Gigi pauses to take a drink, holding her finger in the air to signal she’s not done talking. “And I think it’s an Aston Martin.”
Emma squeals, reminding me of the girl she was in high school.
“So, Palmer.” Gigi raises her glass to me. “Tell us what’s new with you. What great and exciting things are happening in your life?”
I cast a sideways glance at Beth as the devastating events of the last month play through my mind like a depressing movie.
“You’re a nurse now, right?” Emma asks.
Yes, and I nearly killed someone.I study the fading Dungeness Spit, thinking of my girls and how I’m going to move forward with no husband and no job. Fear stabs my chest.
I nod, afraid if I open my mouth I might start to cry.
Gigi leans forward. “How are things with ... Matt, right?”
All of them, including Beth, watch me, their gazes lingering as they wait for my answer. After taking a drink from my wine, I paste a wide smile on my lips. “They’re fantastic. We’re really happy.”
“That’s great,” Emma says.
“So good,” Gigi adds.
Beth studies me. I break eye contact to finish my wine because I know what she’s thinking: Gigi isn’t the only one on board who can lie through her teeth.
Chapter Nine
Present: Day Three at Sea
Giving up on sleep, I climb out of bed at the first spark of daylight, careful not to wake Beth. I hardly slept, waking to my legs shifting from side to side with every swell. Just as Nojan had warned, the four of us were mostly bedbound yesterday after we’d reached the open ocean. My stomach feels more settled this morning than yesterday even though the Pacific’s waters are much rougher than I imagined.
When I step out of my stateroom, the smell of coffee fills the quiet galley. I pour myself a steaming cup from the half-filled French press before going to the upper deck.
Finding Adam at the helm, I sit on the cockpit bench and take in the gorgeous reddish sunrise peaking over the horizon. There’s no longer any land in sight. Instead, a seemingly endless ocean surrounds us in every direction.
“Morning.” He smiles.
“Morning.” I scan the deck, thinking Nojan must be below. It’s just the two of us.
“Did you find the coffee?” he asks. “I just made some before taking watch.”
I lift my insulated mug. “I did, thanks.”
I take a sip, the first I’d been able to stomach since we left the protected waters of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It’s almost eerily quiet aswe continue to sail away from the mainland, our only power coming from the wind. After taking another drink, I send a text to my sister asking how things are going, even though she probably won’t be up for another hour to get the girls ready for school. A few conversations down, I see the last text I sent Matt nearly a week ago asking why he wasn’t home, to which he never responded.
“Bastard.”
“Excuse me?”
Startled, I turn to the attractive first officer still at the helm. I’d forgotten I wasn’t alone. “Oh, not you. My husband.” I lift my phone. “Ex-husband,” I correct myself. “Well, almost. He just left me for someone he works with, who’s also fifteen years younger than me.” I cringe at my oversharing to this handsome stranger.Just stop talking. You don’t even know him.“Sorry,” I fumble. “I don’t know why I said that last part.”
His expression softens. “Don’t be sorry. That’s awful.” He flips a switch on the control panel next to the wheel and steps out from behind the helm. “He sounds like an idiot.”
My cheeks flush when he takes a seat beside me. I glance beyond him toward the wheel as the bow pitches over a swell. “Don’t you need to be steering?”
He shakes his head. “It’s on autopilot.”
“Oh, right,” I say, feeling stupid. “Of course.”
Adam gazes out at gently rolling waves. “I’ve never been married, but I know what it’s like to feel betrayed by someone.” He turns to me, close enough for me to see the flecks of gold in his green eyes.
