Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 86068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86068 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Once I bought the boat, I knew I needed someone to come with me. I got a captain to come on board. Every single day, he came on the boat and we went through everything. The training went on for four months. Four months of ten-hour days, we would take the boat out, and he would show me different things. I loved every fucking second of it. When summer turned into fall, he introduced me to Steven, who came with me as I took the boat from New York to Miami. It took us way longer than it should, but I knew the boat inside and out by the time we got there. When it was time to return to New York, he flew out and made the trip with me. It took us half the time. The only reason I loved coming back to New York was it somehow felt like coming home. Even though I went through the worst times of my life, it still somewhat felt like home.
“What do you have planned for the day?” I ask Beatrice as we walk down the path we take every single day and night. The sun is slowly starting to peek out. “I think it’s going to be a hot day.” I take another sip of my coffee as Beatrice turns around the bend. After the boat, the best thing I got was Beatrice. I was in Miami one day when I went for a run in the morning. Stopping for a second, I looked over at the window, and there she was, sitting in a pet shop just looking at me.
I walked in, and an hour later, I was leaving with a puppy and more shit than I knew what to do with. Because of my travel schedule, I never had a pet. I was never home long enough to want a pet, but now the time was my leisure. I laugh when I think back to the training stages. She really fucking hated those pee pads. She would pee right next to it while looking me in the eye. Just to tell me she was the boss, and even though I denied it, she was. She was the only woman in my life, and I was more than happy about that fact.
“I think we should take the boat out today,” I say once we get back to the dock. The sun is now up in the sky. There is more action on the dock as I scan my key card, and the door opens. “Yeah, the water seems calm. What do you think?” I ask as we walk down the dock, nodding at a couple of people out on their boats.
We walk down our dock row, and I see movement on the boat next to mine. “Morning,” Samuel, the manager of the marina, says to me when he sees me walking by.
“Morning,” I reply, looking at him as he takes down the for-sale sign on the boat.
“Looks like you’re getting a new neighbor,” he tells me, stepping off the boat and onto the dock. “I think they are going to come on today.”
“Sounds good,” I say, looking back at the boat that just went up on the market the week before. Beatrice doesn’t wait for me before she jumps onto the boat. “Have a nice day.”
I walk around, stepping on the boat and taking off my shoes right away. “Looks like we are getting new neighbors,” I inform Beatrice as I open the sliding door and walk in with her. “Who knows, they might have a friend for you to play with.” She sits beside her food bowl. “Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.” I grab the silver bowl and fill it with her food. I stand in the middle of the galley, looking out the big side window at the boat beside me, not knowing it will be another big thing in my life.
CHAPTER 3
VIVIENNE
My phone rings from somewhere under the mess on my bed. “Shit,” I mumble, trying to find the phone. I move around some clothes and find it at the bottom of the pile right next to my laptop. “Hello?”
“Ms. Grant,” I hear the man say. “It’s Samuel from the yacht club.”
“Hi,” I reply, sitting on the bed. “How are you?”
“Just fine, thank you. I was calling to let you know that I have your boat keys on my desk.”
The smile fills my face right away, and if I wasn’t dead tired, I would jump up with glee. “That’s great. Can I swing by and get them today?”
“You sure can.” He chuckles.
“Would I be able to stay on the boat tonight?” I ask with nerves, making my leg shake.
“The boat is yours, Ms. Grant. You can stay on it when you want,” he says, and I fist-pump the sky.