She shrugged and it was the only answer he needed. “It’s fine.”
“It’s not. Put extra clothes in your bag so they can stay at my place. I’ll wash them with my stuff. Workout gear too. Don’t suppose you’ve got extra running sneakers?”
“Sorry, just these.”
She picked hers up off the floor and put them inside the bag too. They always ran on the weekend together when she stayed the night.
He’d order her another pair to keep at his place, just like these or close to it.
He grabbed her bag when she was done. They left the apartment and walked to his car, then he drove to the ferry.
They were thirty minutes early for the next one to board, so they went to the coffee shop and got a drink, then sat outside rather than in his car.
This time of year a ferry left every hour, two running back and forth from Boston to the island. In the winter there was only one ferry running, every two hours, scheduling more around commuters for work in the mornings and evenings.
Once he saw they could begin boarding, they drove onto the ferry, got out and went to the deck. It was too nice of a day to sit in the car to ride over.
“I know the helicopter is faster, but this is nice. It’s relaxing and pretty. Maybe it wouldn’t be if it were windy or raining.”
“No,” he said. “It’s not. We did it all the time as a kid. Before Egan started his charter company, it wasn’t as easy to get a flight back and forth. Not even a landing area. But once Egan knew what he was doing, my father was putting the work in getting itready on the island so he was set to go. It’s expanding a lot from his first helicopter.”
“I find it so fascinating how much your family has not only grown businesses on the island but in Boston too. Most could sit back on their wealth, or even put it in the stock market rather than taking the risk in starting companies.”
“Risk is worth it,” he said, reaching for her hand. “Or that’s how I’ve thought of it. Trust me, everything we’ve done hasn’t always been successful. There are losses too. We just sold a company last year. One we’d had for about six years.”
“It was losing money?”
“Not losing as much as not doing what we’d hoped. Gave it a try, but it just held on. A company in Alabama bought and moved it down there. We walked away about even in the end and that is a win in my book.”
“Did those people lose their jobs or is it still operating here, but based out of there?”
“They were all offered jobs to transfer if they chose, but many didn’t. Those things happen and unfortunately we’ve got to be prepared for it. If you were working for me, you wouldn’t have had much to do with it, but we would have chatted some. Part of the sale included that those employed in Boston were given good severance packages if they stayed until the very end and didn’t choose to move.”
“That’s hard to do because you don’t know how long it’s going to be before you find another job. Trust me, I know.”
“It’s a hard place to be, but it’s business. It happens all the time, but we try to be as fair as we can be.”
“Which is part of what I love about working for Bond Enterprises.”
“That’s what you love about it?” he asked, his arm slipping around her waist. She was looking around to see if anyonenoticed them, but he’d already done that. They were only a few people on the deck and far enough away from them.
“I’ve got a great boss... most days.”
“Ouch, that hurt.”
“It’s true. You’ve been going through a lot of chocolate lately. Want to tell me why?”
Not really because it might cause another fight.
It wasn’t just work that was making him tense. It was his relationship with Nora and the watching over his shoulder, waiting for someone to point their finger at catching them and her to retreat rather than snuggle in.
If they could get it out there, they could move forward, but in the past two weeks, no one had even brought up her being related to Norris again.
“Just a lot on my mind,” he said. “It happens. Nothing to worry about.”
If she knew, she’d worry. That he was rushing.
That he was putting pressure on her.
