by Annie Rains
“Relax. We’ll give you a hand,” Jack said, his gaze snagging on hers. He’d given her more than a hand last night. By the way her cheeks filled with a rosy pink color, he could tell she remembered.
“Just enjoy the ride until we get to deeper water. This is going to be one of the best days of your life,” Noah told her.
Jack laughed. “The day we caught a big one may have been the best day of our lives, but Grace doesn’t have fishing in her blood.”
Noah winked at Grace, which only annoyed Jack a little bit. “Trust me, sis. Best day ever.”
—
There was a loud clicking noise from one of the metal rods lined up along the stern of the boat. Everyone on board the Summerly stood at attention.
“We got one!” Jack yelled, high-fiving his brothers.
Grace stood back and watched them for a moment, intrigued by the boyish nature they’d suddenly taken on. They were like little kids at Christmas, with Jack being the biggest one. He loved fishing. It was so obvious. How could he give this up?
Noah grabbed Grace’s arm and pulled her over to one of the fishing rods. “This is all you, sis. Your big moment.”
“Oh, okay.” A little excitement sparked inside her as well, although she wasn’t about to start jumping up and down. Jack slid in beside her and that little spark turned to a wildfire.
“Here. I’ll guide you,” he said, leaning in to her ear to speak over the low roar of the wind that tangled with her hair.
The brothers moved to the edge of the boat, with a gaff and net in hand.
How barbaric, she thought, knowing that people had been doing this for ages. This was a means for food. It had been a way of survival back in the day when there were no Walmarts or Harris Teeters to supply them.
Jack’s hand guided hers as they reeled in the line together and then gave the fish some slack so it wouldn’t break free. The fish on the line resisted until it grew tired, and then they reeled again, repeating the process for nearly an hour until the fish was suspended out of the water.
“Score!” Sam said triumphantly.
“You got it?” Jack asked, that same excitement evident in his voice.
The men, including Pete at the helm, cheered.
Grace laughed out loud, getting a rush as well.
It took all three brothers to get the yellowfin tuna on the boat’s floor. Its skin glistened against the sun, silver and blue, and absolutely breathtaking. The yellow diamonds were like work from an artist’s hands.
“She’s beautiful,” Grace said, bending low and sliding her hand over the fish’s belly.
“It’s a great feeling, huh?” Jack squatted down beside her.
With him so near, a new feeling rode up in her chest. A better feeling. She wanted to turn and kiss him, celebrate the moment. Instead, she turned and smiled. “Yeah. I didn’t expect it to feel so…” She shook her head, unable to find the right words. Good was too cheap a word for this moment.
“It’s indescribable, isn’t it?”
She nodded. “Now I know why you guys rushed out every weekend when I lived with you. I wanted to sleep in and you guys wanted to fish.”
Jack nodded, his gaze lowering for a moment.
She guessed he was thinking about the cruel twist of life that had stolen this joy from him. Grace reached out and touched his arm. Jack met her gaze and held it, a million indescribable words between them for this moment, too.
“All right, Grace,” Noah said, walking up.
Grace snatched her hand back, seeing the muscles along Jack’s jaw tighten as she did.
“Now to show you what happens after we catch the big one.”
Grace and Jack stood.
“Would this one win the tournament for us next weekend? If we caught it next Saturday?”
Noah looked at Jack, then the two men started to laugh.
“She really has no idea, does she?” Noah asked playfully, all for her benefit.
“Not a clue,” Jack confirmed. “This is a minnow compared to what we need to win next weekend,” Jack told her.
Grace looked at the fish that must’ve been at least four feet long and seventy-five pounds. It didn’t look anything like a minnow to her.
“Don’t worry, sis. By next weekend, you’ll be seasoned.”
After putting the fish on ice and setting the rig again for the next big fish, Grace walked to the back of the boat where Jack was standing alone, looking out at the water behind them.
“Hey,” she said softly.
He glanced over his shoulder.
“Can I join you?”
“Of course.” Jack gestured beside him.
“It’s nice.” Another cheap word. “I can see why you guys love it.”
“Yeah.” He wore mirrored sunglasses, hiding those micro movements around his eyes that usually told her so much.
“You sure you want to give this up?” she asked, knowing that she shouldn’t. She didn’t want to ruin the moment, but if she was right, he was already thinking what she was saying.
Jack sucked in a long breath, keeping his eyes forward. “Honestly, no. I thought I did, but experiencing that first catch with you brought back a lot of memories. I’ve been doing this since I was a kid.”
“I can’t even imagine. The fish must’ve been bigger than you were.”
“Sometimes.” A grin spread across his face. “And there was a time that I’d begged Dad to toss them back, insisting that they needed to return to their families.”
Grace laughed along with him. “Truthfully, I had to resist saying that when we brought that one aboard.”
Jack turned to her. “Good thing. Sam and Noah might’ve made you walk the plank for saying that.”
“There’s a plank?”
“Oh yeah. You didn’t know?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No. Are you going to tell me you guys are all pirates, too?”
“Arghh.”
Grace leaned in to him. She didn’t have any wise counsel for him, but she wanted him to know she understood, as much as she could without having walked in his shoes.
“Maybe I don’t have to give up fishing. Maybe it just doesn’t have to be my entire life anymore. I’m excited about this new business. More excited about it than I’ve been about anything in a long time—until you, at least.”
“Me?”
Jack looked at her again. “I’m excited about you, too. That feeling when we dragged the fish on board doesn’t even compare to how I feel every time you walk into the room.”
Grace’s breath caught in her chest. Oh, God, she wanted to kiss him right now. Wanted it nearly as much as she wanted her next breath.
Leaning in, Jack read her mind and kissed her.
Chapter 13
“What the hell do you two think you’re doing?”
Jack pulled away from Grace, an oh-shit splintering through his mind.
Grace jumped back. Another foot or so and she’d have fallen overboard.
“Hey, Dad,” Jack said dryly, not wanting to face his old man. He always did those things he didn’t want to do, though. Just to prove that he could.
His father looked between him and Grace. This was an expression he’d never seen on his father’s face. It wasn’t anger or disappointment. More bewilderment, like maybe Jack had grown two heads.
“It’s not what you think,” Grace said.
Both Jack and his father looked at her. Did that line ever work anywhere but in a movie? There was no other reason for her lips to be on Jack’s unless they were kissing.
“Vertical mouth-to-mouth resuscitation?” his father asked.
Jack was surprised his dad was using humor in a moment like this.
“I, uh, I—” Grace looked horrified.
“We were kissing,” Jack confessed, not that he needed to. His dad was the smartest man he knew. “We’ve been together for a couple weeks.”
His dad clamped his mouth shut. “I see,” he finally said. “And you’re keeping it from just me,
or the others, too?”
“Everyone,” Jack said. He felt like a teenage boy again being caught doing something he shouldn’t.
“Why?”
Jack looked at Grace. Her skin was pale, her chest and neck flushed. He could almost see her pounding heart beneath the low-cut tank top she’d borrowed. “Grace thinks that we should wait until after the tournament. Noah had a hard time accepting her back into the family. We all did. It’s a little…”
“Gross?” his father supplied.
Jack lifted a hand and covered his face briefly. “It’s not gross.”
“Strange?”
Jack sighed. “Maybe a little.”
“And I suppose now I’m supposed to keep this secret of yours, too?” His dad shook his head. “You know I hate secrets. No good ever comes from them.”
“Just until after next weekend,” Jack said.
“Noah will take it even harder if he finds out you’ve been sneaking behind his back. You know how he is…Got to say, I’m a little hurt that you hid this from me.”
“Sorry, Dad. We just needed time on our own to figure this out.”
He nodded again. “Did you two, uh, have time on your own when you both lived under my roof?”
Jack’s mouth fell open. From the corner of his eye, he saw Grace’s skin go from pale to translucent.
His father waved a hand. “Never mind. I don’t want to know. I’ll pretend I didn’t see any of this just now.” He started to walk away. “But take my advice, secrets are no good,” he said over his shoulder.
“Oh my God,” Grace whispered when he was gone. “Oh my God, that was so embarrassing. I might roll up and die right now.”
Jack laughed under his breath. His old man had caught him doing a lot worse back in the day. “He won’t tell anyone. He can be trusted.”
“But he knows!” Grace covered her face with her hands.
Jack gently peeled one away. “He’s right. We should come clean with everyone. I’m tired of hiding. I like you. I want to date you, Grace.”
She slowly lowered her hands. “I like you, too.” A smile lined her very kissable mouth. He’d give his left nut to kiss her again right now.
He blew out a breath. “I’m glad we’re on the same page. Now let’s go see if we can catch one more fish for the day. Make you a pro before nightfall.”
She nodded, although she still looked as if she’d seen a ghost.
“It’ll be okay,” he whispered, resisting the need to take her hand. “Everything will work out just right.”
But as he passed over to the front of the boat, something clenched his gut and he wasn’t so sure. Maybe he shouldn’t make promises that he couldn’t keep. Maybe this thing between them was destined to fail, no matter how much he wanted it to go forward.
Or maybe it was destined to work, which maybe scared him more.
—
Grace crawled into her bed later that night and pulled the covers over her. This was the first night in a long time that Jack wasn’t with her. Which was fine. She’d been with him all day and it’d been wonderful. And awful.
Pete Sawyer had caught them together. It wasn’t like he’d caught them with their clothes off—which would be exponentially worse—but still. Someone else knew their secret. Which made this thing between her and Jack real. She wasn’t sure if she wanted it to be real yet. There was some charm in living out her fantasies. In her experience, if the fantasy turned real, it usually quickly turned to shit.
Grace peered into the darkness of her bedroom. Despite her mother’s move, her apartment hadn’t felt lonely until now. Tonight, the quiet was piercing. Her brain was on and it wouldn’t shut up.
She got up and walked through the darkened hallway to get a glass of water. Stubbing her toe on the kitchen island’s corner, she cursed out loud. Then she froze at a sound behind her front door. Someone was out there. There was a bump against her door. And maybe someone rubbing against it?
Her breath and heart screeched to a halt inside her. She strained to see through the dark room. She should really get a night-light. And some mace. Maybe a baseball bat, too.
“Grace?” someone called behind the door. “Hey, sis?”
Grace released her breath. “Noah?” What was Noah doing here? She hurried to the door, fumbled with the lock, and yanked it open. Noah, leaning against the door, nearly tumbled over as she did. Judging by the smell of him, he’d been drinking. “What’s going on?”
“I’m drunk,” Noah confirmed, then laughed out loud. “Krista’s brother just dropped me off here because I need to talk to you, sis.”
“Okaaay.” Grace helped him to stand upright and ushered him inside her apartment. “How much did you drink?” she asked as he plopped down on her couch.
“A few.”
She took that to mean a few too many after the first few. She sat down beside him. “Is there a reason you went out and drank tonight? That’s not like you.”
He shook his head, then winced. “I’ll regret it in the morning. I know that.”
“Was Krista with you?”
He looked up. “She’s mad at me.”
“Oh.” Grace wondered if it had anything to do with the woman she’d seen Noah with the other night. The one he was too ready to ditch in order to take Grace home when she had a pretend headache. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“No, it’s my fault,” Noah said. “I was supposed to meet Krista for drinks tonight and I was late. Because I was buying drinks for another woman at the bar.”
“Oh,” Grace said, nodding to herself. Yeah, that would definitely upset her friend.
Noah looked over. “I’m not a complete jerk, though. Once I realized what time it was, I promptly told the woman goodbye and went to find Krista in the crowd. She’d already been waiting for forty-five minutes, though, and apparently a couple guys kept trying to buy her drinks and sit down with her.”
A laugh escaped Grace’s lips. “No wonder she’s mad.”
“It wouldn’t hurt her to allow a guy to buy her drinks once in a while. Anyway, she stormed off.”
“And you went back to the bar and continued drinking,” Grace said, filling in the blanks.
“Just a few. Can I get a glass of water?”
“Of course.” Grace stood and headed to the kitchen. She pulled down a glass from the cabinet. It was a good thing that Jack hadn’t stayed with her tonight. Although, in Noah’s drunken state, Grace probably could’ve convinced him that he was hallucinating. “So why my place?” she asked as she handed the glass of water to Noah.
He took it and drained it before answering. “I came here because I need to know how to make things good with Krista. She’s my best friend, but lately I just piss her off. And I don’t want to piss my best friend off.”
Grace sat beside him. “Well, for starters, if you two have plans to have drinks together, don’t be late.”
“Krista’s my friend, though. If I was having a drink with a guy friend, he’d have understood. Chicks before dicks, or something like that.”
Grace laughed. “Just apologize to Krista tomorrow. Tell her you were wrong and it won’t happen again. She’s pretty forgiving.”
“Yeah.” Noah set his empty glass on the coffee table in front of him. “She’s a lot more forgiving than I am. When I’m mad at someone, I’m mad. I don’t just forgive and forget.”
Grace swallowed. “What if there was a good reason behind whatever made you mad, though?”
Noah shook his head firmly, then winced. “Ouch. I can already tell I’m going to have a hell of a hangover tomorrow.” His gaze slid to Grace. “There’s never a good reason. People usually just do things to make themselves look good. It’s never about the person they’re screwing over.” He rubbed his temple as he slurred. “I need to go home,” he finally said, struggling to stand. “I’ll go see Krista in the morning.”
“Wait. How are you getting home?” Grace asked. He didn’t even have a car with him, not that he was in any s
tate to drive.
“Krista’s brother is circling back for me. He’s a good guy. Just like a brother.”
Grace gave Noah a hand to help him balance his legs under his body. “I hope you’re paying him.”
“I always do. He still needs to make rent, right?” Noah took a wobbly step outside her apartment. “Thanks for the advice. That’s two times in a week.”
“She’ll forgive you,” Grace said.
Noah nodded. “See you, sis.”
In the parking lot, Grace could see Joey’s cab pull up to bring Noah home. She closed the door behind her, locked it, and blew out a breath. She headed back to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water, too. Drinking it down, she felt wide awake. She doubted she’d get any more sleep tonight. Instead, she headed to her desk in the corner and opened her old laptop. She hadn’t checked her email all day. Maybe Garrison Tomlin had responded to her inquiry about the Beatrice. If he hadn’t, she’d just have to plan a trip to go see him in person.
There was one email waiting in her inbox. Grace sucked in a breath, said a prayer, and clicked.
Dear Miss Donner,
The boat is not for sale.
G. Tomlin
All the air spilled out of Grace’s lungs. The night had just gone from bad to worse. Of course the boat was for sale. If she won the tournament, she’d have more money than it was worth. It had to be for sale.
She sat back and blinked tearfully at the screen. Buying back the Beatrice was how she was going to smooth things over between her family and the Sawyers. It was the key to making things work for real between her and Jack. The Beatrice was her only hope.
No way was she giving up without a fight. There was too much at stake. She’d just have to pay Mr. Tomlin a visit.
Chapter 14
“What’s wrong?” Krista asked Grace over a muffin on Monday morning.
Grace picked at her muffin’s top. “Nothing.”
“Oh really? Is that why you’re neglecting your dessert?”
“I thought this was breakfast,” Grace said, looking up.
“Breakfast. Dessert. Same thing.” Krista took another happy bite of her own muffin. After a moment she followed it with a sip of coffee and scrutinized Grace with a stare. “Guy troubles?” she asked.
