End Of The Road: (A Clean Romance Novella) (Women's Adventure in Alaska Romance Book 3)

by Renee Hart

  A sudden call from the dock surprised him and he found a familiar face staring at him over a pizza box and a six pack. Jan was an old friend that had moved to Kodiak when her husband was transferred. He was happy to see her.

  “Ray! How’ve you been? Bill and I have missed you! What a stroke of luck that you’re in port at the same time we’re here. Bill’s uptown for a meeting, but he should be back soon. I just grabbed a pizza, care to share?”

  Jan reeled all this off while stepping aboard with her load.

  Ray laughed as he reached out to give her a hand. She hadn’t changed a bit. The woman was a spitfire in high school and she still ran in high gear. He gave her an awkward hug as they juggled the pizza between them.

  Soon they were catching up on each other’s news as they crammed slices of pizza in their mouths. By the time Bill showed up, there were only a couple of gnawed crusts left in the box between them.

  “Good thing I didn’t come back hungry,” he laughed looking at the remnants. The two of them talked a bit longer before Bill said he needed to get back to their boat and take care of a few things as they were heading out early. Jan lingered behind for a little while.

  As she was getting ready to leave, Ray stepped out on the dock with her. Throwing her arms around him, Jan gave him a big hug and a sound kiss on the cheek.

  “It was so good to see you, Ray. I’m really hoping you’ll have some time to come down to Kodiak and visit us before winter sets in. We’d like to show you what we’ve got going on down there, see if you might be interested in joining up with us.”

  Ray hugged her back and laughed.

  “I’d like that, Jan. Let me see what I can do when this season is over. There’s actually someone I’d like you to meet.”

  “Ooh…are you telling me there’s a woman in your life?”

  She jumped up and down in excitement at this juicy little tidbit and gave him another hug.

  He blushed and looked down at his feet.

  “I’ve got my hopes,” he said quietly.

  Neither of them noticed the cab that pulled up near the dock and the face watching the two of them from the window. They didn’t notice when the cab left and no one got out. As Jan headed back to her boat, Ray took a long, slow look around at the quiet harbor. It must be nice to be going home to somebody waiting for you, he thought sadly as he headed for his bunk.

  ***

  Adrian looked at her sister curiously as she dragged into the kitchen the next morning. The twins greeted their aunt with high excitement. It was a special treat for them to have Lou in the house. Her visits were usually few and far between with her boat running out of Anchorage. This summer, the only person missing was their father and he was due home soon.

  Their enthusiasm filled the air with happy chatter that masked the silence coming from Lou’s corner of the table. Adrian had heard Lou leave the house last night and come back within the hour. She figured Lou was going to head back to the boat and spend the evening with Ray. When her sister came back early, Adrian could only wonder what had gone wrong. It was clear something wasn’t right.

  ***

  Ray was up earlier than usual and wondered what to do with himself for a whole day. He was idly checking over some rope on the deck when another captain stopped by to chat.

  “I don’t know if you heard, Ray, but Jonesy’s up at the hospice on the hill. He’s not doing too good they say. Thought you might like to run up and have a word with the old guy. I know he was like ‘family’ to you and all.”

  Ray didn’t need to hear any more. He locked up the boat and headed for the hospice. Since his dad died, Jonesy was the only link Ray had to any kind of past. Losing him would set Ray totally adrift and he didn’t want it to be like this. The only reason Jonesy wasn’t sailing with him was his own stubbornness, but Ray wasn’t going to keep that from seeing the old salt and giving him a proper send-off when the time came for it. He owed it to Jonesy and to his dad.

  Grabbing a cab on the Spit, Ray sat back and thought about how Jonesy was the one person that came along just in time. Ray’s dad didn’t really know anything about fishing. He’d been a lumberjack all his life. He just got it into his head to become a fisherman and Ray was along for the ride.

  When they put the down payment on the Seabiscuit, Jonesy happened along the dock as they were looking at their fishing gear. Most of it came with the boat and neither of them had a clue about anything. The old salt took one look at them staggering around the deck and started laughing out loud.

  “Let me guess,” he roared with laughter, “you two have never been on a boat before in your life and now you’re planning to be fishermen.”

  Ray expected his dad to get mad at this rude man, but instead he welcomed the sailor to come aboard and offered him a beer. Jonesy declined saying he never touched the stuff, but he did come on board and soon the two men were talking like old friends. Seems he was between positions as he put it and was willing to come alongside and teach them how to sail the high seas for a share in the profits.

  Ray’s dad thought that was a fine plan and took him up on his offer. Ray couldn’t remember a single fishing trip without Jonesy on board, until he stomped off the day Lou came to crew. That must a nearly broke the old man’s heart, Ray thought sadly. He felt guilty when he considered how easily he had let the old salt go. Maybe he should have run after him and tried to reason with him. It was too late to take it back now.

  The cab pulled up in front of the hospice and Ray handed the driver a five dollar bill. One of the perks of Homer was that a ride anywhere in town cost five bucks. Didn’t matter where you were going, as long as it was in town, you just handed over that bill and you were done.

  He got out and stared at the familiar building in front of him. This was the same place his dad had left this world from, and Ray wasn’t too keen to go inside. All things considered, if he didn’t go down with the Seabiscuit this just might be the place he spent his last days. Shaking off that grim thought, he went inside to the front desk.

  Walking down the hall to Jonesy’s room, Ray wondered if he should have brought the guy some kind of gift. It wasn’t like the guy would light up at some flowers or a plant, but there must be something he could have brought. The only thing that come to mind was a dead fish and he figured the hospice would have smelled that coming a mile away.

  The old man’s face was turned to the wall when Ray walked into the room. He was laying so still that for a second, Ray thought he might be too late.

  A nurse came in behind him and announced loudly, “Well, Jonesy, looks like you’ve got yourself a visitor here!”

  Jonesy turned to look at Ray in surprise and just for a quick second, Ray caught a spark of happiness before the old man quickly covered it up with a hoarse cough.

  “If you’ve come to spit on my grave, son, yer a might too early. I ain’t dead yet.”

  “Aw, Jonesy, you know it ain’t like that between us. Why do you have to be so mean?”

  Addressing the nurse, Jonesy said, “You know, this here pup, he gave my job away to a she-male!”

  The nurse just rolled her eyes and finished her notes on his chart before taking her leave. She was clearly resigned to the old salt’s gruff mannerisms.

  “Women taking away a man’s job. What’s this world coming to?” Jonesy grumbled on to himself.

  “Now you know it wasn’t like that,” Ray said. “We needed another hand and then you up and quit on me and I needed to hire me a second woman to boot. If it wasn’t for those two women, I wouldn’t have had a chance of making the salmon run.”

  “Yeah, and that first one ya hired”, Jonesy chortled, “she sure could swim, eh?”

  “And what do you know about that?”

  “Well, I know enough to say she saved your sorry tail.”

  Jonesy had the decency to look guilty at that point.

  “Don’t be thinking I’m gonna apologize for cutting the Seabiscuit loose. You deserved it far as I was concern
ed. Yer Pa must a been turnin’ over in his watery grave at the way you treated me.”

  Ray just shook his head. Another mystery solved and no satisfaction in the solution, he thought to himself.

  “Well, don’t be thinking I’m going to apologize for hiring Lou either!” Ray shot back with a quick one across the bow.

  At the look in Ray’s eyes, Jonesy saw far more than the young man had intended to reveal.

  “Lou, is it? I can see it didn’t take long for her to find a way in under your skin. You’re sweet on her, ain’t ya?”

  Jonesy started to laugh. “I always told you, Boy, women and boats don’t mix well.”

  Considering the topic of conversation, Ray didn’t feel like arguing. He decided to change the subject.

  “What are you doing in here?”

  “Dying, they tell me. I just wish this old body would get it over with. I’m sick of hanging around this place. Need to get me back to the sea where I can die in peace. You promise me when my time comes you’ll take care of it just like we done yer pa. You promise me!”

  “You got it, Jonesy. You got my word on it.”

  “That’s good enough for me.”

  Chapter 7

  Adrian looked up in surprise as a cab pulled up in front of the house. She heard the screams of the twins long before she caught sight of her husband coming up the front walk with a duffle bag over one shoulder. He had a twin hanging off each arm when he reached the front porch, and the neighbors had to be looking out their windows at all the shouting.

  She ran to the front door and threw herself into the melee of joyful homecoming. Her husband laughed as she and the children rained kisses and hugs on him from every direction. Everyone talked at once and Lou and her mother came from the kitchen to add their welcome.

  Gage was surprised to see his sister-in-law as she was a rare visitor during the fishing season.

  The children dominated the next couple of hours as they brought their dad up to speed on everything they’d done since he’d headed out. The adults didn’t even try to get a word in edgewise. They figured eventually the torrent of words would run out and they’d have a chance to talk then. It wasn’t until the kids were tucked into bed that their time finally came.

  Gage started off with his news.

  “I’ve got leave, thirty days, and we’ve been transferred to Kodiak. I thought we could relax for a while and hang out with the kids here in Homer and then head south to find a new place, get them enrolled in school, all the usual stuff.”

  “That sounds great, Darling, but we’ve got three weeks to go in the salmon season and we’re crewing on a boat for a guy named Ray. We can’t just up and quit on him. We need to finish out the run.”

  “About that,” Lou piped up, “I was wondering how you’d feel about taking my spot on the boat Gage. I really need to head back up to Anchorage and see what I can do about the Lindy Lee. I’ve been away from her too long. You and Adrian could take it like a working honeymoon where you’re getting paid to be together.”

  Gage looked like that idea appealed to him. He liked fishing and while it wasn’t a job he wanted full time, it would be fun for three weeks to work alongside his wife. He turned to look at Adrian to see what she thought. The look on her face brought a frown to his.

  “Something going on that I need to know about,” he asked.

  Adrian stood up and started clearing the table. There were a lot of things she could have said in that moment, but words weren’t going to fix this. If Lou was going to run away from a good thing, she could just get going.

  “So, you’ll do it, take my place?” Lou asked, directing her question at Gage.

  “Uh, sure, Lou. If that’s what you really want and Adrian’s okay with this. I’ll do it.”

  He figured Adrian would fill him in on the details later. It was clear she didn’t approve, but the reasons why weren’t being put on the table at this point.

  ***

  The next morning Adrian and Gage headed down to the dock. Lou was gone before anyone else got out of bed. The twins were sad to see all the adults leaving again, but Grandma had plans for the day and soon they were caught up in them. Adrian was so grateful for her mother’s relationship with the twins. She made all of this work for them with their crazy lifestyles.

  Ray was surprised when Adrian and Gage came on board. He was even more surprised to learn that Lou had headed north and traded her spot on the Seabiscuit with Gage. He wanted to ask more questions, but the look on Adrian’s face didn’t encourage him. She seemed to be saying to him to just let it go. Shrugging his shoulders, he gave the order to cast off and headed to the wheelhouse. There were fish out in the sea waiting to be caught. With any luck, he’d be the one catching them, he thought sadly.

  ***

  Adrian and Gage didn’t quite have the same fluidity in working together that Ray had enjoyed watching between the two women. They were forced to use a lot more words and sometimes got in each other’s way, but they were good-natured about it and used it as an opportunity to sneak a kiss or grab a hug. Ray tried not to watch them as closely as he’d watched the two sisters as it made him feel self-conscious, like a third wheel on his own boat.

  He’d found them a good spot and the fish were coming in steady. Ray tended to his duties as the captain, but his heart was in Anchorage. After his day with Jonesy, he’d worked out in his own mind what he really wanted in his life and it wasn’t to die alone without a family to remember him and carry on his name. He’d been awake most of the night trying to figure out what to say to Lou to make her come around and see things his way.

  While a boat didn’t need two captains, she was confident enough to stand beside him and let him wear the hat. He knew she was ready, willing and able to step up whenever he needed her. There hadn’t been any problems with this arrangement so far and if there were in the future, well, like other couples, they’d just work things out.

  Suddenly, Ray knew what he had to do. He’d wasted enough time avoiding life already. It was time he stepped up and got this boat back on course. Signaling to Adrian to pull in the nets and secure the deck, he plotted his course north. With Lady Luck on his side, they’d be in Anchorage by morning. They could off-load whatever was in the holds already and he’d find a way to reel in the one that got away.

  As if Adrian read his mind, the nets were stowed and the deck was clear within the hour. The two of them headed below as Ray got them underway. The fish would still be there when they got back.

  ***

  The next morning, Adrian handed Ray a cup of coffee and a piece of paper with two addresses on it.

  “She could be here or maybe, here. I can’t really say. You’ve got her number if she’ll pick up, but I wouldn’t count on it. She can be pretty stubborn. Good luck.”

  Ray stuffed the piece of paper in his pocket and swallowed the coffee before heading out. He wasn’t sure what kind of reception to expect or even why she’d jumped ship, but he was going to find out. He figured, he’d start with the Lindy Lee. As a captain with a broken heart, he knew that was where he would be hiding out.

  Checking in at the office of the boatyard, he got directions to the Lindy and started heading in her direction. He saw that blond ponytail first as she stood in front of the wreck talking with another man. The two of them were just finishing up their conversation as he approached them. They shook hands and the man handed her an envelope. She saw Ray as she turned to head out and stopped short.

  “What are you doing here,” she asked in surprise.

  “I came to find out what you’re doing here,” he replied.

  “Just tying up some loose ends,” she said avoiding his eyes.

  “Were you planning on tying up all your loose ends or just the ones here in Anchorage?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean,” Lou said a bit sarcastically. “Isn’t one woman enough for you?”

  Ray looked at her in surprise.

  “What are you talking about?”
>
  “I saw you…the other night. Hugging and kissing that woman on the dock!”

  Ray looked confused as he tried to think what she was talking about.

  “Oh, Jan! You saw me hugging Jan, Bill’s wife, Jan. What were you doing? Spying on me?”

  “Spying on you! Bill’s wife, Jan! No, I came back to the boat that night to bring you some dessert. I wasn’t spying on you!”

  “So that’s what this is all about? You saw me hugging some woman so you assumed I was with another woman. Is that the kind of guy you think I am?”

  Ray looked hurt and a bit angry, and Lou knew she’d done him wrong by not giving him a chance to talk before running away. Letting her feelings make the course correction her head couldn’t work out, she reached for him. Pulling him close, she kissed him gently. He kissed her back before taking her by the shoulders and moving her back a bit.

  “Does this mean you’re sorry,” he asked with a grin.

  “I am. I’m very sorry for making a stupid assumption and I’m sorry for making you come to Anchorage, but I’m not sorry for falling in love with you.”

  Ray stared deep into those stormy gray eyes. Seeing the truth of those words, he pulled her close and kissed her again.

  The two of them sighed deeply as he pulled her close and held onto her tightly. His chin rested on the top of her head as they stood there, and he looked at the Lindy Lee.

  “This is your boat, eh?”

  “Not anymore,” Lou said. “I’ve decided I don’t want to be the captain anymore.

  She leaned back and looked up into his eyes.

  “I’ve found I prefer crewing.”

  Epilogue