Fort wiggled his shoulders and sat up a little straighter to proudly show off his newest accessories.
“You are definitely the most handsome boy out here,” Paul assured him. He threw Quinn and Nora a little wink. “Don’t tell my husband I said that, though.”
“We’ve got your back,” Quinn promised.
“Good.” Paul patted Fort’s side and stood. “We should probably get going. My dinghy is tied off at the end of the dock there”—he hiked a thumb over his shoulder—“and we’ll motor out to where Luis is waiting. Does Fort need a life jacket? I’ve got one for when my sister visits with her husky.”
“Honestly?” Nora bobbed her head thoughtfully. “That’d probably be a good idea. He likes to swim off the beach, but he’s never been on a boat.”
“Okay. We definitely don’t want to lose the most handsome boy out here, so jacket it is.”
“Uff,” Fort chimed in, looking downright offended at the idea of being forced to wear a floatation device.
“He did say you were the most handsome,” Quinn told him.
Fort grinned and jabbered as if to say Quinn had made a fair point.
Paul laughed. “Right this way, guys.”
While Quinn got Fort snapped into his life jacket, Paul helped Nora into the inflatable dinghy, and Quinn arched a brow at her as she asked, “Ready for him?”
When Nora nodded, she used the handle on the back of the life jacket to help Fort make the small jump from the dock to the boat.
Quinn chuckled at the way Fort draped himself over the bow with a delighted bark as she climbed into the boat, and she shared a small smile with Nora as she sat beside her. “Okay?”
“Yeah.” Nora took Quinn’s hand as Paul started the engine, and gave it a light squeeze as they pulled away from the dock. “So, how do you two know each other?”
“Paul owns an art gallery not far from here,” Quinn explained, gesturing vaguely inland. “I’ve been considering branching out from the whole chainsaw thing, and he was kind enough to let me do a little exhibit showcasing my other work earlier this year.”
Nora half-turned on the little gunwale to give Quinn a curious look. “Other work?”
“Metal sculpture,” Paul supplied. “Great stuff. A few of the pieces actually ended up in bidding wars.”
“It was a good weekend,” Quinn agreed. “But, yeah. He’s the one who recommended me to the planning committee here.”
Paul grinned and doffed an imaginary cap. “All in a day’s work.”
“Well, I, for one, am grateful for your efforts,” Nora said.
Paul winked at her. “You can pay me back by convincing her to put together another show. I’ve had people asking when I’m going to get more of her work, but she keeps telling me she doesn’t have time.”
“Summer is my busy season,” Quinn reminded him.
“And now it’s winter,” he sassed.
Nora laughed. “He has a point, there.”
Quinn rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah.” Though, if doing more metal sculptures meant more trips to Newport… “I’ll see what I can come up with.”
“Hell yeah!” Paul crowed. “You’re my new favorite person, Nora.”
Fort looked back at them, and his little eyebrows pinched as he huffed in a way that clearly said,What about me?
“And you, too,” Paul assured Fort with a laugh. He killed the engine and hiked his chin toward the thirty-foot sailboat off the dinghy’s bow that they were now coasting toward. Because they’d need to motor through the route, the sails were folded down and stored against the boom, and Paul and Luis had, in their place, strung a web of colorful lights from the top of the mast to the boom. The side railings and cabin were similarly adorned, and the effect was positively magical. “Here we are.”
“Looks good, dude,” Quinn told him.
“This was all Luis,” Paul demurred. “He’s the one who’s into all this. I’m just the fool who can’t resist indulging him.”
