Chapter 1 #2
And maybe now that he was back on the island to stay, they could get on with pursuing the friendship-slash-flirtation dance they’d been engaged in for months now.
Not that he was looking for anything serious, because he wasn’t.
But he didn’t think she was either. She’d mentioned a bad breakup with a fiancé before she came to Gansett, but he didn’t know the details.
What did it matter? They’d enjoyed hanging out a few times, they had interesting conversations, and he was attracted to her, which was a big deal in and of itself.
But who wouldn’t be attracted to her? She had shoulder-length brown hair with red highlights that looked like it might be curly if left to its own devices, light brown eyes and a dusting of freckles across her nose that were the cutest thing ever.
But it was her smile that was the showstopper, at least for him.
Whenever she directed that dazzling smile his way, he went a little stupid in the head.
Jack’s phone chimed with a text from Blaine. You coming back any time soon? We’re all hands on deck here right now. People are panicking about a direct hit.
He wrote back right away. On the boat now. I’ll report to the station when I arrive.
Great, thank you.
You got it.
The state police didn’t keep an office on the island.
Rather, they used space provided by the town police department.
Not only did Jack enjoy working with Blaine, but he considered him a close friend, too.
He was looking forward to seeing him, as well as Blaine’s brother, Deacon, who was the harbor master, and the fire chief, Mason Johns, who’d also become friends.
Jack was sure they were all exhausted from preparing for the storm, and he was ready to help.
But once the work was done, he’d be interested to know where Piper planned to hunker down for the storm.
“How much longer?” Piper asked as the ferry crested a particularly large wave.
Jack looked behind him to see where they were.
“There’s the island now. About fifteen more minutes.
” From a distance, the island reminded him of the mud pie dessert, with layers of water-darkened rocks at the bottom and a wall of sand that looked like coffee ice cream.
He kept the reference to himself since he didn’t think Piper would appreciate him talking about ice cream when she was trying not to be sick.
“I don’t think I’m going to make it.”
“Hang on. I’ve got an idea.”
He stood, waited a second to get his legs under him and went to the concession stand to purchase a ginger ale.
He also grabbed a packet of the oyster crackers that went with the clam chowder they sold.
No one seemed interested in that today. “Try this,” he said to Piper when he returned with his offerings. “It might settle your stomach.”
“Thank you.” She took the drink and crackers from him. “That’s very nice of you.”
“No problem.”
She opened the crackers and ate a couple, chasing them with the ginger ale. “Now let’s see if it’ll stay down.”
“I’ll await the verdict with bated breath.”
“Don’t make me laugh. It might make me lose control of the vomit.”
“We don’t want that. Take another sip of ginger ale. My mother swears by it as the cure for everything.”
“Are you close to your family?”
“Very. I’m the third of six kids. We were born within ten years, so we grew up tight.”
“Wow, six kids in ten years.”
“My dad jokes that they had six of us before they figured out where we were coming from.”
Piper’s laughter was infectious and made him smile. “You’re not making me laugh, remember?”
“Oh, sorry.”
“That was funny, though. Do you have nieces and nephews?”
“Two of each, with another on the way.”
“That sounds fun,” she said wistfully.
“Do you have siblings?”
“Four—all older than me.”
“Did you grow up in Rhode Island?” he asked.
“Connecticut. Almost to the New York line. How about you?”
“Boston area.”
“Oh no. You’re a Red Sox fan, then. I knew there had to be something about you that I didn’t like.”
“Haha, yes, I am. Don’t ruin everything by telling me you’re a Yankees fan.”
“Sorry.”
“Ew.”
“Did you just say ew?”
“I did. The Yankees are gross.”
“I can imagine it must seem that way looking up from the cellar the Sox have been sitting in the last few years.”
“That was rude.”
“Truth hurts, huh?”
“It really does. They’ve gone from best to worst in a few years.”
“So sorry for your troubles.”
“You’re not one bit sorry.”
She giggled, causing the strangest feeling of lightness in his chest. That’d happened before when she was around, which was one of the many reasons he’d thought of her so often while he was away.
“Is this going to be a deal breaker?” he asked.
“Did we have a deal?”
“I sort of hoped so.”
She gave him a side-eyed look and took another sip of the ginger ale. “Are you sticking around this time?”
“That’s the plan, but I have another question for you before we close the deal.”
“I’m listening.”
“Giants or Jets?”
“Bills.”
“Really?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Hmm, didn’t see that coming.”
“I like to keep you guessing.”
“Clearly.”
“Any other questions?”
“Just one,” he said.
“Shoot.”
“Will you hide from the mean old hurricane with me?”