Family Trees Read Online Free Page B

Shelby smiled back, noticing a smudge of ketchup on the collar of his short-sleeved, blue uniform.
    Derrick then returned his attention to Nic, rocking back and forth on his heels as the ferry forged effortlessly into open water. “So, when are you gonna take me up on my offer to grab a beer?”
    â€œListen, Romeo, you know that won’t happen anytime soon.”
    â€œStill with Hank?”
    â€œStill with Hank,” Nic confirmed.
    He turned to Shelby with a boyish grin. “So, Shelby, how ’bout you? You wanna grab a beer one of these nights?”
    â€œYou’ll get nowhere fast with this one. She doesn’t get out much,” Nic teased.
    Despite the truth in Nic’s statement, Shelby still felt its sting. “Ignore this one, Derrick, you’re better off without her,” Shelby countered. “It was good to see you.”
    â€œYou, too.” He left to collect passenger tickets.
    â€œCatch’ya later!” Nic called out. Derrick waved his hand over his head before ducking down to the passenger window of a silver sedan.
    Shelby turned to look out upon the lake. Watching bubbles of white water churn behind the ferry, her thoughts flowed back to her encounter with Benjamin before boarding the ferry. The way the child’s eyes squinted when he smiled. The faint peppering of freckles that crossed over the bridge of his round nose. Blond hair as fine and wispy as dandelion fluff. A contagious, wonderful laugh. Benjamin’s resemblance to his uncle Jeff was undeniable—and a bittersweet reminder of what she and his family had lost.
    â€œComing?” Nic motioned for Shelby to follow. They wove through the parked cars before climbing an iron stairway, as narrow and steep as a ladder, which led to the outdoor upper deck. Each step rang out with a metallic clang.
    Shelby found an open seat on one of the paint-chipped red benches near the back of the deck, while Nic ducked into the wheelhouse, as she always did, to greet the captain. Shelby didn’t mind. With the Island Queen running at top speed, she settled in for a quiet twenty-minute ride across the bay to La Pointe.
    Shelby enjoyed the sun’s warmth on her face, cooled by the wind that blew across the lake. She watched a regatta in the distance that was racing parallel to the ferry route. While the boats looked serene and graceful, she knew the level of energy aboard them was highly charged. The race was surely exhilarating, with clamorous commands to adjust the mainsails and tighten the jibs, waves crashing against the bows of the speeding vessels, and wind slapping against the billowing sails every time they came about.
    But here, from her perch atop the ferry, it looked like a watercolor painting in motion. Bold strokes of color darted across the blue canvas. A feathering of mist that hovered just above the water’s surface softened the edges of the landscape. She became lost in it. The lake had a way of taking away her worries. Concerns about the orchard and her grandparents’ ability to continue managing it as they aged. The suppressed resentment she felt for her mother. Her enduring grief over Jeff. And perhaps most of all, her inner compass that had lost its direction. The arrow kept spinning between a decision to stay in Bayfield out of family loyalty—or to branch out on her own.
    As the regatta moved on, Shelby imagined herself racing away with the sails, the wind, and the spray, and never looking back.
    Â 
    The Island Queen was barely secured to the ferry dock in La Pointe’s harbor when Nic grabbed Shelby’s hand and pulled her to her feet. “Oh yeah, it’s the weekend, baby!” she cheered, rousing her into a livelier mood.
    As Shelby made her way down the stairs to the ferry dock, she looked up and noticed Nic’s boyfriend, Hank Palmer, right away. It was hard to miss him, sitting in his car at the end of the dock, waiting for their arrival. Nic’s