Love, Unexpected. Virginia McCullough
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Suddenly self-conscious about staring at her long, graceful fingers in constant motion, he cleared his throat. “We haven’t chewed over all the options yet, but my dad and I have to figure out what to do with her. We could sell off fixtures and bronze fittings. I know a woman who buys salvaged wood to make one-of-a-kind mirrors and picture frames. That would bring some money.”
Andi’s mouth dropped open. Pointing to the floor, she said, “You mean you’d dismantle this boat?”
Whoa, what a reaction. But it was one solution and he’d defend it. “Well, yes, scrapping her is one option. We have to be realistic. The pieces could be way more valuable than the whole boat intact.”
“Unbelievable.” Andi shook her head and pursed her lips in disgust.
She disapproved? This woman who didn’t know the first thing about him? He shouldn’t care, but he did. “Uh, that was our first thought. But then we figured since the hull seems sound there may be some life in her yet.”
Andi nodded. “I’ll bet there is.”
Zeke decided to throw out another option. “We could also sell her as is.” What if she was an interested buyer? He shouldn’t immediately assume she couldn’t or wouldn’t buy a yacht. Even a derelict boat. What did he know about her? He glanced at the teak cabin floor, dried out and gray, but still sturdy. “My dad would probably like that plan better.”
Silence. At the mention of his dad, his words took on an unexpected sadness and hung in the air. Meanwhile Teddy’s nails clicked on the floor as he scurried across the cabin and broke the silence. Zeke heard himself breathe.
“I have a question.” She abruptly faced him full-on. “What would you charge to rent this yacht to someone? For the summer, I mean.”
“Rent? You mean to someone who wanted to live on Drifting Dreamer?”
She extended her hand and flashed an isn’t-that-obvious? look. “That’s exactly what I mean.”
What was with the sharp tone? He supposed he’d annoyed her by not taking her question seriously, but he wouldn’t make that mistake again. “Why do you ask?”
Leaning to the side, her gaze traveled up and down the largest cabin, taking it all in. “The essentials are here, Zeke. The stove has barely been used. The staterooms—cabins—could use a good cleanup.” Casting a pointed look his way, she rolled her eyes. “They clearly need more than that, but you know what I mean. People don’t build a fifty-foot boat they can’t live on for extended periods of time. As long as the plumbing and electrical systems work, she could be made livable in short order.”
Zeke leaned his weight against a bulkhead and crossed one foot over the other. Why would she ever consider moving aboard a boat that needed so much work? Or on a boat at all? Even one in tiptop shape. On the other hand, she’d said she restored an old house. At one time, restoration work was the focus of his life. That thought allowed him a little insight, maybe a hint into what made her tick. Behind those mysterious eyes. And the pretty smile. She’d sparked his curiosity before she’d spoken even one word.
He folded his arms across his chest. “Call me crazy, but what would prompt you to want to live on Drifting Dreamer?”
She stared at the floor. “It’s not so complicated, Zeke. I need a place to live.” She raised her head to look him in the eye. “Correction. My ten-year-old daughter and I need a place to live for the summer, and then when the tourist season is over, I’m sure I’ll be able to find a permanent place here in town. Right now, summer rentals are scarce in Two Moon Bay, and we’d end up moving every couple of weeks.”
A ten-year-old. A single mom and her daughter living on the boat? He was caught completely off guard. “Where are you staying now?”
She lifted her palms and let her head drop back. “I might have known you’d ask...”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.” Wait...why was he apologizing for asking a question anyone would?
“No, no, it’s okay. I’m just teasing. Of course you’d want to know.” She took her sunglasses off the top of her head and rearranged the white headband that held her hair off her face. “It’s complicated. At the moment, and for the next few days, I’m staying—are you ready for this?—at my ex-husband’s new wife’s cottage on Night Beach Road.”
“Ex-husband’s new wife’s cottage.” He pointed his finger downward with each word as if connecting the dots.
“We share custody of our daughter, Brooke, and at the moment, she’s in Chicago with her dad and Lark—that’s his new wife.” She grinned. “Newish wife.”
“Brooke? Lark?” he blurted. “Then Miles is your ex-husband?”
The muscles in her face relaxed, showing visible relief. “Why, yes. Do you know him—them?”
Zeke laughed. “Lark and Miles are friends of Dawn Larsen and Jerrod Waters, the guy who runs the diving trips out of the marina—they’re friends of mine. He has the tour boat, too. And I’ve met your little girl a couple of times.”
“Do you mean Lucy Bee? It’s docked at the marina?”
He nodded. “Matter of fact, Dawn and Jerrod have been married less than a year.”
“And Miles was at their wedding,” Andi said, chuckling. “Now I’m putting all the pieces together. Jerrod has a little girl, Carrie. Brooke has mentioned her.”
“Right.” Zeke led the way back to the deck. Teddy followed Andi and immediately flopped in a sunny corner and curled up, as if tuckered out from his tough morning of sniffing and endearing himself to his new friend.
“The dog has apparently heard all this before,” Andi quipped.
“Right. He knows most of the players in our conversation, so it’s very ho-hum to the family mutt.” He hadn’t joked around this much in a long time.
Way too long.
“For a minute there, I forgot that, of course, being on the waterfront you’d know Jerrod and Dawn and the rest of the crowd.”
Zeke pointed down the waterfront to Nelson’s marina, where Jerrod’s boats were tied up at the main dock. “Jerrod keeps his boats at the marina all summer. I got to know Miles at a couple of events at the yacht club.”
He turned the other way and pointed toward the glass-and-wood building down the shore. “That’s the yacht club, but it’s more than that now. They plan to have music on some weekends and they rent it out for weddings and parties.”
Andi absently looked beyond him to the water, as if suddenly distracted. “I’ve walked down that way a couple of times since I’ve been in town. Brooke has told me lots of stories about the people you mentioned.”
Zeke told Andi about what was supposed to have been a send-off party for Jerrod and his crew at the end of the season. “They were heading back south for the winter. But Jerrod and Carrie didn’t leave. Asking Dawn to marry him led to a big change of plans for Jerrod and his crew.”
Her laugh sounded a little forced when she said, “Such a chummy place. Brooke loves being here with her dad.”
Zeke couldn’t tell if her tone was wistful or resentful. Not an area he’d probe, in any case.
“We had to limit the time Brooke spent with him last year because of the distance. She was here for weekends, except when he was away doing one of his talks. But Miles and I both ate up way too much time on the road shuttling her back and forth.”
“And now you’ve moved here.” Given her connection to people he knew, Zeke was even more curious about her.
She ran her hand down the back of her head, subtly fidgeting with her hair. “Yes, I moved, but for various reasons, I ended up leaving in kind