13. The Whole of Society
THE WHOLE OF SOCIETY
LARS
“ A re you with Rose?” Jack asked.
“Why ask me that, kid? Trust me when I say you don’t care to wade into adult matters. Don’t grow up too fast.”
She stared past me to the dock where Rose and Betty stood talking.
“Rose is Betty’s friend. And Where Betty goes, Rose tends to follow.”
Jack rolled her eyes and went to check another bit of rigging. She was nervous. It was adorable how serious she was about this. It meant everything. I remembered days like this when I first sailed solo. It could be intimidating, but she handled it with the grace I lacked.
“Jacqueline!” A bright voice called.
Turning, I spotted a short girl with curly brown hair.
“Katie!” Jack’s face lit up.
She raced over, hoisting and spinning the girl. Then, they excitedly jumped before descending into giggles. This was an old friend. I let them chat for a minute, watching the time.
“Are you done?” I called. “You need to focus.”
“Keep toiling! One more minute, okay?” Jack groaned.
I shook my head, knowing I should have been cross. I couldn’t be. Her comedic timing was impeccable. Who didn’t love a hilarious, intelligent child? The boat was ready. She’d done the check. I had little left to do.
“You’re good,” I confirmed.
“Okay.” She shot me a look of death.
I knew it was time to leave her alone, so I returned to where Rose and Betty waited.
“She’s made a friend,” I sighed. “And I am nothing but embarrassing.”
“I think she’s more than a friend,” Rose noted.
“What?” I asked.
“I get a vibe. It’s the close talking.”
“It’s fucking adorable,” Betty said. “Either way.”
The girls embraced, held hands momentarily, and said something.
“Turn, play it cool,” Rose suggested. “Don’t draw attention, or they’ll get all embarrassed.”
We tried to look busy with our conversation.
“Lars!” Jack shouted. “I’m going!”
Katie passed, ostensibly back to her rig.
“Good luck!” I said. “You’ll do great.”
“Kick some ass!” Rose called out.
“What she said!” Betty added.
We watched Jack float off. Katie found her parents and climbed into another boat.
“She’ll be fine,” I said. “She’s ready.”
“Well, I’m ready to watch these kids go,” Betty said. “Better them than me.”
Betty was more for lounging than sailing. She’d put up with it as a team member, but she’d never been a competitive racer. She saved that for her horses.
Boats were permitted to watch the kids run their course. While Tomas and Christian took out the tender, we’d watch on Keir’s new toy, the Hallberg-Rassy that had only come off the line months before.
“He’s going to talk nonstop about this.” Betty rolled her eyes. “He won’t shut up. Even Ingrid cannot stop with the yacht talk.”
“It’s brand new,” Rose said as we approached the vessel—complete with a massive Union Jack on the sail. “It’s beautiful.”
“For the price, it better be,” I said.
“If you could drop eighteen mil on a boat, you would,” Betty laughed.
It wasn’t entirely true. I was cheap. Where I was glad to have my smaller boats—for now—Keir was keen to show off. My stepbrother was always triumphant. Sadly, he was good at everything in a way that annoyed the hell out of me.
“You’d drop it on a horse. Now, that is foolish,” I said.
“Eighteen million?” Rose nearly fell over. “On a bloody boat?”
“Kroner,” I chuckled. “Not pounds. Remember that we’re not British, and this was bought in Sweden.”
“Oh, yeah. I forget.”
“I forget sometimes, too. Living down here rots your brain,” Betty said. “He’s obsessed, though. He sailed the thing down to Southhampton.”
“We all had to,” I groaned. “It was one of the worst experiences of my life. I was never so happy to see British shores.”
“From… Sweden?” Rose asked.
“Yes. When Ingrid, Cecilia, and Betty returned for training, Keir followed with the new ship to Southhampton. A yacht shipper picked it up to go to the States. It was rough seas all the way down.”
“I would never want to do that,” Rose said.
“Neither did Lars,” Betty giggled.
“Peer pressure,” I sighed. “I couldn’t let all the guys do it and not participate.”
“Two spares on a boat, but no heirs. In the middle of the bloody Atlantic,” Rose said.
We climbed aboard the Ingrid , steering past the security posted at the dock. No one even greeted us. They were too focused on having lunch below deck. Rose walked the deck, curious.
“It has to be annoying to be the heir,” I admitted. “And I would argue worries about danger are a double standard given my cousin Cici rides around on a massive warmblood taking fences at ninety miles an hour. That is far more dangerous than professionals navigating in the Atlantic. She’s braver than I am—and the heir.”
“You have heard of the White Ship disaster, right?” Rose asked.
“What?”
“The entire line of succession was knocked out. That’s how Empress Maude and Stephen both made claims to the throne.”
“These were the Normans?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Sorry, I’m not up on British royal history.”
Betty slapped my arm. “It’s ours, too, dumbass.”
Keir posted up. “Ah, there you all are! Welcome to the party ship, Rose.”
“Thanks for the invite. I wanted to see the kids go out. Apologies for my brothers. Amara is under the weather, and Mary is… well, she’s having a Mary moment.” Rose’s face said it all.
Keir patted my back. “Now that Lars is here, I figured we could head out.”
“Put Rose to work,” I joked. “She’s not inept.”
“You can both help.” Keir walked to the hatch and shouted at Ingrid in our mother tongue to come out.
I heard a loud “Calm the fuck down!”
Betty and Rose snickered.
“Why do you shout at her?” I asked.
“Because she’s always shouting across the house for me,” Keir said. “And then she claims I don’t listen. This is the thanks I get for doing the same.”
Sometimes, they argued like old people. Keir moved mountains for Ingrid.
“This is such a nice ship,” Rose marvelled. “I am in awe.”
“Thanks. This was my retirement gift to myself when I left the RAF. If you want to come back and race, you can join us. We have a massive party going out.”
“I am sworn to my family’s cruiser,” Rose said. “Alas, the old but dependable boat. And I’m more important than ever since we’re down two. Amara and Niall are out since she’s been feeling so poorly. He won’t sail without her.”
Ingrid appeared, ignoring Keir to greet Rose.
“We’re just going to ignore Rose going everywhere with you now?” Keir said in Norsk. “Or, are we going to cop to what actually happened yesterday?”
“I’m going to fucking kill Niall,” I groaned. “Why is everyone losing it over this?”
“The whole of society thinks something is going on!”
“It’s not a thing.”
It wasn’t, but I also wanted it to turn into sex later when we finally had a moment’s downtime.
“What were you thinking? She’s his sister, mate!”
“Yes, because Ingrid was so different in that she’s Betty’s best friend,” I pointed out. “It was mortifying, but… we’re not together. Please, please, please do not make a thing out of this, okay?”
He laughed, smacked my back, and dropped it for now.