Page 67 of Conquered Obstacles

A huge hit.

It was all over social media and trending all over.

The only complaint? People wanted more notice. They were fair about it and knew we hadn’t been open even a year, but they wanted to mark their calendars and plan their lives better.

I fully understood that, and we even posted on our social media that we appreciated all the support and love, and we were sorry that it made everything so chaotic for us and them. That we were going to do better in the future, and we couldn’t have blown up like this without their love and patronage and we knew that.

We had everything up for Mother’s Day over a month in advance and were taking orders that early too. We knew people needed to plan. We got it.

We just needed more in place to make that happen, or we would have had such a limited amount of inventory to offer that people would have been upset about that as well.

Also, we announced other festivals for over the summer and fall after scheduling them out with Costco. People knew what was coming up, but there wouldn’t really be orders for that, just the fun, and they could get it at Costco or at the bakery that weekend. We were maybe setting ourselves up for some crazy for that, but we would see and go from there.

But after making it through Easter and so much else, when Isiah said we should take his boat out the Tuesday after the festival of pies, I was all for it.

And that was before the man took off his shirt.

I met him at the dock he told me, and he was already there when I arrived. It wasn’t one of the fishing boats they used all of the time, so he said it was the first use of the season and he’d been working to get it all ready. I had no idea what that really meant or like painting? Attaching sails?

Clearly, I wasn’t the god in charge of water vessels.

“Wine?” Isiah muttered under his breath as I approached the dock number he told me. “No, no wine. I don’t want her to think I’m trying to get her drunk and take advantage of her. She’s already probably annoyed with me I thought of something she’ll wear a swimsuit for. Idiot. We could have done anything on her day off and your mind immediately went to her in a bikini.”

“I thought it was you sharing your passion with me, but I don’t mind putting on a bikini,” I said, letting him know I was there.

He froze in what he was doing and slowly looked at me over his shoulder. “Any chance you could ignore what I was just saying?”

“None. I thought it was adorable,” I chuckled. “Permission to come aboard, Captain?” I held up the large basket to show I brought food and I was ready. There was more in my SUV, but I could make that just appear.

He seemed to shrug off his embarrassment. “I’m fine with being adorable.” He stood and hurried over, offering me a hand to step up. He smiled when I pursed my lips for a kiss once I was on the boat. “Hey.”

“Hey.” A giggle slipped out when he lowered his mouth to mine. “Hi.”

“Thanks for coming.”

“Thanks for inviting me.” I cleared my throat and thought of more to say before we got trapped in this awkward. “I haven’t been out on a boat in many years. I was always worried… It doesn’t matter now. This is a perfect day for it and not too hot yet.”

“Yeah, it looks like our crazy New England weather will hold out,” he said, getting the idea.

But then he winced. We were really talking about the weather?

He took the basket from me and showed me where it was going down below. I made the rest appear from my SUV and he chuckled.

“You’re shocked I made too much food?”

“No, I think how much you care is one of your best qualities,” he admitted. “You show how much people matter to you by looking out for them. The fact your brothers each have filled freezers with meals for them in your garage is fucking adorable, and my coven talks about it all of the time. They wished their sibling or relative cared that much about them.”

“They would if they had the means or power to make it so easy,” I muttered.

He gave me a look that he didn’t think the same. “You put in your valuable time to keep it loaded. I know your power keeps things from spoiling, but—it was stuffed to the brim when I sneaked a peek last time. You love your brothers and dote on them.”

“I have a lot to make up for,” I mumbled. “I know food won’t ever fix it, but I really missed them.”

“They missed you too, and none of it was your fault.” He stood and moved his fingers to my lips. “You all made mistakes. I’ve heard you three say you all share responsibility. You do, but Zeus was the monster who stacked the deck. Stop putting so much on yourself.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Sure, the moment you figure out how to manage that too.”

“Fair,” he accepted. He leaned down and brushed his lips over mine again. “Easier said than done. I totally get that. A hundred times over even. I just wanted you to hear it from an outsider’s perspective and someone who cares for you still.”

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