Page 93

“Me too.” Taylor grinned back, leaning in for a kiss, but the weight of the bag overbalanced her, making her crash into Sam.

Sam caught her arms and straightened them up, giggling. “Let’s hurry and get these off already so I can kiss you properly.”

“Please.” Taylor grimaced, trying to rearrange the bag on her shoulders properly as she hefted it back into place.

An excited bark sounded from outside the cabin. Taylor scrambled up onto the deck in time to see Jess and Adam coming along the pontoon alongside Matt.

“They’re here!” she called back down to Sam. “Hey, Bel Bel!”

Jess let go of the leash as Belle raced along the wooden planks, screeching to a halt at the edge of the boat with her tail waving frantically and tongue lolling out to the side. Taylor bent over and helped lift her onto the boat.

“There ya go buddy. Missed you.” She wrangled her into a cuddle. “Aww, I love you too,” she cooed as Belle smothered her in kisses.

“C’mon loser, it’s only been a few hours since you left the house.” Jess stood with her arms folded by the edge of the boat.

Taylor grabbed the dog's face and smooshed it against her own. “But look at this face! Look how much she missed me.”

Belle wriggled free and ran straight to the cabin door to greet Sam instead.

“Careful, Belle might have a new favourite soon enough.” Jess smirked.

Taylor scrunched up her face in mock disgust before launching herself off the boat to give Jess and everyone else a hug. She held on extra-long with Jess. “Thanks for coming to see us offandfor looking after the pup while we finished up this morning.”

“Pfft, it was nothing. Now show us this boat!”

“Ooh, shall I undo these ropes?” said Adam with a grin, pretending to fiddle with the mooring lines.

“Adam, don’t touch anything.” Jess swatted at his arm.

“Nah, I wouldn’t,” he said, straightening up. “Wow. This is a really nice boat, Sam. It looks amazing in real life; the photos don’t do it justice.”

“Thank you!” she called out, bent over with Matt as she showed him all the new ropes Taylor had set up for the sails.

Matt turned around then. “This is impressive, Taylor. There won’t be any confusion between them now.”

“Thanks, Matt.” Taylor beamed with pride.

Taylor gave Jess and Adam a full tour of the boat while Sam and her dad went over all the final checks together to make sure they had everything correct and ready to go. Before she knew it, everyone was back on the pontoon and it was time to leave.

“Adam! You wanna undo that rope for real now?” Taylor asked.

“Uhh, I can try.”

“I’ll get the other one,” said Matt, heading to the back of the boat.

“Wait, one last hug!” Sam cried, launching herself off the side of the boat to wrap her arms around her dad one final time.

She turned to see Sam’s eyes watering as she moved back to the helm. “Okay, let’s do this,” Sam nodded, seemingly gathering herself.

Taylor slid her arm around her. “Hey, you okay?”

Sam nodded. “Yeah, just… overwhelmed.”

“Look at me.” Sam turned to face her. “You can do this. You are living out your dream, and today’s the day, baby! It’s finally happening. Start that motor up, and let’s get out of here!”

There was a whoop from Jess as she fist-pumped the air. Matt stood proud, a sparkle in his eyes that said he was getting a little emotional—just like his daughter.

She realised in the moment what a huge milestone this was for him and Sam. This was the first time Sam would be truly leaving her dad. Just like Taylor had freed herself from her past and from Liz, Sam was doing the same thing. The irony wasn’t lost on her now as Matt walked around to the other side of the boat to undo the final rope—the last tie binding them to the land, to their past. Matt set the boat free. Set Sam free. Telling her without words to go and live her life beyond the shop, beyond the marina and?—