Page 108 of Ship Happens

“Dani never did anything illegal while we were in school. Well . . . never anything super illegal.”

“I don’t think there’s a difference between ‘illegal’ and ‘super illegal,’” Owen informs him. He might not have ever made it to law school, but he’s confident in that knowledge. “Not in a court of law, at least.”

“It’ll be fine,” Jacob promises. “There might be some hiccups in Seattle, but at least we’ll be closer to home.”

Owen is silent at first, staring ahead at the comfort of downtown Juneau. A soft fog is starting to roll down from the mountains, the sun still shining from behind, casting the town in a glow that is almost ethereal.

“You okay?” Jacob asks.

Owen nods. “Just a little nervous, I guess.”

“It’ll be all right,” Jacob promises him, reaching to rest his hand on Owen’s thigh. “We’ll figure it out together.”

Owen looks at him, and he smiles, choosing to trust Jacob.

To believe him.

Their first stop is the hardware store, loading up bags of mulch and sod for Dani’s yardwork she’ll be doing next weekend. Well, Jacob loads them in, Owen steers the cart. And provides moral support. After a stop at the post office, they go to the grocery store, grabbing a few of their own odds and ends alongside Dani’s groceries.

“We double-checked the list, right?” Owen asks, shutting the door to the back of the Jeep.

“Yeah,” Jacob says, unfolding the piece of paper tucked in his pocket. “Pretty sure.”

“You know . . . nothing we grabbed is perishable,” Owen begins to say. “If you wanted to explore a little bit, we’ve got plenty of time. And it’s technically our last day of vacation.”

Jacob smiles down at him, reaching to take Owen’s hand in his own. “Where to?”

They pick the first place that seems interesting, starting at a candy shop that advertises homemade fudge, and they leave the shop with three pieces in a pink cardboard box, hoping that Dani will forgive them for using her change. There’s also a shop selling locally made clothing, and next door, there’s a used bookstore with tons of different offerings. Including the third book of The Chetek Archives in a cardboard box out front marked with the words Free to a Good Home!

The cover is ripped and the spine broken in a million places to the point that Owen’s sure there are probably some missing pages. But he knows the story well enough; it was always his favorite in the series. “Need a little something for our plane rides,” he tells Jacob.

They keep walking, poking their heads into a few different shops before they finally make their way down closer to the wharf. Owen and Jacob take up residence at an empty picnic table on the grass, choosing to sit on top of the table instead of on the benches.

“Want a bite?” Jacob asks, offering the mostly finished square of chocolate peanut butter fudge to Owen. Owen leans in, but Jacob pulls the fudge away teasingly. Just for that, Owen takes an extra big bite.

“Want some of mine?” Owen asks, holding out the square to Jacob.

“Ew . . .” His face scrunches as he chews the candy. “Chocolate raspberry? Really?”

“You saw me pick out the flavor!” Owen lectures him. “You know you hate raspberry.”

“Bad flavor.”

Owen shakes his head, grinning like an idiot at the man he loves.

“I’ve, uh . . . I’ve been thinking,” Jacob starts to say, his words wary, almost like he’s afraid of them.

“That’s dangerous for you,” Owen forces the joke, hoping that it’ll ease the tension.

Jacob nods, not paying a lick of attention to what Owen said. “I want to wait for you.”

“Oh.”

“Sorry, that’s probably sudden,” he says. “I’ve been looking for a way to tell you all day, and I just couldn’t think of one.”

“I want to wait for you too,” Owen admits. “But . . . what does that look like?”

“I was talking to Dani this morning.” Jacob meets Owen’s eyes. “About what I told you, that I . . . that I’d be willing to come back to San Francisco, if you asked me to.”