The Cinnamon Bun Book Store (Dream Harbor, #2)(60)

Hazel was wearing the giant raincoat Noah had tossed her when the rain started and she pulled the hood further over her hair. They were under the small roof that covered the cockpit but the wind was driving the rain sideways and into the open sides of the boat. The life jacket she had fastened around her middle, squeezed around her ribs with each deep breath she tried to suck into her panicked lungs.

Noah’s face. Calm, determined, competent. She watched him, stared as though if she kept her eyes pinned to him, everything would work out. They would be safe. He glanced at her and winked. Winked. With water dripping down his face and his hands clutched tight to the steering wheel, he winked at her.

‘Nearly there,’ he shouted over the wind and the motors.

That was when Hazel saw it. The island coming up fast ahead of them, just a gray smudge against the gray sky. But the closer they got the more it resembled actual land, safety. Hazel nearly cried at the sight of it.

Relief was written on Noah’s face too, as they pulled up closer to the rocky coast of the small island. Waves crashed brutally against the big boulders.

‘There’s a dock around the other side of the island,’ he told her, keeping the boat close to the shore but not close enough to come up against the rocks. There were more hidden beneath the waves, she was sure. The area around Dream Harbor wasn’t known for its soft sand beaches. The sand they did have was coarse and rough and the rest of the shoreline was covered in rocks.

They made their way around the coastline and miraculously the wind lessened as they approached the other side of the island.

‘Less windy on the lee side,’ he said, flashing her a confident grin.

An old dock stuck out into the water and Hazel was immediately skeptical. It didn’t look sturdy enough to hold onto a canoe much less this boat. Would it even keep them here or would they just be tossed back out to sea?

‘It’s stronger than it looks,’ he said, reading her mind. ‘Been here for years.’

‘That doesn’t comfort me.’

A new layer of relief struck Noah’s features at Hazel’s words and she realized she hadn’t spoken in a while. He flashed her a smile.

‘Hang on tight.’

Noah turned the wheel, angling the boat to come up even with the dock, but with the storm, Hazel didn’t know if they’d make it. He dropped the boat into reverse to slow it down, like he’d explained to her earlier in the day, but with the wind and the waves, they were still approaching the dock fast.

‘Might be a bit of a rough landing,’ he said, eyes focused on the dock.

Hazel held tight to the railing, bracing for impact.

They were coming in at an angle and Noah started straightening out the boat to come parallel with the dock, even as the wind kept knocking them out of alignment again. Hazel’s insides churned as much as the water beneath them.

What if this didn’t work?

What if they broke this ancient dock?

What if she died a cold and watery death?

The boat thumped against the dock, jarring Hazel out of her doom spiral and nearly knocked her off her seat.

‘Sorry!’ Noah yelled over the wind. He was keeping the boat steady next to the dock with the hull banging ominously against the old wood.

‘Hold this.’

‘Hold the wheel?!’

‘Just hold it steady.’

Hazel got up on shaky legs and took the wheel because literally what else could she do? Noah hurried out of the cockpit and grabbed the rope to tie the boat to the dock. The boat, tipped and bobbed, pulling away from the dock and for one terrifying second, Hazel thought he would fall in.

But Noah managed to reach one of the dock pillars and grab on. He tugged and the boat came up flush with the dock and he wrapped the rope around an old metal cleat on the dock and did the same with the back of the boat.

If watching a man parallel park was sexy, watching him dock a boat in a storm was next level. He hurried back to where Hazel stood paralyzed with her hands on the wheel.

‘Good job, skipper.’ He kissed the tip of her nose and Hazel blinked.

She threw her arms around his neck and he let out a surprised laugh.

‘You saved us,’ she gasped.

‘It’s not actually that bad of a storm. I mean, I’ve sailed in worse.’

‘Noah!’ She pulled away, filled with righteous indignation. ‘You. Saved. Us.’

He shrugged, his smile growing. ‘I mean, if you want to tell people that I saved you, I won’t be mad.’

‘I’ll be telling everyone this story.’

He huffed a quiet laugh. ‘Okay, Haze.’

‘Okay.’ She glanced around. ‘Now what?’ The wind was less on this side of the island but it was still lashing rain against the sides of the boat and soaking its occupants. The boat still rocked beneath her feet.

‘Now we ride it out.’

Hazel’s brows rose. ‘Here? On the boat?’

Noah grinned. ‘Yep.’

‘But ... isn’t anyone here? To help us?’

‘Nope. This island’s been abandoned for at least a decade. Island living is rough out here. Most people can’t hack it.’

‘Oh. Shit.’

‘The worst of the storm is past us. Look.’ He held up his phone, showing her the weather satellite he’d been checking all day. ‘That’s the storm. And we’re here-ish. This thing is moving fast. We’ll be all right.’