Page 25 of Priceless (Return to Culloden Moor #7)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

J ess’s family boat made the other vessels look like bathtub toys. Her hull was bluish white in the shadows, and the front of it was sharply pointed, like it could impale anything that got in its way.

Jacob followed my gaze. “Aye, that’s MacArthur’s wee thing. Jess grew up on her decks.”

“She grew up on that ?” I shook my head, still staring. “My family’s boat was a canoe, and I think it tipped over every time I was in it.”

He smiled and adjusted his grip on the cooler. “I cannae imagine the storm that could topple this one.”

Water gurgled nearby, taunting me to look at it, but I refused. The cold morning breeze stirred up a dozen smells, none of which I could identify. Briny, metallic, seafoody. It was nothing like Denver, where the air smelled of dirt and alfalfa and sun-warmed pine trees.

This was just not my world.

It was not my world…and soon I would have to go back to my own.

Jess appeared on the deck and waved over the rail. Her hair was in a braid that hung over one shoulder, and she looked far too cheerful for the hour. “Jacob! Tell me that’s food not bait!”

“Aye. Lunch. And a proper breakfast too. Better than yer da’s porridge!”

Banner appeared over Jess’ shoulder. “That wouldnae take much!” He threw a leg over the rail and started down a metal ladder affixed to the side of the ship.

I really hoped that wasn’t the only way to get on board.

I hadn’t climbed a ladder in years. But when Banner joined us on the dock, and Jess right after him, they led us further down.

“Food later,” she said. “I’m starved, but we’ll get out on the water first.”

I followed behind Jacob and forced myself not to look beyond his charming backside.

Going in a boat, not the water. Nice and safe. Just a boat…

Jacob carried on past the Mad Molly’s nose without slowing, leaving all that sturdy metal behind. My stomach lurched when we stopped at the next boat over—a much newer vessel about thirty feet long. It was low to the water and looked suspiciously close to the size of the boat in Jaws!

The black bumpers hanging along its side made a rubbery squeak as the boat nudged the dock. My heart and stomach became a couple of bumpers bouncing off each other, but without the squeak.

“This one’s more conducive to pole fishin’, aye?” Jess crossed a woefully narrow gangplank that lined up with a gap in the railing. The boat didn’t seem to notice the addition of her weight, so at least it was better than a canoe. “Moray Firth is calm, this mornin’. A perfect day for this.”

“Grand day for it,” Banner agreed and followed her across.

I stayed where I was, staring at the board, at how much of it spanned over the water. I didn’t think I could do this.

Jacob stepped on it first, easy as walking down a sidewalk. When he looked back and saw my expression, he stuck a hand out, the other balancing the cooler, like he always carried one on his shoulder, like a parrot.

“Ye’re all right, love. If ye think I’ll let anythin’ happen to ye, ye’re wrong.”

Taking his hand was the easy part. Taking a step?

Not so much. The plank bobbed slightly when I finally got on, and every nerve in my body screamed run!

But that would mean showing my new friends what a wuss I was, and the whole goal of the day was to pretend I wasn’t.

To impress Jacob. To prove I could survive in his world, if only for nine more days.

When we reached the deck, I let go of his hand and hoped he hadn’t noticed how badly I was shaking. Then I tried to laugh it off. “I’ve never walked the plank before.”

He grinned. “Ye did fine.”

“Let’s hope that lasts. Pirates don’t come this way, do they?”

He moved to the back of the boat to store the cooler.

Jess pointed to some leather seats on the far side, under a hard canopy, and I tried to act casual as I picked my way to them.

With four of us moving in different directions, the boat swayed just enough to let me know I was no longer on solid ground. Not too bad.

I didn’t want to look at the water, so I watched the dock. Narrow rays of sunlight peeked through the clouds and lit up a row of warehouses bobbing a few hundred yards away. But it wasn’t them bobbing…

This won’t take all day. And I’ll be with Jacob—definitely where I want to be.

Definitely.

I was tempted to take out my phone and do all my complaining to Jocko, but if something happened and my phone went in the water, I wouldn’t be going after it. Better to keep it stowed in my bag.

Jacob found me again and smiled, but there was a crease between his brows that hadn’t been there before. “All right?”

I smiled and nodded like the lovesick puppy I was. I wanted him to enjoy the day without worrying about me, which meant I’d have to do a better job of hiding my terror.

Jess finished consulting with a man standing at the wheel and came down a small set of steps to sit with us. She took one look at my face and laughed. “Ye can always tell a new sailor by how they breathe. Short and fast, like they’re runnin’.”

I forced a longer breath in, then out, then in again before I gave up.

Banner threw off the ropes keeping us put, and the engine came to life somewhere below my feet. This was it. We were going to risk our lives out on the water now. They’d all done it dozens of times before. No reason to think this wouldn’t be just another successful trip.

No reason at all.

We slowly moved away from the dock and putted along through the harbor. The taste of the air changed. Fresher now, with just a hint of fuel from boats that had passed this way before us.

“Hold here,” Jacob said, guiding my hand to a shiny bit of rail behind us. “Keep yer eyes on the horizon. It will help.”

“I’m fine,” I said.

He didn’t argue but he did scoot close behind me. The heat of him slowly seeped through my coat and helped me relax a little.

Something rose above the water not ten feet away, and I nearly screamed.

A head the size of a pumpkin bobbed along with us—brown slicked fur, whiskers splayed like white wires, eyes dark and curious. It was just a seal. Not black and white and called killer , not grey and sneaky with a fin on its back.

Jess laughed. “Today’s harbormaster.”

The seal kept pace, kept watching me. I concentrated on my breathing, knowing Jacob could feel it if I tensed. But thanks to my imagination, I knew this sucker wasn’t alone. I knew there were more things down there, maybe sliding along beneath us even now!

The seal sneezed, dipped under, and was gone.

“You okay?” Jess asked, honestly concerned.

“Fine,” I said, and found a small smile. “Just…soaking it all in.”

Jacob’s hand brushed my knuckles where they rested on the rail. Not an accident; not a grab. Just a touch that said You’re not alone , then it was gone. A person could get addicted to that.

“Right,” Banner said as he joined us, then waved toward the man at the wheel. “I would have taken ye out myself, but we brought Mason along instead. And lucky I did…so I wouldn’t miss the sight of yer woman turnin’ green. Maybe a bit of food will help, aye?”

Jacob jumped up and retrieved our breakfast just as we left the harbor behind us. I was grateful for the distraction, and it gave me an excuse to keep my attention inside the boat as the engine shifted and we sped up.

“Time to fortify.” He handed a small paper-wrapped pie to Jess, then Banner, then pressed one into my hand.

I opened it and was instantly hungry. Warm crust flaked against my fingers.

Steam rose with the mouthwatering smell of what they called back-bacon, plus eggs and cheese and herbs I wasn’t familiar with.

While we munched away, the Moray Firth turned into a wide gray-blue corridor edged with low cliffs topped with bluish-gray sky. Wind found my face, cooled my panic, and kept my eyes dry.

“Dolphins,” Banner said, pointing toward the bow.

I didn’t move my head. I didn’t have to. They were everywhere—fat gray arches rose and fell, racing us like the seal had. Since no one else panicked, I trusted that all those fins were friendly. After a while, I think they got tired of our slow speed and went to find someone faster to race.

After the men devoured two more pies each, Jess gathered our empty papers and took a handful of pies to our water chauffeur, Mason.

I looked for the line where the sea met the sky, then closed my eyes. The wind filled my lungs, and I relaxed again. When I opened them, Jess gave me a smile and moved over to sit next to her husband on the opposite row of seats. They put their heads together and slipped into a world of their own.

Jacob’s arm came around me and pulled me back against his chest. His hand stayed put and I rested mine on top of it, then I stroked his fingers while I rested the back of my head on his shoulder.

We fit perfectly, as if we’d sat like that so many times before that our bodies had worn down in just the right places.

“I shouldn’t have brought ye out here,” he said in my ear. “When ye hesitated on the dock, I should have paid closer attention.”

I shook my head and turned slightly so he could hear me. “Don’t say that. This, right here, is totally worth it. I wish…I wish time would just stop.”

He rewarded me with a squeeze and a kiss on the side of my head, sending a different sort of warmth straight to the center of my heart.