Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79190 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
“Wanna head to the pier?”
He shook his head. “No, I need a break and need to think.”
“About what?”
Dune looked at his best friend and smirked. “About how to get her back.”
dune
After Dune convinced his dad to drive him and Wilson back to the docks, the guys sat on the Blue Lobster Adventures party barge and continued to drink. That hadn’t been the plan. Dune didn’t want to be anywhere near work, the boats, or near Caroline’s cottage. He wanted to stay home and wallow, but best laid plans often end up waylaid when someone like Wilson has a brilliant idea. Technically, it was Speed’s idea. Only he had it at the beginning of summer. Dune’s thoughts were everywhere but where they needed to be—how was he going to win Caroline back.
Every idea Dune came up with, he put the kibosh on immediately. He thought about sending her roses, but he didn’t know if she would be at the cottage in the morning or late afternoon when the florist would deliver. He could find an old boombox and serenade her, but he didn’t know her favorite song, and he had no idea where he’d find a boombox.
Wilson suggested Dune go over to the cottage and dance for Caroline. He meant it as a joke, of course, and Dune about died from choking on his beer.
“First thing,” Wilson said as he held his beer can up. “Is we need to stop this.” He shook the can for emphasis. “Muddled thoughts will get us nowhere.”
“In the drunk tank if we’re not careful.”
Wilson bellowed out a laugh, right along with Dune. One time, Dune, Wilson, and Speed had been “arrested” when they signed up for a March of Dimes fundraiser. Everyone participating was supposed to be taken to a restaurant where there was a makeshift jail. The arresting officer took the three of them to the old jail, which was extremely haunted, and told to wait for their parents. Hours went by. It turned dark and they started to worry. That was until the local police chief told them their parents weren’t coming. The parents had banded together to teach the boys a lesson and tame their wild streak. After a wide-awake night in the slammer, regardless of it being old and out of commission, the boys changed. They partied less and worked more.
“Is there more or are you out of thoughts?” Dune asked.
“No, there’s more.” Wilson stood and paced the length of the pontoon boat. “What’s the one thing Caroline wanted more than anything?”
Dune shrugged. “She likes dancing.”
“So, take her dancing.”
“Uh . . . I did,” he pointed out. “I turned Carter’s into a nightclub or whatever you want to call it.”
“I get that but take her dancing.”
“I don’t follow.” Dune furrowed his eyebrows and squinted, as if doing so would enable him to read Wilson’s mind.
Wilson spread his arms out. “Let’s turn this into a real party barge.”
“Isn’t it one already?”
Wilson shook his head, clearly exasperated by Dune. “Sure, we take this out for the occasional ‘party’ but it’s only when someone books the barge. We haven’t taken it to the sand bar and hosted anything or done anything for us. That’s what I’m saying, do something fun. Let’s decorate this sucker, string some lights, stock the bar, and bust out the Bluetooth speaker. Take Caroline out for one last hurrah. Romance her. Give her a reason to love Seaport more than ever.”
“Hasn’t she seen that part of me?” Dune asked. “Not to sound like a broken record, but Carter’s.”
“I get it, but while Carter’s might have been for her, it quickly became a place for everyone. If you take her out on the boat, under the lights, it’ll just be the two of you. That’s some seriously romantic shit, right there.” Wilson nodded, agreeing with himself.
“I don’t know.” Dune hesitated. The idea was certainly nice and inviting, but he feared the letdown that would come with her saying no. “She wouldn’t listen to me when I was there, pleading my case. What makes you think she’ll go out on a boat with me?”
“There’s only one way to find out.” Wilson walked off the boat and up the ramp of the dock, only to return with a broom and a bucket of who knew what. He held a rag and the broom in his hands. “Pick?”
Dune took the broom.
“Regardless of whether this works or not, we have all summer to entertain people. Adding some pizazz to the barge only benefits the company.”
Dune couldn’t disagree with Wilson’s logic.
“This sucks,” Dune said as he swept the floor.
“Cleaning?”
“No, begging for forgiveness for something I didn’t do.”
“Doesn’t matter if you did anything or not.” Wilson wiped down the seats.
“Why not?”
“I dunno. It’s one of those unwritten rules of relationships. Besides, it’s all your drama with Bryant, you have to apologize for.” Wilson went to the bucket and pulled out a pile of stringed lights and sighed. “This is worse than Christmas.” He sat down and began to untangle the mess.