Chapter Seven
Marit felt better than she had in years. As she strolled hand in hand with Zach through the rows of vendors set up in Rockville’s waterfront park, she couldn’t help but smile as people greeted Zach over and over.
He may have tried to convince her that she fit in here, but it was more than obvious how much he was loved.
He’d been gone for many years during his time in the Navy, but people obviously had long memories, and he and the Young family were clearly adored in this town.
They were true Mainers, no matter what Zach claimed or how long he and his brothers might’ve been gone.
Several people offered their condolences for the loss of his father, which Zach accepted with grace.
He didn’t seem irritated that they were stopped time and time again to chat.
Marit could also see that the comments people made to him about The Lobster Buoy, and how much they’d enjoyed whatever dish they’d tried, made Zach beam with pride.
And he should be proud. Today, his lobster shack had the longest line of both locals and tourists, eager to eat the delicious concoctions on offer.
They popped their heads into the back of the restaurant and greeted Jack, Zach’s cook. The man snarled at his boss and ordered him out, pointing a spatula in their direction. “You’re taking the morning off, remember?” he growled.
“I do remember. And if you keep up this insubordination, I’ll take the afternoon off too.”
Jack’s mouth fell open, and he blurted, “Really?”
“Really.”
“You’re a miracle worker,” he told Marit. “You eat free here for life.”
“Hey! You can’t go around giving away my food,” Zach teased.
In response, Jack smacked his shoulder with the spatula this time. “Out!” he ordered with a smirk.
“I hope you’re going to wash that thing before you use it again,” Zach grumbled.
Jack rolled his eyes, then threw the spatula he’d been threatening his boss with into a bin in the small sink next to the grill, pulling a new one out of a drawer.
“We’ve got things under control here. Karen is coming in about twenty minutes, and Bill and Casey are keeping the line moving nicely. Now, scat. Skedaddle. Git.”
“We’re going, we’re going,” Zach told him. “You need anything, you call, understand?”
“Of course. Got you on speed dial. We got this though.”
“Thanks, Jack. You’re the best.”
“Of course I am. I expect a nice end-of-the-season bonus.”
“We’ll see,” Zach said.
“Fuck off.”
“Back atcha.”
The banter between employee and boss was funny.
And cute. It reminded Marit of how she and Eliot were together, although she wasn’t brave enough to be quite as brash as Jack.
But the good-natured teasing back and forth had an undercurrent of respect.
It was obvious Jack enjoyed the autonomy of being in charge while Zach was gone, and Zach had no problem trusting the other man to oversee his precious lobster shack.
It was a great partnership, and Marit loved that for Zach.
Now they were wandering around checking out all the booths and the wares people were selling.
Marit had to admit, she was a sucker for lobster paraphernalia.
It was cheesy and stereotypical, and crazy since she worked with lobsters day in and day out.
But she had to have a lobster charm she saw at one booth, and there was a squishy lobster she couldn’t walk past as well.
Zach bought both for her, even though she protested that she could afford them on her own.
To pay him back, she bought him a donut from Ruckus Donuts, an espresso crème. They’d eaten a large, delicious breakfast, but he seemed to enjoy the sweet treat . . . as much as Marit liked the taste of the coffee-flavored whipped cream on his tongue when he kissed her in thanks.
So far, Marit hadn’t discovered anything about Zach Young that she didn’t like.
It was still very early in their relationship, they were still in the honeymoon stage, but seriously .
. . the man could cook like a dream, he did laundry, he slept in the wet spot, he didn’t make her feel left out when he was talking to people he knew, and he went out of his way to introduce her to everyone they met as “my girlfriend, Marit, who’s one of the hardest-working lobsterwomen I know. ”
Of course, she was the only lobsterwoman he knew, but he didn’t tell anyone that.
While in the shower that morning, Marit had taken to heart some of the things he’d said.
He was right, she wasn’t super happy that he kept bringing up her brothers, but he wasn’t wrong in that they’d made her feel unlovable.
If her own brothers hadn’t found anything within her to love and cherish, how could a stranger?
But Zach was doing an amazing job so far of proving that she was worthy.
That her brothers were the ones in the wrong.
It would take more than one night of good sex and a public date for her to completely change the way she’d thought for so long .
. . but some of the things Zach had said were making her reevaluate parts of her life.
After a couple of hours at the festival, she was feeling mellow, and happy, and relaxed . . . which ended when she saw Lucas Pearson walking toward them.
He was tall—which was why she saw him right away—and muscular, as many lobstermen were.
He had closely cropped hair and a scowl on his face.
She fully planned on ignoring him, but as they approached the man, he saw her .
. . and loudly grumbled something about not being able to go anywhere without running into “fucking bitches.”
“Excuse me?” Zach asked, obviously hearing the snide comment as well. It could’ve been directed at anyone, but since Lucas was glaring at her when he’d said it, it wasn’t hard to miss who he was referring to.
When Marit herself didn’t respond, Lucas raised his voice and said, “Why don’t you just go back to whatever rock you climbed out from under? No one wants you here. We don’t need you defiling our fleet with your tits and ass.”
Marit could only stare at the man spitting such vicious words at her. She’d been minding her own business, on her time off, and yet he still felt the need to spew his nasty thoughts loud enough for everyone around them to hear.
In the past, she would’ve turned around and walked away, not giving any bully the satisfaction of getting a rise out of her. It was how she’d learned to survive around her brothers. To ignore, rather than confront them. To just take what they dished out, then walk away.
But Zach wasn’t like that. He was more than ready to stand up for her. He subtly—or not so subtly—pushed her behind him and crossed his arms over his chest as he glared at Lucas.
“What the absolute fuck?” he bit out. His voice wasn’t raised, probably because they were surrounded by people, kids included. “Lucas Pearson, I presume.”
“You know me? I don’t know you.”
“Then you obviously aren’t from around here,” someone from the growing crowd said.
They were standing on the main street of Rockville and were attracting quite a lot of lookie-loos.
People who were curious as to what was happening.
“Zach owns The Lobster Buoy. The Young family has lived in the area for more than fifty years.”
“Whoop-de-do,” Lucas taunted. “You think owning a shitty food trailer means you’re a big man?”
“No. But I think being a decent person who pays my taxes, doesn’t overcharge customers, and who served his country for years makes me a bigger man than you for sure.”
That didn’t make Lucas happy. Marit could see in his eyes that he was absolutely furious. Which wouldn’t bode well for her.
Though honestly, she had no idea why he’d decided to suddenly target her in the first place.
What had she ever done to him? She didn’t even know the man, not really.
She knew he’d been friends with Thorne Deaton back in Portland, had probably seen him at the docks a time or two, but she’d never really paid attention, as she kept to herself as much as possible.
“I know all about you,” Lucas said, turning his attention back to her.
Obviously, he understood that he couldn’t beat Zach in a war of words, so he was targeting her once more.
“Thorne made sure to warn me and his other captain friends about you. He knew you moved here after he ran you out of Portland. Wanted to make sure none of us hired you, since you’re damn lazy and can’t do half the amount of work the rest of us can. ”
“By ‘the rest of us,’ you mean men, right?” Zach asked.
Marit wanted to stick up for herself, she really did .
. . but she was tired. Tired of the discrimination.
The misogyny from men who didn’t even know her.
She thought women had the right to do whatever job they wanted, if they were qualified.
She didn’t want a handout. She didn’t want to be treated differently.
She simply loved being on the water, loved hauling lobster pots, loved the thrill of bringing up a pot and finding a rare blue lobster inside.
That had only happened once in her career, and of course, the creature had been thrown back into the ocean, but not before she’d taken a shit ton of pictures.
She worked damn hard, and she knew it. This Lucas guy was making presumptions based on shit he knew nothing about. But then again, he was obviously a part of Thorne’s inner circle; it was no wonder he had such a poor impression of who she was as a person, what kind of lobsterwoman she was.
“Of course I mean men!” Lucas said pompously. “It’s called the Lobstermen’s Association for a reason. Women shouldn’t be allowed. You’re bad luck not only to the boat you’re on, but to everyone you come in contact with. Everyone knows women shouldn’t be aboard.”
“That man needs a donut,” someone muttered from the crowd.