Page 17 of Falling Overboard

I told myself for what seemed like the millionth time that nothing could happen between me and Hunter.

This was going to be the longest season ever if I couldn’t remember that.

There were approximately five bajillion things to do before the charter guests arrived, and I caught Emilie on her phone in one of the guest cabins and not doing the tasks I had assigned to her.

“We need to work together as a team,” I told her. Because now I was going to have to come behind her and fix all of this. Georgia was upstairs working on the guest communal areas and couldn’t help me.

“Oh, I agree,” she said with fake enthusiasm. “Just tell me what I need to do and I’ll get it done.”

That was a lie but I figured it was probably safer for my current career if I didn’t say as much. I didn’t need her tattling to the captain that I was being mean to her. “Please go make sure the crystal bowls are filled with candy and nuts in the main salon. Then head to the laundry room and after you get some more loads going, do a quick clean of the crew mess.”

Her expression dropped and she didn’t try to hide her annoyance. “Everybody uses the crew mess. We should all have to help clean it.”

My internal temperature began to rise. Everyone did clean up after themselves but it was specifically the duty of the interior crew to do the deeper cleaning.

And things were different before, when Emilie had just been an extra set of hands. It didn’t really matter if she didn’t pull her own weight because the rest of us could manage fine without her.

But now we were in a position where she had to complete the daily tasks I’d assigned to her or it was going to seriously affect me and Georgia.

“That’s what I need you to do,” I said, trying to mimic what Marika would have said if she’d still been here. She probably would have beena lot harsher but I hated hurting people’s feelings. I tried to avoid it as much as possible.

“Fine,” she said, not bothering to pull her false enthusiasm back up again. She walked off, still typing on her phone. I had to hope she would do what I asked because I would be the one Captain Carl would come down on if things weren’t done properly.

The next couple of hours flew by quickly—we loaded on provisions and Georgia helped me get everything I’d ordered put away. I left Hunter’s various uniforms on his bunk and radioed him that they had arrived.

Instead of responding over the walkie-talkie, he texted me.

Thanks for bringing that to my yacht-tention.

The smile that broke out on my face was immediate and unexpected. Kai happened to be walking by and he raised both of his eyebrows at me.

“Hunter?” he correctly guessed but I just shook my head at him. He let out a laugh and went abovedeck.

Getting the text was nice because another message came in immediately after that from my sister Lily.

Chauncy needs surgery and the vet says it’s going to be like five hundred bucks. Can I borrow that from you? I promise to pay it back!

Lily usually promised to pay me back. She never had but at least she made the effort, unlike Rose, who just asked for the money.

My fingers hesitated above the keys on my cell, and for a brief second I considered telling her that I was not going to send her money.

But I was all my sisters had. I missed the way our relationship had been before our mother had died. We had just been a family then and now I felt like I was little more than an ATM to them. I sent her the money via an app and slipped my phone into my pocket. I went tocheck on Emilie, and to the surprise of absolutely no one, she was taking selfies and sending them to people and only one dryer was running.

“Did you finish up Captain Carl’s formal shirt?” I asked. The captain had specifically asked me about it right after I’d finished putting away the provisions. He was expecting it for the guest arrival.

“It’s in the dryer,” she said, not even looking up from her phone.

Which would mean it still needed to be pressed. “You need to get more laundry going. These machines should be constantly running all day.”

But when I opened the dryer door, I saw that everything was covered in streaks of blue.

Including the captain’s shirt. I held it up and Emilie finally stopped typing long enough to look at me. “What?”

Could she not see the stains? “Did you check the pockets before you put everything in the washing machine?”

I had told her approximately thirty times to do just that. It was one of the first rules when it came to doing laundry. There must have been a pen in somebody’s pocket. Probably the captain’s.

She rolled her eyes. “I don’t have time to go through every single pocket. I’d never get any laundry done.”

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