Page 39 of Nutcracker with Benefits
My stomach sinks. It’s not Nash. He’s not coming here to find me in the middle of nowhere, Australia.
Oh shit.
I’m not just disappointed that it’s not Nash—I’m heartbroken.
Captain Eric appears next to me and offers Uncle D a hand. “Pleasure to have you aboard, sir.”
“Thank you. Lovely boat you have here.” Uncle D greets him and then sticks his hands in his pockets. He’s wearing board shorts. Board shorts. Where is my boardroom-dominating, three-piece-suit-wearing stepdad?
Uncle D leans in, looking into my eyes, which are welling up. He gives me a soft smile in understanding.
“Would you like a tour?” Eric asks.
“Thank you, but I’m short on time. Do you have a room where my daughter and I can talk?”
Eric gestures for us to follow him, and I grab the towel I was sitting on and fall in next to Uncle D.
“Don’t you think that was a little extra?” I choke out at him.
“I’d never been in a seaplane before. That’s one off the bucket list.”
Uncle D has a bucket list?
Eric leads us to the steep ladder to the top deck and opens the door for us, telling us to take all the time we need. The pilot house is nice; black leather in the main pedestal chair at the center and two matching benches on either side of the room.
Uncle D opens his arms to me, and even though I’m damp and salty, I sink into his embrace. He waits, patting my head while I take big, deep breaths of the man who’s been a rock-steady figure in my life.
Finally, I pull away. I’m not crying but it’s close.
I settle my towel on the closest bench, and Uncle D sits next to me.
“Since when do you have a bucket list?” I ask him instead of diving into deeper stuff.
“I’m sure everyone has a mental bucket list,” Uncle D muses. “But I took the time to write one down last week. Nash was doing one, and Craig and I thought it would be a good idea to make our own. And then he told me we had to do one of the trips right now, and what a coincidence, it took us near you.”
I focus on Nash’s name. “Nash? He made a bucket list?”
Uncle D nods. “He had a good point. Craig and I still haven’t spent much time doing fun things, and as you know, I am supposed to have more free time since we’re transitioning me out of the business. I have been focusing on hobbies, but I think getting us out on trips is a pretty great idea.”
“But Nash. Nash has a bucket list?”
“Not only does he have a bucket list, but he took a month off work. It was a little bit troublesome at first, but I’m learning to work with his temporary replacement, Jeb.”
“Do you know what’s on his bucket list?”
“I think you should ask him yourself, Sugar Plum.”
I consider that Uncle D probably has a point, so I direct the conversation back to him. “What else is on your bucket list?”
He ticks a few things off his fingers, including Kyoto.
“You know I’ve been to Kyoto, right?”
“Where do you think I got the inspiration from?” he asks me with a smirk. I grin, but then the smile slips from his lips.
“So, Nash is out trying to expand his worldview.” Uncle D rubs his cheek, the rasp of his hand on his stubble filling the silence. “What happened there, Sugar Plum?”
I sigh and stare out the window. There’s nothing but blue all around us, with splotches of browns and tans marking the reef.
