Page 38 of Sea La Vie (The Outer Banks #1)

Tate

“ Y ou’re sure she’s not on the boat?” I echo. “Like it’s…empty?” The Coast Guardsman nods. “You checked?” I ask. “Every square inch of that boat…you checked?”

He lets out a breath of air and shoves his hands into his pockets. “She’s not on the boat. I’m sorry. But I promise we’ll keep looking for her.” He gives me a pat on the shoulder, then leaves me standing there in the middle of Eden’s store.

Eden ran to the stockroom, her face as green as the grass growing outside, and slammed the door behind her. Archer was gone to who knows where, leaving me here alone.

As if on cue, the door swings open and the wind blows in with none other than Lucille. She begins to trudge over to me, a look of keen determination in her eye. “Tate.”

I hold up a hand. “Not today, Lucille. Please. Not today.”

Lucille rocks back on her heels, her mouth a perfect ‘o’. “Excuse me?” she finally asks.

“I said not today. I don’t want to hear about how I’m not the perfect guy for Lainey, not up to your standards, and never will be.

” She begins to open her mouth but I beat her to it, shushing her.

“I’m not done,” I say. “You can hate me, you can think I’m a no-good out-of-towner—you can think whatever you want—but it doesn’t matter, because I know I love Lainey.

She’s smart, strong, drop-dead gorgeous, and has the biggest heart of anyone I know.

And she’s currently lost at sea in the middle of a freak storm.

So, forgive me for not feeling like being berated today. ”

Lucille rocks back onto her heels and crosses her arms over her chest. She appraises me as I stand there, and I wonder what she sees.

A heartbroken guy, hair on end because I’ve run my hands through it more times than I can count, with deep purple bags of worry under my eyes?

And a coffee stain on my shirt to match, because while I thought I wanted coffee and that it made everything better, I realized when I brought it to my lips that I couldn’t stomach anything and threw it at the wall in a moment of weakness.

Thankfully, no one had seen. Eden was busy refilling the Coast Guardsmen’s coffee mugs on the opposite side of the room and when they heard the crash, I just said, “Weird. How’d that get there? ” And rushed to clean it up.

Finally, she cracks a small smile. “I didn’t think you had it in you,” she murmurs. “Turns out, I was wrong.”

“Okay. Wonderful. I’ve gotta go, Lucille.” I try to walk past her, but she bolts up and spreads her arms and legs wide, grabbing me by the shoulder. She’s surprisingly strong for her small, delicate stature.

“I’m only going to say this once, you got that?” she says. She lets go of my balled up shirt in her fist and dusts her hands together. “I heard what you’re doing for her out in her momma’s garden,” she says softly.

“Great. Wonderful. Feel free to ruin the surprise when she finally gets back,” I mumble.

Lucille bites her lip, then smiles again. “You’re good for her.”

“Thanks for the approval I wasn’t asking for,” I say. I realize I’m being harsh, but I’ve had enough of this lady’s antics.

“I know you don’t care what I think,” she says. “But I care a lot about Lainey so take this with a grain of salt, or don’t. But what you just said confirmed everything. You said ‘ when she finally gets back’. You aren’t losing hope, are you kid?”

My gaze meets hers, and I see a softness behind them I haven’t seen before. Years of worry and love for the family and girl I’ve grown to love too.

“No,” I say. “She has to come back.” I trail off and glance at the bay outside. It’s calmed down considerably, now only a steady drizzle filling the air. “Because if she doesn’t, I don’t know how I’ll go on. I love her,” I whisper, mostly to myself.

Lucille takes me in her arms, wrapping them firmly around me.

Her head comes to my chest and she nuzzles in, the top of her gray frizzy bun right beneath my chin.

Reluctantly, I wrap one arm around her and give her an awkward pat on the back.

“Okay, well then,” I say but she grabs my free arm and does the honor of wrapping it around herself.

A few awkward moments go by, and she finally releases me at an arm's distance.

“I remembered who you were,” Lucille admits.

“I just thought it was fun to mess with you. But, keep this in the back of your mind,” she says, eyes narrowing into mere slits.

She pokes a finger in my chest. “You break her heart, and,” she slices her thumb across her neck again then sticks her tongue out and closes her eyes in a very dramatic fashion.

One eye cracks open, and she all but snarls. “Got it?”

I roll my eyes, but grin at her. “Got it.” She grins and winks back. Archer appears beside Lucille and looks between us. I hadn’t realized he had come back in.

“You love her?” he asks. Apparently he had heard my entire confession too.

“I do,” I say simply. “I always have. I always will.” Archer appraises me, then gives me a subtle nod. Before he can say anything else, there’s commotion in the corner and we all turn.

“You see that?” I overhear a Coast Guardsman say from his perch in the corner. “Right there.” He points to a laptop screen, and they both lean in closer. “Has anyone radioed in?”

At the perfect moment, the radio crackles to life, and I hear a man’s voice come through.

“It’s Paul from the A-Fish-Ionado . We’re two hundred miles south of Haven’s Harbor and I have Lainey Adams with me.

Everyone is fine, but Lainey has an injured ankle.

We should arrive in Widow’s Wharf in about ten hours. ”

I rush over to the table and grip the edges, afraid if I don’t keep my hands busy, I’ll jerk the radio away and try to speak to her myself. Archer joins me, his hands shaking enough to slosh a little of the coffee he’s holding.

“Copy that. Do you need us to send rescue?” he asks.

The few seconds in between responses feel like years. Finally, I hear, “Lainey says she’s fine. Just a bad sprain. We should see you soon.”

The Coast Guardsman replies, “Copy that,” and sets the radio back on the table. He turns to us all with a smile. “She’s coming home.”

The next ten hours are agonizingly long.

The mood in Mugs and Memos has lightened, Lucille even running back to her place to grab several decks of cards.

The Coast Guardsmen have even joined in, one accusing Lucille of cheating moments ago.

Lucille, in return, accused him of disrespecting his elders to which he flushed, and stammered an apology.

He obviously didn’t see a few cards flutter out of her sleeve when she waved her arms around like I had.

Eden resorted to passing the time with baking, the entire shop filled with the smell of warm, buttery pastries.

Forty-five minutes from the time of their estimated arrival, I slipped down to the docks and took a seat on a bench.

The sun was beginning to set, all signs of the earlier storm gone.

The bay was as smooth as glass, the sky as bright and vivid as a freshly bloomed dahlia.

I pull my phone from my pocket and check for service, surprised to find one bar. I had gotten in the habit of not even carrying it since cell service was so spotty in this little town, but I kept it on me today in the slim chance Lainey would contact me through it.

I hit Jordan’s contact and it rolls over to his voicemail. I get a text from him immediately.

Jordan: With the girl from the dog park. She may just be my dream girl.

Tate: Every girl is your dream girl.

Jordan: ha ha. What’s up?

Tate: Liv showed up.

Jordan: oh no…And?

Tate: She’s taking over my lease and I’m staying here.

Jordan: ????

Tate: Dream girl. I’ll explain later. Call me soon, okay?

Jordan: *thumbs up emoji*

Jordan: I’m proud of you, man.

I smile at the screen and wonder when I can get him down here for a visit. Then, I hit my mom’s name and wait for her to answer. Right when I thought it would go to voicemail, her voice fills my speaker. “Tate, honey. How are you?”

“Good,” I answer. We make small talk for a few minutes before I can’t wait any longer and cut to the chase. “Listen, mom. I’ve been thinking. I know you wanted to sell the cottage. But…what if I bought it?”

“You want to buy it?” she asks, not bothering to mask the surprise in her voice. “You haven’t been there in years.”

“I know. I told myself I wasn’t ever going back, but things change I guess.”

“That girl’s still there, isn’t she?” Mom asks. “Lainey was her name, I think?”

I pause. I didn’t think my parents paid us enough attention to know the names of the friends we kept while visiting Grandpa, always too busy fighting.

“Yeah,” I say slowly. “She is.”

Mom hums softly on the other end of the phone. “I wondered if this would ever happen.”

“What?” I ask.

“I knew you were crazy about that girl since the first time you met her. I also knew the second you quit talking to her. You became so focused on your goals, and I didn’t figure that was a bad thing, but I hated to see you so heartbroken.”

“I didn’t realize,” I say, then trail off, because how was I supposed to say I hadn’t realized she had paid us so much attention as kids without insulting her? She was a good mom, just sidetracked from the constant bickering and fighting with dad.

“I’m sorry for the way things turned out,” she says softly.

“I wanted you kids to have a stable home to grow up in. I knew that us constantly moving was affecting your ability to make friends and your grades. I realize now I shouldn’t have picked so many fights with your dad about it, he was just doing his job.

It was just…tough. And I’m sorry for dragging you all into it. Please don’t blame your dad, though.”

“It’s okay, mom,” I say. “It’s fine. I think I forgave him a long time ago.”