Chapter 16 #2
“I wouldn’t. Although that does sound fun. Maybe next time.”
He rounded the car, opened her door, then took her hand and helped her out. He didn’t let go. Instead, his fingers threaded through hers like they held hands all the time.
They headed down the metal ramp. The tang of salt water and fish lifted to meet them—home, in a single breath. Lines creaked, gulls heckled, and boats knocked softly against their moorings.
Tate led her all the way to the end of the dock and stopped in front of a stunning cabin cruiser. Classical music spilled from a wireless speaker somewhere.
She fiddled with the borrowed necklace. “What is even happening right now?”
“How do you feel about a romantic cruise with dinner?” Tate asked, as casually as if he were offering coffee.
“Are you serious?” She let go of his hand only so she could press her palms to her cheeks. “Tate!”
His eyes held hers. “I want tonight to be special, Scottie.”
She sighed. It was all too much and exactly right. “I’m in,” she whispered. “This is going to be amazing.”
This harbor cruise was easily the best eight hundred dollars he’d ever spent.
Tate sank back into the cushioned banquette, the vinyl cool through the fabric of his shirt, the seat creaking softly as the boat’s steady thrum vibrated up through the soles of his dress shoes. Opposite him, Scottie tucked a curl behind her ear, blue eyes sparkling in the warm cabin light.
“This was delicious.” She smoothed her hands over the white tablecloth that softened the angles of the fiberglass dinette. “And I can’t get over this boat. It’s gorgeous.”
She glanced around the cabin—the teak trim rubbed to a glow, the brass fixtures polished like they’d been dipped in honey, and the oval portholes pulling in pale gold and silver-blue light.
Through the companionway, their captain for the evening, a man named Rex, moved at the flying bridge, a silhouette against the evening sky.
His wife, Shauna, was tucked in the galley below and aft; the aromas of good coffee and sweet cream drifted in as she worked.
She’d promised to be back with dessert shortly.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had manicotti that tasted quite that good,” Scottie said, dabbing at the corner of her mouth with the linen napkin.
“Shauna’s trying to get a catering business off the ground,” Tate said. “But doing pretty well with harbor cruises.”
“Really? I hadn’t heard that was a thing here.”
“Well, not sure if you’ve been paying attention,” he said, deadpan, “but there’s a reality TV show filming in town.”
“Ha!” She reached for her diet soda—the glass, beaded with condensation, clicking delicately against the coaster. “So they’re making money selling harbor cruises? How?”
“People who come to Redemption want to see where the show is filmed. It’s not hard to cruise past Port Frisco.” He craned his neck toward the window. Outside, pale-yellow light mingled with mottled clouds, bathing islands and the dense forest around the sound in a luxurious glow.
“I can’t imagine that you’re into this,” she said, teasing. “Given your complicated feelings about the show.”
“I’m into it if it sets me up for a romantic dinner with you.”
“I appreciate that you worry about safety. But I think it’s all going to work out. We’ll be finished before the snow falls.”
“But if the ratings continue to climb, they’ll want a second season, right?”
She shrugged, the motion nudging light across the necklace nestled at her throat. “Hard to say.”
“I guess you’re not concerned about that if you’re going to be filming a movie in New Zealand.”
Her brow furrowed almost immediately. Something like regret softened her mouth. She reached across the table and blanketed his hand with hers. Her fingers were warm, and the ring he’d noticed earlier pressed a little crescent against his skin.
“Let’s not talk about New Zealand tonight,” she said. “Let’s just enjoy being together.”
“All right.” He relented, feeling the tight coil in his chest loosen half a turn. “I can forget about the future—at least the New Zealand part—for another hour or so.”
She held his gaze, something earnest flickering there. “What is it that makes you worry? I mean, I think I know, but have you ever been able to pinpoint one key incident?”
He realigned the unused silverware that Shauna hadn’t collected yet. “One key incident? Absolutely. The fire at the resort.”
The boat hummed around them. Rex’s low baritone drifted down from the bridge, the gentle clink of plates rose from the galley, the faint spice of marinara still perfuming the air.
“I could have stopped it,” he said. “I didn’t change the batteries in the smoke detector.”
“You didn’t cause the fire, Tate.”
“I know.” He watched their joined hands instead of her face. The tablecloth brushed his wrist when the hull lifted over a passing swell. “But I can’t forget. I didn’t light the match, but if I had done what I was told, maybe it wouldn’t have happened.”
“You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself.”
“Okay, well, you’re not the first person to tell me that.” He tried for a smile and managed a crooked one. “I’m working on being less high-strung.”
“There.” Her mouth twitched. “You said ‘working on.’ That means you’re a work in progress.”
“Probably for the rest of my life.”
“Aw. I would love for you to be more carefree,” she said, squeezing his hand. “I think you’d have a lot more fun.”
“That’s debatable.”
He flipped his palm to lace their fingers, delighting in the sensation of her skin against his.
“Let’s hear your story, missy,” he said gently. “What makes you so carefree and optimistic?”
She ran her fingertip around the rim of her glass.
“I think I mostly just want attention,” she said with a wry honesty that tightened something behind his ribs.
“I like the adrenaline rush. The stimulation of having a good time. The thrill of not knowing exactly what comes next. I mean, I don’t want to be foolish or anything, but I do want to have a good time. ”
She inhaled, shoulders lifting, then nudged the glass aside.
“I think I’m always just trying to patch the hole that’s left in my heart from when my mom died.
When I was a kid, she paid a lot of attention to me.
I was an only child until Gary remarried and Lainey came into my life.
Honestly, I think I like the attention. Even now.
If somebody likes or comments on anything I’ve created online, I’m just over the moon with excitement. ”
“And you do have quite a following online.”