Page 15 of The Hitchhiker in Panama
“Yeah.” I sighed wistfully. “Sounds like you might like to be a tradie.”
“What is a tradie?”
“An electrician or a mechanic or a plumber. Something like that. Or, I suppose, there are equivalents for marine jobs.”
Eivind looked thoughtful. “I am learning a lot. Maybe so.” He took a sip of his beer. “So, you have big plans. Why are you not doing those things now? Why pause your dreams to fly halfway around the world?”
“I guess . . .” I faltered. “I guess anyone can go on a vacation to an exotic destination, but what do they really get out of it? I wanted to experience something different, and prove that I could do something like this on my own.” I huffed a laugh. “My mum is overprotective to a fault, and I just didn’t want to be seen asshelteredorspoiledanymore.”
“Someone said that?”
I bit my lip, nodded, and shrugged all at once, embarrassed.
Eivind was silent for a moment, and then he tipped his beer toward mine. “To life-changing adventures.”
I tapped my tinny against his and took a sip.
“Now, let me tell you more about our dear captain . . .”
Eivind told me about growing up in Norway, the escapades that he and Jonas got into. I was surprised to learn Eivind and Jonas were ten years apart; Jonas looked a bit younger than he was and Eivind looked a bit older. Jonas’s longer hair made him look unkempt, and Eivind’s close-cropped hair gave him an air of maturity.
“Jonas was already older and more mature, but when our father left, he really grew up too fast. This is his playtime now. He was too busy helping our mum.”
I cocked my head. “He does seem like a father figure to you. Keeping you in line,” I teased. “How did this whole thing come about anyway?” I gestured to the boat.
“Ah.” Eivind sat back. “Jonas is divorced. And after the divorce, he did that guy thing . . . you know, not showering and pajamas and pizza boxes. He was clicking around on the internet when he found this YouTube channel of a couple getting ready to go sailing. He invited me over one night and said, ‘Look at this, people do this, we can do this, but I need you.’ Because he couldn’t do the boat by himself.”
“Wow, that’s intense.” I was quiet for a moment, thinking about the brother who would ask for this and the brother who would pause his whole life to help him.
Eivind got another beer, and when he returned, he sat next to me, resting his arm on the ledge behind my back. We weren’t touching, but the heat from his arm radiated toward me, the brightness of his skin wafting around me, like lemons and hops. Suddenly this yearning hit me—to be in a foreign place, on a grand adventure, with a beautiful man. It felt like I could have anything.
“Ciao!” Marcella’s voice called out from the dock. She and Elayna were back from the pool and the boat quickly became a bustle of voices and activity.
“I should go,” I said, and Eivind’s face flashed with disappointment, but then he grinned.
“Will I see you tomorrow?”
I smirked. “I’m not going anywhere unless it’s on this boat. You are stuck with me.”
Eivind’s eyes dipped to my lips briefly, but he let me go. “Tomorrow.”
Seven
When I flounced down intoSilver Lining, Peter and Edith were sitting around the dining room table.
“He’ssingle!” I sang. “Oh, and also,” I said nonchalantly, “I’m going through the canal.”
“Good job, dear,” Edith said. “I don’t know which to ask about first.”
I laughed. “Well, Jonas is with Elayna, one of the girls. Eivind is single.”
“Ah.” Edith rested her chin on her fist. “They are both attractive, don’t get me wrong, but Jonas is more my type. His hair, his eyes . . .”
Peter cleared his throat.
“Right, on to point two. Are you going through the canal withEik, then?”
“Yes, we talked over all the particulars, and I have been given the stamp of approval.”
