Page 94 of Salvaged Hearts

Maverick

He has a point.

Jameson

Know a lot about wet floor signs, baby?

Noel

*Winking emoji* You tell me, Captain.

Maverick

Ew, guys, gross, stop.

Paxton

Stop defiling the family text thread. All of you.

Jameson

No can do, buddy. No can do.

Alice

James, you in the harbor?

Jameson

On our way now. Close enough we’ve got a cell signal without the sat phone.

From May to October, our house had always been quiet while Dad tackled the most lucrative season of the year. By the timeI was big enough to have any awareness, the boys were fishing with him all summer. Now, I just wondered if giving Mom a peaceful house had been just as much of a goal as training them into the family business.

With Rhyett off building his own entrepreneurial dreams, Jameson had been the one to step up and preserve our family legacy. Had I not landed in a literal piece of heaven, I would’ve felt bad that he and Noel pretty much only had Axel for company these days. Our parents made a trip home for the bulk of summer, but since Paxton’s first game was the first week of September this year, they were just going to make a road trip of being premature snowbirds and migrate south a month sooner than usual.

On the rare occasion Jameson was on the text thread this time of year, it meant he was either in the harbor or very near it. Which meant it was the perfect time to grill them both. They’d gotten engaged more than eight months ago, so it was time to start prodding.

Alice

Excellent. Did you two dumbasses set a date?

Noel

Yes, actually! March 22nd!

Alice

Still thinking Florida?

Jameson

Yep.

Noel

Perfect window before Salmon season, and Pax will have a few weeks to recover. Brex and El are due around Christmas, so it’ll work for them too. Plus, El and Brod should be on spring break.

Elora

---