Page 20 of In the Pursuit of Haven
He was always worried about Abby. Her life was on hold taking care of their father.
It was too early in the day for Pete to be completely drunk out of his mind, but it wasn’t like the hard whiskey took the edge off his temper either. He just got meaner when he drank himself under the table, though he usually reserved that for after a long day of fishing.
The bars were just across the street waiting for him—Jessie’s good friend, Zak owned a tavern that Pete often frequented. Abby usually got a call from Zak to peel her father from the bar stool and haul him home.
“What are you waiting for?” Pete barked out at them from his fishing boat. “Get moving!”
Abby showed no sign of distress as she waved back. Her attention was on her brother. “You should’ve come with us, Jessie. We found a good catch off of Gloucester.”
He hadn’t come? But he’d always talked about going out with them so often, that…yeah, Divine. Was it all a lie then?I swiveled to Abby. “Really? When’s the last time he’s gone with you?”
“That punk?” She threw a thumb her brother’s direction. “He—” She stopped talking with a warning look from her brother and started to flounder, “He… uh sometimes…”
“Isn’t that Davey?” Jessie interrupted. Down the boardwalk, across the pier, a tour guide led a group through the streets. Even in January in the middle of the day, business was thriving… well, more like creeping along.There were only two people on his tour.
Abby snorted and rolled her eyes, and despite being annoyed at Jessie cutting in, I knew all the telltale signs that our girl had a crush. The tour guide’s long black puffy coat didn’t hide his broad shoulders or how tall he was. “Who’s that?” I asked.
“Oh, some writer from out of town, trying to get inspiration for his latest book,” her deep voice grew huskier in her attempt to act like she didn’t care.
“And he’s Abby’s eye candy,” Jessie supplied.
“No, no, we’re just uh… friends. Besides, he does the underground tunnel tour.”
Ah yes, in this town that meant he was a wild-eyed conspiracy theorist. Those tours were highly controversial—some officials were terrified of people getting hurt poking around their drainage and plumbing systems, and so they condemned any talk of smuggling tunnels.
Davey pointed at Zak’s tavern, and the two people from the tour group leaned forward eagerly. Snippets of their conversation reached us, words like “sailors,” “kidnapping,” “forced aboard pirate ships.”
“You think Zak has connections to the smuggling tunnels?” I teased Abby.
“If he does, I wish he’d tell me about it.” She snickered. “I’d smuggle my old man through those tunnels every night for sure. Less embarrassing.”
We all laughed. It was better than crying. The cheerful sound only reminded me of good times, and when my eyes met Jessie’s velvety soft gaze, I stiffened in sudden discomfort. The next few days of him brushing past me while we packed up my aunt’s things were going to be hard.
I swallowed.
If I didn’t get someone to talk me through this, I’d never survive… and besides that, I needed chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate. Stat! Bette Ann’s candy shop was just down the street.
Backing up from my soon-to-be ex, I did my best to escape without offending Abby. “I wish I could talk longer. I just need to check up on Haven’s best friend, make sure she’s okay.”
Abby nodded soberly. “I’m sorry to hear about your aunt, Roxy.” And like she couldn’t help it, she pulled me into another hug that almost left me crying at the thought of losing such a sweet sister-in-law.
“Thanks, Abby.” I wiped at my eyes and turned quickly away. My gaze alighted on Finn. It was best if I created whatever distance I could when Jessie came to lend his muscle. “Bring the dog when you come help me pack,” I told him.
And I’d have Stu. I wasn’t giving him a heads-up about bringing the allergy medicine. A sneezing, red-eyed Jessie tied to his Kleenex boxes would be a less dangerous Jessie. He wouldn’t be playing any mischief with my heart that way.
I wasn’t sure what he was plotting yet… if anything.
“Yeah, sure, Roxy.”
His contrite voice killed me too. Confusion washed over me. Why didn’t he just clear up what happened to us? I loved him so much, which was why his waning interest in me hurt so bad. At the worst, he was cheating on me, and if he wasn’t? Well, then he didn’t trust me enough to let me fully into his life.
The loss threw me into a rage that boiled through my veins, molting my spine into a steely determination to get to the bottom of this, and if what I found broke me in two?
I’d do it! I had to.
Jessie wouldn’t be the only one getting into mischief when he came over.
Clutching to the deed, I refused to look back at him as I tugged down the hem of my dress and rushed for the Salty and Sweets Shipwreck Shoppe. Bette Ann’s ancestor from the early 1800s started the candy store after she floated to shore in a sugar barrel after a devastating shipwreck. Using pieces of the wreckage, she constructed a traveling salesman’s wagon to sell candy that became famous everywhere.
