Chapter 32
THIRTY-TWO
Liam stirs in bed before I can slip out of the room, and I hear his low voice in the soft darkness. “Hey.”
I cross the room and sit on the edge of the bed, leaning down to press a kiss to his lips. “Hey.”
He rubs the sleep from his eyes, and I smile down at him and Miss Bobber, who is sprawled out in her usual spot in the middle of the bed.
“What’s your plan for today?” I ask, tracing my fingers lightly over his arm.
His hand lands on my thigh with a gentle squeeze. “I’m going to put the baseboards in the sunroom now that the floor’s done.”
I smile. “Then it just needs a coffee table.”
He smiles back at me, and I need to remind myself to breathe.
I nod, pausing for a moment. “What do you think about going to see my mom tonight?”
He tugs me down again, placing a kiss on my lips, full of quiet reassurance. “Whatever you want, mo chridhe. I’m there with you.”
I kiss him back, thankful for him and the strength and courage he gives me. I’m nervous to come out to my family, but I also know he’s right. They love me, and I know it’ll be ok. But to make things a little more manageable, I’ve decided to tell my mom first. And now that I’ve decided this is happening, I can’t sit on it for too long and let the anxiety build.
“But,” I say, pulling back from his lips, “we also need to find time to go fishing before you head back to work. I need to kick your ass once and for all.”
He laughs, his breath warm on my lips. “You wish.”
“It’s happening,” I say firmly, leaning down to give him one last kiss before I stand. “I’m starting to get a bit pissed off.”
“Starting to?” he teases with a chuckle.
“Whatever,” I mutter, heading for the door to hide my smile. “See you this afternoon.”
“Have a good one,” he says, his voice already fading into sleep as I gently close the door behind me.
Downstairs, I set the coffee to brew, and let my eyes drift towards the sunroom as the rich scent fills the air. A smile forms on my lips as a warm feeling settles over me and I think about spending time with Liam in there. In the room we built together. Lobster season ends in just two weeks, and usually I’m dreading this time of year because I need to keep busy to stay out of my head. But now… quiet, slow mornings sound pretty damn good.
With Liam.
I grab my coffee, taking that comforting feeling with me as I head down to the marina through the quiet, sleepy town. As I pull into the parking lot and hop out of my truck, I see Sheila just stepping out of hers as well.
“Morning, Theo,” she greets me, bright-eyed and cheerful.
“You know, Sheila,” I say, falling into step beside her as we head onto the dock, “you don’t have to be here this early.”
She waves a dismissive hand in the air as we walk. “And who would keep all you in line if I wasn’t here?”
I glance around the quiet marina, seeing only John, one of the other captains, here so far. “I think we’d manage.”
She raises a brow at me. “The day I’m not here is the day everything goes to shit.” She turns towards her office, waving to me over her shoulder. “Have a good day, my boy!”
“Thanks, Sheila,” I say with a chuckle, then head to the boat.
I fall into my usual routine getting everything ready, and Sarah arrives first, as always.
“Aw, one crew member down today, huh?” Sarah says with her usual cheery hop into the boat.
I nod as she pulls out her waders and slips them on. “Didn’t want Liam showing you guys up any more than he already did. Especially Glen.”
“Jesus Murphy,” Glen exclaims, appearing on the dock with his hand dramatically over his heart. “I heard that. You’ve got some nerve.”
I just smirk at him, then step into the wheelhouse to look over the coordinates for our traps. I want to start where we finished yesterday at the new locations I set, hoping they’ll give us a better haul.
By the time we’re prepped and pulling away from the dock, the air is warming up and the sky is starting to show the first signs of light. As I listen to the familiar hum of the engine and the laughs from my crew as we drive towards the first trap, my mind wanders.
To yesterday, with Liam here on the boat. His soft smile under the morning sun, and his crystal blue eyes sparkling with joy as he held up a lobster. To what we did after, and how we fell asleep in each other’s arms after yet another shower that also ended up quite heated. And to tonight… when I’ll finally tell my mom I’m gay.
I never thought I’d have the courage to be here, ready and able to do this. But Liam has helped me see exactly who I am, what I want, and has shown me how to do something about it. And I still can’t quite believe that he wants to do it all with me.
I’m seriously, madly, in love with him.
And I plan to tell him that too.
He’s been through so much, facing intense grief and pain every day. But over the past couple days, he’s been working through it. And when he’s ready to face it head on, I’ll be right there with him.
When I pull the boat up to our first trawl line, the sky has lightened with beautiful, subtle hues of pink and orange. The water is still and the sky is clear, making for a perfect morning.
“Let’s see what we got,” Mitch says, moving beside me as Sarah and Glen take their positions. I reach out with the hook and snag the buoy, pulling it in to see a bright seahorse painted on it, with long eyelashes.
“Quite possibly my best work,” Sarah says seriously, watching as I secure the line to the winch and flip the switch to start hauling the line up.
I shake my head with a smirk. “Honestly, I do think you’re onto something with googly eyes.”
Mitch groans and turns to me. “Oh fuck right off, don’t encourage her.”
I shrug as Sarah cackles with delight and Glen shakes his head, clearly on Mitch’s side.
The first trap breaks the surface, and I lean over to haul it up, setting it on the edge of the boat to start emptying it.
“Think Liam will come back out?” Mitch asks as he reaches into the trap.
“He’s heading back to work in a couple days,” I say, my stomach dropping at the thought of not having him here for three weeks. “So, not sure.”
“Tell him it’s his last chance if he doesn’t want to wait until November,” Sarah says. “Season will be done when he gets home.”
I nod, tossing a lobster into the holding tank. “Yeah, maybe he can get out again before he leaves.”
“What’s he up to today?” Glen asks as Mitch passes an empty trap down the line to Sarah for bait, while I pull up the next one.
“Doing some work on the house,” I say, opening the trap.
Sarah looks down the boat at me. “What have you done to it so far? Sounds like you guys have gone hard on it the past couple months.”
“A lot,” I reply with a nod, pulling out my notcher to cut a V into a breeder’s tail. “When he got here, I only had part of the kitchen done. He’s been working on the rest, and I’ve been finding more time to put into it too.” I place a herring between the lobster’s claws, smiling as she latches onto it, then set her back into the water.
Mitch aims a wide grin my way. “I knew I liked him from the first day I met him. He actually got you to slow the fuck down! That’s a goddamn miracle.”
I huff out a laugh, hitting the switch to pull up the next trap. But I don’t argue with him. Liam has been saying that to me since we first met… and I guess he did make it happen.
Not that I’m complaining.
A sudden warmth fills me as I look at my crew. They like Liam, and they’re the kindest and most understanding people I know. And I find myself wanting to tell them about us. To stop hiding, and let them in.
I take a deep breath as I turn to continue emptying the traps, knowing I need to tell my family first. But still, it feels good to have finally found the courage to share something that’s been weighing on me for so long. And if things don’t go well… I’ll face that if it happens.
But I don’t think it will.
We continue to empty and re-bait the traps, and when we finish this trawl line, Mitch lets out a low whistle as he eyes the holding tank. “Looks like you picked the right spot, Captain.”
I nod, looking over the haul from the line. There’s definitely more here than at our last spot.
At the next trawl line, I pull the buoy up and load the line into the winch, hitting the switch as I lean back against the wheelhouse wall. My eyes scan over the horizon as we wait for the first trap to surface, and I take a moment to just sit with this peaceful, easy feeling. This feeling I’ve been chasing for so long, and finally found.
But that peace is interrupted when the line suddenly pulls taut, and the winch grinds, telling me something’s wrong.
“Shit,” I mutter, stepping forward to shut off the winch. “I think a trap is caught on a rock.”
But before I can turn the switch off, a loud, sudden snap fills the air. The line breaks under the tension, and time seems to slow as I watch the end of it coming right for me… straight at my head.
My arm lifts as I attempt to block the impact, and I close my eyes, unable to do anything else.
And all I feel is intense, searing pain.