Page 13 of Between Two Shores

Lachlan nudged her and angled his neck to the side without taking his eyes off her dad. “What’s the big sigh for?”

“Huh?”

“You sighed. Loudly,” he whispered-yelled.

Dad glanced their way, raised his brows, and continued serving. Gee. He didn’t miss a beat. After all the years of her filling the role of a co-parent, Dad still treated her like a kid. The fact became more evident when others were around. Like now. Total embarrassment. Thankfully, Lachlan remained respectful but not intimidated by her father’s stiffness. Her fast introduction had avoided interrogation, with little time before the doors opened. Dad was likely happy to have five extra volunteers. If Lachlan had come alone, he’d be more suspicious of the Navy counselor’s intentions with his daughter. Beth bit back a smile.

Lachlan smoothed his hands over his long khaki slacks, then returned his grip to hold a serving spoon. The tiniest spots of perspiration on his forehead glistened from the dangling industrial lights above. What were his intentions? Friends via email to help him combat loneliness? A female friend to confide in? Or something more? Her insides flipped at the possibility of a developing relationship.

“Can the next table come now?” Dad’s words interrupted her musings.

Old Ben and Anthony, their Saturday regulars, picked up their plates first and the rest of their table followed. Her heart went out to the men. They had a sad story to tell, but she’d seen a change over the last few months. Beth kept asking each week how many days sober they were. They hadn’t broken their streak yet. Forty-eight days.

She glanced at Lachlan. He liked to help people too. A strange urge to lean into him surprised her. Lachlan was the type of guy she could see herself with, but reality told her that he wouldn’t be the one. Gone tomorrow, occupied for another two years, a citizen of America. Too many obstacles prevented Lachlan from joining her in her corner of the world. Why did she even entertain the idea? Fairy tales.

A soft touch to her lower back startled her.

“Thanks for inviting me to come today to see all this.” Lachlan whispered.

Beth tippy-toed and leaned into Lachlan’s shoulder. “I think you invited yourself.”

Soft creases formed at the corners of his eyes. “You didn’t protest.”

“I’m glad you could make it.” Her voice came out all breathy. What the heck?

He seemed not to notice and scooped up a spoonful of scrambled egg. Beth startled at Old Ben in front of her, pushing his plate to bump the pan of bacon.

She snapped her tongs to attention. “Two rashers coming up.”

The hour had passed quickly and clean up went well with the extra help from Lachlan’s crew. Once the regulars finished making rude jokes with the sailors or about Americans—which they handled pretty graciously, they were only a handful of volunteers left.

Dad approached Lachlan and shook his hand again. “Thank you for serving our community, young man.”

“Yes, sir. My pleasure, sir.” Lachlan swung his hands behind his back and stood with his legs apart like he was reporting to a sergeant. “I did find it enlightening as you promised, sir.”

Beth held back a bark of laughter.

Dad’s chest puffed out as he nodded. “Wonderful.” He glanced at her with a raised brow, then back to Lachlan. “How did you meet my daughter again?”

“She threw up on me, sir.” He let out a chuckle at Dad’s shocked expression. “So, I repaid her by assisting her to—”

“Dad, I told you.” She nudged in front of Lachlan and patted her dad’s arm. “The counselor helped me with my sea legs. I had a spell on the ferry. He asked me about my necklace and we got chatting. Long story short, he’s here to see more of Fremantle.” She eyed Lachlan to leave out the finer details and turned back to her father. “I’ll take him out to lunch to thank him for his kindness.”

“Will you now?” Dad’s forehead lined.

Beth turned to Lachlan. “Are you free this afternoon? There’s a great restaurant nearby. I know the owner, and he’s American. You can bring your friends, of course.”

Lachlan hesitated as he looked at her dad’s frowning face. “I’ll see what the others want to do.”

“Great.” Beth grabbed his arm and steered him away from her father and headed to the other sailors. She mumbled under her breath, “Now you can see why I’m still single at thirty-one.”

A glint sparkled in Lachlan’s eyes. “Over-protective daddy?”

“Yep.”

He gave a reassuring smile. “He loves you. Wants the best for his girl.”

“Well, he doesn’t need to worry about you then.” Oops. Please, don’t read into that.

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