The Deepest Blue Read Online Free Page B

sure you get what you want.” I put a hand on her leg.
    She backs up a little, but she doesn’t really move. She tips her head and looks at me sideways. “All I want is you. You’re the best thing in my life, and I don’t want you to leave me to go to college, or to move away, or whatever.”
    â€œI’m not going anywhere anytime soon, except out on the boat to work and maybe into Jacksonville next week for supplies.”
    Rachel sniffs, and I move closer to her. She doesn’t pull away. She lets me wrap an arm around her, and she lays her head on my shoulder.
    â€œBesides,” I add, “you’ll get sick of me long before I’m ready to move on.”
    â€œWon’t happen,” she says. She almost sounds convincing.
    â€œTime to go.” Mandy pops up from behind us, pointing toward the exit where her dad’s van is idling. The clouds have begun to break apart and scatter, and the sky is streaked orange and pink behind the blue-black clouds. I can smell the salt water from the ocean just a few blocks away mixed with the scent of pine kicked up by the storm. The air buzzes with the electric sound of cicadas.
    I keep my arm around Rachel as we move toward the car. She climbs into the backseat. I slide in next to her. Caitlyn and Trevor take the middle seat, and Mandy climbs in front. Bryce stands at the exit and waves goodbye as we pull away.
    We get to my house first, one of the few places in Atlantic Beach that isn’t overrun with hotels and condos. It’s an old beach house, just a few minutes’ walk from the Atlantic Ocean. Dad has upgraded it, fixed it, added to it, changed it, and basically worked on it for the past nine years. The gravel drive is made up of broken shells dredged out of one of the channels.
    Mr. Wilcox pulls in front of my door. The dome light in the car goes on as Trevor opens the door.
    â€œCall me later,” Rachel says.
    I smile and nod, then climb out of the car. “Thanks, Mr. Wilcox.”
    â€œWelcome,” he says in a friendly voice.
    Rachel blows me a kiss as Trevor shuts the door, and the car drives off. As I climb the steps to the front door, I realize I have a headache.
    I think about the argument with Rachel. My headthrobs. “Oh brother,” I say to myself. I walk to my bedroom, tug off my shirt and shorts, and flop on my bed to wait for morning.

chapter 4
    It’s six o’clock in the morning. The sky is still dark as Dad and I start prepping the boat for the Robinson’s charter. I make sure we have all the food and drinks we need for a group of four tourists, plus me and Dad. The water is calm in the marina, and the boat barely moves in its slip. It’s quiet except for the soft sloshing noise of water against the hull as Dad and I move around getting ready.
    I pull open the cupboard in the galley. There are four large boxes of saltine crackers, though I doubt we’ll need them today. The red streaks of clouds across the sky last night were a good sign for fishing today, according to the old saying, anyway: Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Calm waters and a lot of active fishing lines are what I’m expecting.
    â€œYou have a good time last night?” Dad asks as he curls the hose he’s been using to spray fresh water on the deck and sets it on the dock.
    â€œSort of, I guess.”
    â€œHmm, well that’s a little less enthusiasm than I expected. Everything okay?”
    I shrug. “I dunno. Rachel is just being weird.”
    â€œGirls are weird,” Dad says. “But that’s part of why we like ’em.”
    â€œShe thinks I ought to take my college money and buy a car when I’m sixteen.” I come up the stairs from the cabin and grab a towel so I can wipe the water from the cushions on the sailfin chairs. “She thinks I’m just going to take over your boat when you retire and run charters like you do.”
    â€œWhat do you