Page 123 of Crew Girl

A lump rose in her throat. Juliet cleared hers. It was getting awkward.

“Why are you still here? Don’t you need to go find a towel or something? After all your splashing?” Juliet put her hand over her eyes, scanned the crowd. “I need Perry to brainstorm some design ideas for your dad’s jumpsuit. I’m not so sure orange will be his new—” She froze, mouth open, eyes wide.

Teagan turned and saw a pair of legs emerging from a Rolls Royce. She looked back at Juliet. “Who is that?”

“That,” Juliet croaked, “is my mom.”

Teagan’s mom took a minute to absorb the news about Juliet. “Well, good,” she said. “I was going to talk to you about inviting her to stay for Christmas. Juliet puts on a brave front, but underneath? She’s obviously hurting.”

“She set fire to her car, Mom. She’s not hiding anything.”

Her mom gave her shoulders a little shake, not convinced.

“Do you want help with anything?” It had been a big day for her mom, too. Her husband appearing out of the blue and leaving with the Feds, breaking up with her boyfriend.

“No, honey. I’ll be fine.” Her mom’s eyes had a faraway look in them, but she didn’t look scared, more… determined. Like her dad said, she was stronger than either of them had thought. She gave Teagan a quick squeeze. “You go spend time with your friends.”

She wasn’t sure if anyone would be at the boathouse. If not? She could do with some thinking time on the dock.

“Hey!” Josh jogged up alongside her. “I heard about your dad. Are you okay?”

She answered truthfully. “No. But I think me and my mom will figure it out. How’d things go with your family?”

Josh’s eyebrows went up. “Surprisingly not terrible. Although, we may be poor soon. Poor for us,” he amended.

Teagan cackled. “Feel free to hit me up for tips on surviving a downfall.”

He smiled, then let it fade. “Listen. Umm, it’s been a hard time, and I just wanted to say, you’ve been there for me. Even when I was at my worst.”

“So, daily,” she joked.

He laughed. “Yeah, well, you’ve never seen me at my best. I’m working on it.”

“What? You’re building a better Josh?” teased Teagan.

“I am. And I’m hoping when you meet that guy, you’ll give him a second chance.”

She would. But she wouldn’t be making out with that guy. “Okay.”

He gave her a wink. “If I don’t die on the operating table.”

He wouldn’t. His eyes were bright with that determined look of his, but with a softer glow, like he had too much to live for. She’d see Josh V2 for sure.

She headed into the boat store and ran her finger along some droplets clinging to their scull.

“Coxie!”

She turned. “Hey, stroke seat,” she said, smiling. Cam had nailed it today. Just like she knew he would.

He sat on a stool with an ooof. “It’s been a day.”

She sat next to him. “It certainly has.”

He lifted up her medal. “I can’t say I imagined this when you hit me with your bike.”

“Hey!” She gave him a playful shove. “You hit me!”

He rebalanced, eyes on hers, then cupped her face between his hands. She hesitated for a second, then closed the gap between them and kissed him. She leaned into it, not wanting it to stop.