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)
They got to work, making sure the bar was stocked, all the life jackets were accounted for, and the bathroom cleaned. The wind picked up first, giving Sail anxiety. He continuously checked the weather app for updates, but everything remained green.
When he reluctantly told Ana to go ahead and open, the first drop of rain fell, and then the next. Sail sighed and they all took cover under the enclosed awning. Thankfully, the boat was moored and not moving much, especially since Ana got seasick.
“Is there an umbrella in here?” Sail asked as he began rummaging through the small closet.
“No, I don’t think so,” Speed said.
“Although, with Caroline working here, there might be.”
Caroline Taylor was Dune’s pregnant fiancée. They had yet to meet, as she was in New York working with an interior designer on the house Dune intended to build for them. According to their mother, Sail was going to love Caroline. Honestly, he wanted to bow down to the woman who tamed his big brother and figured he’d like her no matter what. Especially since she was going to make him an uncle.
An uncle with strict rules according to Dune. With number one being: no drinking around my kid.
Joke’s on everyone because Sail hadn’t had a drink since Dean Holmes booted his ass from school.
Sail pulled his phone out, launched the weather app, and watched the storm move over the map. The worst hadn’t even hit yet. “I think we book it out of here,” he said to the three of them. “Lock her up and head for some shelter.”
“You’re the boss,” Wilson said, even though Sail wasn’t. He’d take as much flak from Dune as any of them, but there was no point in waiting the storm out on the boat when they could be elsewhere.
Sail slipped out of his hoodie and handed it to Ana to use as an umbrella. The four of them stepped out and while Ana ran toward the ticket booth, Sail, Wilson, and Speed made sure everything was tied down and zipped up. Then they ran, ignoring the no running on the dock sign.
Wilson and Speed headed for their cars, while Sail went into the ticket booth to help Ana close and make phone calls. If the storm passed, they’d open up, but as of now they were going to suspend all tours. Customers were given a chance to get a refund or rebook. Being that it was early in the week, most rebooked.
“Have you met Galvin yet?” Sail asked Ana after they made their last round of calls.
“No. Is she your girlfriend?”
The idea made Sail smile. He ducked his head to hide his grin from Ana. “No, she’s new to town. Works at the diner.”
“Really? She must not work when I’m there.”
“She’s nice.”
“Okay?”
Sail took a deep inhale. “I’m wondering if maybe you don’t go introduce yourself. Like I said, she’s new to town and I don’t think she’s actually met anyone, aside from my family.”
“Are you suggesting I befriend your paramour?”
“Paramore? Isn’t that a band?”
Ana rolled her eyes. “Para-m-o-u-r,” she said, spelling it out for him. “It’s French for lover.”
“She’s not my lover.”
“Yet.”
“Ever.” He hated making such a bold statement. “She’s made it very clear she’s here to work and doesn’t have the time for the likes of me.”
“That’s because she doesn’t know you the way the rest of us do.”
Sail scoffed. “I’m sure she’s heard the rumors.”
“What? That you’re a good guy? A decent man?”
Sail frowned and shook his head. “That I’m a loser who got booted from college for drinking.”
“But you’re not that guy, Sail.”
“At least I’m not trying to be,” he said to her. “I don’t know . . .” Sail paused and shook his head. “From the second I laid eyes on her I told myself I have something to prove.”
“Why not be yourself?”
“Because I don’t know who I am right now,” he said with a shrug. He supposed he had time to figure all that out since he couldn’t return to school until January.
galvin
. . .
Galvin finally had a much-needed day off. After working a series of shifts where she either closed, then opened, or worked doubles, she woke to the bright sun streaming through her windows.
Two days ago, she’d experienced her first hurricane or what Penny called a very windy storm with torrential downpour and light flooding. The diner had been empty, as had been the streets, and the harbor. All boats were moored, and every business shut down except for Carter’s.
The Carters were the epitome of community people. Instead of shuttering their doors and waiting out the storm, they turned the generator on and kept Carter’s open to provide a warm, dry space for people to come and get a hot meal or just escape the storm.
Employees did not have to work. Jack and the two youngest boys, Tidal and Crew, took over, and because Galvin lived upstairs and benefited from having power, she pitched in as well. According to Jack, Dune and Sail were on standby with search and rescue, ready to help as needed. When Galvin heard this, her heart spiked with anxiety. While Sail was off limits romantically, she’d sort of grown fond of his almost daily appearance in her life. And the thought of him being out in the storm unnerved her while also gave her a bit of exhilaration. She pictured him in her mind as a hero and not the guy she wanted to lose her inhibitions with.