Chapter One
“I’m moved beyond tears, and I’m pissed as hell,” Emma Brown said, calm settling into her bones.
Her would-be bridesmaids stared at her wide-eyed.
“We’re taking this trip, and we’re going to have fun. Got it?”
Morgan nodded. Carly followed. Hailey hesitated, then nodded too.
Emma tossed her thousand-dollar wedding dress, loaded with pearls and sequins, into the flames of her outdoor firepit. The veil followed.
“Toss in your dresses! I want no remembrance of what nearly occurred. The biggest near-mistake of my life.”
No one moved.
Emma pointed at the fire.
Morgan, Carly, and Hailey tossed their coral-colored dresses into the flames.
Emma stared at the fire until every last piece of material had transitioned to ashes. How had it come to this? Dumped two weeks before her wedding. She’d worked so hard to perfect every little detail. For the past year, her life had revolved around making sure everything would be perfect for her and Jonathan on their big day. The most important day of her life. Now, here she sat with her three best friends, burning their dresses as if that would help to erase all thoughts of the wedding and Jonathan from her mind.
When the flames died, she straightened. “It’s time. Let’s go.”
Morgan grimaced. “Are you sure you really want to do this…a charter fishing trip? Can’t we just go to wineries or something?”
“Yeah. Let’s do that instead,” Carly said. “I’ve done the wine tour in Door County before. It’s fun.”
Hailey nodded in agreement.
“No, we’re taking this stupid charter fishing excursion I paid for. It is non-refundable, and I’ll be damned if I let Jonathan and his buddies enjoy the trip I gave him for his bachelor party.”
Jonathan had nearly lost it when she told him she’d canceled it, which she hadn’t. He’d paced around like a caged animal. She didn’t understand what the big deal was. He could take a charter anytime he wanted. Except for anytime soon out of Sturgeon Bay. It was June, and likely all charters were fully booked, even on a weekday. Even if Jonathan tried to rebook with Reelin’ In Charters, he’d be out of luck. Captain Samuelson was booked…by her.
She glanced over at the black duffel bag lying next to her beach bag.
“And that bag is coming with us.”
Emma grabbed the black duffel bag from the ground. Jonathan’s fishing gear.
The fishing gear meant nothing to her, but it meant something to him, so she swiped it when they split their belongings yesterday. He’d put it in the back of his truck, and she nabbed it when he wasn’t looking. It was heavier than she imagined it would be for fishing gear, but what did she know?
The four of them loaded into Hailey’s sedan, and she set them on the course to Door County. The drive from Appleton would take just over an hour, so they had plenty of time to get to the dock for their two o’clock charter.
Hailey pulled into the packed parking lot at Sawyer Park. The place swarmed with people and boats lined the dock.
Emma shouldered her beach bag on one side and Jonathan’s black duffel bag on the other. Hailey carried their small cooler filled with snacks and drinks, Carly carried both of their beach bags, and Morgan flung her bag over her shoulder. It was likely they wouldn’t actually fish, as that wasn’t the plan. The point of taking the trip was to keep Jonathan from fishing.
With her friends in tow, Emma walked toward the fish cleaning stations.
The smell hit hard. Carly gagged.
Men elbow-deep in fish guts laughed and one looked them over with open amusement. Emma shot him a glare. He looked away.
“I’m not going any closer to that. And the boat better not smell like that or I’m not getting on it,” Carly muttered.
“It’ll be fine. We’ll be surrounded by fresh air,” Emma assured.
Emma stepped under the shelter and walked up to the nearest fish cleaning station, taking care not to breathe through her nose to avoid the horrid stench. That may have been a mistake as the taste of raw fish seemed to seep into her mouth.
