Sailing at Sunset - Cindi Madsen Page 0,10

her goodbye. As quick as his feet could take his forty-year-old body, he headed away from the buzz of the party toward the blissfully quiet section of the marina. He paused at George and Nancy’s empty slip, finding himself surprisingly sad at the idea of not sharing his usual trip recap. He reached into his pocket and fiddled with the barnacle-covered seashell he’d picked up for Nancy’s collection.

Then he continued on, each thump of his soles against the wooden walkway loud in the quiet. The silence only intensified as he boarded Solitude and headed downstairs, into the cabin.

There were his bed and his pillow, and everything else he’d longed to get home to. Suddenly it didn’t feel like the respite he’d been dreaming of.

He lowered himself onto the foot of the bed and kicked off his shoes. After shedding his jeans in favor of comfy shorts, he lifted his cell phone. The email that had refused to load earlier finally finished downloading, and Josh tapped the “Final FINAL Itinerary.”

Most of the fun bonding activities had been replaced with strategy meetings and brainstorming sessions. What the difference was between those two, Josh had no idea. As he skimmed through the list, he envisioned an older woman with perpetually pursed lips and a buttoned-up cardigan.

What was the point of chartering a trip to sit in the ship and do exactly what they did in the office? During Josh’s stint as a financial advisor, he’d been far too familiar with that type of work, work, work environment, with its suffocating cloud of tension and stress. If anything, he owed it to the people Danae worked with to resist at least a few of her changes.

Josh shook his head and tossed his phone aside. He could argue with Danae Danvers tomorrow. If he’d known he’d be dealing with her instead of the easygoing man who’d originally called and booked the trip, he might’ve refused.

Too late now.

As he sat in bed, contemplating TV versus sleep, a part of him missed the Riveras and their happy chatter. His nostalgia kicked into high gear as he recalled the years when he and Jane had bonded over wizard books. Those days when she used to show up at his house during her college years to ask for advice on classes, her major, and boys.

Now she was living her own, grownup life.

His sister was having a baby, Nancy and George had their family, and he had…well, he had his solitude.

The thing he swore he wanted. He didn’t want to be one of those people who finally achieved their dreams, only to find themselves unsatisfied. But as he climbed into bed, loneliness wrapped around him, heavier than his blanket.

If only coupledom didn’t come with so many complications…

Even as his logical side balked at the notion, Josh couldn’t help thinking that once in a while, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to have someone to come home to.

Chapter Four

“Seriously? We’re half an hour away from pushing off for eight whole days, and still no response,” Danae muttered, and her Uber driver glanced at her in the rearview mirror.

“What was that?”

“Nothing. It’s just…” She gripped the headrest on the passenger seat and scooted forward as far as her belt would let her. “If someone texted or emailed you, you would take the time to answer, right?”

“Um, usually.”

“Exactly.” With a harrumph, Danae sat back and refreshed her email. No reply from Josh magically appeared, and her nerves stretched to the fraying point. She was already going to have her hands full with her team, and she didn’t need another person to manage.

Since he hadn’t bothered responding yet, she might as well make a few last tweaks. While she hated to mark up the papers she’d printed for everyone last night, she had a handy roll of correction tape in her purse. Thanks to all her practice in writing in tiny print in her planner, she doubted anyone would even notice they had been altered.

We can definitely squeeze in a think tank session as we cruise around the harbor. That sounded better than brainstorm, especially since the word “storm” wasn’t always welcome at sea.

Danae rolled correction tape over the hour reserved for learning the parts of the boat. If anyone hadn’t memorized the sailboat diagrams while working at the company, she could cover the basics in ten minutes. Then they could use the rest of the time to get a jumpstart on the campaign.

To cut down on complaints and make sure