Chapter 5
Chapter Five
It was worse than she’d expected.
She’d expected disrepair. She’d even braced for maybe a broken window or a sagging railing compliments of the sea lions, but nothing had prepared her for reality.
Blinking back tears, Emma pressed her fingertips to her lips.
A custom-built sprawling one-level with cedar siding, once stained a deep golden brown, had faded to a weary gray.
Their house, perched at the water’s edge over five miles down the coast from town, used to be so charming.
Now it looked abandoned. Battered by time and neglect.
Huge windows offering a breathtaking view of the bay and the mountains rising up out of the sea were clouded over. Two had been boarded up.
And her favorite, the wide deck where she and her parents had sat for hours, entertaining guests and watching the sun paint the sky shades of cotton-candy pink and orange, now hosted a colony of sea lions.
Their hulking forms sprawled across the rocks, the deck, and parts of the dock, except for the half already submerged, one piling leaning at a precarious angle.
Her father’s boat was long gone, likely sold off after his schemes unraveled.
And that horrid smell.
Emma yanked the neckline of her hoodie up over her nose. The sagging dock and the porch barely holding together were bad enough, but the real problem? That awful stench. Ugh. A pungent mix of salt, fish, and something far more unpleasant wafted around her.
Luke let out a low whistle. “Can’t unsmell that, can we?”
Shaking her head, Emma stepped to the far side of the boat, willing herself not to gag. “I didn’t think it would be this bad.”
One of the sea lions let out a sharp bark, shifting its massive body across the deck like it had a mortgage on the place. The boat rocked as Luke slowed down and they rode over their own wake. Emma widened her stance to keep her balance.
“Were you planning on reasoning with them, or should I drop anchor? What’s your goal here, exactly?”
Emma blew out a half-sighed, half-frustrated laugh. “I have no idea what I’m doing.”
“Hey, I get it,” Luke said. “Frankly, that dock does not look safe, and I don’t feel comfortable tying up here.”
She glanced at him over her shoulder. “So going ashore isn’t happening?”
Luke craned his neck, probably surveying another less conventional route.
Even if the dock had been sound, she couldn’t go toe-to-toe with two-thousand-pound sea lions. The whole colony looked poised for a fight.
She forced herself to take a second look at the house.
How sad. It was just a deserted shell. She hugged her arms to her chest and glared at the creatures sprawled across the dock.
They barked at each other in a cacophony of irritation.
One lifted its oily head, its black eyes locking with hers, as if daring her to set foot on her own property.
“Not the friendliest neighbors in the world, are they?”
She shot Luke a glare over her shoulder, but there was no real heat behind it. After all, he’d been a sweetheart, setting aside his own problems, borrowing a friend’s boat, and driving her out here. Two more sea lions barked at the sky.
“I think that was sea lion for, ‘You are not getting me out of here without an eviction notice,’” he said, his lips twitching.
“Not funny.”
He shrugged. “It’s a little funny.”
Sighing, she turned away from him and pulled out her phone to take photos.
No one had said a word to her yet about the unpaid property taxes.
Or served her any official papers. But she still felt compelled to document her visit.
Even though she’d much prefer to focus on the sweet memories she carried with her.
This was the place where she’d learned to fish, where her mother had made pancakes on Saturday mornings, where she and Luke had spent an entire summer believing in forever.
Except forever had been a lie.
This dock was also where she last saw her father, gripping her arms, telling her she was being dramatic.
Telling her Redemption wouldn’t turn against them, that she’d be back.
But his words had turned out to be empty promises.
Fresh tears stung her eyes. She swallowed hard.
The weight of Luke’s gaze warmed her skin.
She couldn’t look at him. Instead, she held up her palm.
“I’m fine.”
“I know you’re strong, and I know you think you can do this, but we’re going to have to come up with a plan B. These sea lions aren’t going to leave on their own.”
He wasn’t wrong. Still, the only way out of this mess was through it.
She just had to keep moving, keep breathing, keep reminding herself that somehow she’d find a way to fix up the house, sell it, pay the back taxes, then be on her way.
Because this wasn’t her life anymore. This house was not her home.
Redemption wasn’t her future. Her future was Nathan, Boston, life as Mrs. Prescott.
She tightened her grip on the railing as Luke maneuvered the boat around a broken piling. They put some distance between themselves and the sea lions, but she couldn’t escape the memories that refused to sink beneath the surface. Or ignore the part of her that still ached for everything she’d lost.
Luke sped up, and water churned around the boat’s stern.
“Where are you going?”
“I hate to say it, but your place looks much different up close than it does from my usual view in a chopper. Between the missing parts of the dock, broken pilings, and the twenty sea lions I’ve counted so far, getting to the house will be harder than I expected.
” Frowning, he tightened his grip on the throttle.
“There’s no way we can tie off and get past them. ”
“Are you going to turn around?”
Before Luke could answer, the wind picked up and cut through her layers like a sharp blade. He glanced at the sky. Clouds rolled overhead, purple and gray and bloated.
“This is a fast-moving storm,” he said. “As much as I don’t love the looks of this dock and broken pilings, we should wait for the weather to break. I don’t feel comfortable maneuvering Cal’s boat back to town in this.”
“Really?” She scowled overhead. “It only takes twenty minutes to get back, right?”
“Doesn’t matter.” Luke killed the engine, then brushed past her. “Cal relies on this boat to make a living. I can’t take any risks. We’ll be safer if we hang here.”
Rain speckled her face. The wind howled, sending sharp waves rocking against the hull.
“Got it.”
“Come on, go inside. You’ll be warmer.”
He opened the door to the boat’s cozy cabin.
She stepped in, pulling the door shut while he went to the bow and chucked the anchor over the side.
There was just enough space for a cushioned bench, a tiny kitchenette, and a Formica table.
It smelled musty, but sitting here was much better than getting soaked out on deck.
Luke ducked in, and it felt tighter. Closer. He shook rain from his jacket, then took it off and hung it on a hook by the door. Water dripped from his hair, and he brushed it back. She looked away, pretending the sudden suffocating warmth in her chest was from the small heater blasting hot air.
He turned and opened a cupboard over the galley sink. “Cal texted me and said he left us a thermos with hot water and some instant coffee and hot cocoa.”
“Wow. First-class service.”
He shot her a grin. “Cal likes to keep his guests happy.”
The boat rocked again, sending her off balance.
Without thinking, she reached out and clutched his arm.
His skin was warm, the muscles solid and familiar.
Their eyes met. Rain hammered against the cabin roof, wind rattled the boat, and they rocked side to side—but somehow everything around her stilled.
His muscles flexed slightly beneath her fingers, but he didn’t pull away.
She did though. Quickly. Too quickly. She backed up against the bench seat, snug against her lower legs, and flopped down.
“How long do you think the storm will last?”
He shrugged. “No idea.”
“Super.” She exhaled, rubbing her palms together. “Trapped on a boat. In a storm. With you.”
He smirked as he pulled cocoa packets from the overhead cupboard. “Try to contain your excitement.”
She pretended to be annoyed, but the truth was, Luke had never had to work very hard to make her laugh.
His sense of humor and easygoing nature were two of the big reasons why, at fifteen, she’d harbored dreams of a future with him.
But her father’s choices had forced her to abandon everything she’d known.
Everything she’d loved. After spending so many years away, she’d built a life that didn’t really have anything to do with Alaska or Redemption. Those teenage dreams seemed silly now.
She retreated on the narrow bench, scooting closer to the window.
Luke moved with ease in the cramped space.
She tried not to stare. He tugged open a storage compartment beneath the small counter and pulled out two sturdy gray mugs with white logos she didn’t recognize. Probably Cal’s fishing charter service.
“Are you sure cocoa’s okay? If you’re not a fan of instant coffee, there’s a couple of tea bags too.”
“Cocoa sounds good, thanks.”
Although to be honest, hot cocoa reminded her of the time spent with him on her porch, whispering about dreams too big for their little town.
A few minutes later, he handed her a steaming mug and settled across from her on the opposite bench.
“Sorry, all out of marshmallows.”
“No worries.” She wrapped her fingers around the mug, letting the heat sink in. “I still can’t believe this has happened.”