Page 14 of Sail Away
“Aw, don’t worry, babe. I know you’ll be a good daddy.” Callie patted Jag’s chest.
“I’m glad at least one person believes in me,” Jag said.
“Only because you made the decision to marry me.” Callie smiled brightly. “Otherwise, you’d be doomed.”
Darcie’s heart swelled. She could give her family shit all day long about their judgments, but they loved her and only wanted her to be happy. She knew that without a doubt.
All she had to do was figure out what happy looked and felt like. She knew from her older siblings that it sometimes took a while for the roadmap to show the actual directions. Wow. Her thoughts told her that perhaps the wine had gone right to her head. Good call on her part to use Lyft this evening.
“I don’t know, Callie. He couldn’t take care of me when I was a kid to save his sorry ass. He once left me on the ferry. I rode it back and forth five times before anyone found me,” Darcie said.
Jag waved his finger. “I didn’t lose you or leave you. The truth is, you ditched me, and I totally freaked out. You didn’t want to get off that damned boat, and you hid from me. I ended up having to call the cops. We both got in trouble that day.”
Darcie laughed. “That has to go down as one of my fondest memories of childhood.” She plucked a mini egg salad sandwich off one of the trays. She stuffed the entire thing into her mouth and prepared for the onslaught of flavors. Her mother always stuffed a cucumber in the center, and to this day, it surprised her tastebuds. “Jag, can I talk to you for a moment?”
“Sure. I need to freshen up my drink. Anyone else want something from the kitchen?” Jag asked.
“I’ll take a water,” his wife said.
Jag looped his arm over Darcie’s shoulders as they meandered down the long hallway where every accomplishment that any of the Bowie children ever achieved hung proudly.
Including her waving goodbye the day she left for her first yachting adventure.
She sighed. “Why does Dad have to belittle everything I do, and yet he does… this.” She tapped the picture.
“You could have done exactly what he wanted you to, and he’d still give you shit for it. It’s just the way he is.”
“Well, it’s annoying, and I wish he would razz you guys half as much as he does me.”
“You forget—or you were too young to remember—but we’ve all had our fair share of Mom’s and Dad’s judgments,” Jag said. “I’m glad you got me alone. I actually have something I need to tell you, and you might need to sit down for this.”
“Nothing can shock me today.” Darcie found the bottle of red wine and topped off her glass.
Her brother did a double take. “Maybe you already know that Reid’s in town.”
“I just ran into him. But worse, his company is my next charter.”
“That fucking sucks.” Jag stuck his head in the fridge and pulled out his favorite beer. He twisted off the cap and tapped the longneck against her glass. “I still don’t understand why you broke up.” Jag held up his hand. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it. I meant it as a rhetorical question. I don’t need you to give me all the reasons why you and Mr. Perfect didn’t work out.”
“Obviously, he wasn’t so spectacular.” When she and Reid called it quits, it had been Jag’s shoulder she cried on the most. He’d understood what it was like to lose the one person who understood you better than you did yourself.
Only Callie came back in his life, and now they were married and having a baby. Jag got lucky and got a second chance at love. “How did you know he was in Seattle?”
“There was some chatter about him and his buddies doing a night bungee jump off Deception Pass. That kind of stuff always ends up as gossip in my office.”
“They couldn’t get approval for the jump. Which honestly, I don’t understand. They are professional extremists. It’s not like they don’t know what they are doing.”
“We had three jumpers this year alone. In general, we’re afraid it will make it more enticing for suicide jumps off Deception Pass, and that’s something we don’t want.”
She hadn’t thought about it in those terms. It made sense. “They could get approval for another night jump on another bridge?”
“Probably. Maybe. I really don’t know. It’s not my area, but I could do some checking for you.”
“That would be awesome. I know I can talk Reid into an alternative jump. Preston, on the other hand… He’s an entirely different story.”
“It’s just a bungee jump. It’s not that thrilling, considering what those two have done in their lifetimes. What else do they have planned on their little vacation?”
“Kayaking the rapids. Outside of that, just the toys we have on the boat. To be honest, Preston is going to be bored as shit, but Reid will be fine. He does know how to relax.”
