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Naturally, Lacey was busy doing last minute wedding things with her parents and Richard, so I was her only hope. It was this, or stick Daisy on a bus, which would have been the preferable option for me, and probably for Daisy as well. But I like Lacey a lot, even though she can be hard on you, and so I did her a favor.
I suppose it’s not the worst thing in the world, at least it isn’t now since Daisy has finally grown quiet and I’ve had time to think.
That is until we drive through the town of Opua where I have my boats. As we head over the bridge that crosses the bay, I crane my neck to try and see the marina.
“What are you looking at?” she asks.
“Boats.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many,” she says, seeming to admire them dotted on the emerald green water, the sun glinting off the masts. Then she glances at my shirt. “I’m going to guess you have something to do with them?”
I nod. “I own a chartering company. Deep Blue. Have twelve yachts in total, based out of here and Auckland.”
“Wow,” she says. “Impressive.” And she actually sounds impressed for once. “I guess you do look like you’d be pretty good with your hands.”
Now she’s looking at my hands, my knuckles all scarred up from my boxing days.
“Ever been sailing?” I ask her against my better judgement.
“Ha,” she says. “Yes, once. With an ex. I was rather useless, I have to admit. I think I like the whole drinking cocktails at the dock type of sailing.”
“Uh huh. And this ex, was it the one that was supposed to be in the back of the truck?”
She gives me one of her sweet smiles again and it nearly knocks the wind out of me. I force myself to focus on the road. “I thought I was going to be the one in the back! Have you changed your mind about me?”
Never.
But she looks out the window, her shoulders sinking. “No,” she says wearily. “That was some other ex. My latest ex was Chris.”
I should drop it. Take the opportunity for more blessed silence. But if she got to poke and prod at me, I get to poke and prod at her.
“So what happened?”
“That’s very direct.”
“I’m a direct guy. So what happened? Why isn’t he here? Did you talk him to death?”
“You know what, I only talk like this when I’m nervous, it’s not all the time.”
I grin at her. “So I make you nervous?”
“No,” she says hesitantly and then shields her eyes. “I think this is the first time I’ve seen you smile. Has anyone ever told you that your teeth are blinding?”
“Has anyone ever told you that you say has anyone ever told you a lot?”
She exhales slowly through her lips. “Chris told me that. He told me lots of things, before I came home one day to make lunch and caught him having sex with an ex-coworker.”
Fuck.
I let out a low whistle. “That is rough.”
“Yeah. And, like, a few weeks before that I was let go of my job of ten years.”
“Shit.”
“Mmmhmmm.” She starts tapping her fingers along her thighs.
“What did you do? I mean, what was your role?”
Another sigh. “I was the head of marketing for an athleisure company. You know, clothes for yoga, products for wellness, that sort of thing.”
I shudder inside at the word “wellness,” one of my pet peeves. Figures.
“And so what did you do?” I repeat. “Meaning, why were you fired?”
“I wasn’t fired,” she snaps at me, her face starting to flush. “I was laid off.”
“Okay, take it easy, Gingersnap.”
“Gingersnap?”
I shrug. It’s fitting and I’ll use it again. “So company layoffs. That’s got to suck.”
“What I probably should have done is just not come here at all. Stayed at home and focused on getting another job, focused on getting over Chris.”
“You would have done that to your sister? Skipped out on her wedding?”
Her shoulders lift. “I don’t know. I don’t know if Lacey would care, to be honest. I haven’t seen her in five years, we don’t talk all that often anymore. Not like we ever did.”
She catches me looking at her and puts a big smile on her face, a practiced, easy smile, a smile that most people wouldn’t notice is fake.
But I do.
“Anyway, I’m here.” She sits up straighter, a forced chipper tone to her voice. “And I’m going to enjoy the hell out of this trip. Maybe all this shit that happened to me is a chance to start over, really find myself. You know, maybe I’ll take the advice that my old job was spewing all those years. Go on a spiritual journey and all that horseshit.”
I laugh. “Sounds like you’re heading in the right direction.”
She nods, returning the smile.
But I don’t think she believes it.
