Page 37 of Adrift

“Candy, it’s lovely to see you.” I try not to cough from the cloud of perfume surrounding her. She kisses each of my cheeks like the Frenchwoman she wishes she was. “Let me introduce my department heads. Anders was with us last season on theMermaid’s Tale. And this is Haley Brewster, our new chief stew. Dante, your chef, Zane the bosun, and Calvin, head of Engineering. Also, we have our stew Shayla, Waldo secondary deckhand, and Mitch the secondary engineer.” I catch Calvin shoving his phone into his pocket. I know it’s the new systems he’s looking at, but the guests don’t. I shoot him a raised eyebrow, and he looks away.

“Lovely to meet you, Mr. Rockwell.” Haley puts out her hand.

Candy steps in front of her fiancé, blocking Haley’s handshake.

Rocky laughs. “My Mrs-to-be is a little territorial.”

Haley shakes Candy’s hand instead. Candy gives one of those limp-wristed handshakes that give me the shivers.

“Hey, Captain Sam. This is my boyfriend, Brick Hanover.” Emily shakes my hand. She’s a ray of sunshine, and you couldn’t get more different from Candy if you tried. She’s wearing cutoffjeans, cheap flip-flops, and a white T-shirt with a hand-painted design.

“Nice to meet you.” Brick stops and shakes my hand. He looks like a dudebro straight from a movie. But then again, we are on a yacht. He completely clashes with Emily’s vibe.

“Haley’s going to show you the boat. She’ll give you a complete tour.” I nod at the four of them.

“Where’s my brother?” Emily spins in a circle.

“He told me to say this exactly.” Haley clears her throat. “‘Tell the rug rat I’m working and can’t listen to her babbling until dinner.’”

“Oh, hell no he didn’t.” Emily places her empty champagne glass on the tray. “Thank you.” She smiles at Shayla. “Where is his lazy ass?”

“Down one flight in the Fortune suite.” Haley smiles.

Candy gasps. “He’s not supposed to stay in there. He’s supposed to be in the Golden Tire.” Candy snaps her fingers for Shayla to fill her empty glass. I’m not sure it’s possible to dislike a person more. “Why is he in there? I sent specific instructions. I don’t care what the shrew wanted in the past. I want him in the Golden Tire suite.”

I have no idea what she’s going on about, but I’m guessing it has something to do with Rocky’s ex, Susan. I turn to Anders, and he shakes his head. He was the one who gave the preference sheets to the heads of the departments. But I read them.

“I’m sorry, Candy. I didn’t see any instructions on cabin assignments.” Haley’s smile is demure.

Candy snorts. “Typical.”

The whole “the owner is always right” philosophy doesn’t always float with me, not when they are being dicks for no reason. “Candy.” My tone drops. “Haley wasn’t part of the boat provisioning team. Anders and I received the preference sheets.”

Candy shakes her finger. “He needs to be in the Golden Tire room. That’s his suite.”

“We can prepare that suite for him, and he can move if he wants.” Haley smiles. “Now if you’ll follow me, I can show you your glorious owner’s suite. I know you’re going to love it. It’s the prettiest one I’ve ever seen.” Haley ignores Rocky, putting all her attention on Candy. “If you’ll follow me.”

“I think I’ll tag along.” I give a quick nod to Anders, who looks at me like I’m crazy. The rest of the crew has scurried off to change out of their formal uniforms and get ready for launch. Normally I would go to the bridge too, but I’d bet all of our tip money that Candy is going to have kittens when she discovers that three quarters of her decor is gone. I texted with Rocky about it, and also about Brianna. But if things go true to last season, he didn’t tell her.

The main salon looks amazing. It’s a lot easier to appreciate all the woodwork when it’s not hidden behind boxes.

“It looks good.” Candy touches the base of one of the largest horse statues. The thing took three men at the shipyard to carry on board. It’s specially mounted on the frame of the ship to keep it from tipping over if we lose stabilizers. Which is bound to happen at some point. Last year’s model of this ship had actual issues with the air-conditioning stealing all the power and knocking the stabilizers off. The shipyard promises they fixed the issue. Stabilizers are important, especially on a top-heavy boat like this one. “But I ordered more horse statues. Little ones to surround the big one on the floor. Where are they?”

“On the floor?” Haley’s got her stew face on. “I see. Well, boating standards don’t allow for things on the floor. If the boat tips, they become projectiles.”

“That’s what the builders said. And I told them I don’t care. I want more horses.”

“It could endanger the safety of the passengers and crew,” Haley repeats in a more direct way.

“Where did you put them? Where’s Brianna? Why wasn’t she out on that stupid receiving line?” Candy, finishing her second glass of champagne in a gulp, puts the glass on the bookshelf and turns to Rocky. But he’s abandoned the tour. Actually, both Emily and Brick have too. It’s just Haley and me following the raging lunatic around.

So Rocky hasn’t told her about her niece or the donation. But then, I didn’t expect he would. I hoped he had.

“Candy, your niece assaulted another crew member. I have let her go.” I don’t bring up the restraining order. Easton can do that if he wants to. Which I’m guessing he doesn’t, or he already would have.

“Assault? That’s absurd. I’m sure the other girl started it.” She waves her arms about.

“I didn’t say it was a girl.” I stare down at her. As far as trophies go, Candy isn’t much of one. She’s not much to look at and has the personality of a rusted jack hammer. But even though the man has made billions, he’s not willing to stand up to her.

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