Page 81 of Tide Over

We make our way out to his truck, and Theo drives us through the sleeping town towards the marina. Darkness blankets the streets and houses, making everything even more still and peaceful than this town usually is. If that’s even possible.

Theo pulls into the almost-empty parking lot, and I chuckle to myself. Of course, he’s the first one here.

He glances over as I cock an eyebrow at him.

“Captains arrive first,” he says.

“And you’re always the earliest of all captains?” I ask.

He pauses as he stares back at me, hand on the door handle of the truck. “I like to be early,” he says with a huff then opens his door and hops out. “Come on.”

I chuckle as I follow him, and we make our way down the dock towards his boat. As we walk, I listen to the quiet sounds of our footsteps on the wooden boards and the soft laps of water against the hulls of the boats. And when I take a deep breath of the salty air, I let it all settle everything inside me.

When we reach his boat, Theo hops in and pulls out a couple pairs of waders, tossing one to me. Just as we start putting them on, a voice sounds behind us.

“New crew member, Theo?”

We turn to see a woman, I’d say in her fifties, standing on the dock with her hands on her hips.

Theo chuckles. “Just for today, Sheila. This is Liam.”

I give her a smile and Sheila smirks at me, nodding with her chin towards Theo. “You’ve got your hands full with this one, let me tell ya.”

I let out a small laugh, glancing at him as he rolls his eyes.

“Lies,” he mutters, bending down to unlock a cabinet. “Don’t listen to her, she’s full of shit.”

Sheila tips her head back with a laugh. “That’s my boy.” She then winks at me. “He might be a handful, but he’s a good one.”

I smile, glancing back at Theo. “Yeah… he really is,” I murmur, just loud enough for him to hear.

He catches my gaze with a soft smile, then there’s a gentle thud on the boat.

“Welcome to the crew!”

I turn around to see Sarah’s bright smile as she joins us on the boat, and Sheila moving on to talk to another crew.

“Hey,” I greet her as she heads for the container Theo pulled out and takes it from him.

Theo crouches down to pop open a floor panel to reveal a motor, and starts to check the oil. And I can’t help but subtly keep my eyes on him while Sarah tells me about their morning routine.

“Our fearless captain handles everything about the boat,” she explains, placing the container down in the middle of the deck. “We take care of the gear.” She flips the lid off the container to reveal a tub of salted herring packed in ice. “This is our bait. We pick it up from the buyer’s station the day before so we’re ready to go first thing.”

Theo steps into the wheelhouse and starts up the engine, the rumble of diesel bringing the boat to life.

“Well, I’ll be damned!” Mitch steps onto the boat, clapping me on the back. “No fucking way. About time you came out with us!”

I laugh, turning as Glen hops on board and gives me a playful salute.

“I didn’t know we were adding to the crew,” Glen says, raising an eyebrow at Theo. “I could’ve slept in. Liam can take my spot.”

Theo leans casually against the wheelhouse, arms crossed as he eyes Glen. “I bet he’d do a better job.”

Glen pretends to size me up, nodding thoughtfully. “Yeah. Probably.”

I chuckle as he nudges me with his elbow. Theo just shakes his head, pushing off the wall and heading into the wheelhouse. “Let’s go.”

Mitch and Glen untie the ropes securing the boat to the dock and Theo effortlessly backs us out, aiming us towards the wide, dark expanse of the ocean. The low rumble of the engine mixes with the sound of water lapping against the hull as Glen, Mitch, and Sarah settle onto a bench just behind the wheelhouse, and Sarah motions for me to join them.

---