Page 49 of The Sailor

“What are you doing?” Marit asked with a frown.

“Finding out what that asshole thinks he’s doing,” Eliot answered as he piloted quickly, straight toward the other lobster boat.

He turned just in the nick of time, sending a huge wave toward the Men At Work. Lucas stumbled on the deck, and probably would’ve fallen if he hadn’t grabbed the wheel. There wasn’t anyone else on the boat with him that Marit could see, which was unusual.

“What’s the matter, your latest deckhand quit again?” Eliot taunted.

Everyone knew the turnover on Lucas’s boat was extremely high. For someone who’d only been in town a short while, that was saying something—and that something wasn’t good.

“At least I’m not desperate enough to hire a chick,” Lucas retorted.

Marit refrained from rolling her eyes. Barely.

“Seems the chick I hired is out-lobstering the most seasoned deckhands in the area,” Eliot boasted. “We’re ahead by forty pots today. Our hold is full. We’ll be done in another hour or so. How many have you caught?”

“Fuck off,” Lucas spat.

“Stop placing your pots on top of mine, Pearson. You know full well that’s not cool. If you so much as touch one of the Wave Rider pots, I’ll turn you in faster than you can say ‘Expensive fine.’ Understand me?”

“I was here first,” Lucas protested.

“You were not, and you know it. Knock it off. Now. You don’t have to like my employees, but you have no right to harass me or her. Just mind your own business. Catch lobsters your way, and I’ll catch them mine.”

Marit did her best to hide the smile at hearing Eliot say “Mind your own business.” She recalled the conversation she’d had with Zach about that exact thing. It was a relief to know her boss felt the same way she did about what others did with their lives.

Lucas glared at Eliot but didn’t say another word. Nor did he make any move to pull up the pot he’d just dropped.

Apparently deciding he was done dealing with Lucas, Eliot put his boat in reverse and gunned it, sending another wave into Lucas’s boat. It rocked back and forth once again, and Marit loved that Lucas had to grab the oh-shit bar above the wheel to avoid falling.

“Asshole,” Eliot muttered. “Jonah, can you get out your phone and take pics of his pots on top of ours? If we come back out here and his aren’t moved, I’m reporting him for sure.”

“Of course, Pop.” Jonah took off his rubber gloves and headed to the dry bag where he’d stashed his phone before they’d headed out.

“I’m sorry,” Marit felt obligated to say to Eliot.

“For what?”

“For causing Lucas to be such a jerk.”

“You didn’t cause that. He was always an ass. As was his father. Knew the man when I worked over in Portland, years and years ago. Always wanting to take shortcuts. Always breaking the rules. Wanting money, but not willing to put in the work to get it. Not your fault.”

“I worked for someone like that in Portland, when I first started in the industry. I actually reported him for unsafe conditions and ignoring the laws, and for harvesting breeding females. He was heavily fined, but I didn’t care. He was going to end up killing someone, and I quit before it could be me. Lucas reminds me of him, thinking he’s above the rules.” She sighed. “Still, he’s only messing with you because of me. He’s definitely mad I’m here,” Marit said unnecessarily.

“He can be as angry as he wants, that doesn’t give him the right to insult you, or me, or to break lobstering rules. I may not have said something when he first started harassing you, but I’m done letting him walk all over both of us. I’ve got your back, Marit. Don’t worry. And for the record, I’ve done a little askin’ around on the docks. No one else around here cares that you’re lobstering. They’re intrigued, and maybe confused about why you want to do a job like this, but they certainly aren’t upset about it. So just ignore Pearson. He’ll get over himself sooner or later.”

Marit wanted to cry. Of course, lobsterwomen didn’t cry. They were tougher than that. But the fact that Eliot had gone out of his way to talk to his friends in the industry, and they didn’t care that she was working on his boat, meant more than he could ever know. She might never be actual friends with the other lobstermen in the area, but as long as they tolerated her presence and didn’t actively try to drive her away, she was okay with that.

Looking at his watch, Eliot shrugged. “I told Pearson we had another hour, but I think we’re done for now. We have a great haul, and I know you want to get back to watch the crate race. I remember seeing my first one, and how in awe I was. Of course, the lightweights, the kids mostly, have the upper hand as the crates don’t sink when they step on them, but it’s just as fun to watch them scamper across as it is to see the adults fail spectacularly. Assuming you’re meeting Zach to watch?”

“Yeah. The boy who lives next to Lobster Cove is competing.”

“Kash Bates. Good kid. Shame about the situation with his mom. Anyway, after Jonah gets his pictures, let’s get you back to shore so you can have some time with your man.”

Marit wanted to ask what he meant about Kash’s mom, Harper, but she got busy helping to clean up the deck and get the boat ready to dock and get their daily haul off-loaded.

When they docked, Eliot shooed both Marit and his son off, insisting that he might be old, but he’d been taking care of the Wave Rider longer than either of them had been alive . . . which wasn’t exactly accurate, but Marit wasn’t going to argue.

She walked home as quickly as she could, which wasn’t as fast as she would’ve liked, since the streets of Rockville were packed. The shower she took was quick, and, after throwing her hair up while it was still damp and changing into shorts and a T-shirt, she headed out to meet Zach. They’d made arrangements via text to meet at The Lobster Buoy.