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“Yep. Which way are we headed?”

“This way, follow me.”

They strolled past some local shops, then around past townhouses overlooking the water and a couple of public marinas she’d been down to once or twice in the past for work. It really was a beautiful area, one she didn’t visit enough. But she should with views like these.

She took in the sun as it began its descent towards the sparkling ocean below and came to a stop.

“Man, this is a beautiful spot.”

Sam followed to look out over the water with her, a small smile playing on her lips.

“Yeah. I feel like this place is pretty special. I love that I get to call this home.”

“How long have you lived here?”

“This area? My whole life. But behind the shop? I think it’s coming up on almost four years.”

“Very cool. I bet you’d get some pretty picturesque sunsets.”

“Oh yeah.”

“How is it when storms roll in, though?”

Sam’s eyes lit up. “The absolute best! There’s nothing better than watching the dark clouds form, hearing that rumble and being able to literally watch lightning strikes from my bed. It never gets old.”

“Wow. Okay, nowthatsounds amazing.” Taylor joined in on her excitement. “You’d need popcorn for that light show.”

“That’s an awesome idea. Why haven’t I thought of that? Although when the wind picks up, it does sound like a freight train coming through the doors,” said Sam.

“Yeesh. You take the good with the bad I guess.”

They continued making small talk as Sam led them to the local yacht club and down onto the private pontoons.

“This,” Sam said, stopping in front of a larger boat than she was expecting, “is Manny. Manny, this is Taylor.”

The boat stood proud, with a navy blue hull, a white top, a beautiful wood trim and a tall mast.

Taylor gave an exaggerated bow. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Manny.”

Sam chuckled and shook her head. “Come on, over this way.” She gestured to the side of the boat. “I’ll show you what we’re dealing with.”

Below deck was like stepping back in time. It was all rich wood, with the couches and mattresses set in a vibrant colour mix from the ‘80s—a mish mash of reds, blues, greens, yellows and white that somehow still worked with the space and gave it character. Again, it was bigger in the cabin than what she was expecting. It looked to sleep at least four people and had all the essentials: a kitchenette, a toilet and lounge area with a chart table. The mess of wires hung out to the left, with the large electronics face plate removed and on the floor, making it look worse than it really was.

“Yeah, I don’t think I’m gonna be able to help you with that,” she said, pointing at the wires, trying to look serious.

Sam’s face fell.

“I’m kidding.” Taylor laughed, leaning over to have a quick look at the mess.

“Oh phew,” Sam said, relieved.

“I’ll have a proper look in a minute, but so far, it doesn’t look like anything I haven’t seen before. Now, you wanna give me a bit of a rundown on the boat first? What a project—it’s huge!”

“Sure.” Sam walked further into the cabin, and Taylor followed. “It’s definitely bigger than I originally planned, but it needed a lot of work and had been up for sale for a while. I ended up getting it much cheaper than I anticipated, which gave me the extra cash to start on some of the more urgent issues.”

She ran her hand along the table in the lounge. “As soon as I saw it, I had such a clear vision for how Manny would look once cleaned up, and that’s been one of the big motivators that’s really kept me going through all the work.”

“Okay, sorry to interrupt, but I have to ask. Why the name Manny?” Taylor tried to hide her smile.