A Second Chance at Love novel · Chapter 4 of 12

Chapter 4: Owner's Trip

At six on the dot, a black SUV pulled up on the lock wall.

I watched from the boat deck in the coat with my coffee going cold.

Sigrid got out first, in a white parka with fur around the hood, filming the boat on her phone.

Prescott came after her with two leather bags and his good watch.

He looked up at the Astrid.

Lars met them at the top of the gangway with the clipboard.

"Names?"

Sigrid laughed. "You're joking. It's my great-grandmother's boat."

"Names," Lars said again.

Prescott said his name slowly.

Lars checked it off without looking up.

At lunch the whole day crew was in the mess.

The cook had made meatloaf, and everybody was eating it with their elbows on the table.

Prescott came in, stopped in the doorway, and saw me.

He put a hand on his chest.

"Wow," he said. "Okay. I honestly didn't know she'd be here."

Sigrid was right behind him, phone up.

"Babe, it's fine," she said loud enough for every table. "We'll just keep our cabin locked."

Prescott sat down across the room and talked to the two deckhands next to him in a low, tired voice.

"Three years," I heard him say. "She shows up at my classes, my gym, my parents' house at Christmas. I just want some peace."

One deckhand looked at me.

The other one looked at his meatloaf.

I'd been at his parents' house at Christmas because his mother asked me to help with the dishes.

I kept eating.

My face burned the whole time.

That evening I was in the galley helping the cook peel potatoes when Prescott came in alone.

He leaned in the doorway in his quarter-zip.

"Can we talk?"

"No."

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