouldn’t get upset at us for being out so late. She’d say that I should spend more time playing with kids my age and keeping up with my homework. Then Dad would tell her that he was teaching me important life lessons—I wasn’t exaggerating my knot knowledge, you know.”

  “You’ll be ready for the pop quiz later, then?”

  There was the smile he’d hoped for, although only one side of her mouth got in on it. “I’m much better at not-popped quizzes. Allowing people to prepare is only fair.”

  Not a surprise. How endearing he found it, on the other hand…? A sensation he hadn’t felt in a long time twisted through him. “My dad taught me to sail as well. We went every summer except the year my sister was born. I was ten, so there’s quite an age gap. Around the time I turned sixteen, my parents decided to sell the boat and move to the suburbs. To say I was devastated would be an understatement.

  “So after my divorce,” he said, throwing it out there so he could get it out of the way and then move on, “I decided I needed a big life change. I thought back to what made me happy, and those summer days on the boat and sailing around Buzzard Bay popped into my mind.”

  “Summers as a kid are the best,” she agreed. “They felt so magical. But when I was seventeen, my dad passed away.” At the slight tremor in her voice, an ache formed in his own heart on her behalf. He couldn’t imagine losing a parent at such a young age. “The problem with growing up—especially when it comes too early and you find yourself responsible for your entire family—is that you see the summers weren’t so magical, at all.”

  “Explain,” he said. Occasionally he felt like she was talking in code, leaving out pieces that made it impossible to complete the puzzle of who she truly was.

  Danae rested her stomach against the rail, her cheek so close to his shoulder that several emotions thundered through him at once. “It was staggering to learn what the boat cost, and then to have to deal with the financial strain it put on my family after he passed away.”

  Josh opened his mouth in an attempt to come up with words that’d soothe the pain in her voice, but before he could, she cleared her throat and charged on.

  “It was a long time ago. And I’m fine. But not only did my father live on the edge of his means, he was in debt. Creditors didn’t care that he wasn’t around anymore or that we were grieving. There wasn’t any grace period. My mom and I just had to start working like crazy.”

  Danae glanced at the metal platform under their feet, sniffed, and attempted a smile that was on the watery side. “Anyway, that’s why I have conflicting feelings about those memories of sailing out on the water with him, even though I wouldn’t give them up for the world. And hey, they came in handy today, so…” She scraped at the rust on the railing with her thumbnail.

  “I get that,” Josh said. “I’m sorry about your dad.”

  “Thank you. I’m sorry about your divorce.”

  Somewhat naively, he’d been sure the statistic would never apply to him—not after witnessing his parents’ happy relationship and being a big believer in romance himself. That was why it was dangerous to put too much into plans.

  “It happens, I guess. It was years ago, so it’s water under the bridge, as they say.” Now he was the one fiddling, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Searching for a subject change. “I’ve had a couple of co-captains who could learn sailing skills from you. Normally I have to do a lot of micro-managing. Possibly because I’m as controlling about my ship as you are about your planner. And your sticker collection.”

  She patted her bag. “Are you still fishing for a gold star, Mr. Wheeler?”

  While he’d corrected Mark for calling him mister, he found he liked it more than he should when it came from Danae. “I’ll get one yet.”

  Danae straightened and flipped her hair dramatically. “We’ll see.”

  Yes. Yes, they would.

  Chapter Eight

  “I don’t understand why it’s called deep-sea fishing when it’s technically deep-ocean fishing,” Danae said to Josh, as he handed her a fishing pole. She’d told him to go ahead and get everyone else started. Not because she was super benevolent or anything. They’d just had such a nice afternoon, so she was delaying the moment when Josh would discover that her fishing skills weren’t nearly as impressive as her sailing skills.

  Josh squatted and unlatched his tackle box. “I don’t understand how you think you’re gonna catch dinner if you keep yapping instead of casting. And technically, we’re in the spot where the Atlantic meets Buzzards Bay, and they refer to it as a saltwater fisherman’s paradise. Now”—Josh waved a hand across the top row of segmented squares, like a model on TV who showed audience members what they could win—“what bait would you like to use?”

  “The floral-scented kind. Ooh, do you have any that are pink and sparkly?”

  Josh gave her an unamused glower that amused her to no end.

  She squatted next to him and studied the funky lures. “Ew. Those squid look too real.”

  “That’s because they are—I picked them up on the island. Don’t they smell like actual squid?”

  Danae pinched her nose shut and breathed out her mouth. “Yes, yes they do.”

  “I thought you were an avid fisherman.”

  The ponytail she’d pulled her hair into after climbing back onboard swished from side to side as she shook her head.

  “I have fished.” She placed a hand on her chest and transitioned into her narrator voice for reasons she couldn’t explain. “Many moons ago, when it meant sitting next to my dad, fishing line in the water as we went through a six-pack.” She flashed Josh a smile. “Of soda. But I’m much better at sailing—I’d actually leap at the chance to adjust the sails so that I didn’t have to watch my pole for a while. I’ve never had the patience to be an avid fisherwoman.”

  “Let me guess. It bothers you that fish don’t keep a tight schedule.”

  The insanely handsome fisherman in front of her got the scowl he deserved. “I mean if one of them has ‘get caught’ in their planner and needs to check it off, I’d love to help them out. But considering paper disintegrates in water…”

  Josh snagged the end of her line and swung in front of his face. Then he formed a loop. “That’s it. You get a deep diving crank.” He fastened a plastic fish to the end of her line. “Tonight, I’m going to teach you patience.”

  “Doubtful. Also, your threat about needing to catch my own dinner doesn’t scare me, FYI. Not only do I have the fridge stocked with groceries, frankly, I don’t like fish.”

  The lure hit the top of the tackle box as Josh gaped at her like she’d sprouted a un
icorn horn. “How can you be a Newport native and not like fish?”

  Since she didn’t have a great explanation for her off-kilter taste buds, she simply shrugged.

  “Unacceptable. Obviously you’ve never had one cooked the right way. Now we have to catch one so I can grill you the best fish dinner you’ve ever had.”

  “Or maybe I just don’t like fish, and I know what I want.”

  “You said maybe.” Josh stood and extended her the handle, his large hand wrapped around the maroon rod. “So just maybe you’ll like the way I make it.”

  With a huff, Danae took the offered pole. “Fine, I’ll try it. Fishing and…” She shuddered. “But when I don’t like it, don’t take it personally.”

  Sorting through dozens of memories stored in her brain, she searched for the day Dad had taught her how to cast.

  Hold that button down until you whip the pole forward, NaeNae. The faster and harder you fling it, the farther it’ll go.

  She drew back the pole and cast out her line. Pride streaked through her when the plunk of the hook landed way out in the midnight-blue water. “Did you see that? I thought for sure I’d snag the sail or my own clothes or something equally as disastrous. Turns out I still got it. The casting part, anyway.”

  Thanks, Dad.

  “Farthest cast I’ve seen all day.” Josh’s fingertips brushed her forearm and Danae’s surprised inhale gave her an extra dose of fresh air. “You good? I thought I’d do another sweep and see how the rest of the crew are faring. Then I’ll circle back around.”

  “Totally,” she said. “Do whatever you need to.”

  A tiny string in the center of her chest tugged, as if it were attached to Josh. Then he practically melted into the inky sky, his dark profile blending in with the others until she could no longer tell who was who.

  A handful of minutes passed in silence. Danae tipped onto her toes, attempting to see over the cabin to the other side of the ship.