Chapter 22
JORDAN
Jordan was in such a stupidly good mood she almost didn't trust it. She'd been on the bridge since six, watching the eastern horizon turn from gray to the soft pink it did about an hour before sunrise on a calm sea, and it had never looked so beautiful as it did today.
The Whitfields were having breakfast and by midday they'd be off the boat. Since she couldn't seem to stop smiling, she was about to do something she hadn't done in years of running charters, which was amble down to the aft deck and personally greet the guests over coffee.
She handed the watch over to Zoe. Zoe gave her a long look on the way past and decided, visibly, not to ask what she was so cheerful about.
The aft deck was laid out for breakfast. Lindsay had produced a serious spread of fresh pastries, a tray of poached eggs, smoked salmon with capers and crème fra?che, sliced avocado, crispy bacon, a charcuterie board, fresh fruit, two kinds of yogurt with toasted granola and seeds, four kinds of juice, a French press of coffee, and a small silver pot of hot chocolate for the children.
Dani was refilling coffee and juice, too busy to notice her.
"Good morning," Jordan said to the table at large.
The Whitfields looked up and Gerald lifted his coffee in a salute.
"Captain," he said. "Joining us this morning?"
"Just popping down to say hello. We'll be docking in about two hours."
"Two hours." Sarah glanced at her watch. "Goodness. This charter has gone fast."
"It has," Patricia said warmly. "Far too fast."
Dani pulled out a chair and set a coffee down for her without asking. Jordan thanked her but didn't look up. She couldn't be trusted to look at Dani Ellis right now.
"How's it been?" she asked the table. "We hope you've had a good week."
A chorus. Gerald said it had been wonderful. Patricia said the staff had been fantastic. Caroline said the food had been the best she'd eaten in years. David told her the snorkeling at Allen's Cay had been the highlight of his year, and Mark, beside Sarah, raised his coffee and nodded.
"You really do have a wonderful crew," Patricia said. "All of them."
"Thank you. I'm—yes, I'm very lucky."
Jordan did, this time, glance up at Dani, whose lips pulled into a smile.
Bea, still in her nightdress, was leaning against Sarah and not eating. Jack was poking at his pastry. Emma was staring at her plate with her bottom lip jutted out.
"Are we really going home today?" she said quietly.
"Yes, sweetheart," Caroline said. “You have to be back at school on Monday.”
"But I don't want to go home."
"Oh, Em."
Emma's eyes filled up. "I don't want to."
Jack, beside her, had now started crying because he didn't want to go home either, and Bea, watching her cousin sob, had begun to wobble too.
By the time it had gone round the table, three of the children were crying and the adults were all looking at each other, working out who would deal with the meltdowns.
Patricia leaned forward. "Now then. None of that."
"I don't want to go home," Emma sobbed.
"When can we come back?" Jack asked.
"Oh, sweetheart." Gerald took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. "We'll see, Jack. Charters like this aren't, ah—they aren't a regular outing for the family. They’re quite expensive. We did this for Nana and me for our anniversary, and—"
"How EXPENSIVE. Like a CAR expensive?"
"Like several cars expensive, sweetheart. So you might have to wait another couple of years."
This only made Jack cry harder. Bea, in solidarity, joined him at full volume. Noah, who had been holding his composure, now started to wobble too.
Jordan looked at the four small faces turning various shades of red and ruined around the table, and made a decision she was, frankly, surprised by.
"All right." She set her coffee down. "Who wants to come up to the bridge?"
The younger kids stopped crying simultaneously.
"What bridge?" Tyler asked. "I don't see a bridge."
"It's like the cockpit of the ship," Jordan said. "Where I operate the boat from. Whoever wants to come up can come up. You can all help me steer."
"Me!" Bea jumped out of her chair and Emma followed. Jack climbed over Mark instead of pushing his chair back. Noah let out a shriek and joined, and even the older kids, Tyler and Olivia, followed with their phones.
Dani stared at Jordan in disbelief because she'd never let a guest near the helm. The bridge was hers, the one part of this boat that was reliably free of guest interference, and she was, this morning, throwing the doors wide open.
"Captain," Gerald said, as the children swarmed towards her. "That is exceptionally kind."
"Not at all. It’s my pleasure."
"You must be looking forward to a quiet few days yourself," Caroline said. "Running a charter must be exhausting work."
"It has its moments. But I don’t deserve the credit. Dani does the heavy lifting."
Jordan caught Dani's eye and Dani gave her a smile and a small wink before turning back to refill Caroline's cup.
Gerald, who had not missed the exchange, leaned back in his chair. "Yes," he said. "You've got a good one there, Captain." He grinned. "And after a charter like this, I imagine a little wrestling might relax you."
The entire family laughed—Caroline first, then David, then Sarah, then Patricia, then Mark, in rolling waves of laughter.
Patricia reached across and slapped Gerald lightly on the arm. “Gerald, please.” She shook her head and even Tyler was grinning.
Jordan had absolutely no idea why this was funny, so she looked at Dani who had gone bright red. She was also avoiding her gaze in a way that confirmed Jordan was the only person at this table who was not in on whatever the joke was.
"Yes—well—I—I'm not much of a wrestler, Mr. Whitfield," she managed.
The laughter rolled on, harder now, but before she could enquire, Bea had taken her hand.
"Captain. Captain."
Jordan looked down. Bea was gripping her fingers with both of her hands.
"Have you ever seen a mermaid?"
"I—no. I haven't."
"I have." Her eyes went wide. "At the beach."
"Right," Jordan said. "I'd very much like to hear about that on the bridge. Shall we go up?"
"Yes!" Bea tugged her hand and the other children drifted toward her in an expectant tide.
They all headed up and Zoe saw them coming from her seat at the helm. Her eyes widened so distinctly that Jordan saw them widen from twenty feet away.
"Crew," Jordan said to the children. "Welcome to the bridge. This is Zoe, she's my second in command. That means she's kind of like a captain too."
"Whoa," Jack said.
"And this is where I steer the boat from. The wheel is here. The chartplotter is there—that's the screen that tells us where we're going. The thing in front of you is the throttle. Do not touch that, please."
Bea reached for the throttle.
"Bea."
She stopped, her index finger an inch from it. Jordan might have underestimated the risk of having kids here.
"Don't touch the throttle. If you do, we'll go very fast and your grandmother might fall over the railing on the deck below."
Bea considered this with great seriousness and withdrew her finger.
Jack was staring at the chartplotter and Emma was asking Jordan if she liked edible flowers.
Jordan told her she didn't. Noah was pretending to be cool but had gone still beside the radar and Olivia was taking a selfie in front of the wheel.
"We've got about an hour before we start the approach," Jordan said. "After that, Zoe and I have to do serious stuff so we can get you home safely. Who wants to take the wheel first?"