Page 40 of Adrift

“Coming right up.” Shayla pours a bottle of water into a glass.

“Tap is fine next time.” Emily lifts her water in a cheers motion. “Thanks. Easton told me all about the Brianna drama. I’m really sorry about what happened.”

“Thanks.” Shayla pours the blender drink into the glass and puts it on her tray.

But Emily sits up at the bar and looks at me. “So, tell me about yourself.”

“I’m twenty-nine. I like to read. I like dogs and long walks on the beach.” I wiggle my eyebrows at her. “How about you?”

“I’m twenty-six, the daughter of a billionaire. I couldn’t give a shit about money, but that’s easy to say because I’ve never been without it. I love plain vanilla cupcakes, and I was born in Maine and mostly raised in Boston. Until Dad’s second wife, Susan, didn’t like the snow and moved us to Florida.”

“I feel like we could be besties now.” I refill her water glass.

“I’d like that. Last summer was horrible. The first year I haven’t enjoyed being on the boat with Dad. He mostly turns work off and we talk. But then Susan used to go to bed early. Not Candy. She doesn’t let him out of her sight after dinner.”

“So, do you still live in Florida?”

“Yeah, in the same house with my dad and Candy. I still miss New England. Although, the move to Florida turned out okay for Easton.”

“How’s that?”

“We had an Olympic-sized pool in the mansion Dad bought, and Easton realized how much he loved it. Everyone thinks my dad made the pool for Easton. The pool made Easton.” She laughs and takes a drink of her water. “Are you single?”

I have to consider it carefully. “Yes, I’m just coming out of a long relationship. It ended, well, messy.”

“Don’t they always? Brick and I have been together for ten months.”

“Nice.” I wipe the bar. Emily smiles, but I’m not sure she’s happy. Instead, she nods at me.

Normally for a charter, the guests have decided what they want for dinners and the chef adapts the menu. But for owners, there’s a lot more catering to their wants. And instead of waking up the kraken in the primary suite, I turn to Emily. “What do you want for dinner?”

“Oh, Dad will want steak. Candy will want something fancy that she can push around on the plate.”

“No, what do you want?”

“You know what?” She stands on the footrest of the bar stool, leans across the counter, and whispers in my ear. “I would love something local.”

“I’ll see to it.”

She gives me a high five as I head for the kitchen to tell Dante.

“All right then, now we are talking.” Dante’s smile is infectious. He bounces around the kitchen in his plastic crocks, singing at the top of his lungs.

Well, at least I’ve made two people happy today. I think back to Sam in the pantry. Make that three.

I find Shayla cleaning the crew mess. “I’m not sure what to do with myself,” she says. “They are all napping now. Other than Emily—she’s reading a book in the main salon. Laundry is done.”

“Take a twenty-minute break. I’ll hang around on deck and make sure everyone is good if they get up.”

“Sure.” Shayla shrugs. “I didn’t think we’d have any downtime.”

“Right?”

I head back to the aft of the ship and watch the water. We’re getting out there; there’s no land in sight. Most yachts don’t leave the shoreline. But this one is big and designed for the open ocean. Apparently, Rocky’s got a thing for being far out at sea. We’re really high-tailing it, hitting some gigantic waves as we go.

“Anders, Anders, Calvin,” comes over the radio.

“Go for Calvin.”

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