Drew’s ugly voice broke her happy spell and she turned to face him as he poked his head out of the hatch, albeit feeling far more confidence than she had all morning.
“It’s a beautiful day,” she countered, this time with a bold smile. “What’s not to enjoy?”
Drew grumbled, enumerating. “Fucking boat, fucking ocean, and you. You’re fucking crazy. There’s nothing good about being out here. I can’t even see land,” he grumbled, squinting at the vast expanse of blue surrounding them.
Bobbie was pleased to see his face drain of color as he said it.
“And you won’t spot any for another couple hours,” she told him almost gleefully, holding back that he shouldn’t be concerned about that. Seeing the sub, she figured they’d probably be boarded and he’d be arrested long before he got his feet on terra firma again.Thatdevelopment would color his perception of sailing for the rest of his sorry days as his ass rotted in prison.
Bobbie needled him some more. “This is the best part of the trip; where it’s just us, the sun, and the sea.”
Drew grimaced and without another word, went back below.
Bobbie smirked, then dared glance in the direction of her tail, where once again the mast poked up just above the surface. They’d been trailing her, letting their presence be seen every now and then.
But even when she spotted nothing, she gloried in the fact that Buck was only a short distance away. Now, at least, when Border Patrol stopped her, she’d have back-up for whatever Drew and Jeff might try to pull.
She was still worried over what her brothers would attempt, because she was certain they weren’t going down without a fight. But she also knew that as soon as the Coast Guard and Border Patrol officers had her heaving to, Buck and company would surface and let their presence also be known.
The day took on more of a sparkle. Her body relaxed into the cadence of the waves as a couple of happy thoughts crossed her mind.
The first? She wasn’t going back to Monsieur Provard’s.Ever.As much as she’d enjoyed her weekly sails, the slimy man had become increasingly overbearing and obnoxious. She wasn’t going to miss his autocratic and secretive quirks. Not at all. Sure, the money had been good. Really good. But if what Tex had told her was true, Bobbie wouldn’t have to worry about finances for very much longer. It seemed she owned a house, a barn, and twenty acres of prime real estate.Amazing.
Then there was reason number two to be pumped, she reminded herself, adding a pinch to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. Next time she was intimately entwined with Buck, she was damned well going to tell him she loved him. They both deserved that.
Imagine. After fifteen years of unhappiness apart, they were about to make their dreams come true.
“Hey. What have you got for food?” Drew’s demanding voice came from below, interrupting her daydreams.
Bobbie snorted to herself. She couldn’t tell him that he could have any or all of the stuff she’d brought along for Provard, because it wasn’t actually going all the way to New Brunswick, so she steered him to her personal stash, instead.
“I have bread and cold cuts in the fridge under the cooktop, as well as water and sodas. Help yourself.”
She was a bit surprised that the pair wanted to eat since their stomachs were obviously sour from sailing, but she wasn’t completely shocked. Back when she’d first bought the boat—and thought that her siblings had been magnanimous for helping her with finances—she’d coerced them out with her a couple times. They hadn’t enjoyed it, but she’d coached them that if they had a little food in their guts, their interior acids wouldn’t roil around so much.
They’d found her advice to be helpful, and even though after two short trips they’d never sailed with her again, they must have remembered her lessons.
A few minutes passed, and her brothers came out on deck, sandwiches in hand. Clearly, they werealsoremembering that if they had their eyes on the horizon, they wouldn’t feel so queasy.
“Where’s mine?” Bobbie asked sarcastically, knowing full well that neither of them would have bothered thinking about her well-being.
“You didn’t say you wanted one,” Jeff snarked, nibbling cautiously at his bread. Of the two, he was the most susceptible to puking.
“Never mind.” She gave a huge,mocksigh, becauseyeah, she hadn’t expected them to think of her. “I’ll get my own.”
“Whoa,” Drew spat out a bite, holding up his hand as if he could stop her. “If you do that, who’ll sail the boat?”
He was so freaking clueless.
“Dude. I have a wheel pilot,” she told him with a roll of her eyes. “How else would I be able to leave the helm to eat or use the head when I’m sailing alone?”
Drew didn’t look happy, but he didn’t call her out on her assertion. “Just don’t be gone too long,” he ordered.
Bobbie smiled cheerfully and sarcastically. “If you’re worried we might crash into a whale or something, you can always go back down and get food for me,” she proposed.
Drew grunted. “Get it yourself, cunt.”
Nice.If she didn’t know better, she’d say Drew was even more abrasive today, since he wasn’t in full control.
