28. Galvin

galvin

. . .

T o say the past few months had been a whirlwind of activity for Galvin, would be an understatement. After Sail won the regatta, he competed in two more. Taking second in both. Each time, he had to leave Seaport for two weeks—one week to train and get to know the water where the competition was—and the other week to compete. He offered to pay for Galvin’s expenses so she could go with him, but she declined. The start of law school loomed, and she wanted to make as much money as possible. The first year and first semester were crucial and she wanted to be ready.

Thanksgiving came and went, with her dad flying out to celebrate the holiday with her. She gave him a tour of Seaport, stayed on shore when Jack took his old college friend out on their boat, and spent the day in Boston exploring. They’d all gathered at the Carter’s for Thanksgiving dinner, which was more of a buffet than a sit-down event considering the number of people there. Galvin had lost count of the new names and faces she met. It was like a revolving door of people that day, coming and going until Pearl turned off the porch light.

Now it was December, and she was weeks away from starting law school. Galvin was already a semester behind and was giving serious consideration to going through the summer. However, everything she’d been told about the amount of money she would make by working full-time kept her from enrolling. She’d made a decent chunk of change already and if she could somehow triple it, she’d be foolish not to.

On a Sunday afternoon, with the diner closed, Sail picked Galvin up. He hadn’t told her what they were doing, only that she needed to dress warmly. With Seaport being an island, it was cold. The wind could be a bitch when it wanted to be, and no one liked chilling winter weather.

Dressed in her new winter wear, Galvin headed down the stairs, thankful for Jack who kept them clear of ice. It hadn’t snowed yet, but she suspected it was only a matter of time. She met Sail out front, much to his displeasure. While she wanted to save him time, he didn’t like not going to her door to get her. He wasn’t her uber, but her boyfriend and he told her it was his job to escort her from her door to his car.

“Hey,” he said as he greeted her outside. Sail kissed her right there, on the street, for everyone to see. They’d agreed that some PDA was allowed, just never at the diner, even when she wasn’t working. Galvin felt this doing so in her workplace sent the wrong message, especially to Jack. While she may be in good with the Carter’s, she still respected Jack as her boss.

“Hi,” she said breathlessly when they part. Galvin hoped she’d never get over how Sail made her feel each and every time she saw him. It was like butterflies took up permanent residence in her belly, always fluttering when he was near.

“You look cute.” He touched the tip of her nose with his finger.

Caroline and Galvin had gone to the mall, which was about an hour away due to traffic. Although had they taken a boat they could’ve been there in something like ten minutes. That was something she’d learned about being in Seaport—the mapping system would tell her; her desired location was five or ten miles away—but would take her an hour or more to get there. The app never accounted for the bay, and it gave her the most direct route—through the water.

The day of shopping, which had been exhausting for Galvin, not so much for Caroline, who despite being pregnant could literally shop until she dropped, procured a nice winter wardrobe. The items she’d brought from California were great for fall or a mild winter, but according to Caroline, Galvin needed cute, stylish, winter wear.

“Thanks.” Galvin’s eyes looked upward at the white knit hat she bought to go with her new red parka. Everything had to be color coordinated, which mean the turquoise-colored hat and mittens set Galvin wanted, she couldn’t get. Mostly out of fear the fashionista in the family would tsk.

Over the past month or so, Galvin and Caroline had grown close. They were the two on the outside, dating the brothers of the most prominent family on the island. Well, Galvin was currently dating. Caroline was engaged and carrying the first grandchild of said family. As far as anyone was concerned, the red carpet had been rolled out for her, and no one missed a beat when it came to her.

The currently dating situation thing weighed heavily on Galvin’s mind. Sail would be returning to Miami soon, and the last thing Galvin expected was a long-distance relationship with him. Sail’s adamant nothing has to change between then, and in hindsight it’s only a few months and then he’ll be back. And he’s promised to come home for spring break, which unfortunately isn’t at the same time as Galvin’s.

Sail led her to the car, held the door open for her, and then ran around the front. He wore jeans and a peacoat. Galvin suspected he had a sweater or pull over on underneath the jacket. Sail always dressed impeccably and very preppy, which was a far cry from the other guys Galvin used to date.

“Where are we going?” she asked as Sail pulled away from the curb.

“It’s a surprise,” he told her, much like he’d said each time she asked before.

“Are we leaving the island?”

Sail glanced in her direction and smiled. “Not unless we need to. Do you need to do some Christmas shopping?”

She shook her head. She’d been able to do it all when she and Caroline had gone shopping. Her father was staying in California to give his employees the time off since most of them had families with little kids, and Galvin would stay in Seaport to save money.

This would be Galvin’s first huge Christmas, according to Sail. His family didn’t do anything small, and their definition of small was twenty or so people. Galvin suspected Christmas with the Carter’s was much like Thanksgiving – a revolving door of endless people. At least this time, she would have a good idea of who everyone was.

Sail drove toward the middle of the island, which was thicker populated, but farther from the water. Not that people were ever far from the water. The island itself was only five miles wide. Go any which direction and there would be water.

His first stop was a coffee shop. They went in and each ordered a peppermint mocha and bagel, choosing to sit by the fire and enjoy their breakfast inside.

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”

Sail shook his head. “Why can’t it be a surprise?”

Galvin shrugged. “I’ve never been good at waiting for surprises.”

He laughed and winked which was something she vowed to never get over because each time he did it, her heart did a little flip each time he graced her with the gesture.

“I fully intend to surprise you every chance I get.”

“I guess I better up my game.”

“We’re not playing a game, Galvin. We’re in a relationship. One I happen to cherish and am very happy in. It’s not a competition.”

His words stunned her.

Sail shook his head. “That didn’t come out right, but I hope you understand what I’m saying.” He took her hand and kissed the back of it.

“I do,” she said, smiling. “I’m just eager.”

“Well, let’s get to it,” he said as he pulled her to her feet. They got back into his car and drove for another two blocks before he pulled into a nursery. The parking lot had a good number of cars, and it wasn’t until she saw someone carrying a Christmas tree to their car had she realize what they were doing.

“Sail, I don’t have the things to put a tree up, let alone decorate one.”

“You do now,” he said as he shut the car off. “Everything’s in the trunk. Come on, we need to go pick a tree. It’s our first Christmas together. We need a tree.”

It took them about twenty minutes to find the perfect tree. Being that she lived in a studio, she couldn’t have a very tall or bushy one. They’d reached for the same tree, at the same time and both deemed it to be their first tree.

Sail paid and strapped it to the top of his car. The entire drive back to her apartment, she angled her head to look at it through the side mirror, afraid it was going to fly off and hit the car behind them.

Thankfully, they arrived back at her place, the tree safe and sound. While Sail took the tree upstairs, Galvin carried all the Christmas décor Sail had bought for their first tree, and while he set the tree up in the stand, Galvin ordered them takeout from Sail’s favorite pizza place.

They got to work, decorating the tree. Sail had bought string lights, bulb ornaments and gave Galvin a special one to commemorate her first Christmas in Seaport. After they ate pizza and Christmasfied her studio, they sat back, turned the lights off and enjoyed the twinkle.

“It’s amazing how something so simple as holiday decorations can change your outlook on the holiday.”

Sail kissed her temple. “You’re going to have an amazing Christmas, Galvin.”

“I know,” she said as she snuggled into him. “But this, right here, is more than I could’ve ever asked for.”

“I know what you mean.”

By the time Christmas Eve rolled around, Galvin was beside herself with anxiety. While the invitation to the Carter’s had long been extended, she worried about imposing during family time. Figuring Jack and Pearl would want to spend most of their time with their boys, so when Sail said he fully intended to stay at her apartment the night before, she didn’t know what to think. The last thing she wanted was for Pearl to be mad at her.

“Your mom is going to think I’m some . . . I don’t even know the right word,” Galvin said to Sail.

He laughed and pulled her toward him, kissing her lightly. “Believe me, Pearl is just fine. Regardless, I told her we’d wake up here and then head over. My brothers take their sweet time getting out of bed.”

“If you say so.”

“I do,” Sail said as he led her to the couch. “Besides, I want you to open your gift here.”

She sat down and gave him a horrified look. Sail rolled his eyes. “Get your mind out of the gutter, dirty girl.” He winked, as if he needed the extra to send her mind into overdrive. “It’s something private, between us, and I don’t need anyone bugging me about it.”

“Sounds ominous.”

“Not even close,” he told. Before he sat, he took the box out from under the tree he’d put there after they decorated. She’d since added her gift to him there as well.

“Grab yours to,” she told him before he sat down.

Sail carried his to the couch. He set Galvin’s box on her lap. It was lightweight and wrapped perfectly.

“Should we open them at the same time?”

“We could, but then we’d miss each other’s expressions. How about we flip to see who goes first?”

Galvin agreed. Sail took a quarter out of his pocket and told Galvin to call heads or tails.

“Heads.”

“It’s tails.”

“You go first,” she said, excitement filling her.

Sail slid his hand under the open piece in the back and pushed his hand through until he had to turn the gift over. When all was said and done, he held a frame on his lap. Galvin had taken the photos of him published after his win, along with the frontpage news article, and had them framed. The gold plate at the bottom read: