Page 85 of Summer on Sunshine Bay

He wrenched his mouth from hers and shook his head. “No, I won’t do this. I can’t.” He lifted her from his lap, setting her on her feet beside him.

“I’m sorry. It was my fault. I just felt so bad for you. I wanted to comfort you. We didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I think your fiancé would disagree with you. You need to go, Lila.”

“Luke, please—”

He shook his head. “We’ve been walking a fine line between a business relationship and something a whole hell of a lot more. You know it and I know it, and we both should’ve put a stop to it before now. You have cold feet, and I won’t be that guy. I can’t be. I won’t do that to someone else.” He stared straight ahead. “It’s better if we don’t work together.”

“Are you firing me?”

He nodded without looking at her. “It’s for the best. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, and I’ll give you a glowing recommendation. You deserve it, and you deserve to be happy, Lila. There’s nothing more that I want for you than for you to be happy.”

Everything he said was true. She’d been looking for excuses to spend time with him. She liked him, she liked spending time with him, she liked talking to him, and she liked his dog and his house and… She bowed her head. She was half in love with him. She hadn’t even known it herself until this very second. Until she was faced with not seeing him anymore, not spending time with him anymore.

He was right. They couldn’t do this. It wasn’t fair to David, and it certainly wasn’t fair to the child she carried.

“Thank you. I want that for you too, Luke. I hope you find someone who loves you as much as you deserve.” She blinked back tears. She wouldn’t cry. “You’re a great guy, and I loved working with you. I don’t doubt SUP Sunshine will be a huge success.”

But she wouldn’t be a part of it, not anymore. She carefully made her way to the deck, taking a minute to get herself together before facing her parents.

Luke’s deep voice came over the speakers as she walked to where her parents were standing at the bow of the boat. He’d spotted a pod of endangered right whales on the port side and slowed the boat. She couldn’t have asked for a better distraction. Her parents would be as mesmerized by the sight as everyone else. It didn’t matter how many times you’d gone out whale watching, it was always magical.

She glanced up at the bridge as she walked to the right of the boat. Luke was watching her and pointed to the left. She always got port and starboard mixed up. He knew that, just as he knew her favorite color and her favorite ice cream.

Rhonda took over for Luke. He’d finally given in to Lila’s pleading to hire her a few days before. As her father had told her and she had told Luke, you have to spend money to make money. He’d also bought the smaller boat Lila had recommended for fishing charters. He’d been missing out on lucrative business. And as busy as he’d be this year, she’d predicted that next year, with the added revenue stream, he’d be able to afford to hire two more captains and free up more time for SUP Sunshine.

The whales stayed with them for almost twenty minutes. People didn’t move from the rails, hoping for another sighting. They weren’t disappointed. Less than ten minutes later, a humpback whale breached fifty feet out of the water. Lila knew Luke would do his best to stay at least a hundred yards away, but sometimes the whales got a lot closer than that. Like this one.

The whale breached again, closer this time, close enough that, when his tail slapped the water, the passengers, including her parents, got wet, and Lila got it on video. She replayed it, shaking her head at her parents, who looked gorgeous and sickeningly in love. But besides that, the footage was incredible. She went to post to Luke’s Instagram account and hesitated, wondering if he’d mind. She posted it anyway. She’d do the same for any business in town.

A wet nose nudged her hand. “Hey, you.” She leaned down to hug Admiral. He put his big paws on her shoulders and hugged her back. Tears welled in her eyes, spilling over at the thought that she wouldn’t get to see him anymore. Admiral licked her tears away. “Good boy,” she whispered at the sound of her parents’ approach.

“Was that not the most incredible sight?” her father asked, rubbing Admiral behind the ears.

“It was, and I got it on video. I’ll send you a copy.” She avoided looking at her mother, who was frowning at her.

A squeal went up from the bow. “Dolphins!”

Sure enough, a pod of dolphins entertained them for most of the ride back to the pier.

As Luke expertly docked the boat and the deckhands tied it off, Lila joined the crowd to disembark. “Aren’t you going to wait for Luke?” her father asked. “I thought you guys had a few more hours to put in. I was going to see if he wanted to join us for dinner.”

“I think he has plans for tonight, Dad. And I’ve pretty much finished up my contract with him. I’m actually going to see David. Now that my workload is lightened, I should be able to fit Windemere in.” She glanced at her mother, praying she didn’t question her. “You, Nonna, and Zia are okay with that, aren’t you?”

“Now that David and Jennifer will be running Windemere, of course we are.”

“Nothing’s been finalized yet, Mom. It’s still early days.” Gavin had gone from groveling to threatening, and poor David was caught squarely in the middle. No surprise that his brother was firmly on Team Gavin.

“Yes, but your cousin is Jennifer’s lawyer.”

“She is, and Gavin should be shaking in his Dockers,” she said, making her parents smile. “But I need you to be okay with me helping out David, even if Gavin’s around for a while.”

“Sure,” her mother said.

“Great. I’ll check in with you guys later.”

“I’m going to stick around and talk to Luke. I’m thinking of getting my captain’s license.” Her father grinned as they both stared at him. Her mother was clearly as shocked as Lila.

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