Page 17 of Hooked on a Feeling

“I’m not sure I could do it. My grandfather would roll over in his grave if he knew the property was going to his rivals.”

John lifted a shoulder. “I get it. But I thought we agreed that wasn’t our war?”

“We did. But old habits and all. So, you never answered me about what would possess you to want the marina? You’re already watching it crumble—literally. What would you want to do with it?”

Why all the tough questions? “I’d like to see the marina back in its former glory. There is a lot of moneymaking potential there, and I know I could make it successful.”

“You and me both. If I didn’t have a yoga studio already.”

“Have you considered moving here and opening a yoga studio? Even at the marina there. You could have the best of both worlds.” Shut up, John. Way to try and get her to sell it to me when I keep giving her ideas.

“I’ve considered that for five minutes. My life is in Colorado. My friends. Clients that have become close friends.”

“Your parents.”

She shrugged. “We don’t have a lot in common, so I wouldn’t exactly miss them the way I would my sister. But what about you? You would quit Blue?”

“Not sure if I could quit, to be honest.” A strange sense of peace settled over John. Never in his life had he imagined a life without Blue. He wasn’t arrogant enough to assume that he would get the company handed to him one day because he was the oldest. But growing up, his parents drilled that into his head over and over until it became a given. That he would run the company when his dad retired. Could John leave Blue? If it meant allowing him the freedom to change things, he would. He could. “I would hurt a lot of the people I love if I did that.”

“What does your second-oldest sibling do?”

“Jersey? He runs the tech for our company, but he also manages all of the technology inside the yachts. You know there’s an app for everything, right? So each yacht comes with a management system that allows the owner to log into the app and check on everything about the yacht. How it’s running, what it needs, how many nautical miles it has—everything. Jersey is great at what he does. He loves it. There’s no way in hell he would be CEO.”

“What about the next sibling?”

John straight up laughed because Judge would rather work for Starr at her marina than run Blue. That wasn’t his thing. “Judge is the family joker. He sells the yachts. He races yachts, actually. But no, he’d never get caught having to be in the office for too long. And before you ask about the rest of my siblings, they are either too young or they’ve gone to college for something else. Like Reed. She is an amazing artist. Her strength is drawing. Designing. Her and Jake—that’s her twin—work well together. He’s our architect.”

“Wow, it must be so fun to not only have such a big family, but it seems like you actually like them, and you all get along.”

“Yeah. It’s fine until one of them doesn’t mind their own business, and then everyone gets involved. Otherwise, it’s nice. Tell me about your sister.”

“She’s twenty-three, smart as a whip. She has a business, is raising a kid. She’s amazing. My niece is four. They are so good together. A perfect little team.”

“Married?”

“No. He scooted. She doesn’t need him anyway.”

“What kind of business?”

“Plants, like a nursery.”

“That must make your parents happy.” He mimed toking a joint, and she laughed.

“Not that kind of plant.”

“Is she interested in the marina?”

“No. She’s got a full plate,” Starr said.

“What does she think of you being down here?”

Starr put up a hand. “She is glad it isn’t her. She doesn’t care about this place. Not the way I do. Grandpa was old-fashioned and didn’t show a ton of affection, but I was his favorite. He spoiled me like crazy. So long as I didn’t interfere with business, he had me around. On the rare occasions where I was too noisy or couldn’t sit still, he’d send me with my grandma.”

John had met Starr’s grandmother, Nancy, a few times, and despite the tumultuous relationship she and her husband had with his grandparents, she’d always been polite to John and his siblings. “One time Nancy gave me a basket of candy she’d won at the VFW. I’d run into her walking across the bridge.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. She made a comment about how she wasn’t supposed to be there playing cards and had inadvertently won the basket. She gave it to me so your grandfather wouldn’t know.”

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