She nodded. She certainly didn’t need the escort, but she realized she’dwelcomehis company. Now that was a change that startled her.
Austin and Livy left, and she hung out while Jesse made sure everything was locked up for the night on the boat. Then they headed down the gangplank.
“I had a good time on your boat. It’s really nice.”
“Thanks, I really loved having all of you aboard.”
They headed down the pier at the marina and walked by the entrance to the wharf. As they passed a crowd, she heard one of the Jenkins twins call out.“Yoo-hoo! Heather! Jesse!”
They turned to see the women headed toward them.“Oh, boy,”Heather whispered but put on a smile.
“Oh, Heather. How good to see you. And Jesse. Both of you. Together.”The twin raised her eyebrow and smiled knowingly.
“It’s been so long since Jackie and I have seen you together.”So it must be Jillian talking. Good. Now she had them sorted out.
“I don’t know what caused the rift between you two, but it is good to see that you’ve patched things up.”
Heather stared at them. Even the twins knew that she and Jesse had been on the outs? She had thought it was only she and Jesse who knew that. And possibly Livy.
“We were just out on The Destiny,”Jesse offered.
Did he not know that was just going to fuel gossip? She looked at him quickly and raised an eyebrow. He semi-shrugged.
“We must go on The Destiny soon,”Jillian said.
“We must.”Jackie nodded.
“Anytime, ladies. Be glad to have you.”Jesse smiled at them.
“It was great to see you, but Jesse, I really should be going.”Heather tried to pull him away from the ladies.
“Good to see you too, dear.”Jillian gave her a wide smile.“I hope to see both of you—together—soon.
She grabbed Jesse’s arm and pulled him away from the wharf and onto the harbor walk.“Are you crazy? Why give them anything to talk about?”
“They’re harmless.”He shrugged.
“But people will be talking about us now.”
“Maybe. Until something new comes along to talk about. Besides, I don’t care if people know that you came on The Destiny.”
She didn’t know how she felt about that. Even just a tentative friendship with Jesse was all new to her.
They walked side by side in the moonlight and the soft sea breeze. His hand brushed hers briefly, and she ignored it as she concentrated on the intricate boardwalk design stamped into the cement of the harbor walk. The old plank walkway had long since been replaced with this concrete one, but the designers had done their best to mimic the old wooden one. Why she was thinking about the actual harbor walkway just then was beyond her. But she was. Like the many benches scattered along the walk. The lampposts spread along the walk and the view of a handful of boats moored out in the harbor, some dark, and some with dim lights on. She wondered if people were spending the night on the boats all moored out there.
“What are you thinking about? I can see you’re thinking.”Jesse interrupted her thoughts.
She laughed and pointed out to the bay.“Those boats moored out there. Do people stay on them out there?”
“A few people do. Sometimes. It’s pretty peaceful sleeping out there with the gentle rocking of the boat. I’m actually thinking of buying a used trawler boat I found. It needs some work, but it would be fun to have a boat to putter around in…that isn’t as big as The Destiny. A personal boat.”
“Really? You’d have time for that?”
He grinned.“Well, that’s my biggest hold-up. I feel like I don’t have much time now. If I got a boat to fix up—and let me tell you, there’s enough to fix on The Destiny all the time—I don’t know where I’d find the time.”
“But you should try and find time to do things for yourself. Things you love to do.”
“Well, I do love running The Destiny, there is that. It rarely feels like an actual job. I love going out on her day after day. It was such a dream of mine to own my own business, and now I do.”
