Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 72059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Until this morning.
“How’d practice go?” Crew asked as they made their way up the steps to the porch.
“Really well. Obviously, I have a lot of work to do, but I’ll get there.”
“Are you going out again in the morning?”
“Yep, first thing. Wanna join us? We can race.”
“Not tomorrow but dad asked me to sail on Saturday. I’ll happily race you.” Crew smirked and Sail accepted the challenge. Sail taught him everything he knew. The question was, what had Crew learned while Sail was away at school.
They walked into the house, with Crew heading upstairs and Sail into the kitchen. Their mom, Pearl, stood at the window above the sink, looking out.
“It’s a nice sunset,” Sail said as he went to the refrigerator for something to drink. Only to shut it again when all he saw was milk, chocolate milk and orange juice. “What’s wrong?”
Pearl sighed. “Oh, nothing. Just . . . watching.”
Sail stood next to her and looked out over the property and toward the horizon. He loved his parent’s property. It was right on the water, with magnificent views of the ocean. They had a small area where they could relax, but also had a dock for them to park their boat for the day. They always docked overnight at the marina. The weather could be unpredictable, and the bay provided some shelter from the other open waters.
“What’s on your mind, Mom?”
Pearl sighed again. “Are you dating Galvin Winters?” She turned slowly and looked at Sail. Her expression was indescribable. “Your aunt said you brought her by the Clam Shack, and I know you’ve spent a lot of time at the diner.” She took a deep breath. “And you haven’t been home the past two nights.”
Sail groaned and gripped the edge of the sink while he continued to stare out the window. He loved his mom, but this was one of the reasons why he didn’t come home last summer—she was overbearing—or was she just the type of mother who needed to know everything.
“Mom . . .”
“Sail, I know you’re an adult, but she’s the daughter of a man your father respects.”
“I know. She told me.”
“And she doesn’t know anyone here.”
“She knows me,” he said. “She knows Dune and tonight she’s meeting Caroline. I’m introducing her to everyone I can. Galvin’s also met Margaux. I’m trying to show her Seaport. The island we love so much so she’ll feel at home.”
Pearl looked at Sail. Her eyes were full of love and worry. She caressed his cheek lovingly. “Please be careful. Not only for her sake, but yours as well.”
“We will be.”
She smiled. “And think about bringing her home, officially. I’d love to cook for her and meet her away from the diner. Invite her over as a guest and not an employee.”
Sail nodded. “I’ll ask her, but this is one of those don’t hold your breath moments.”
“Oh?”
“She’s afraid you’ll fire her because of me.”
Pearl’s eyes widened in what Sail would consider horror. “We would never!”
He threw his hands up. “That’s what I keep telling her, but she’s worried.”
“Well, find a way to unworry her, and bring her over.”
“I don’t believe unworry is a word.”
Pearl’s eyes sharpened and Sail shrunk to two feet tall. “Yes, ma’am.”
Seaport always had traffic, unless it was before the birds were awake or long after they’ve nested for the night. However, traffic was dependent upon the season. During the summer months, it could take you an hour to get from one point of the island to the next. But to get from the Carter’s to the diner—ten minutes tops.
Tonight, the drive pushed the twenty-minute mark, and Sail was officially late for his date with Galvin. The respectable thing would be to call or text her, but no, he still didn’t have her number.
Sail had expected her to at least text him once during the day. He would’ve happily opened a thread, just for the chance to talk to her while he worked on his dinghy.
They’d have to change that he thought to himself. He wanted a chance to send her sweet messages. Mostly things, if he said aloud, would make her blush. At least if she read them, she wouldn’t be embarrassed and could go back and reread them when time allowed.
After, what Sail deemed, the long drive in the history of long drives, he parked in front of the diner. Leaving his car running, he sped walked to the gate, unlatched the lock, and then took the stairs two at a time. Praying along the way that Galvin would understand. He already had his mom upset with him he didn’t want Galvin to be as well.
“Galvin,” he said as he knocked again and then muttered, “fuck.”
The door swung open, and Galvin stood there, with her coat in her hand.
“I’m so sorry.” He handed her his phone. “Put your number in here.”