Page 30 of Sea La Vie (The Outer Banks #1)

Lainey

“ T hanks for all your help,” Huck says as he is totaling up the cash from the register, not bothering to look up. I’m washing the last dish of the night, covered in soapy water and other people's leftovers, and my hands are like shriveled prunes.

“No problem,” I tell him while all I can think is ‘ Isn’t it time to hire a dishwasher’?

But instead I’ll just keep waiting tables, washing dishes, and whatever else Huck needs, because he’s my brother and I would do anything to help him.

I dry my hands on the front of my apron, then untie it and hang it on the back of the door.

“Where are you headed to in such a hurry?” Huck asks. I’m midway between the front door and the kitchen when I stop, my face flaming.

“Just down to the docks for a little bit,” I tell him.

”This late?” He asks.

“I want to check on the boat,” I fib. It comes out shaky. I’ve never been the best liar. Does my brother know I’m planning on a romantic swim lit only by moonlight? It feels so gross to talk about that with him.

Huck frowns, then sets his bank bag down on the counter. “Hey, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that, actually.”

”About what?” I squeak. He knows. He’s about to go into protective brother mode and warn me against boys who will break my heart.

“The boat,” he says. “Well, fishing.”

I sigh. “Huck, I don’t have time for this.” According to the clock on the wall, I really don’t. It’s almost ten and this conversation could last hours if I let it. It’s the same conversation we’ve had since dad announced he’d be taking a little time off because of his heart attack.

”I talked to Dad’s doctor when we went to his appointment the other day. His heart is getting stronger. It’s going to be no time at all before he’s back out on the water. You can quit going out there by yourself now.” He crosses his arms and leans against the counter.

“How long is no time at all?” I ask.

”A month, tops.”

I let out a half-hearted laugh. “Then, I’ll quit going out there by myself in a month.”

”Lainey, everyone in this town has told you it's not safe. Why do you insist on going out there everyday alone?” He looks around the dining room and scratches absently at the stubble forming along his jawline. “What do you have to prove?”

His question stings. ”I don’t have anything to prove.” My jaw moves back and forth, my molars grinding—a habit I can’t quite break. “I just want to keep this business afloat. It’s what Mom would’ve wanted.”

”Lainey,” Huck says, lowering his voice. His light green eyes match mine, a mirror of my own…a mirror of our mother’s. Henry has the same exact eyes, too. “You still wear her watch, but it’s like you forget how she died.”

Tears prick the backs of my eyes. I glance down at the watch and its broken glass. It’s stuck on six fifty-four, and I’ve never tried to move it, afraid if I do, I'll be messing up a memory of her somehow.

“I really need to go,” I say, swallowing the lump in my throat.

“Please don’t go out there tonight,” he begs. “You're exhausted.”

”I’m fine.” I exhale a long, pent-up breath.

“You understand why I can’t be the one to do this, right?” Huck’s face looks pained, and I know if he could, he’d be out there helping me in a heartbeat.

”Yes, Huck. You have a diner to run and it's okay. I don’t need help.”

“Lainey, that’s not it at all.” Huck sighs and looks to the ceiling.

“I can’t go back out there, doing the thing that killed Mom.

I wish I could be as strong as you are, but I guess I'm not. I don’t have many memories of her, but the ones I do have, I’d rather not tarnish by torturing myself everyday doing the thing that killed her.

” When his eyes meet mine, they’re misted over and cloudy with unshed tears.

“I guess I never realized you felt like that,” I whisper.

Have I really been so blind as to think my brother's only reason for not joining me in helping run the family business was because he had a diner to run? Of course Huck wasn’t that selfish.

“I thought it was because you had a business to run.”

“No, Lainey. That’s not it at all.”

I walk back over to him and wrap my arms around his neck.

Even though he’s two years younger than me, he’s taller than me by a foot.

When I bury my face in his chest, he wraps his arms around me and pats me lightly on the back.

“You don’t understand how hard it is for me to watch you go out there every morning by yourself.

” I stay silent, knowing what I’m doing isn’t safe.

I can’t argue with him. “I literally have to watch you through that window while you load up the boat and leave the harbor every morning…alone.” He points through the big windows that overlook Water Street and the harbor.

“And every morning, I hope and pray that you’ll come back alive.

” He pulls back and searches me with those eyes that are so much like our mothers. “Please don’t go back out there alone.”

Huck looks so sad, so earnest, that for a minute, I almost cave. But then I look right into his eyes, and it’s almost like I’m looking into Mom’s for a moment, and it reminds me why I’m doing this in the first place.

“I’ve really got to run, Huck.” I squeeze his big hands in mine and give him a weak smile. Then I jog toward the door.

“Don’t you want your cash for the night?” He’s been paying me under the table when I pick up shifts for him.

“Keep it,” I holler back, never feeling right about taking his money anyway.

The door jingles as I step out into the night air. I take a big breath, then head for the docks, wondering if Tate has waited for me.

“Where else would he go? Of course he waited for me,” I mutter to myself, feeling a smile creep up my face. Just thinking of Tate makes me want to kick my feet and squeal like I did back in middle school when I taped a Justin Bieber poster to my ceiling.

I didn't think love was in the cards for me, considering I didn’t have many options in a town this small. And I had come to terms with it. Besides, my brothers and dad needed me way more than I needed to worry about finding love and settling down. Until Tate came back.

Tate with his perfectly combed brown hair, his jokes that always seem to put a smile on my face, his tall frame and broad shoulders that are a stark contrast to his clumsiness, and his glasses that he wears when he’s fresh out of the shower that make me catch my breath.

I stop and stare up at the fireflies dancing around me and can’t help but twirl around, just once.

If this is what love is, I don’t ever want this feeling to go away.

This feeling of radiance, joy, happiness…

it's unlike anything I’ve ever felt. And if this isn't what love is, then I think I'm okay never experiencing it. Because what could be better than this?

I'm passing where Tate’s staying when I hear a loud squeal. I stop, momentarily stunned that someone else is out at the time of night too. Then, my heart drops. Because standing right in front of the door is Tate with another woman. A beautiful woman. And from the looks of it, they’re kissing.