Page 5 of Made For You

I get into the car and head over to the marina. The whole time, I’m so happy I feel like singing with glee. I take out the parking pass I was given from the last owners and scan the machine as the gate opens. I park my SUV next to the front, getting out and walking over to the office building.

There are five red tables with umbrellas set up right in front of a barbecue grill on the side, and when I pull open the door, the cool air hits me. I step inside, seeing a woman behind the desk. “Hi, is Samuel here?” I ask her. “I’m here to pick up the keys to my boat. My name is Vivienne.” I smile.

“Yes.” She grabs the white envelope from the stack of papers beside her. “This is your key.”

My hand reaches, taking the white envelope in my hand. “Thank you. Are there any loading bins?” I ask, and she gets up.

“Yes,” she says, “I can show you.” She moves around the counter before walking to the door. I follow her as she walks around the corner of the building where five gray carts are. “Would you need assistance to unload anything?”

“No”—I shake my head—“I’ll be fine.”

“Just bring it back when you’re done.”

“I will,” I assure her, walking over and grabbing one. It looks like a wheelbarrow. I bring it to the back of my SUV, opening it, and starting to pile things in. I don’t take into account all the shit I’ve put in there has made it heavy to push. I grab the handles and then push it toward the gated door. Seeing that I have to go all the way around to the other side, and by the time I get there, I have to take off my sweater because I’m a sweaty mess. I get to the gate and see that it’s locked. I look around, trying not to seem like I’m breaking into the place. People are all over the dock talking to each other and people on their boat cleaning. “Don’t be suspicious,” I mumble to myself as I try to see if there is a button or anything. I grab the envelope that I stuck in my back pocket and open it. Two sets of keys come out and a white credit card key thing. “Please work,” I murmur. Taking the card, I scan it against the door and hear the click of the lock. I throw my hands in the air like I just scored a freaking overtime goal during the Stanley Cup playoffs. I pull open the door and keep it open with my hip, bringing the cart in with me. I try not to huff and puff as I go down the ramp with a too heavy cart. “Maybe next time,” I tell myself as I try not to fly down the ramp. I smile at a couple of people as I walk past them.

I get giddier by the second as I get closer to my boat. Stopping right behind it, I take a second to take it in again. All mine. I leave the cart on the pier before I step aboard my boat. Mine. I giggle again as I walk up to the small door on the side, opening it and stepping into the sitting area in the back. A long bench on the right side faces the two big sliding doors. A small wooden table on the side has two chairs; that table was one of the reasons I bought this boat. I literally pictured myself sitting on one of the chairs. The stairs on the left side go up to where you drive the boat. I walk to the sliding door and stick the key in the lock and turn it. “Welcome home,” I say to myself with a smile so big on my face, my cheeks hurt. I slide open the door, and the cold air hits me right away as I step inside and down the two steps to the cherrywood floors I fell in love with.

“Oh my God.” I put my hands to my mouth and bend over, filled with excitement. It’s everything I remembered and more. I take two steps down to the galley. The door to the first bedroom on the right is open. I take the two steps down into the cabin and sit on the twin bed. “Bedroom one,” I say before walking back up the steps to the galley. The big-screen TV is on the wall right in front of the door. The long beige counter fills the whole right side, two stools tucked under the low part of the counter is where I can picture the kids having a snack. The massive U-shaped leather eating area is right in front of the galley. A silver bucket in the middle with a bottle of champagne sticking out greets me. I step up the two steps to the table and take the card out.

“Ahoy, matey.” I laugh. “Don’t let the pirates get you. I don’t know what will happen to Dad. Can’t wait to see you drive this thing. Love Chase and Cooper, and your cheap-ass sister who didn’t Venmo us.” I throw my head back and laugh, putting the card on the counter before walking down the steps and continuing to the two steps that go lower again. The second bedroom door is open, and it’s just like it was when I visited. The blue and brown covers with the pillows. Right next to the small bathroom that I peek into before walking into the master stateroom.

“This is all mine.” I open my arms and turn in a circle. The queen-size bed is in the middle of the room. With two mirrored closets on each side, I step to the right side, crawling onto the bed and lying down like a starfish. The hatch window on top of my bed lets me see the sky. “It’s going to be so pretty when the stars are out.” I sit up for a second, right before getting off the bed. “First thing we have to do is change this bedding,” I tell myself. Even though it’s a beautiful silver and black cover, I want something more me.

I quickly strip the bed, which takes me a lot longer than I thought it would since I have to get onto the bed to grab the back of the cover, and then I don’t realize that my knees are stopping me from actually making progress. By the time it’s done, I need a bottle of water.

I walk up the two steps to the galley and open the cabinet where the fridge is, finding it stocked with ten bottles of water. I open the bottle and drink half of it before walking back outside. I quickly tie up my hair in a bun that falls sideways as I step off and grab two bags. “Don’t fucking face-plant.” I can hear my brother Cooper’s voice like he is right here. I put the bags on the long bench before walking over and unloading the rest. I’m super proud of myself when I start unloading the cart the second time. I finish unloading the SUV, turning back to make the last trip to the boat. At this point, I think I’m a fucking pro. I also have a feeling of déjà vu, like I’ve done this before. Or at least what I’m supposed to be doing now.

I stop again by the side of the boat, and this time, I open the sliding door to bring my suitcases inside. I place them all lined up in the galley before walking out to grab the other bags. On my last freaking step off to return the cart is when I become so sure of myself that I stumble just a bit. My hands come out to stop myself from falling on my face, trying to balance myself on my feet. “Shit,” I say just before I hear a bark right to the side. I turn my head at the same time there is the sound of sniffing right next to me. I look over and see the cutest dog I’ve ever seen in my whole life. I squat down, putting my hand out so the dog can smell me. “Well, hello, you,” I say as I rub the dog’s neck, the tail moving side to side excitedly. “Aren’t you the cutest little thing.” I use my baby voice, and she starts to lick my face as I slip back onto my ass. I can’t help the laugh that escapes me. The dog never stops licking my face as I try to dodge the kisses. I can’t stop from rubbing the dog’s neck as she excitedly licks me, the laughing making the dog even more excited.

“Beatrice,” I hear a male voice call, and she stops. She looks over at the boat next to me, where a man stands on the back of the boat. “Come here,” he says and motions with his head. She takes one more look at me as I look at her with a we-got-caught look, my eyes going big and my lips in an O shape. She takes a split second to lick me one more time before she walks over to her owner, jumping back on her boat and sitting next to him.

“Sorry about that,” I say, getting up and dusting off my hands. “It’s my fault. She wanted to smell me.”

“Well, she doesn’t like when you talk gibberish to her,” he says, and I tilt my head to the side and pause a second to take him in. He’s wearing shorts and a sweater. He looks to be about six feet tall, maybe a touch taller. The baseball cap on his head doesn’t let me see what color his eyes are, but I do see he has scruff on his face. If someone had asked me if he was hot, I would say no, just because—well, for one—he didn’t even walk over and ask me if I was okay. I was on the floor. What if I hurt myself? Okay, fine, it would annoy me more if he thought I was a damsel in distress, but still, he could have offered. Bottom line, he’s hot in an “I don’t want to think about it” kind of way.

“I’m Vivienne,” I introduce myself, and he just nods. “I’m your neighbor.”

“Good to know,” he replies, putting his hands on his hips.

“Are you docked here all summer long?” I ask him, trying to break the ice. I mean, everyone always likes me. I’m charming and personable. What is there not to like about me? I can tell you—nothing.

“We are,” he says, and I just chuckle, nodding my head.

“Well, good talk,” I say to him. He just nods and walks away from me, going inside. “I like your dog better than I like you,” I declare to his retreating back, not letting his grouchy mood ruin my day.

CHAPTER4

XAVIER

“Areyou docked here all summer long?” she asks, trying to make small talk. Little does she know, I don’t do small talk. I mean, I’m polite, but that is where it ends. Yes, no, maybe, the end, that is the extent of all conversation I have with about everyone.

“We are.” That’s the only thing I say as Beatrice jumps back on the boat and walks toward me slowly. I can tell from the way she is walking that she is doing this under protest and not because I called her over. She stops beside me, turning and looking over at the woman who is my new neighbor.

“Well, good talk,” she says, and all I can do is turn away from the auburn-haired beauty who has rattled me. Walking over to the sliding doors, I open them and step into the cool air.

I close the door behind me before I look over at Beatrice. “What did we say about making friends and talking to strangers?” I ask her as she walks over to her dog bed in the corner and gets on it. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” I shake my head and walk over to the fridge, making the stupid mistake of looking out my side windows, which give me a view of the back of her boat. She looks around, smiling as she grabs her suitcase and disappears inside. “Seriously, Beatrice.” I put one hand on my hip. “The last time you tried to make friends, what happened?” I ask her as I open my Gatorade bottle. “Let me remind you of the little girl you thought would share her cookie with you. She put gum all in your hair.” Beatrice just looks up at me. “And it took a week to get it out. I had to cut the hair, and you had patches all over you. That wasn’t a pretty look.”

I walk over and sit on the couch, trying to ignore the need to look out the window by turning on the television. I was upstairs on the top deck, sitting down, enjoying the warm air while I reread one of my favorite books when I heard Beatrice bark. She really isn’t a big barker, even when you walk past the boat, unless you come too close, then she lets me know. I looked up right in time to see her walking over to my new neighbor. I sat up, not sure what was going to happen, and then all I could see was Beatrice getting excited when the stranger fell back as she tried to lick her face. I heard her talk to her in gibberish, and I got up. I put my iPad down, not sure how it was going to go. As I made my way down the steps, all I could hear was her trying to talk gibberish, which annoyed me. Maybe I was more annoyed that I stared at her for a second longer than I should. Maybe I was annoyed because I literally checked her out as she was getting up from the ground. Maybe I was more annoyed because she was fucking good looking and that annoyed me, too.

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