Page 115 of Tide Over

My heart starts racing as I try to figure out what to say, but Sarah beats me to it.

“I…” she starts, then claps her hands together with a wide grin. “Knewit! Well, I didn’tknowit, but Iknewsomethingwas going on with you guys, and this is even better than anything I could have imagined.”

Mitch and Glen both look at her in confusion.

“Huh?” Glen grunts.

She rolls her eyes and waves a hand at them in dismissal. “You’re men, you wouldn’t get it.”

But I just stare back at her, waiting for an explanation.

“Please,” she says with a shake of her head. “That day on the boat? Fucking obvious.” Then she pops a fry in her mouth.

“What was obvious?” Glen asks, then looks at me and Liam, pointing between us. “You knew about this?”

“Like I said…” Sarah sighs. “Men.”

Glen just shrugs. “Well, congrats boys.” He holds up his beer and takes a swig.

Mitch just smiles with a soft, approving nod as he raises his glass to both of us.

“Alright, here we go…” Allison approaches the table and sets the tray down with our drinks on it and starts passing them out. But when her eyes land on my hand, still on Liam’s knee, they quickly snap back up to me.

But I take a deep breath and accept that this is all going to be a bit hard for a while. Despite feeling confident and comfortable with my choice to be fully out… I still need to take those uncomfortable steps to do that.

But her eyes soften, and she sets my beer down in front of me with a smile. “Here you go.” Then she does the same to Liam.

I smile back at her. “Thanks Allie.”

“So, Liam,” Sarah says as Allison leaves the table.

Liam’s gaze follows Allison for a moment longer and I chuckle, giving his leg a gentle squeeze to bring his attention back to the table. And selfishly… I kind of love the jealous possessiveness.

“You joining the crew next year?” Sarah asks him.

He huffs out a little laugh with a shake of his head. “As fun as it was… I’m a welder.” He pauses for a moment, taking in a deep breath as he looks out the window at the water. “It was mine and my best friend's dream to be welders… and he’s not here anymore.” I slip my hand into his, and he shifts his gaze back to me. “So, I’ll keep doing it, for him. And me.”

I smile softly as I stare into his eyes, feeling the quiet strength radiating from him, and I’m filled with pride for how far he’s come.

“But,” he says, turning back to the table with a smile, “I’ll definitely come out whenever I’m home.”

“Cheers to that,” Mitch says, holding his beer up.

I keep my eyes on Liam for a moment longer, savouring the happiness in his expression, then I pick up my beer as well and clink it to everyone else’s.

“Sláinte!”

FORTY-TWO

The Ceilidh Trailstretches out ahead as the road brings us closer to Inverness. We’ve been driving for almost five hours, but now we’re just minutes away. Theo sits quietly beside me in the passenger seat as I grip the wheel a little tighter and try to keep my breathing under control.

But it’s too much. The weight of everything catches up to me, and I pull off onto an old dirt road. As the truck comes to a stop, I just stare blankly ahead.

“Liam?” Theo asks cautiously as I just stare out the windshield, my hands tingling, and my heart pounding in my chest.

I shake my head. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

Theo turns to face me, reaching over with his good hand to rest it gently on my arm. “Hey.”

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