Page 39 of Falling Overboard

Icy darts pierced my heart and lungs. He was going to fire Hunter.

And while I knew this was how yachting worked, it didn’t make it any easier. I had already decided that I wanted Hunter to stick around. I liked spending time with him.

I wasn’t ready to let go of him.

To my surprise, the captain didn’t yell. I was close to the guests and would have been able to hear him if he had. I didn’t know if he was refraining for their benefit, but I was glad for it.

Or maybe that quiet anger would be worse once the guests had departed.

The exterior crew went to retrieve the luggage to take it to the cars waiting at the dock. I checked with the guests to see if they needed anything before they departed.

“I could use a stiff drink,” Mr. Carmine said, and the sentiment was echoed by several other people. I called for Georgia and she helped me get whiskey to everyone who wanted it.

Then the captain radioed for the crew to line up to say goodbye to the guests. I was eager to stand by Hunter this time, to check on him and make sure that he was okay.

He stood farther away from me, next to his fellow deckhands.

I wondered why, my feelings slightly hurt. He had just been joking about going out on a date with me and now he was avoiding me?

The guests came out and thanked each member of the crew as they moved down the line. Because I was paying such close attention to him, I heard what he said to Mrs. Carmine.

“Since you’re leaving I suppose this means you’re not going to run away with me.” His voice sounded like it normally did, with that flirtatious and playful lilt there.

“Not this time,” she said with a laugh.

“Your husband is a lucky man.”

“And I know it,” Mr. Carmine said, enthusiastically pumping Hunter’s hand.

When Mrs. Carmine reached me, she hugged me tightly and said, “Lucky! Thank you so much for everything. We had a fantastic time.”

“You’re very welcome. We hope you’ll come back.”

“As do I.” She paused a moment and then leaned in to say to me, “You should give that young man a chance.”

I was stunned. “What young man?”

“Hunter. He likes you.”

I tried to smile but it wasn’t working. “He’s just that way with everyone.”Including you.

“As someone who has been alive for much longer than you have, please believe me when I say that’s not true.”

Mrs. Carmine did not know what she was talking about. He had literally just joked about running away with her.

“Thank you again for your wonderful service, Lucky. It was very much appreciated,” she added, with a knowing expression on her face.

“It was my pleasure,” I responded automatically, stealing a glance at Hunter.

Who was not looking at me.

I wasn’t quite all there as I said goodbye to the rest of the guests. Mr. Carmine handed the captain a thick envelope, which was a good sign. Then they walked down the passerelle, put their shoes on, and climbed into their waiting car.

“Go get changed and let’s get the boat turned over,” the captain said. “We’ll meet up later to talk about the tip.”

I wanted to make sure that Hunter was okay but I still had a job to do. I grabbed Georgia and Emilie to let them know what we needed toaccomplish after they changed into their day uniforms. Hunter headed downstairs, probably to our cabin. After I’d quickly outlined our tasks to the girls, I followed him.

He had changed out of his dress whites and had already put his day T-shirt on. It was a good sign that he wasn’t packing.

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