Chapter 13
T hey left her office five minutes later.
Brody suggested they take his double-cab, so there would be extra room for whatever.
Soon as they were underway, Rae settled against the side door so she could watch the man driving.
Brody wore a wool knit cap, thin and drawn tight to his head.
It highlighted his face’s strong lines, the pronounced cheekbones, the chill to his glacial-blue eyes.
Brody must have felt her eyes, because he glanced over and smiled. “What?”
“Thank you for doing this.”
“You kidding? Emma was one lady I could always rely on. Hard as things got, she was always ready with a plate of those amazing cookies and that awful tea.” He rolled down both windows on his side.
“A month or so before my uncle offered me the weekend gig, things were pretty bad around the house. I was already hooked on math and sailing both, which meant running away wasn’t really an option.
I asked Emma if I could move into one of her little cabins, pay my keep by doing whatever was needed around the place. ”
She wrapped her jacket in tighter, fighting off the chill of highway driving with both windows down. “I never knew that.”
“You want me to roll up the windows?”
“Never.”
He pointed to the glove compartment. “There’s another cap in there. Always keep a fresh one for coming off the water.” He smiled at the sight of her fitting it in place. “Only Rae Alden could make a sailor’s knit cap look beautiful.”
She had no idea how to respond to his compliment, so she asked, “What did Emma say?”
“That I needed to stand tall and remain confident things were going to work out.”
“That sounds just like her.”
“Then she told me about sea glass.”
Rae felt her jaw drop open. “No way.”
Brody glanced over. “Not you, too.”
“I thought I was the only one.”
He slowed so as to give her a longer look. “So did I.”
“Tell me what she said.” It wasn’t that Rae suspected him of telling tales. More like, she needed to know how deep this connection went.
“Sea glass was her favorite gemstone. When I told her it was just glass, she swatted my head and told me to pay attention.” Brody was watching the road now, or rather, staring ahead and smiling at the unseen. “The sea took little bits of the broken and changed them.”
Rae was nodding now. She was hearing Emma’s exact words coming alive again, right here in Brody’s ride. She could no longer see the man driving, nor did it matter. He spoke, and she heard a different voice.
“Years and years of polishing and smoothing, turning these tiny fragments into the most beautiful jewels on earth. Gifts from the sea and the sunlight and the passage of hard times.”
Rae liked how this man she thought she knew needed to release one hand from the wheel and wipe his face. She could not get over how it felt for the two of them to be so impacted by the same memory.
Brody went on, “I always suspected she had a word with my Uncle Travis. Soon after that conversation, he offered me the place to stay. I never spoke with Emma about it, though. Too worried I might jinx things.”
“Your parents never asked where you spent your weekends?”
“My mother gave it her blessing, she and Travis were tight.” His face grew new lines. “I never heard word one from Dad. He might have been glad to see me gone.”
The wind sang a stronger melody now, so potent Rae heard herself say, “My mother died on Christmas Eve when I was nine years old. My father passed eleven days later. He’d had cancer of some kind, it’d spread everywhere.
Mom was a severe diabetic, and caring for him put too much strain on her already weak system. ”
“Rae, I’m so sorry, I never knew.”
“They were incredibly in love. That’s the most enduring memory I have, how they cared for each other.
Despite everything. I moved in with Emma on Christmas Day.
Daddy was already in hospice care. Emma’s husband, my uncle Al, had died that spring.
Emma called me the very best Christmas gift ever. For all the wrong reasons.”
She liked even more how Brody’s voice sounded almost cracked around the edges when he said, “That sounds so much like her.”
“I had my bad days at first. Emma liked to pretend they didn’t happen, or at least didn’t matter. ‘Mere aberrations,’ she called them. She said I was a perfect example of a female clock who missed half a second once each year.”
Brody wiped his face a second time. The sight was rimmed by little crystalline elements now, especially when Rae needed to do the same.
“Then I turned twelve, and it all came crashing in. I entered a new school that autumn and hated every minute. I felt like everywhere I looked, I was brought back to the same terrible truths. All that death and loss. Both parents. Uncle Al.”
Brody managed, “Your whole world, and all you had left was one sick lady.”
Rae used both hands this time. It was suddenly very important to see him clearly.
She wasn’t used to people understanding her so profoundly.
Like Brodie shared her thoughts as well as her words.
“Emma put up with me for an entire autumn. Then she borrowed a boat from Travis and took me to Cape Lookout. She told me we were going to stay out there until I found her a decent piece of sea glass. Even if it took all winter, we weren’t going—”
That was as far as she got.
Brody slowed and put on his blinker and pulled into a parking lot that had been emptied by winter. He reached across the central divide. It felt beyond natural to lean into his embrace. Beyond good.
She waited until she had things back under control. Then, “We need to be going.”
He was not letting go. He just held on. His face nestled where her hair emerged from the cap and spilled over her neck. She could feel his breath. Steady. Strong.
Rae wanted to stay where she was. She wanted, she wanted …
She gently pushed him away, settled back into the seat, waited as Brody put the truck into drive and turned onto the highway. Then she finished, “I’ve apologized to her so many times. Emma claims it’s the second finest Christmas she’s ever had.”
Those were the last words either of them spoke until they pulled into the marina’s main lot. He watched the masts tilt and sway, giving her time to collect herself. Then he reached for her hand and held it a long time. Twice he opened his mouth, ready to speak, but remained silent.
Rae put her free hand on top of his. She used both hands to squeeze his fingers. Hard as she could. Silence had never felt so sweet. Or so right.
Brody had parked where they could sit and watch the Island Marina in holiday season. Rae liked how he was willing to wait for her guidance. More than that. It touched her at a very deep level, this man’s gift of trust.
“Pretend Jacob is watching. You’re still open to a counteroffer?” Rae pretended to ignore how Brody’s entire body tensed at the man’s name. “Because if I was in his place, furious over how you’re being pursued by another group … You say he doesn’t like this Lord Viscount?”
“They loathe each other.”
“Given what you’ve told me, Jacob is boiling. So, he’ll ask one of your crew mates—”
“He doesn’t ask. Jacob orders.”
“Somebody is checking the marinas. Seeing what you’ve been up to.”
Brody glanced over. “What am I up to, Rae?”
She told herself it was silly to be moved by how Brody showed her such openhanded trust. “What would you most like to see happen?” When he remained silent, she went on, “I’m not talking about just today. If you could name one thing—”
“Jacob accused me of not being a true competitor. Somebody who’s driven to win. Who takes losing like a sword to the gut. He uses that expression all the time. A challenge to his crew.”
“When did he tell you this?”
“Earlier this morning.”
“Brody, you met Jacob Whitinger alone? Without telling me?”
He shifted in his seat. Grave now. “I needed to do this, Rae. Look him in the eye. Alone. And tell him I wasn’t dancing to his tune anymore.”
She found herself unable to argue with that. “Will you tell me what happened?”
Brody related their confrontation in the Fortunate Harbor restaurant.
Rae found herself reflecting on how she now viewed Brody Reames, the young professional.
Despite the tense exchange, Jacob’s rage and vindictive nature on full display, Brody’s account was calmly analytical.
Then he segued smoothly into his conversation with Cameron.
Stripping himself bare in the process.
Brody finished with, “Back to your question.”
For a brief instant, Rae had no idea what he was talking about. “Okay.”
“Before a major storm comes onshore, the air crackles with an energy, a pressure. You know a major change is on the way. That’s how it felt after Jacob left.
Like everything that’s been happening over the past months became perfectly clear.
The tempest has struck. Jacob is only a small part of it.
Maybe the most visible, but worrying about him is like being blinded by a lightning strike and ignoring the whole storm. ”
Rae felt her chest expanding. Like she needed more space to absorb everything that was pouring in. She tried to tell herself she was focused on a client’s needs. But she had never been one for lying to herself. Even here. When his confession felt like it stripped her bare.
Brody said, “What if it’s time to give up racing?”
A tremor ran through her bones. Crazy. Especially since she could not say why. “Not because of Jacob.”
“No. What if it’s time to love sailing for sailing’s sake?” His eyes were blue-gray crystal globes. Wonderous. Matching his tone. “What if I strip away the competition and stress and sacrifices … Rae, I don’t know what to fit inside that hole.”
She could almost read the words there in his open gaze. “You’re making room for something else.”
He just looked at her.
“A different life,” she said, breathless now. “One with a greater sense of balance.”