Page 87 of Swept Up In You

“Look at you, moving up in the world.”

“Well I do want to try and earn my keep onboard.”

“I can’t wait to see the boat in person.”

“And we can’t wait to show you!”

They’d scrambled together plans for a low-key send-off the day before they set sail. Taylor only had her friends coming down, and Sam had invited her dad, of course, Alex and Will, and a few of her favourite boaties. It all made it feel a lot more real, and the days were slipping through their fingers.

“Ease the red one.” Taylor slowly released the line on Sam’s command. They were taking Manny for a twilight sail, and Sam wasliterallyshowing her the ropes.

“Perfect, Tay!” Sam encouraged her. “Annnnd now pull.” The boat started to heel, nice and responsive as she trimmed the sail. Working on boats was one thing, but actually sailing them? It was a whole other kettle of fish. She loved seeing all the parts in motion that she usually worked on. Though she still couldn’t help herself looking at the current rope setup in the jammers.She was already planning to replace one or two of the ropes before they left to make the colours more differentiated between each other.

Every boat setup was unique in some way, so Taylor felt good that she was finally getting the hang of Manny—the feel as it sliced through the water, guiding it easily with Sam’s input here and there, or the way the different sails responded with the simplest of adjustments. She couldn’t wipe the grin off her face as she took it all in, the sun warming her whole body as it began its descent for the evening.

They’d been hanging out for a day like this, with the sun out and the water shimmering, a light afternoon sea breeze—perfect for Taylor to learn the handling of the boatandtest out Belle on board.

The staffy sat up the front, the wind making her ears flap around wildly like she’d stuck her face out a car window. For her first trip, she’d picked it up as quickly as she had on the paddleboard, full of confidence, like she was made to be on the water. They’d made sure to doggy-proof the boat together first, putting up netting around the railing, getting a fake grass patch and adding a pet-specific first aid kit too. They were also staying on the boat for a few nights before they left to see how Belle would go on a longer stint.

With everything settling into place and less than two weeks to go, Taylor could notwaitto start this new adventure with Sam. But first, it was time to properly “meet the parents”—well, Sam’s dad specifically. He seemed like a great guy, even if parents usually scared the hell out of her. Whether or not it was from not being close with her own parents, she didn’t know. But she was looking forward to having it over and done with.

Sam jumped up the front of the boat to drop the anchor and give them a short break. Belle looked on in curiosity, her headtilted as the rope whirled out, the anchor sinking into the depths. “She is too cute,” said Sam, watching her.

“She’s fascinated.” Taylor leaned back on the seat to get a better look at the both of them. “She’s been an absolute star so far. I’m so relieved. I’m not sure what I would’ve done if she didn’t like being with us today.”

“Agreed.” Sam made her way back, slinking her arms around Taylor as she sat behind her on the edge of the cockpit. Taylor leaned back into the hug as Sam gave her a squeeze. “I’m so happy you’re both here. My life literally feels like a dream right now. I couldn’t imagine any of this happening a few months ago.”

“Oh yeah? What did you imagine?”

Sam hummed in thought. “That I would still be tinkering away on that bird’s nest of wires below deck, heading to work as usual, contemplating that very distant, far-off idea of a boat trip, which I also thought would never actually eventuate.”

“And now you’re here.”

“Now here I am.” She hummed again, resting her chin on Taylor’s shoulder, their heads leaning together as the boat lightly bobbed in the water. The sound of tippy tappy claws made them turn to see one very happy puppy making her way down the side of the boat.

“Oh hey, Belle. Decided to grace us with your presence in the cockpit? We thought you wouldn’t deign to step a paw down here.” Belle pointedly ignored Taylor’s rambling, walking to the very back of the boat and waving her tail frantically.

A couple of dolphins popped up for air, breaking through the water in unison… and it all made sense. “Oh, you’re just back here to say hi tothem.” Belle jumped up to lean on the railing—thank god they’d put the netting up—as she started whining, her paws tip-tapping trying to climb over.

“Uh-uh,” Taylor told her off. “You may be wearing a lifejacket, but you’re not swimming with the dolphins today. We’d never get you back in the boat.” She rolled her eyes at Sam, who laughed.

“Still your fault,” Taylor said good-naturedly. Sam poked out her tongue in response.

Once Taylor had got Belle away from the edge and settled, she came back and cuddled into Sam again. This time, she lay back, her head resting on Sam’s legs so she could look up at her.

“I was thinking about what you said before, about where you thought you’d be if we hadn’t crossed paths. So now that you are going on this trip, do you know what you’ll do when you get back, with the shop sold and everything?”

“Honestly, I haven’t really thought about it at all, and that in and of itself is kind of freeing. I’ve got savings, so I don’t feel like I would need to rush to find something straight away either.”

“Maybe we could work on boats together.” The thought suddenly sprung to Taylor’s mind. She got more excited the more she thought about it. “I mean, you have SO much boat knowledge—both lived experience and theory with all the parts. I’m sure you wouldn’t be half-bad with a pair of dikes and strippers in your hands either.”

Sam barked out a laugh. “Seems we’ve been full of crazy ideas together lately. First I ask you to sail around the country, and now you’re wanting to go into business together? We really are u-hauling it!”

Taylor looked at her with wide eyes. “You made a lesbian joke!”

“I may or may not have done a little research.” Sam grinned, leaning down for a kiss. She bit down on Taylor’s bottom lip, releasing it as she added, “Oh and I definitely have top energy.” Her grin widened, as she manoeuvred them around until shewas straddling Taylor, arms bracketing her in against the side of the cockpit.

“I’m not mad about this fact at all,” Taylor replied, as Sam leaned in for another kiss.

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