Avery

Another day, another blue sky, another superyacht, but it might be my last first day of the yachting season. I glanced across the marina from the upper deck of the Venus. The view always looked prettier just before the guests arrived.

At the start of my last season, I’d been standing on a deck waiting to meet the man who would break my heart. I couldn’t help but wonder what Hayden was doing right now. At the beginning of the last season I hadn’t even met him, which seemed ridiculous since my feelings for him were so strong, as if we’d been joined together in a previous lifetime then found each other again. Yet he’d discarded me so easily. He couldn’t have felt as strongly as I had—still did. I hated myself for being in love with him. He’d betrayed me, yes, but I couldn’t hate him for it. Couldn’t switch off my love for him just like that.

My radio crackled. “Avery, Eric and Josh. This is the captain. Preferences meeting in the crew mess.”

I pulled the radio from my belt. “Roger that.” I turned and headed inside to the main salon. The guests were due to arrive within the hour so this was late for a preferences meeting, but we received it whenever the guests filled it in.

“This is pretty standard stuff, but we don’t have much time,” Captain Moss said, starting the meeting before we’d all sat down. “Six guests. They have three more for lunch today who will be leaving tonight. They’re combining business with pleasure, so they may have guests on and off the boat during the course of the charter.”

Charters that combined business entertaining tended to be a little easier. They’d want to spend a lot of time eating and drinking and all the bedrooms wouldn’t be occupied.

“One of them is a vegetarian,” the captain continued. “And one of them doesn’t eat meat, but eats fish. Another doesn’t eat carbs.”

Josh rolled his eyes but we all knew the dietary requirements could be far worse.

“They like mojitos and champagne and only organic sparkling water.”

It was my turn to roll my eyes. The guests were perfectly happy to drink cocktails but of course their water had to be organic. Captain Moss scanned down the page and we followed his lead. “No expensive whiskeys or cigars . . . They want the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Washington Post every day.” We got through the rest of the sheet in record time.

“Right, that’s it. I’ll see you out on the main deck.” He checked his watch. “Eric, make sure you’ve got crew down there to deal with luggage. They’ll be here any minute.”

I stood and pulled out eleven champagne glasses. Two for orange juice—in Miami there was always someone who abstained from alcohol. The remaining nine I began to fill with champagne.

“Can I help?” Skylar came in behind me.

“Sure, grab the orange juice and fill two glasses.”

Our radios crackled. “All crew, all crew. Guests are on the jetty.”

“Shit,” Skylar said.

“Early. Just our luck,” I said.

We got the champagne out and practically ran to the main deck, lining up just in time to see the first guest emerge from the stairs.

I held my tray and plastered on my best superyacht smile. This might be the last time I would open a season and I was excited about what that meant for my future.

We greeted the primary and his wife, Brad and Jennifer, and their guests began to fill the deck. I tried to pick out the ones we’d had photographs of who were staying over.

“We’re missing someone,” Brad said. “Oh, here he is.” He turned to the stairs as their final guest appeared. “Hayden, we thought we’d lost you. This is Hayden Wolf, a business associate of ours.”

It was as if the whole world dropped away, leaving just him and me. For what seemed like a thousand years I was totally paralyzed—unable even to blink.

Our eyes locked, and he smiled. I couldn’t respond. What was he doing here?

The world whooshed back, and I heard the captain chuckling as he and Hayden shook hands and Skylar gasped beside me.

“Avery, Skylar, August, Eric. Good to see you.” He took a glass of champagne from my tray and lifted it slightly as if he were toasting something.

Was this a coincidence? He didn’t seem shocked to see me, so had he known I would be here? Did he want to question me again? I had nothing left to tell him. I hadn’t had any more approaches from anyone.

Was he here to cause trouble for me? Make me feel worse about something I didn’t do? Maybe he was here to get me fired?

“Avery, do you want to leave the tour until later? That way you can all enjoy your meal and we can do the tour after when those who aren’t staying have left?”

Trapped in a fog, I took the guests to their table, asked them about wine and made sure everyone was happy. I avoided looking at Hayden and tried to remember the preferences sheet we’d only just been through. I would have seen his name and photograph if he was staying over, right? I might be able to get through a lunch, but I couldn’t handle a week with him. Not here. Not after all those things he’d accused me of. Not when I still loved him despite it all.

He seemed engaged in talking to Brad, so as soon as I could, I headed back to the galley, trying to fight back the nausea building in my stomach. Why was he here?

“Are you okay?” Skylar asked as I walked into the galley, my legs heavy, my brain fuzzy with trying to process what was going on. “Did you know he was going to be here?”

I shook my head as I slid the tray onto the counter. “Not a clue.” I looked up at Skylar, who shrugged.

“I think you should take a moment. He’s only here for lunch and August and I can cover that.”

“What’s going on?” Chef Josh asked as he pulled open the refrigerator.

“Nothing,” Skylar and I chorused.

“Yeah, if you and August can do lunch service that would be good.” Hopefully Skylar was right and Hayden would leave soon. Avoiding him would be the best for both of us. I had to be the last person he wanted to see.

“Sure, you stay here and . . . You think he’s here to say sorry?” she asked.

I frowned. “No. He made up his mind. This is just a coincidence. Right?”

She shrugged and took out a fresh bottle of champagne from the cooler. “It’s just . . . I don’t know. You look good together.”

My stomach somersaulted. He looked good. He always looked good, but I knew his heart wasn’t mine. I just had to hide in here for a couple of hours and then I could get on with my last charter season.