Chapter Nine #2
Lucas glared at Eliot but didn’t say another word. Nor did he make any move to pull up the pot he’d just dropped.
Apparently deciding he was done dealing with Lucas, Eliot put his boat in reverse and gunned it, sending another wave into Lucas’s boat. It rocked back and forth once again, and Marit loved that Lucas had to grab the oh-shit bar above the wheel to avoid falling.
“Asshole,” Eliot muttered. “Jonah, can you get out your phone and take pics of his pots on top of ours? If we come back out here and his aren’t moved, I’m reporting him for sure.”
“Of course, Pop.” Jonah took off his rubber gloves and headed to the dry bag where he’d stashed his phone before they’d headed out.
“I’m sorry,” Marit felt obligated to say to Eliot.
“For what?”
“For causing Lucas to be such a jerk.”
“You didn’t cause that. He was always an ass. As was his father. Knew the man when I worked over in Portland, years and years ago. Always wanting to take shortcuts. Always breaking the rules. Wanting money, but not willing to put in the work to get it. Not your fault.”
“I worked for someone like that in Portland, when I first started in the industry. I actually reported him for unsafe conditions and ignoring the laws, and for harvesting breeding females. He was heavily fined, but I didn’t care.
He was going to end up killing someone, and I quit before it could be me.
Lucas reminds me of him, thinking he’s above the rules.
” She sighed. “Still, he’s only messing with you because of me.
He’s definitely mad I’m here,” Marit said unnecessarily.
“He can be as angry as he wants, that doesn’t give him the right to insult you, or me, or to break lobstering rules.
I may not have said something when he first started harassing you, but I’m done letting him walk all over both of us.
I’ve got your back, Marit. Don’t worry. And for the record, I’ve done a little askin’ around on the docks.
No one else around here cares that you’re lobstering.
They’re intrigued, and maybe confused about why you want to do a job like this, but they certainly aren’t upset about it.
So just ignore Pearson. He’ll get over himself sooner or later. ”
Marit wanted to cry. Of course, lobsterwomen didn’t cry.
They were tougher than that. But the fact that Eliot had gone out of his way to talk to his friends in the industry, and they didn’t care that she was working on his boat, meant more than he could ever know.
She might never be actual friends with the other lobstermen in the area, but as long as they tolerated her presence and didn’t actively try to drive her away, she was okay with that.
Looking at his watch, Eliot shrugged. “I told Pearson we had another hour, but I think we’re done for now.
We have a great haul, and I know you want to get back to watch the crate race.
I remember seeing my first one, and how in awe I was.
Of course, the lightweights, the kids mostly, have the upper hand as the crates don’t sink when they step on them, but it’s just as fun to watch them scamper across as it is to see the adults fail spectacularly. Assuming you’re meeting Zach to watch?”
“Yeah. The boy who lives next to Lobster Cove is competing.”
“Kash Bates. Good kid. Shame about the situation with his mom. Anyway, after Jonah gets his pictures, let’s get you back to shore so you can have some time with your man.”
Marit wanted to ask what he meant about Kash’s mom, Harper, but she got busy helping to clean up the deck and get the boat ready to dock and get their daily haul off-loaded.
When they docked, Eliot shooed both Marit and his son off, insisting that he might be old, but he’d been taking care of the Wave Rider longer than either of them had been alive . . . which wasn’t exactly accurate, but Marit wasn’t going to argue.
She walked home as quickly as she could, which wasn’t as fast as she would’ve liked, since the streets of Rockville were packed.
The shower she took was quick, and, after throwing her hair up while it was still damp and changing into shorts and a T-shirt, she headed out to meet Zach.
They’d made arrangements via text to meet at The Lobster Buoy.
When Marit arrived, she grinned at seeing the line at Zach’s lobster shack.
It was at least fifteen people deep. The employees working the window were in constant motion, one taking money, one calling out the name of each person as their order was ready, and another preparing the orders, moving the food from the grill into the small paper baskets they used for serving.
Everyone was smiling, and Marit heard more than one person raving about the little pot pies.
The small buoys Zach had also made to sell were disappearing almost as quickly as the food.
They weren’t anything super special, just simple PVC buoys with “The Lobster Buoy” printed on the sides, but people seemed to love them.
Now that she was paying attention, everywhere she looked, Marit saw one hanging on someone’s backpack or purse.
They were quintessential Maine, since they were tiny replicas of an actual lobster buoy, but including the name of the shack on them was pretty darn smart, as far as she was concerned.
“Hey, Zach! Marit’s here!” Casey called out.
“Be out in a sec!” Marit heard him yell from the back of the shack.
She waved at Casey to let her know she’d heard, then stood off to the side to study the crowd.
Despite being so busy, everyone seemed to be in a good mood.
Kids were running around, parents were doing their best to keep an eye on them, and everyone had some kind of food or drink in their hands. Ice cream, Zach’s pot pie, beer.
The weather was perfect, lower eighties, and the sound of people chatting and laughing was constant all around her.
This was what Marit had been looking for.
A place where people could relax, enjoy hanging out with their neighbors, slow down and take a breath now and then.
Yes, many of the people here were tourists, but the fact that they could appreciate a small-town festival like this one and didn’t need to head to a huge city to be happy was heartening.
It even felt good that she had a hand in the joy people were feeling by catching some of the very lobsters they were eating.
“Hey,” a deep voice said in her ear.
Marit didn’t jump in surprise; she immediately recognized Zach’s voice. And the feel of his arm going around her waist and pulling her back into his chest was like coming home.
“Hey,” she said softly, turning her head to look up at him.
“How was work?”
“It was work,” she replied.
Zach frowned as he stared at her. “What’s wrong? What happened?”
So much for her hiding what happened with Lucas. Marit shrugged. “Lucas decided to put his pots basically on top of ours.”
“He can’t do that, can he?”
“Well, there’s no law against it in Maine, but it’s severely frowned on.
And if he touches our gear, there can be huge fines.
No one is allowed to haul anyone’s pots but their own.
But it’s definitely a douchebag thing to do.
His catch will be less, and ours too. But I suppose at this point, he’s more concerned about screwing me over than worrying about how many lobsters he’s catching. ”
“Did he say anything to you?” Zach asked, turning her in his arms so she was facing him.
“Not really. He and Eliot mostly had words. He was awesome. Eliot, that is. I think Lucas was kind of humiliated. And it seems as if he’s working solo again.”
“Again?”
“Yeah. He can’t keep a deckhand to save his life.
I haven’t been here long, neither has Lucas, but even I’ve heard the stories about what a dick he is to work for.
How he cuts corners on safety, and more than once, he’s kept lobsters that are too large.
Or breeding females with eggs. Just like Thorne did back in Portland.
Rumor has it that Lucas even has a hidden compartment on his boat to store them, so if he gets inspected at the dock, no one will find any illegal lobsters he’s kept. ”
“What an asshole.”
“Yeah,” Marit agreed.
“I’m sorry he’s still being a pain,” Zach told her. “You want me to talk to him again?”
“No!” she answered quickly. Then she gave Zach a weary smile.
“I appreciate it, but it won’t do any good.
Lucas is convinced I’m bad luck, and having Thorne encouraging him from Portland, and possibly even egging him on to harass me, Eliot, and Jonah, doesn’t help.
Winter’s coming soon enough, and by then, hopefully things will cool off, literally and figuratively. ”
“I’m struggling to let you deal with this on your own, or not put any pressure on you to let me and my brothers help,” Zach admitted.
“I know you left Portland because of that Thorne guy, and the last thing I want is for you to think the best way to deal with Pearson’s bullying is by leaving Rockville as well.
I don’t want that. I just found you. Losing you because of some bigoted asshole would suck. ”
“I don’t want to leave,” Marit reassured him, feeling all warm and fuzzy inside from his words.
It wasn’t a declaration of love, but knowing he felt that way about her, about their relationship, felt really good.
“And I love that you want to help, but you already are. By doing this. Being with me. Showing me the things that are important to you, like this festival. By sharing your family with me and taking me to the crate race. Being with you makes me forget that there are people out there who hate me simply because I have boobs instead of a dick.”
In response, Zach hugged Marit hard.