Page 110 of Crew Girl

“Get over himself and realize your mother is a party planning genius?” Juliet finished brightly.

“Yes. That.”

Her mom shrugged. “Apparently, his father, Viktor, loved what I did at Josh’s birthday party. Since the Haverford Cup only comes to Easton once every five years, he wanted the food to dazzle. We’ve been testing recipes all day. Look!” She held up a tiger prawn canapé with half a sugar snap pea on it. “It’s a boat!”

A sailboat. But yeah, it was a boat.

Teagan’s heart squeezed tight. Her mom might not know all the rowing lingo or get Teagan’s passion for the sport, but she showed her support in other ways.

“I gave him the evils so he won’t mess her around again,” Juliet said through another mouthful of food.

“Juliet’s great,” Ella said. “Best business partner ever.”

“Wait. What? ”

“I work for your mom now.” Juliet shrugged. No big deal.

Juliet was mega rich and did not need a job.

“You work with me, Juliet,” her mom corrected. “And it’s Ella to you. Still Mom to you.” She booped Teagan on the nose. “I told you I’d manifest a good future for us in Eagle’s Cove.”

“You did, Mom,” Teagan agreed. “Top aura farming.” A wave of fatigue hit her. “Do you two mind if I take a bath—”

They weren’t listening anymore. Too busy debating how to source gold-rimmed scallop shells.

Like she’d said before, thank god for Juliet. Her sister from another mister. And missus. But who cared about the details?

“Teagan, hey!” Josh jogged up to meet her on the lake path as she made her way to the boathouse the next morning. “I’m cleared to row. The doctors gave me a new prescription to stabilize my heart.”

“Wow!” It was six a.m. on a Monday. “That was fast.”

Then again, this was Josh. His family probably had private doctors on tap. But still, he’d placed tenth at the erg competition. Not even close to his usual time. “Are you sure you’re ready? You know,” she wanted to make sure he knew this, “you don’t need to prove anything to your grandad.” Or the guys. This was his health they were talking about.

“It’s not just that,” Josh said, stopping short of the boathouse. “This weekend’s regatta? It’s going to be my last one.”

“What?”

“I can’t keep rowing. Like I said, I’m clear for this one, but after that? I need to stop.”

This was huge. Josh poured everything he had into rowing and not much else. Especially now that he and Britney had broken up. “Have you told Coach yet?”

“No. And I don’t plan to. He’d pull me from the boat.”

Maybe he should. This wasn’t sitting right with Teagan.

“Listen,” Josh said, seeing her waver. “For the last few months I’ve been fighting my way back to stroke seat—and I finally have it. If I’m going out? I want to leave on top. I just need to keep this quiet for a few more days.”

The team was pumped. The regatta tomorrow was going to be huge, and it was all hands on deck to make sure they were ready, as hosts and as a team.

“That practice was sick!” Perry crowed as the guys came out of the boat store.

“Yeah,” Noah agreed. “Josh kept the ratio tight.” He gave Josh an out-of-character fist bump. “Nice work.”

Josh grinned. His pills must’ve done the trick because he really had been in great form.

Quaid marched alongside him, performing his version of a human airhorn sounding victory squawks.

“Looking real good there, boys!” Coach Hayden beckoned them all over. “Well done. Keep it up, Josh. You’re earning your keep. You all brought your A-game today. Easton only hosts the Haverford Cup once every five years, and I couldn’t be prouder.”