Sailing at Sunset - Cindi Madsen Page 0,88

term. I just…” How to put it into words?

“Didn’t want to get hurt again, so you got scared and messed it up,” Nancy said. “Yeah, we know.”

If they mentioned the word “scared” one more time! But as he slumped back and truly let himself consider the possibility…

The truth was, he’d dragged his feet from the beginning. Told himself not to let himself get sucked in by Danae’s charms or her smile or her absurd planner. He’d declared that he was never settling down. He could only imagine how that sounded to Danae. And instead of trying to find a solution, he’d basically given her an ultimatum and shoved her toward her ex-boyfriend.

He dropped his head in his hands and plowed his fingers through his hair. “I’m an idiot.”

While the pat on his back felt a bit condescending, he realized Tinsley didn’t mean it that way. Especially since she added, “The good thing about having friends like us at the marina is that we can help you figure out how to fix it.”

His phone chimed, and he frowned. That wasn’t the usual sound it made when he received a text or a call. As he pulled it out of his pocket, he saw a reminder alert. One he hadn’t set.

Just like that, a lightbulb over his head clicked on, glinting with an idea that probably edged a smidge too close to crazy.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Just as she had the day she’d received the email with the Evite, Danae stared at it until the image swam in two.

You’re invited!

Please join us for the official boat-christening ceremony.

Josh Wheeler, Bayside Marina, Slip 7

Danae was fairly certain this was the longest she’d gone without blinking, and despite her watering eyes, she kept her lids plastered open. As illogical as it was, she worried if she blinked, the Evite with Josh’s name on it would disappear.

While also hoping that it would magically morph into a different message, because seeing his name picked at a wound that hadn’t begun to heal.

She’d ended up opening and gawking at the invitation every day since Monday, when it had first hit her inbox. She had told herself that on Friday afternoon, she was going to find her own sense of closure by deleting it.

Which meant she got to torture herself with it for one more hour.

Seriously, though, how ironic was it that before their trip, she’d been so annoyed that Josh wouldn’t email her. Now she was insanely exasperated that he had.

Why did he decide to go ahead with the ceremony? Did I get in his head like he embedded himself in mine?

Or is he proving a point—that he plans on living on his boat forever and ever?

“Hey,” Mark said, and she jumped. She clicked to minimize the window but made it bigger instead—on par with her crummy day, really—and guilt curdled in her gut.

There was no way Mark could miss the giant invitation onscreen. Not with the bright blue and yellow and red. Colors that represented stability and cheeriness and passion. It also had a cartoon anchor and the word “ahoy” across the top, and she couldn’t imagine Josh picking it out.

Then again, she was probably overthinking, the way she tended to do.

Finally, Danae managed to exit her email, her pulse racing as quickly as her fingers had. With the Evite out of view, she inhaled a fortifying breath and swiveled in her chair to face her ex. “What’s up?”

Even though she’d closed the image, Mark’s eyes remained fixed on her computer screen. He pressed his mouth into a tight line, and the stack of papers in his hand rustled as he extended them her way. “I brought you some of last year’s financials so that we can complete the comparison report.”

Phew. It’s not about him and me. With every passing day that she couldn’t stop thinking about Josh, she grew more certain that she couldn’t simply resume dating Mark.

“I also wanted to talk to you,” he said. “About us.”

Ah, hope. So fleeting. How hadn’t she learned that lesson by now?

Mark tugged on his ear, the corner of his mouth lifting in a bittersweet half-smile. “I’ve been trying to be patient while we finalized the new campaign with Mr. Barton. It’s taken up a lot of extra brainpower and time, and I know how you get when your focus is on a project. But we wrapped up that part of the process yesterday, and still, nothing.”

“I’m so sorry, Mark. I’ve been so mixed up with work and everything else on my