Page 24 of Sail Away with Me

Wilson and Speed headed for their cars, while Sail went into the ticket booth to help Ana close and make phone calls. If the storm passed, they’d open up, but as of now they were going to suspend all tours. Customers were given a chance to get a refund or rebook. Being that it was early in the week, most rebooked.

“Have you met Galvin yet?” Sail asked Ana after they made their last round of calls.

“No. Is she your girlfriend?”

The idea made Sail smile. He ducked his head to hide his grin from Ana. “No, she’s new to town. Works at the diner.”

“Really? She must not work when I’m there.”

“She’s nice.”

“Okay?”

Sail took a deep inhale. “I’m wondering if maybe you don’t go introduce yourself. Like I said, she’s new to town and I don’t think she’s actually met anyone, aside from my family.”

“Are you suggesting I befriend your paramour?”

“Paramore? Isn’t that a band?”

Ana rolled her eyes. “Para-m-o-u-r,” she said, spelling it out for him. “It’s French for lover.”

“She’s not my lover.”

“Yet.”

“Ever.” He hated making such a bold statement. “She’s made it very clear she’s here to work and doesn’t have the time for the likes of me.”

“That’s because she doesn’t know you the way the rest of us do.”

Sail scoffed. “I’m sure she’s heard the rumors.”

“What? That you’re a good guy? A decent man?”

Sail frowned and shook his head. “That I’m a loser who got booted from college for drinking.”

“But you’re not that guy, Sail.”

“At least I’m not trying to be,” he said to her. “I don’t know . . .” Sail paused and shook his head. “From the second I laid eyes on her I told myself I have something to prove.”

“Why not be yourself?”

“Because I don’t know who I am right now,” he said with a shrug. He supposed he had time to figure all that out since he couldn’t return to school until January.

galvin

. . .

Galvin finally had a much-needed day off. After working a series of shifts where she either closed, then opened, or worked doubles, she woke to the bright sun streaming through her windows.

Two days ago, she’d experienced her first hurricane or what Penny called a very windy storm with torrential downpour and light flooding. The diner had been empty, as had been the streets, and the harbor. All boats were moored, and every business shut down except for Carter’s.

The Carters were the epitome of community people. Instead of shuttering their doors and waiting out the storm, they turned the generator on and kept Carter’s open to provide a warm, dry space for people to come and get a hot meal or just escape the storm.

Employees did not have to work. Jack and the two youngest boys, Tidal and Crew, took over, and because Galvin lived upstairs and benefited from having power, she pitched in as well. According to Jack, Dune and Sail were on standby with search and rescue, ready to help as needed. When Galvin heard this, her heart spiked with anxiety. While Sail was off limits romantically, she’d sort of grown fond of his almost dailyappearance in her life. And the thought of him being out in the storm unnerved her while also gave her a bit of exhilaration. She pictured him in her mind as a hero and not the guy she wanted to lose her inhibitions with.

Wait, what?

He had given her pause. But not enough to get Sail out of her mind during the storm.

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