Page 11 of Knockin' Boats
I’d rattled off the usual tour guide trivia about the lake for my tourists. Like,Did you know that the Lake of the Ozarks has more shoreline than all of California? Yep! Over 1,000 miles. The lake was created by the construction of the Bagnell Dam, which we’ll be passing today. That was finished in 1931, making this the largest manmade lake of the time.
The routine got boring, so sometimes I tried to throw weird trivia tidbits in to entertain myself. Like,Crane Cemetery was one of almost sixty cemeteries whose sites were flooded when the dam was built. The graves were supposed to have been moved, but some people believe they never were. Which would mean we’re floating right over their resting place.
That one got mixed results, so I tended to save it for the right kind of crowd. Didn’t want to freak out the tourists with creepy ghost tales. It was perfect for our spooky Halloween cruise weran the month of October for anyone willing to brave the colder weather.
“Hey, slacker, get to work!”
I recognized my friend Fisher’s voice and looked up with a grin to see him and Hudson approach on a bowrider.
“You’re one to talk with your sugar daddy right by your side.”
Hudson grimaced. “Hey, now, don’t drag me into this.”
Probablynotthe best idea to call your boss a sugar daddy to his face. It wasn’t true, anyway. Fisher was part owner of his family’s Bait & Swallow store.
“Sorry,” I called. “I was insulting Fisher, not you.”
“Asshole,” Fisher said, voice fond.
Trash talking was just our friend language.
Hudson extended a long pole with a hook on the end, and I guided it onto one of the ropes at the dock to help him ease in close and tie up.
“I’m guessing you’re here for the dinner party?”
“Yep,” Fisher said. “I can’t wait either. I’m starving, and your mom’s the best cook.”
My mother had cooked for The Rusty Hook for years, but Brooks had poached her to lead the resort kitchen. Tonight, she and her staff were putting together a special dinner to welcome Brooks’s grandma to her new home. She was moving in permanently since Skylar and Brooks lived onsite.
“You’ve only had her pub food,” I said. “Wait until you really see what she can do.”
“She must be excited,” Hudson said.
I nodded. “I haven’t seen her this ecstatic since she opened her own restaurant in Bubble Butte.” My smile slipped. “That didn’t turn out so well.”
The place had gone under, thanks to a series of unfortunate events, including a terrible tornado, a lost tourist season, and too little reserves to endure the hard times. My parents hadpoured everything into it—even sold our house and moved us into quarters above the restaurant—so we were left with pretty much nothing.
My dad had taken off on a mid-life crisis, and we’d had to move in with my grandparents in Swallow Cove. My older brother was already in college at the time, and Mom had encouraged him to pursue his career in nonprofit work rather than wallow with us in our mess. It had taken him all the way to some tiny town in Illinois called Christmas Falls, of all things.
But that meant I was the one who watched Mom mourn her lost dream, reshape her future, and rebuild her independence one small step at a time. It hadn’t been easy. I didn’t know if I could do the same in her position.
Maybe like Dad, I’d opt to run and hide from my failure. But that was why I was glad I had a job with Swallow Adventures. I could clock in, do my job, and clock out. I’d never show up to work one day and find out that I’d lost everything.
“I’m sorry,” Hudson said. “I hear the restaurant business is a tough one.”
“Yeah.” I shook off the mood. Now wasn’t the time. “This is the best of both worlds, really. She gets to run this restaurant like its hers, but she’s not financially responsible for it. If something goes wrong…”
“Don’t say it,” Fisher ordered. “This resort is going to be a huge success. This isgoodfor Swallow Cove.”
“Right,” I said quickly. “I think it’s great.”
But I was still relieved my mother wasn’t the one on the hook if everyone else didn’t agree. After a year of renovations, Swallow Cove had a resort again. But would the tourists come? Would the resort sustain itself during the off-season? Those were questions I wasveryglad not to have on my shoulders.
“Is this place finally open or what?” a female voice called.
We turned to see our friend Poppy walking around the corner of the hotel.
“Hey, stranger, where have you been?”
