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Seth grasped my hand and groaned when I lifted him up. “You and Everleigh will make it work.”
“Even with her living in Boston?” I replied.
Seth sighed as we started back toward the hospital entrance. “It won’t be easy, but I have faith in you two.”
“Thanks,” I said, walking with him inside.
I made sure he made it back up to the room without falling asleep somewhere. Once he was safely tucked back in his chair beside Trisha’s bed, I closed the door and stopped by the nursery to see Amelia. I’d always wanted a family of my own; it was a future I feared would never happen for me—until now.
* * *
Since I still had severalhours before meeting Everleigh at the pier, I decided to stop by the marina to check on my boat. The marina was busy with all sorts of activities going on. Groups of men were leaving on other vessels to take deep-sea fishing trips while others were heading out to enjoy a date out at sea. McLean Charters wasn’t the only charter business in Oak Island; there were many others. What I truly appreciated about my seaside town was that all the men I worked around were genuine people. All of us stayed busy. There was no competition or people struggling for work; it was balanced.
My father used to tell me that all the time and said when I took over the business, I needed to look out for everyone. It had been that way for as long as I could remember.
I talked to other fishermen in passing and was about to get to my boat when someone called out my name.
“McLean!” I turned around to see Daniel Powell making his way toward me. We grew up together, but he was two years older than me. He owned Badfish Fishing Charters, which he started just three years ago.
“Hey, man,” I said, holding out my hand.
Daniel shook it and smiled. “I haven’t seen you around here the past few days,” he said.
I chuckled. “Yeah, I know. I’m taking some time off. In a way, I don’t know what to do with myself. I’m so used to being on the go all the time.”
Daniel blew out a sigh. “Tell me about it. Business has been crazy here recently.”
I slapped a hand on his shoulder, noticing he had more tattoos on his arm since the last time I saw him. “That’s good. It makes me happy to see everyone thriving.” His smile faded slightly, and it had me concerned. “Your businessisdoing okay, isn’t it?” I asked.
Daniel’s eyes widened. “Oh, yeah, definitely. I have more jobs booked than I could ever dream of.”
“Then what’s going on?” I questioned curiously.
Daniel sighed again. “My mother has to have surgery, and I want to be there for her. I was hoping you could take one of my jobs for me in the next few weeks. It’ll be the first week of August.”
That was also the week Everleigh was supposed to head back to Boston. “Is everything okay?” I asked him.
Daniel shrugged. “They found some cancerous spots on her lymph nodes, and they want to go in and take out as much as possible. With my dad being gone, I’m all she has.”
I grabbed his shoulder reassuringly. There was a time when he’d helped me out when my dad went in for his first chemo treatment; I owed him.
I wanted to spend as much time with Everleigh during her last moments here, but I also couldn’t let Dan down, not when he needed me.
“I’ll do it,” I promised. “Just send me all the details and we’ll get it sorted.”
I could feel the tension leave his shoulders. “Thank you, Jensen. I appreciate you doing this for me.” This time, he held out his hand and I shook it.
“We take care of each other out here.”
Daniel smiled. “Yes, we do.”
He turned on his heel and I climbed up on my boat. It was an 85’ Gulf Craft with upper deck access that could hold up to seventy people throughout the vessel. I went below deck and grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator before heading back up top.
The marina was alive with movement—boats coming in and out at various speeds, tourists renting vessels despite having no experience maneuvering them. I sensed disaster lurking in the warm sea air, waiting to strike before the day’s end.It just so happened that I had a front-row seat.
23
EVERLEIGH
