Current to Trouble (Wild Hearts #2)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

“I’m moved beyond tears, and I’m pissed as hell,” Emma Brown said, calm settling into her bones.

Her would-be bridesmaids stared at her wide-eyed.

“We’re taking this trip, and we’re going to have fun. Got it?”

Morgan nodded. Carly followed. Hailey hesitated, then nodded too.

Emma tossed her thousand-dollar wedding dress, loaded with pearls and sequins, into the flames of her outdoor firepit. The veil followed.

“Toss in your dresses! I want no remembrance of what nearly occurred. The biggest near-mistake of my life.”

No one moved.

Emma pointed at the fire.

Morgan, Carly, and Hailey tossed their coral-colored dresses into the flames.

Emma stared at the fire until every last piece of material had transitioned to ashes.

How had it come to this? Dumped two weeks before her wedding.

She’d worked so hard to perfect every little detail.

For the past year, her life had revolved around making sure everything would be perfect for her and Jonathan on their big day.

The most important day of her life. Now, here she sat with her three best friends, burning their dresses as if that would help to erase all thoughts of the wedding and Jonathan from her mind.

When the flames died, she straightened. “It’s time. Let’s go.”

Morgan grimaced. “Are you sure you really want to do this…a charter fishing trip? Can’t we just go to wineries or something?”

“Yeah. Let’s do that instead,” Carly said. “I’ve done the wine tour in Door County before. It’s fun.”

Hailey nodded in agreement.

“No, we’re taking this stupid charter fishing excursion I paid for. It is non-refundable, and I’ll be damned if I let Jonathan and his buddies enjoy the trip I gave him for his bachelor party.”

Jonathan had nearly lost it when she told him she’d canceled it, which she hadn’t.

He’d paced around like a caged animal. She didn’t understand what the big deal was.

He could take a charter anytime he wanted.

Except for anytime soon out of Sturgeon Bay.

It was June, and likely all charters were fully booked, even on a weekday.

Even if Jonathan tried to rebook with Reelin’ In Charters, he’d be out of luck. Captain Samuelson was booked…by her.

She glanced over at the black duffel bag lying next to her beach bag.

“And that bag is coming with us.”

Emma grabbed the black duffel bag from the ground. Jonathan’s fishing gear.

The fishing gear meant nothing to her, but it meant something to him, so she swiped it when they split their belongings yesterday. He’d put it in the back of his truck, and she nabbed it when he wasn’t looking. It was heavier than she imagined it would be for fishing gear, but what did she know?

The four of them loaded into Hailey’s sedan, and she set them on the course to Door County. The drive from Appleton would take just over an hour, so they had plenty of time to get to the dock for their two o’clock charter.

Hailey pulled into the packed parking lot at Sawyer Park. The place swarmed with people and boats lined the dock.

Emma shouldered her beach bag on one side and Jonathan’s black duffel bag on the other.

Hailey carried their small cooler filled with snacks and drinks, Carly carried both of their beach bags, and Morgan flung her bag over her shoulder.

It was likely they wouldn’t actually fish, as that wasn’t the plan.

The point of taking the trip was to keep Jonathan from fishing.

With her friends in tow, Emma walked toward the fish cleaning stations.

The smell hit hard. Carly gagged.

Men elbow-deep in fish guts laughed and one looked them over with open amusement. Emma shot him a glare. He looked away.

“I’m not going any closer to that. And the boat better not smell like that or I’m not getting on it,” Carly muttered.

“It’ll be fine. We’ll be surrounded by fresh air,” Emma assured.

Emma stepped under the shelter and walked up to the nearest fish cleaning station, taking care not to breathe through her nose to avoid the horrid stench. That may have been a mistake as the taste of raw fish seemed to seep into her mouth.

She focused her gaze on the first man who made eye contact with her.

He was tall and lean. Though it was only June, his skin was sun-darkened.

He wore a baseball cap with sunglasses perched on the brim.

Judging from the white circles around his eyes, she assumed those glasses were normally perched on his nose.

He pulled his gaze from her and dropped a large fillet into a bag held by a lanky young man who bore a similar tan.

“I’m looking for Captain Samuelson from Reelin’ In Charters. My friends and I have the afternoon voyage with him,” she said.

“Voyage?” she heard a nearby man repeat.

Laughter followed.

She cut her eyes in that direction, and all gazes landed on their feet.

She turned her gaze back to the man she’d originally addressed. He wore a look of dismay.

His broad shoulders slumped. “Are you sure your charter is today?”

“Yes.”

“On Reelin’ In Charters?”

“Listen, I certainly know who I’ve booked a charter with. Now, do you know where I can find him and his boat, or not?”

“Yes, I’m Captain Samuelson. Call me Cap.” His brows furrowed. “But there must be some mistake because my afternoon charter is already booked. We’ll find a way to work it out.”

“No kidding. I booked it.”

The man rinsed his hands and dried them with a piece of paper towel. Then, he pulled his phone from his shorts pocket, tapped at the screen, and studied it.

“My records show that I’m taking four guys out. It’s a bachelor party. Jonathan Milbourne is the unlucky soul.”

Heat rushed to her face. She lifted her hand and pointed at Cap.

“What a horrible comment to make. I bet you’re still single. Aren’t you?”

“Single and loving it, sweetheart.”

His sarcastic tone sent fire through her veins.

“Jonathan would have been lucky to marry Emma. The jerk doesn’t deserve her. I’m glad the wedding is off,” Morgan said as she slung an arm around Emma’s shoulders.

Thank God for her friend stepping in, or she may have slapped that smug smile right off of Captain Samuelson’s face.

Okay, no, she wouldn’t have because she wasn’t a violent person, but his heartless comment struck a nerve just now, so she wouldn’t mind if the machine spinning fish guts would spray him full of the nasty stuff.

“Let’s go, Emma. This wasn’t a good idea anyhow,” Morgan said as she shifted her friend in the opposite direction of the captain.

“Wait!” Cap called out.

Emma was a slim woman of medium height with jet black hair, and her dark eyes slowly turned to face him again. Her dagger-shooting glare sliced through his eyes and heart. Now that he realized she was a jilted bride, he felt horrible about the comment he’d made.

Emma’s friend’s gazes were on him. His fishing buddy’s gazes were on him.

He knew he had to reel back, but totally didn’t want to in front of the other charter captains, first mates, and anglers.

This was going to suck. His mother’s voice rang through his head, reminding him to be kind to others and do the right thing.

“My apologies, Emma. I didn’t know. Your charter will be ready to leave at the scheduled time. About fifteen minutes.”

Her almost black eyes softened a fraction.

“Okay then. Where should we wait?”

Disdain still laced her tone.

He pointed to the dock wall. “That’s my boat right there. You can wait on the dock, and then I’ll help you onto the boat.”

Emma and her three friends walked toward his boat.

Cap rubbed the back of his neck. This was going to be a horrible afternoon. Four ladies on his boat, taking the charter out of spite and probably had no desire to fish. It was going to be a long afternoon and evening. Maybe they won’t want to stay out the entire time. That would be good.

Tom slapped him on the shoulder blade. “It’s going to be a long afternoon for you, buddy. At least the ladies are easy on the eyes,” his old pal said.

“You had your out, and you blew it. If you hadn’t said anything more, they would have left. But no, you called her back,” Steve, another charter captain, chimed in.

Cap grimaced. He was well aware of that.

All the men under the roof of the fish cleaning station shared a laugh at his expense.

“What’s so funny?” Preston asked as he stepped under the pavilion.

“Your next charter is here and ready to go, kid,” Tom said with a chuckle.

Preston, his first mate, looked at him for an explanation.

“Our bachelor party charter turned into a charter with the not-to-be-bride,” Cap said.

Preston’s brows furrowed. “What?”

“It appears the wedding is off, and the ladies have assumed the charter. I didn’t know until just now. They must have communicated that to Cici because there they are,” Cap said as he pointed to the women.

This was the worst possible time for his sister and regular first mate, Cici, to be sick.

She could have handled this situation, but now it would be just him and the kid he borrowed from another charter captain.

He worked with Preston before and he was a good first mate, but Cici, would have probably been better under these circumstances.

She was more of a people-person than he was.

Well, he was just going to have to get used to working without her since she’d just gotten her captain’s license and now captained her own boat.

It was the second one they’d added to their fleet.

“Go get the ladies situated. I’ll be right there.”

“Aye, aye, captain,” Preston replied.

Cap pulled his cell phone from his pocket and called Cici.

“Hello,” she mumbled as she cleared the frog from her throat.

“You sound like shit.”

“I feel like shit. What’s up?”

“I’ve got four ladies here for a charter, not four men.”

“Yeah, she called earlier and told me that. The groom dumped her. She paid for the charter, so she and her bridesmaids are taking it.”

“You could have warned me.”

“What’s the difference? A charter is a charter.”

He supposed his sister was right.

Cici laughed and coughed. “Take it they don’t look like anglers?”

“Not at all, sis.”

“You’ll be fine. It will all be fine.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“Loosen up a little. It might be fun.”

“I doubt that.”

He disconnected the call and looked toward his boat to find Preston transferring the ladies’ bags from the dock to the boat. Then, from inside the boat, he stretched out a hand and, one by one, helped each woman board.

Two of the women peeled off their shirts without hesitation. Preston’s mouth fell open when he looked at the tall blonde woman in a skimpy bikini top.

Cap exhaled.

This trip was going to be trouble with a capital T.