Page 73 of Drawing Home
Alexis put her arm around her. “He can’t mean it. After all this time? You come in late a few times and have one argument in the lobby? He’s just having a bad day.”
“No,” Emma said. “You know how he is. There’s no margin for error this time of year. And he hates the press. He prides himself on the privacy of the place. I’m attracting the wrong kind of attention to it. I’m a liability.”
“Okay, but all of this will die down. It’s temporary.”
“The damage is done. He doesn’t trust me anymore.”
The bright light of Sean’s launch signaled his approach. When he pulled into the dock, a middle-aged couple disembarked before Emma and Alexis boarded.
“Do you have to bring those people back somewhere later?” Alexis asked.
“No, they’re staying in town. I’m done for the night.”
“In that case…” Alexis handed him a beer.
Emma popped open her beer, sat down in the boat, and looked up at the stars.
“We just have to wait for Kyle,” Sean said.
“Kyle?” Emma turned around to look at him.
“Yeah. He’s doing some woodwork across the dock for a guy who’s going to fix his motor. I’m giving him a lift back to his boat.”
“Ugh,” Emma said. “The last person I need to see is him.”
“What’s the problem? He’s a decent guy.”
“Is he? You know that he’s essentially squatting at my house along with Bea Winstead.”
“Trust me—that guy isn’t interested in some mansion. All he cares about is the water,” Sean said.
“Great. Then he can go live with you.” She chugged her beer.
Sean glanced at Alexis with a look that said,What’s with her?
Emma, feeling bad that she was being cranky, started telling him about losing her job. But before she could get into it, someone shouted from the dock. Emma saw that it was the harbormaster, and he was running toward the boat.
“Sean! I was just about to radio. There’s been an accident. Ride with me.”
The harbormaster was bald with a trim white beard, tall, and broad-shouldered; he carried with him the air of authority and the faint whiff of cigar smoke.
“What happened?” Sean said.
“A bunch of people went joyriding and plowed into a private dock.”
Sean looked apologetically at Alexis.
“It’s fine, hon—go,” she said. “I’ll take a cab home.”
Sean and the harbormaster jumped onto a speedboat and disappeared into the night. Alexis and Emma stood on the dock looking after them, Alexis holding the remaining beer.
“Summer people are so irresponsible,” Alexis said. “Sean gets calls every day to help tow people off of rocks.”
“Ridiculous,” Emma said, shaking her head. “Well, it’s still early. Do you want to grab a drink at Murf’s?”
Alexis glanced at her phone. “I think I’m going to call it a night and just wait for Sean to get home. You going to be okay?”
“I’m fine,” Emma said.
