“Yeah, but with claws!”
I’m trying to detach the last of them from the anchor line, but one has attached itself to my shoe. I shake my foot, but it just holds on. I shake harder, and it pinches.
“Ow!”
“Get it off!”
“I’m trying!”
The boat is now home to approximately eight crabs, all of them apparently furious about being brought aboard against their will. Grayson is standing on his seat making sounds I’ve never heard from a grown man. I’m hopping on one foot trying to dislodge my attacker while two more advance on me like I’ve insulted their mother.
I grab the boat hook and start gently pushing crabs toward the gunwale. They resist, and one grabs the boat hook and won’t let go.
“This is a nightmare,” Grayson announces from his perch, “and I want to wake up.”
“Would you help me?”
“I’m providing moral support!”
“You’re standing on a seat squealing!”
It takes fifteen minutes to evict all the crabs. By the end, I’m sweating, Grayson is still on his seat even though the deck is clear, and my shoe has a definite pinch mark.
We stare at each other.
“Never speak of this,” I say.
“Michelle is going to hear about this immediately.”
“Grayson.”
“There’s no way I’m not telling the best story I’ve ever witnessed.”
I slump against the steering wheel. The tide is high enough now. We could leave. But I don’t start the engine yet.
“I’m going to send her the manuscript,” I say.
“Tonight?”
“Yes.” I look at him. “Not because I expect anything. But because she deserves to know the truth. Even the parts that make me look pathetic.”
“You don’t look pathetic,” Grayson says. “You look like a guy who fell in love and didn’t know what to do about it.”
“Is that better?”
“Marginally.” He finally climbs down from his seat, checking the deck for stragglers before committing to standing. “For what it’s worth, I think she’ll forgive you.”
“Based on what?”
“Based on the fact that she came to the committee meeting. She didn’t have to. She could have handed it off to someone else.” He shrugs. “She’s still showing up. That means something.”
I think about the meeting and Jessica calling me Mr. Avery with frost in her voice. Her hand brushing mine over the timeline and both of us pulling back.
About the fact that she didn’t tell anyone my secret, even though she easily could have.
“Maybe,” I say.
“Definitely.” Grayson sits back down as I start the engine. “Now take us home. I need to call Michelle and tell her about the crabs.”
