Rock the Boat: A Griffin Bay Novel

by Starling, Lib

  “What do you think the crew will do when they realize what went on here?” he asked.

  Jordan only laughed, all shame at her own spontaneity gone. She said, “If either of them has a problem with it, I can always make them walk the plank. I am the captain, after all.”

  They went up on the deck together and stood waiting in the cockpit beside the great wooden wheel of the helm. As Storm and Emily climbed up from the tender, the first thing they saw was Davis and Jordan—holding hands.

  Emily’s big, blue eyes grew even wider. “Well! Looks like you two have set aside your differences.”

  “Looks like it,” Jordan said.

  The smiling crew set to work, readying the Coriolis for its final day of sailing. Jordan seemed more confident and self-assured than ever before as she took her place at the helm, calling out commands to Emily and Storm, gazing out across the water in anticipation of another day of sailing. Every time she caught Davis’s eye, she smiled—and she looked even more beautiful than she ever had before.

  “We’ll be back in Griffin Bay by four o’clock,” Jordan told her crew when the anchor was secured and the diesel engine was purring down below. “After we’ve seen Davis off, I’ll need your help cleaning up the boat.”

  “Can’t it wait?” Storm asked. “It’s been ten whole days!”

  “Yeah,” Emily added. “We can clean up tomorrow, can’t we?”

  “It can’t wait if we’re going to take on more charters. The season is in full swing now. There’s lots of sailing to be done, and lots more business to capture.”

  Storm cast a hopeful look at Emily, then said to Jordan, “So you’re not going to shut down the business?”

  “No, but you guys may not recognize your new captain,” Jordan said, laughing. “She’s a lot less stuffy. More… spontaneous. And maybe a little more willing to cut her clients some slack.”

  Emily squealed and bounced on her toes. “Yes! I knew you’d come around.”

  Davis put his arm around Jordan as the Coriolis nosed out toward open water. “I’m so glad you’re going to keep on sailing.”

  “Me too.”

  “It’s what you were meant to do.”

  She smiled at him, eyes shining. Then she kissed him, right in front of everybody.

  “Hey-o,” Storm yelled. “The captain has already gone wild! Hold onto your butt, Emily. This is going to be one hell of a summer.”

  “I can’t wait,” Emily said. “Hey, Captain, where are we heading today?”

  Jordan shrugged and grinned at Davis. “I don’t know! But raise the jib, you two—and get Davis up there to help you. Today we’re going wherever the wind takes us.”

  Davis hurried to join Storm at the lines. He hauled as he was directed, and with a sustained hiss the high, triangular sail at the front of the boat raised like a banner of victory against the bright-blue sky. It rippled in the breeze for a moment, then caught the gentle wind with a thump as loud and resonant as a bass drum. Jordan cut the engine, and the Coriolis leaned as it headed out over the sea, speeding toward the unknown.

  Davis let out a yell of pure exhilaration as the salt-laden wind whipped his hair and stung his eyes. He was flying, sure and fast, toward a bright horizon. Behind him, at the helm, he could hear Jordan laughing.

  EPILOGUE

  Jordan dropped into her reserved, VIP seat in the front row of the theater. Storm and Emily settled to her right, and her brothers Carter and West settled in the seats to her left. She sighed when her butt hit the seat. She hadn’t been back to Seattle for weeks, and she’d forgotten how much the busy, loud city stressed her out. She longed to be back in the marina at Griffin Bay, polishing up the brightwork on the Coriolis, tending to its lines and canvas. There was no comparable peace to be found here in the big city, but even so, Jordan wouldn’t have missed tonight’s show for anything in the world.

  A wildly successful summer had allowed her to invest more money and time in Sea Wolf Charters. She had added a new boat to her fleet, and three more crew members, too. But the new boat needed plenty of work before it would be ready for the upcoming charter season. It was March now—a little more than nine months since she had fallen in love with Davis Steen. She had only three more months to get the new boat seaworthy. As she thought of all the work it needed, she bit her thumbnail and bounced her heels nervously against the theater floor.

  Emily leaned across Storm and said to Jordan, “Stop thinking about the new boat! We’re here for your boyfriend, so you are officially cut off from all business dealings—even inside your head.”

  “I wasn’t thinking about the new boat!”

  “You were, too. I can always tell when you’re thinking about boats.”

  Carter, Jordan’s twin brother, laughed mockingly on her left. “True. Jordan has a dead-giveaway Boat Face.”

  She punched her twin in his arm.

  West, second-oldest of her brothers, added, “She gets almost as googly-eyed thinking about boats as she gets thinking about Davis.”

  “Ugh,” Jordan said. “I’d punch you, too, but you’re too far away.”

  Despite her brothers’ teasing, she was glad they were with her tonight—and Storm and Emily, too. Davis had asked Jordan to bring her whole family to the concert—his very first show since going solo, and the big debut of all his brand-new songs, which would finally be available to the public tonight. The solo album dropped at midnight, and Jordan was sure she was even more nervous about it than Davis was. This was a big night for him—huge; the ultimate test of his career. If tonight’s show and album release went well, his future as a solo artist would be secured.

  Davis had worked so hard on the new material, and had focused so completely on the business side of his career that even Tyler had nothing to complain about. Sky Records was as confident as they could be that Davis Steen’s new lone-wolf persona would be a big hit. But the proof was in tonight: in this crowd’s reception of the concert and the album.

  As they waited for the show to start and Jordan tried to calm the butterflies swarming in her stomach, she thought about how sweet it was that Davis had wanted her whole family to attend. Over the nine months of their semi-long-distance relationship, Davis had relished his chances to get to know the Griffin clan whenever he’d come to San Juan Island for a visit. He had struck up a strong friendship with West, and his high coolness quotient had even earned Carter’s approval. He had charmed the socks off of Jordan’s mom and impressed her dad with his serious approach to his music career. The others had grown fond of him, too—Reed and Tabitha trusted Jordan to make good decisions, so they had taken an immediate liking to Davis. And Eden, the baby of the family, was instantly drawn to Davis just because of his profession. Eden had a distinct taste for adventure, and she assumed—rightly, Jordan had to admit—that a rock star attached to the family would provide plenty of new opportunities for wild times.

  Jordan wished the whole family could have made it to Davis’s concert—for her sake, if not for his. She was so apprehensive about the show that she was almost ready to throw up… or stand up in her seat and shriek like a maniac from the sheer anxiety of waiting. On all her visits to Seattle, she had watched Davis rehearse and even sat in on a few of his meetings with Tyler. She knew how much the label had invested in Davis’s new career. There was so much at stake for everybody involved. She bounced her heels again, faster this time, and chomped down harder on her fingernail. If she could only have held her mom’s hand or cracked jokes with her dad—it would have gone a long way toward calming her down. But other business had kept most of her family on the island. Besides, there just weren’t enough VIP tickets to go around. Jordan hoped Davis wasn’t too disappointed that only a few of the Griffins could attend.

  Finally the lights dimmed and the crowd screamed. From a few rows back, a chant began—Da-vis! Da-vis! Da-vis! It spread throughout the theater and thudded inside Jordan’s chest along with her heart. Emily reached across Storm to grab Jordan’s hand, squeezing it h
ard, and Carter put his arm around her shoulders.

  Davis walked out onto the stage, dazzling and distinct in the cool blue of a single spotlight. He looked so stunning Jordan could hardly breathe—confident and gorgeous in that simple, white t-shirt and his black skinny jeans. He had nothing with him but his guitar and his attitude, bold and perfectly self-assured. He walked to a single stool that stood before a lone microphone and sat casually, as if he’d been doing solo shows his whole life.

  He launched right into the first song without a word to the audience, letting his music speak for itself. The rich, full chords rang out across the audience, and between scattered cheers and whistles, Jordan could feel their surprise—their awe—at his new sound, complex and heartfelt, powerful in its restraint. She had heard him play this tune countless times over the past nine months, but now, seeing him perform it live—seeing the depth of feeling he put into it—Jordan felt turned inside out by the music. This sound was nothing like the Local Youths, and the audience clearly knew it. Davis wasn’t the performer he had been before. But this man who played for them now, all alone in the blue light with just his music to offer, was the man he truly was inside, all the way down to the center of his being. Jordan knew that man well by now—knew him and loved him.

  When the song finished, there was a moment of silence while the audience processed a Davis Steen who was totally different from the musician they thought they knew. Jordan held her breath, and just when the tension of waiting seemed unbearable, the audience erupted into applause. Davis beamed out at them. He was a hit, and he knew it. His future was secure.

  When the cheering died down a little, Davis handed his guitar to a roadie and stood up at the mic.

  “Thank you! Wow, did you guys like that new song, or what?”

  The theater shook with their thunderous approval.

  “Man, that’s good to hear. Listen, everybody… I hope you guys will indulge me for a minute.” The audience wooed in agreement. “I have something really important I need to do.”

  Davis stared down into the seats at the foot of the stage, searching past the footlights, into the darkness beyond. His eyes found Jordan’s and he smiled. “Jordan, will you come up here, please?”

  She stared at Emily and Storm, her mouth hanging open.

  Carter gave her a little shove. “Get up there, goofball!”

  On numb feet, Jordan stumbled up to the security guards at the foot of the stage. They conducted her to a small side stair. She couldn’t even feel her body as she climbed up onto the stage. She seemed a thousand miles away from herself, watching this scene unfold from another world, another dimension. Jordan had never been in front of an audience before. Even with the house lights down, size of the space, and all the people it contained, scared her. But she focused resolutely on Davis and went to him eagerly, drawn by his familiar smile.

  They took each other’s hands and stood that way for a moment, lost in one another’s eyes despite the audience that hooted and applauded.

  Finally Davis said into the mic, “Hey, everybody. Let me introduce you to my amazing girlfriend, Jordan.”

  Again the audience wooed.

  “She got me on the right track and helped me reinvent myself. I owe her a lot. You wouldn’t be at this show tonight, hearing all these new songs, if it weren’t for Jordan. I don’t think I can ever repay her for that, but I can try.”

  Davis reached into his pocket. Jordan’s heart pounded; her head felt so light she thought it might float away. As Davis grabbed the mic from its stand and went down on one knee, the crowd’s screams seemed to fill the whole world. Then they receded, and all Jordan could hear was the pounding of her pulse in her ears.

  Davis looked up at her earnestly. “Jordan, will you make me the luckiest man in the world, and marry me?”

  She stared at him, dumbfounded. This was too much—being up on a stage, in front of God knew how many screaming fans. For a moment the old Jordan reared up and babbled in her head, Absolutely not! This is not the kind of thing I do! An on-stage proposal was not something Jordan Griffin ever thought she would have to face. Over the nine months of their spotty dating, Jordan had only grown to love Davis more. But in all that time, she had never considered marrying him.

  Evidently he had considered it. Though not for very long, Jordan felt sure. This was just like Davis, to be so wild and crazy, to jump into something without really thinking about it.

  Jordan couldn’t just say yes—there was too much to ponder, too many questions to ask and too many answers to search for. There were too many variables to consider, too many plans to make!

  Davis laughed as he stared up at her. She could see from the affectionate look in his eyes that he knew exactly what was going through her head. He moved the mic away and said, just for her, “Wherever the wind takes us. Remember?”

  Remembering the snap of the Corilolis’s jib on that bright June morning, Jordan finally allowed herself to let go of her fears. With a surge of gladness, she fell feet-first, right into the moment. She covered her mouth with her hand, fighting back tears of joy. Sure, this was wild and unplanned. But if her relationship with Davis had taught her anything, it had taught her that a little unpredictability was a good thing, in moderation. And she loved Davis—what more did she need to know? If Jordan was going to go where the wind blew her, there was no one she trusted at her helm more than Davis Steen.

  She grabbed the mic from his hand. “Yes!” she shouted.

  The word had hardly rung out over the crowd before the wild celebration of Davis’s fans swallowed it up. Their joy roared in her ears as Davis stood and slid the ring onto her finger. But when he swept her into his arms and kissed her, right in front of the whole world, all Jordan could hear, all she could feel, was the beat of Davis’s heart against her own.

  THE END

  Of

  ROCK THE BOAT

  A Griffin Bay Novel

  This is a brand-new book in a brand-new series. If you enjoyed it, please take a moment to review Rock the Boat on Amazon. Reader reviews help new books succeed. Thanks for your support!

  So… what exactly did Emily and Storm get up to while they were spending the night at Aunt Susan’s cabin? Jordan runs a tight ship, and if she finds out her crew members have been fooling around on the job, she might reconsider her decision to keep Sea Wolf Charters afloat. But there’s more at stake than just their jobs. Emily’s brother Bennett is back in town—and ready to take over Ross Harbor Resort when their father retires. Bennett has big plans, but he needs big money to make his dreams come true—and his gorgeous sister is the bait he’ll use to seal his business deal. Suddenly Storm and Emily are faced with a real dilemma. Should they keep their secrets hidden in the dark, or open the hatch and risk losing everything?

  Find out what happens next in Below Decks, coming to your Kindle on April 5th, 2016!

  If you enjoyed Rock the Boat, be sure to sign up for Lib Starling’s mailing list to receive notifications whenever new Griffin Bay novels are released. Emails are infrequent, always relevant, and your email address will never be used for any other purpose.

  ..*

  MORE BOOKS BY LIB STARLING

  The Griffin Bay series

  Below Decks: April 5th, 2016

  Turning Tide: May 3rd, 2016

  Iron Wind: May 31st, 2016

  Clewless: June 28th, 2016

  PARANORMAL ROMANCE

  Alpha House: A Shapeshifter/BBW Serial Novel – Get Episode 1 here, or enjoy the complete seven-part serial in one ebook bundle!

  A Sense of Shadows

  Ghostlight

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  The fictional town of Griffin Bay is modeled after Friday Harbor, Washington, where Lib Starling lives with her husband and their two very naughty cats. Lib fell in love with her husband while he was living aboard a converted 42’ World War II lander… so she’s no stranger to the enchantment of boys who sail, or to the challenge
s of romantic encounters in the confined spaces of a boat!

  Lib writes contemporary and paranormal romance (and the occasional urban fantasy) in an office perched above Friday Harbor’s only used book store. When she’s not writing, Lib enjoys weightlifting, painting landscapes, recording her podcast about Jem and the Holograms, and sailing the San Juan Islands on her favorite boat, Rachel, a Dash 34 owned by her good friend.

  Find more information about Lib Starling at RunningRabbitBooks.com, and don’t forget to join her mailing list so you’ll be notified whenever new books are available.

  Happy sailing!

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  Rock the Boat

  A Griffin Bay Novel

  Lib Starling

  RunningRabbitBooks.com

  Copyright 2016 – Lib Starling

  First Ebook Edition – 2016

  This book is a work of fiction.

  Any resemblance to actual people or incidents is coincidental.

  Running Rabbit Press

  San Juan County, WA

  290 ½

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