by Laura Drewry
Kate’s grin pretty much negated the effect of her rolling eyes. “Nothing makes those guys happier than when they get to show off their Jedi fishing skills to someone who’s never done it before, which means that you, my friend, are in for a long day tomorrow.”
“Despite what the guys think,” Jessie said, glancing around slowly, as if she expected one of them to pop up, “there are perfectly sane people in the world who don’t actually like fishing, so if it turns out that you are one of those people, I’m begging you, for the love of all that is holy, do not tell them that.”
“God no,” Kate groaned. “Don’t even whisper it.”
Hope couldn’t help but laugh at the way they both spoke, as if the whole thing both annoyed and amused them at the same time.
“Okaaay.” Hope dragged the word out a little. “Why?”
“Because they’ll keep you out there until you do like it,” Jessie said. “And ain’t no one got time for that.”
“Exactly.” Kate nodded. “We need to get to work on the kitchen inventory, but the guys’ll pull out of here about seven, so just be down at the boat before then.”
“Do you have a fishing license?” Jessie asked as she started up the stairs again. “No? Come on, I have the link saved on my computer.”
And a few clicks later, Hope was the proud yet somewhat hesitant owner of her very first fishing license.
Kate handed her a paper-filled clipboard and pen. “You can help Jessie and me do inventory, and maybe we can take care of our parts of the interviews while we work.”
“Oh, that’d be great; thanks!” Hope followed them back into the kitchen, where she spent the next few hours listening to the two of them bat O’Donnell stories back and forth.
They started with Kate and Liam’s quickie marriage and divorce down in Vegas—a secret for the better part of a decade, until Kate showed up at the Buoys last spring with the purpose of convincing the O’Donnells to sell. They talked about how Jessie had been working at the Buoys since she was seventeen but she and Finn had never been anything more than friends until last summer.
They talked about Liam’s pitching, about how Finn had been a heavy-duty mechanic up in Fort Mac before plunging oil prices sent everyone scrambling and left him laid off, and they talked about Ronan and his ex-wife and how he’d completely changed after they got married—and not for the better, by the sounds of it.
There were stories about Kate’s and Jessie’s lives outside the Buoys and even a few about Jimmy O’Donnell, whom Jessie had lived and worked with over the years: about how proud he’d been of his boys, how he never expected any of the three of them to take over the lodge, which was why he’d been this close to selling it before he died, and how much he scared Jessie when she first started to work there, mostly because of his size but also because, when he yelled, he rattled the rafters, Jessie swore.
“Ronan didn’t fall far from that tree, did he?” Kate laughed.
“No, he didn’t.” Jessie’s smile, distant but genuine, didn’t last long. “Stubborn as all hell, both so sure their way is the right way, the only way, and both of them usually wrong.”
The whole time they spoke of Jimmy, Hope couldn’t help but feel there was an undercurrent of some kind, something they weren’t saying about him, and whatever it was, it seemed to be a big piece of everything about the Buoys.
By the time they’d finished inventory, Hope’s clipboard had but a few marks on it, because she’d spent most of the time watching Kate’s and Jessie’s expressions as they somehow managed to laugh and make light of everything.
“You ’bout done in here?” Liam leaned in through the doorway, grinning straight at Kate.
“I am now.” She tossed her clipboard on the table, flipped Jessie and Hope a wave, then reached for Liam’s outstretched hand. “So Jessie and I had a great idea about tomorrow.”
Once they’d gone, Hope stacked her clipboard on top of Kate’s and pushed them into the middle of the table.
“I guess I better call it a night if I’m going to be up bright and early.”
They said their good nights and Hope headed downstairs to recruit Chuck and Kevin to going out on the boat tomorrow, but as soon as she started talking, they both shut her down.
“Not a chance.”
“No way.”
“What?” she cried. “Why not? It’s a free day of fishing with the O’Donnells—something other people pay good money for.”
Neither Chuck nor Kevin was the least bit impressed.
“I’ve done more filming on more fishing boats than I even want to think about,” Chuck said. “If I never set foot on one again, it’ll be too soon.”
“Then why did you take this job?”
“Because I’m not on the boats anymore; that’s his gig now. All I have to do is make sure I get the land people on film.”
With a sigh, Hope turned to Kevin. “What about you?”
“I’m going to be spending enough time out on the boats, so if they’re not gonna let me turn the cameras on, I’m keeping my feet right here on terra firma.”
She couldn’t force them because, technically, they were entitled to a day off before filming started, and tomorrow would have to be it; Sunday they were going to do a final run-through with all the equipment and finish up the exterior shots before the guests arrived in the afternoon.
“Fine. I’ll go by myself, but when I land a hundred-pound halibut, you’ll both be sorry.”
“No, we won’t,” Chuck laughed. “ ’Cause you’ll have done all the work and we’ll still get to eat it.”
And then, as if that settled everything, he reached over and bumped his fist against Kevin’s.
Rolling her eyes, Hope left them and stepped back into the hall, trying not to wonder if Ronan was in his room, next to theirs, or if he was drinking coffee on the porch. He hadn’t been out there since her first night at the Buoys, but maybe…
Never mind. She needed to focus on getting ready for tomorrow. Having never been fishing before, she wasn’t entirely sure what she should pack, but a quick Google search set her on the right path, so after dumping her tote bag out on the bed, she spread everything out and started repacking it. Even without Google, she knew the first thing in the bag had to be a couple of Ziploc bags in good working order. On the off chance that she was going to get seasick, she had to make sure she didn’t hurl all over the deck.
Parachute-cord bracelets, hat, sunscreen, first-aid kit, pocket knife, bug spray, deck of cards, raincoat, extra socks and shirt, emergency blanket, flashlight, duct tape, bottle of Advil, some WD-40, a couple of bungee cords, her mini air horn, book, notepad and pen, lip balm…What else? Phone. Right. Because when she did reel in that monster halibut, she wanted photographic proof that she’d been the one to do it.
Chapter 6
“A man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man.”
Don Corleone, The Godfather
Ronan locked the lid down on the old cooler, then lifted his arm in a wave that neither Jessie nor Kate saw, because they were both wrapped around his brothers.
“We’re not going off to war,” he grumbled. “Let’s go.”
He didn’t wait for Finn or Liam, just grabbed his old olive-colored Tilley hat and headed out the front door. Two steps out, he stopped. Who the hell…Was that Hope down there? Of course it was; even facing away from him, her collar turned up, and her hair braided and tucked down the back of her slicker, there was no doubt it was her. Who else carried a bag that big?
But why the hell was she there? Surely to God she wasn’t…
“Shit.” The curse had barely left his lips before his brothers came crashing out the door, tripping over each other and grinning like the idiots they were. “What’s she doing?”
“What d’you mean?” Finn slapped him on the shoulder as he pushed past him. “She’s coming with us. Didn’t you know?”
“No,” Ronan mumbled. “I didn’t.”
“Hmm
.” Liam snorted as he pushed by. “We did.”
His brothers might not mind when Jessie and Kate made decisions without checking with them, but Ronan had spent far too many years having Mandy do the same thing to him. And, yeah, okay, sending someone fishing with them didn’t even come close to things Mandy used to do, like trading in their truck for a MINI, but still.
A heads-up would’ve been nice.
As Ro started down toward the dock, Hope turned, and even from that distance her smile made him forget why he’d been frowning. And as much as he looked forward to those rare times when it was just him and his brothers out on the water, he couldn’t deny it’d be nice to have someone else on the boat, someone who wouldn’t spend the whole day talking about Jessie and Kate.
Hope continued to smile brightly as Finn and Liam climbed onto the boat, but Ro’s foot had barely hit the dock when her smile vanished, leaving her looking a little dismayed. So his brothers got smiles and he got a frown. Great way to start the day.
“Sorry to disappoint you,” he muttered. “But I’m coming, too.”
“What?”
Her frown deepened, as though her brain was trying to make sense of his words. And he knew the second they’d sunk in, because it was the same second he realized she hadn’t been frowning at him, she’d been frowning at his cooler.
With a sharp mental kick, Ro shook his head slowly and sighed. “Sorry, I thought—”
She didn’t even let him finish, just pointed at the cooler.
“I forgot to pack a lunch,” she said. “Do I have time to run up and grab something?”
Ronan couldn’t decide if the relief he felt was because she’d saved him from yet another apology or because her frown had nothing to do with him at all. Either way, he didn’t dwell on it; instead, he stopped right in front of her and cocked his brow toward the bulging bag hanging off her shoulder.
“You mean to tell me you’re not carrying a small grocery store in there?”
“Nooo,” she said, smoothing her hand down the front of the bag. “I mean, I have some crackers, of course. Some water. A couple granola bars.”
“And?”
Her smile returned slowly, a little guiltily, as color crept over her cheeks.
“Okay,” she conceded. “It’s possible I might be packing a bag of Skittles. Maybe a Snickers bar, too, but that’s it, nothing substantial. So if you can give me two minutes, I’ll run up and make a quick sandwich. I won’t be long.”
Ronan set the cooler down on the dock and flipped the lid open to reveal the overload Jessie had packed for them. “Your Snickers bar for a sandwich.”
“A whole Snickers for a PBJ?” Hope tipped her head to the right a bit and winced. “Throw in a couple pieces of—what is that, banana bread?—and we’ll talk.”
She didn’t even wait for him to answer, just wagged her brows as she climbed aboard and ducked inside the wheelhouse, leaving him staring after her until he finally remembered how to blink. By that time both Liam and Finn had come out onto the stern and were watching him with smug, knowing looks that Ronan would have loved to smack off their faces.
“Jeez, dude,” Finn chuckled quietly. “Liam and I can stay here if you need a little alone time.”
The only thing that saved Finn from a hard left hook was the fact that Ronan didn’t want to explain to Hope why he’d hit him. So instead he muttered the standard response he always used when he couldn’t come up with something better.
“Fuck off.”
The two of them thought that was hilarious for some reason, but before Ro could say or do anything else, Finn ducked back inside the wheelhouse with Hope and fired up the engine. There was enough space that they all could’ve fit, but as the boat pulled away from the dock, Ronan stayed right where he was, holding on to the railing and watching the Buoys fade in the distance.
Calling out some excuse to Hope about keeping the noise down inside, Liam pushed the door shut, then tipped his chin up at Ronan.
“So you and Hope, eh?”
“No,” he said, keeping his voice flat and his glare steady. “Not me and Hope.”
“Why not?”
“Why—” Ronan stopped and shook his head slowly. “Are you out of your fuckin’ mind?”
Liam just laughed. “What? She’s a nice girl.”
“Yeah? And you’re basing that on what—the fact that we’ve known her for four days?”
“Almost four and a half. And, hell, I’d only known Kate for five days before we hustled our way to the altar.”
“Uh-huh, and a couple hours later you hustled yourself to divorce court, so…”
“That’s because I was an idiot.” Liam’s grin dimmed for barely a second before it grew to its usual ridiculous size. “But look at us now.”
Yeah, okay, Ro couldn’t argue with that. Ten years after their quickie marriage and divorce, some crazy kind of coincidence brought the two of them back together, and it seemed as if nothing—nothing—was going to pull them apart again. Didn’t make a spit of sense to Ronan, because if there was one thing he and his brothers had learned over the years, it was that women didn’t stay with O’Donnells.
Finn and Liam seemed to have forgotten that lesson, but Ro hadn’t. Not even when Liam sighed one of those contented sighs he’d been releasing so many of lately.
“I’m just sayin’, Ro. If you like her, you should give it a chance. Maybe you’d stop being such a miserable old shit all the time.”
“I’m not miserable.”
“Right, sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking.” Liam’s snort was loud and harsh. “You’re a blazing ball of sunshine most days.”
Instead of telling Liam to fuck off, too, Ro let his glare do the talking, but Liam wouldn’t be put off.
“I know how you feel,” he said. “Hell, up until a year ago, Finn and I were right there with you, swearing we’d never hook ourselves to one woman, but now…”
He didn’t finish, just lifted his hands in resignation.
“Now you’re screwed.” Didn’t matter how Ro said it or how much he tried to convince himself it was true, he didn’t really believe that. He couldn’t, not when he was witness to how freakin’ happy his stupid brothers were.
“Call it whatever you like,” Liam said, his voice full of calm confidence. “But I wouldn’t go back to the way things were for anything. Finn and I found the women we were meant to be with, and you could, too, if you gave it a chance.”
“I did give it a chance,” Ro grunted. “And look how well that turned out.”
“Doesn’t count; Mandy wasn’t the right one for you.”
“No shit, Sherlock.” Ro tried to blow it off, but Liam pressed on.
“So try again.”
“Yeah, right.” Ronan stared pointedly at his brother. “They’ll be playing hockey in hell before that happens.”
For a minute there, Ro thought he’d had the last word, but as Liam wrapped his hand around the doorknob and started to pull it open, he tipped an odd look at Ro and grinned again.
“Never say never, buddy.” Then he stepped inside and closed the door behind him, leaving Ronan alone on the stern of the boat.
Liam was out of his mind if he thought Ronan had what it took to go through that kind of shit again. No thanks. And in all honesty, he couldn’t see any sane woman wanting to cast her line his way, either.
Nope, he was good with the way things were in his life. He didn’t answer to anyone else, he could do what he wanted whenever he wanted, and he didn’t have to worry if every single thing he said or did was going to cause a fight.
It wasn’t as if he’d been celibate since his divorce, but he’d made damn good and sure that every woman he’d been with knew he was a card-carrying member of the catch-and-release program. If they were good with that, then he made sure they both had a good time for as long as they were together. But he also made damn good and sure that he was gone before anyone started thinking about them as anything other than temporary.
Liam was right about one thing, though: Hope did seem like a nice girl. Little weird, maybe, what with all those bizarre bits of trivia she knew and how she carried so much crap in that bag of hers, but for some reason, weird seemed to work on her.
Over the last few days, he’d seen her reach inside that damn bag and pull out a pair of pliers, a length of coaxial cable, a measuring tape, a handful of zap straps, and a bag of peppermints. What kind of woman carried shit like that around with her? And why the hell did it make him smile?
Because, just like Liam, Ro was an idiot, that’s why. Sure, Hope was a good-looking woman who had the crazy ability to render him stupid with little more than a smile, so how could he not be attracted to her? But already, after meeting her only four—no, four and a half—days ago, Ronan knew it was more than a physical thing.
He liked her. He didn’t want to, and God knew he couldn’t afford to, but he did. And why? Because when the news came in about Olivia, she stepped back and gave them room to sort themselves out instead of pushing forward with the schedule Luka had sent. Because she respected her crew enough to let them do their jobs without micromanaging them yet still made herself available for whatever they needed. Because she appreciated the fact that the Buoys was more than just a fishing lodge, it was their home, and she treated it that way.
Because, unlike Ronan, she hadn’t changed everything about herself to please someone else but instead had the courage to hold on to what she wanted and who she was. And because…well, shit, he didn’t even know what it was, but in the last four days, anytime he was near her, it was as if everything inside him calmed for that moment, making him feel less of the miserable old shit Liam said he was and more of the man he used to be. The man he wanted to be again.
Yeah, this was going to be a problem for a couple of reasons. Number one: He couldn’t actually remember the last time anyone had the ability to make him feel like that. And number two: Every other time he even so much as thought he might be starting to like a woman, he’d walked away, but he couldn’t do that this time, because she was going to be right there in his line of sight every day.
