Page 26 of The House on Firefly Beach
“Okay,” Robby said, his face serious.
“Think you can drive it, captain?” Nate said, tussling Robby’s hair.
“Yes, sir!” Robby said.
“Hold it with the same strength as you hold the football when someone’s about to come in for a tackle.”
Nate turned to Sydney and gestured toward the ladder on the side of the boat. “After you.”
Sydney climbed down onto the sand and went straight to the front of the boat to push it. The whole time, she was taking in slow, steady, deep breaths and trying to erase the image of Nate and Robby from her mind. She had to, or her heart would break all over again. When she and Nate were together, she’d imagined a family with him—they’d talked about it. He’d wanted lots of land so they could play outside, fish by the water, build sand castles… All the things Robby liked to do. The “if only” of it all was already eating away at her, and they hadn’t even left the shore. She pressed her hands against the warm fiberglass of the boat and channeled her emotions into her strength, pushing with all her might.
Nate’s phone began to ring on the boat.
“Nate!” Robby called. “Want me to bring you your phone?”
“That’s okay, buddy. You just hold the wheel,” he replied, ignoring the call.
“Whoa,” Nate said, placing his hands beside hers. “You don’t give yourself enough credit. You can probably move this boat all by yourself.”
“Are you jealous of my biceps?” she said.
He smiled, and positioned his hands next to hers, his scent intoxicating. “On the count of three, ready? One, two, three.”
They both heaved, the boat grinding against the powder white sand as it shifted.
“One more time and I think we’ve got it,” she said, glad for the diversion. “Then you jump in the boat and I’ll guide you around the pier.”
“All right,” he said, his arm brushing against hers.
He seemed to notice their proximity, giving her a little glance out of the corner of his eye. Given what Juliana had said, all of the attention he’d been offering Sydney was some sort of rebound for sure. And why was Juliana still in Firefly Beach if they weren’t together? They’d been getting therapy… It didn’t add up. Well, Sydney wasn’t going to play his games. He and Juliana could do their little back-and-forth romance, but Sydney didn’t want to have any part in it. Her heart wouldn’t be able to survive when he decided that Juliana was the better fit for him, because she knew it was true. Nathan Carr would take nothing less.
Nate started counting again, “One, two, three.”
The boat suddenly became light against Sydney’s hands, its body bobbing in the gulf waves that splashed around them. Nate jumped onto the ladder, climbing it quickly, and moving over to Robby. He lifted Robby, and placed him back into his lap. Sydney looked away, focusing on the pier.
“Give it a hard right!” she called up to them.
The nose of the boat gently glided around in an arc.
“Straighten it up slowly and I’ll jump on.” She guided the boat, pushing against it, until it was completely clear of the pier and grabbed the ladder, pulling herself out of the water. Once she was on deck, Nate cranked the engine and began moving the boat out to sea, causing the wind to pick up and blow her hair behind her shoulders. It was the best feeling in the world. Only then did she grasp how long it had been since she’d been on a boat, her feet wet like they used to stay all summer.
Sydney took a seat next to Juliana just before the boat picked up speed, slicing through the cobalt blue water, the spray dancing on her skin. The wind rushed through her ears, nearly drowning the constant buzzing of the engine. Nate and Robby were in her peripheral vision as the coastline zipped past them in a blur. The total assault on her senses made her feel alive for the first time in a very long time. Being out on the gulf gave her so much joy. She needed to do more of this, stir up that old creativity that used to come so easily for her. Now she knew why her ideas had come so effortlessly when she was younger: she had to feed her imagination with sunshine and happiness.
When the boat began to slow, Nate lifted Robby off his lap and stood up. “You know how to do it now, Captain,” he told Robby. Nate cut the engine. “Just keep her straight ahead for me while I drop the anchor.”
“Yes sir,” Robby said with authority.
With Robby and Nate both busy anchoring the boat in place, Sydney turned to Juliana. “So,” she said, “are you enjoying Firefly Beach?”
Juliana spread her slender arm along the back of the bench seat where they were both sitting and nodded. “It’s very beautiful and quiet here,” she said. “It is the kind of place where I could live.”
“Are you planning to stay?”
“For right now, yes.”
By staying, was Juliana hoping for some sort of reconciliation with Nate? Probably. According to the tabloids, they didn’t dare move their things out of each other’s apartments because they’d be back together before they could get it all unloaded. “Will you be staying with Nate?”
“If he says it’s okay. We haven’t really discussed all that just yet.”
