13. Sail

sail

. . .

S ail liked Galvin. He more than liked her, actually. And didn’t know what to do about his growing feelings. He sat at the table in his parents' kitchen, staring at the bowl of cereal he’d poured earlier. The oat or wheat pieces were past the point of soggy, which when mixed with the milk looked like soup. Cold soup he had no intention of eating.

The front door opened, and footsteps echoed. Sail didn’t bother looking, assuming it was his mother or his youngest brother getting ready to leave for school. Sail suspected Crew would ask him for a ride and as much as he wanted to say no, he would do it anyway. Mostly to save his mom from having to take him. Their dad was long at work, checking on every business they owned and probably holding court at one of the coffee shops in town. Jack Carter may own the most popular diner in Seaport, but that didn’t mean he didn’t patronize the other businesses.

Sail looked to his right and stared. In the doorway, a blond bombshell stood there, staring back at him. The tiny hairs on his arms and neck stood, igniting the fight response. He rose slowly, ready to protect his family at all costs. Yes, she was a woman, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have a posse of men waiting for the all-clear outside. Crime was minimal in Seaport, but it still happened.

“Who the hell are you and what do you want?” Sail eyed her and his surroundings. He looked quickly for a weapon . . . just in case .

“You must be Sail.”

What kind of robber mentions someone’s name?

The femme fatale stepped forward and held her hand out. Sail recoiled and her eyes widened. “Who are you?” Sail asked again.

“Oh, sorry. I’m Caroline,” she told him. “Didn’t Dune?—”

“What’d I do or didn’t do?” Dune’s voice carried from the hallway. He stepped behind Caroline and glared at Sail. “What’s wrong with you?”

“I thought she was here to rob and kill us.”

“Her?” Dune’s thumb motioned toward Caroline. He began laughing. She elbowed him.

“I could,” she said, which only made Dune laugh harder.

When he recovered, he looked at Sail. “This is my fiancée, Caroline.” Dune then turned to Caroline. “Sweetheart, I love you dearly, but you couldn’t hurt a fly.” He nodded toward Sail. “This is my brother, Sail.”

Now Sail stepped forward and held out his hand. “I’m sorry for thinking you were here to kill us.”

“It’s okay. I should’ve announced myself as soon as I stepped inside.”

“Where’s Mom?” Dune asked.

Sail shrugged and sat back down, with this pitiful bowl of cereal. “Not sure. I’ve been sitting here for about thirty minutes. I thought Caroline was Crew, looking for a ride to school.”

“Hmfp,” Dune grunted and went to the sink, filling the kettle with water before setting it on the stove. He then went to the coffee pot and poured a cup of coffee. He waited for Caroline to sit down before he sat next to her.

“I wonder if she went in with Dad.”

“Dunno,” Sail said. “I suppose we’ll know shortly when the kid comes down for school.”

“Are you coming to work today?” Dune asked.

Sail nodded as he got up and took his bowl to the sink. He poured the soggy mixture down the drain and ran the water until all remnants washed away.

“What’s eating you?” Dune asked.

“Nothing.”

“Girl trouble,” his brother muttered.

“Dune,” Caroline scolded him.

“Nah, it’s okay, Caroline,” Sail said as he sat back down. “He’s not wrong. I just don’t want to talk about it.”

“How come? Maybe I can help.”

Sail sighed. He figured it couldn’t hurt to get some advice. “I like this girl . . . woman. But she’s friend zoned me and I’m not sure how to move over to the more than friendly zone.”

“Has anyone ever told you Carter boys, no?” she asked.

Dune and Sail eyed each other, both grimacing. “Uh . . . yeah?” Sail said, unsure of himself. “Don’t get me wrong, if I stay in the friend zone, I’ll be happy. It’s just?—”

“What?” Caroline asked.

Sail shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t know. Sometimes when we’re together I get the feeling she likes me too but is afraid. I don’t want her to be afraid. Like, I know she has plans and I’m not trying to mess those up, ya know.”

“Did you ever find out what she’s doing here?” Dune asked as he got up to tend to the whistling kettle.

“Our dads went to college together and when she decided to move out here to go to law school, Dad offered her a job.” Sail sighed. “Galvin’s trying to work and save all the money she can so she’s not struggling in school.”

“Where’s she going?” Caroline asked. She smiled at Dune as she accepted a cup of tea from him.

“Boston,” Sail said. “I think she’s considering commuting. Can’t say I blame her since she’s set up nicely in the studio above the diner. Anyway, she’s afraid she’ll get fired for hanging out with us.”

“Oh, that’s just silly,” Caroline said before taking a sip of her tea. “Your parents didn’t care when Dune and I started dating.”

“I tried telling her, but she’s worried.”

Caroline smiled. She looked from Dune to Sail. “Don’t pressure her. She’ll come around.”

“I would never,” Sail told her. “I know what no means. Believe me, as much as I’d love for things to change, I’m happy being her friend. The other day, I gave her a whirlwind tour of Seaport, and then last night we went to Margaux’s.”

Caroline’s eyes lit up. “Are Eloise’s paintings still up?”

Sail nodded.

Dune grumbled.

“What?”

“I want one for our house, something to put over the mantle, but Dune doesn’t want something with Eloise’s boyfriend in it. I’m going to meet with her next week to commission a piece.”

“Which is going to cost me a fortune,” Dune said as he shook his head.

Eventually, Pearl came downstairs and offered to make her boys breakfast, but Dune and Sail said they’d pick up grilled muffins from the diner. They were booked with a whale watching tour and needed to get going. Caroline was spending the day with Pearl, doing woman things.

Whatever that means.

Dune ran into the diner to save Sail from being a fumbling lovestruck boy if Galvin was inside. Still, this didn’t prevent Sail from trying to burn a hole through the wall, to catch a glimpse of the object of his affection. He was so focused on spotting her, he jumped and screamed when someone knocked on his window.

He pushed the button to put his window down and groaned at the sight of Galvin’s bare midriff.

Shit.

“What are you doing out here?” she rested her arms on the door and peered into his car. She breathed heavily and had beads of sweat dripping slowly down her temples.

“Waiting for Dune,” he told her, without taking his eyes off hers. “He’s getting breakfast.”

“Really? You take your eggs to go?” She laughed.

“No,” he said, trying to hold back his own chuckle. “We ordered grilled muffins for the crew. We have a big tour today.”

“What kind?”

“What kind of muffin or tour?”

“Both.” She shrugged.

“Blueberry and whales.”

“Ah, oddly, those feel like they go together.”

“Yeah, the whales seem to enjoy the muffins.”

Galvin looked at Sail oddly and crinkled her nose.

“It’s a joke,” he told her.

“Phew. I didn’t know if I needed to call the wildlife people or not.”

“Definitely not. We’d never do anything to harm any sea life.”

“Well, that’s a relief.”

Galvin stood and Sail feared she would leave him. “Tonight,” he blurted out. “Do you have plans?”

“I work until seven.”

“Can you go to dinner with me?”

Galvin looked away. Sail maneuvered himself so his head hung out the window. He wished he’d gotten out of the car instead of rolling down the window.

“It’s just dinner, Galvin,” Sail said. “Friends have dinner, right?”

She bit her lower lip and nodded.

“We’ll stay around here, and I won’t keep you out late.”

“How about dessert?”

Sail opened his mouth, but words failed him. He closed it, tilted his head, and then tried to speak again, but he’d lost all ability to act human.

“I mean since I need to shower after work, it’ll be closer to eight. That’s sort of too late to eat.”

“Oh . . .” Sail felt like an idiot for assuming she meant something else. “Yeah, you’re right. There’s an amazing place, not far from here. They have the best desserts in town. We’d have to drive though.”

“I’ll see you at eight, Sail.”

“I’ll be here.”

Galvin gave him a little wave and then ran toward the diner. She avoided the main entrance and veered to the side where the gate was. Sail watched her until she disappeared, and jumped again, when Dune opened the car door.

“What was that about?”

Sail glanced at his brother. “We’re you watching us?”

“Yes,” Dune said. “I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“That was kind of you.” Sail put his car in drive and headed toward the marina. Thankfully, Blue Lobster Adventures had reserved parking for employees. People were taking advantage of the extremely nice weather and still took their boats out.

Dune carried the bag of muffins toward the boat they would take out for the day. Sail greeted Speed, Wilson, and Ana, who was waiting for her muffin. Once she had it, she took off for the ticket booth so she could start checking people in.

The rest of them stuffed their faces and began getting the boat ready, although either Speed or Wilson had done most of it the night before. Still, life jackets had to be counted and equipment checked.

Sail went to start the motor, wanting to give it ample time to warm-up, Dune followed. “What’s up?” Sail asked his brother when he spotted him.

“Look at this.” Dune handed Sail his phone. Sail read the article, his eyes widening and his blood boiled. Four dolphins were found, not far from their parent’s property this morning. This explained where their father was.

“What the fuck, Dune. What’s going on?”

“It’s the people drilling for the wind towers. No one will listen to us when we tell them it’s affecting sea life.”

“Why are they doing this?”

Dune shrugged. “Big money. They swear what they’re doing isn’t hurting the animals, but this is proof. Dolphins and whales don’t just die,” he said. “At least not at the rate they are.”

“Should we cancel? We can’t have the guests seeing a dying or dead animal in the water.”

Dune shook his head. “You’re right, but we can’t cancel. It’s a tour bus and I don’t even know what we’d say. It’s a gorgeous morning. Can you be lookout?”

Sail nodded and reached under the cabinet for the high-powered binoculars and a walkie-talkie. Dune clipped his radio to his belt and added the speaker to top pocket.

“Radio if you see something and I’ll divert as best possible.”

“What a shit show.”

“Yep,” Dune said.

Sail shook his head. “Wanna start some trouble.”

“As long as it’s good trouble, I’m in. Honestly, I think Dad will be in as well. This shit has got to stop. We’ve never had this many deaths.”

The brothers high-fived, and then set out to continue readying their boat for the day. When the first passenger stepped on board, Sail greeted them with a smile and welcomed them to Blue Lobster Adventures whale watch. He warned them they were going to get wet and if they wanted to stay dry, they needed to move inside.

As expected, everyone stayed outside and had their phone ready to capture the majestic beauty of a breaching whale.