Chapter 2
1341 Words
2
The Forget Me Not, carefully following the five-mile-per-hour no-wake rule, glided through the harbor toward the slip Megan rented. Before she’d come to Lost Harbor, she’d never imagined all the costs associated with running a boat. She hadn’t needed to, since she’d been hired as a naturalist guide. But just after she’d arrived, when she was still getting her bearings, everything had changed.
With only a few weeks left in the season—it was late August—the owner had gotten into a huge fight with her life partner, packed up all her belongings in her RV and offered the business to Megan.
Megan had, of course, discussed it with her ex-husband, Dev. Although she had primary custody of Ruby, Dev was still very involved in Ruby’s life. She and Dev had met in grad school—she’d been studying ornithology, he’d been studying business. Their marriage had been the only impulsive thing Dev had ever done. Megan, on the other hand, specialized in “impulsive.”
Just look at the way she’d fled to this faraway Alaska outpost.
Even though their marriage had only lasted a few months, Megan appreciated many things about Dev. He was financially responsible. He didn’t do drama. He loved Ruby. He respected their agreements.
They’d never gone to court to settle custody issues. Instead they relied on a professional mediator back in San Francisco. Poor Eliza Burke had the patience of a hundred saints.
Her move to Alaska had required three sessions with Eliza.
“I get why you want to leave the Bay Area,” he’d grumbled after they’d hammered out a plan. “But why does it have to be Alaska?”
“We need a change.”
She needed a change. And he knew the reason perfectly well, though they never talked about it.
“If Ruby doesn’t like it, she can always come stay with me.”
“That’s the thing—it was her idea. That’s why I considered it in the first place. Talk to her yourself, you’ll see!”
In the end, Dev had given his consent and offered financial help. He still thought it was insane, but Ruby had talked him into it. He was such a sucker when it came to Ruby.
Not that she was any better. As they passed Last Chance Pizza, with its deck overlooking the harbor, Ruby made a pleading face at Megan.
She rolled her eyes in a gesture Ruby knew how to read perfectly well. Fine. You win. Pizza with Zoe, the owner of the restaurant, was no hardship, after all. Zoe was Megan’s closest friend in Lost Harbor, the only one who’d accepted her immediately. She’d tried to win over the other “harbor rats”—people who worked on the boardwalk—with cupcakes and kindness, but it was a slow process.
They cruised past more businesses along the boardwalk that ran the length of the harbor. Ice cream shops, local crafts stores, restaurants, fishing charter offices, bear-viewing outfits.
When Dev had done his analysis of the business environment of Lost Harbor, Alaska, he’d been very impressed. “They do an excellent job catering to the tourist traffic. The fishing charters in particular do very well. Can you transform the Forget Me Not into—”
“No.”
“But the ROI would likely be exponentially—”
“No. I’m not here to fish. I want to use my almost-degree in a way that allows me to spend time with my daughter. It’s perfect, Dev.”
“Fine. But I estimate you have about a twenty-one percent chance of making a profit.”
“Really? That actually gives me hope, Dev. Thanks. I figured it was more like negative five percent.”
“That might be more accurate,” he admitted.
She hated to say it, but Dev was probably right. Her main problem was that the cost of fuel kept rising. Or maybe it was that boat repairs were expensive and the Forget Me Not had more leaks than a salad spinner.
Or that she couldn’t steer a boat and be a guide at the same time, and therefore had to hire Captain Kid. Or that she couldn’t afford her own office and therefore had to rent a virtual closet in the back of the Jack Hammer Fishing Charters office. The receptionist, Carla, only answered the Forget Me Not Nature Tours phone line when she wasn’t busy. Plenty of potential bookings went straight to voicemail.
Or maybe her biggest problem was that her marketing efforts screamed “science geek.” Or that…but why keep torturing herself? Sure she had challenges, but what new business owner didn’t? The summer season had just begun—her first full summer running nature tours out of Lost Harbor. It wasn’t over yet. She could still make this work.
Miracles could happen.
The Forget Me Not bumped against the side of the float, which had a long strip of carpet fastened to it to cushion the impact. She jumped out and grabbed the bow line. As soon as the Forget Me Not settled into place, she wound the line around a cleat. Ruby had followed her off the boat and was doing the same thing to the aft line.
Aft line. She’d never even put those two words together until she’d come to Lost Harbor.
She offered Ruby a high five. Her daughter slammed her palm a little too hard, as she always did. Captain Kid came out of the wheelhouse and unlatched the gate on the starboard side. Together, they all helped the passengers off the boat and onto the float. The guests said things like, “Lovely trip,” “Too bad about that Caspian tern,” and “Where’s the nearest restroom?”
She was in the midst of pointing it out when Lucas Holt strode past. He’d shucked his waders and wore work pants tucked into rubber boots, along with an obviously hand-knit sweater the color of smoke.
It smelled like smoke, too—like wood smoke curling through crystal clear air on a winter’s night. She had a quick image of him kneeling next to a campfire, blowing on the flames, while she snuggled under a blanket to keep warm.
She shook it off. It was just a fantasy, because she and Lucas Holt would never find themselves camping together, anywhere. She’d rather run into Lost Souls Wilderness across the bay and take her chances with the bears.
Usually Lucas ignored her and her passengers. They weren’t his speed; they didn’t bring coolers of beer on the boat or boast about the size of their last catch. But this time he paused and cast a charming smile across her little crew of elderly naturalists.
“Sorry about the close call out there. I’m training a new guy. He still has a few things to learn. I hope no one got wet because of that bonehead move.”
Lucas had dark hair and dark stubble and dark eyes and no wonder she secretly called him Lucifer. But he was good-looking; she had to admit that.
Not that it mattered. Character was what counted. Not looks.
“You’re seriously going to blame your crew?” she asked.
A hint of irritation crossed his face. She hated the way he always looked at her—as if she was a frivolous birdbrain hippie chick. She had part of a PhD, for pete’s sake. But that seemed to mean nothing to him, even though she’d mentioned it more than once.
“Just explaining what happened. He got a little carried away. He won’t do it again.”
“I hope not because I have witnesses. And I’d really prefer not to go the harbormaster again.”
His dark eyebrows quirked together. “On the one hand, I doubt that’s true, because I’m sure it gives you a special kind of joy to report on me. On the other hand, maybe it is true because I hear it didn’t go so well the last time.”
She gritted her teeth together. Unfortunately, he had a point. After her third trip to the harbormaster’s office, she’d decided there had to be better ways to handle her feud with Lucas.
Sadly, she hadn’t figured them out yet.
“I am not easily deterred,” she said stoutly. “Especially when it comes to Ruby’s safety.”
Lucas smiled down at Ruby, who glowed back at him. Darn him. That smile changed things in an unfortunate way. If he ever smiled at her like that…
She sighed. Luckily, there was no chance of such a thing.
- Writer
