Undertow Read Online Free Page A

find more lucrative territory.
    Our first night at sea, we steamed ahead toward prospective crab fishing grounds late into the night. In lieu of having dinner with the others, I decided to stay in the captain's wheelhouse and attempt to further thaw the lifelong chill that existed between my father and me. The task still seemed insurmountable, but it was why I had agreed to come on the voyage, and I couldn't help but think it was why he had invited me. Years at sea had hardened him not only physically, but emotionally as well. It was a necessary job requirement as far as he and the others were concerned, but, even in my short time with him, I was encouraged by the glimmer of hope that he had not entirely lost his softer side—alongside lost friends, crew, and his wife— to the sea.
    “How long till we reach the grounds?” I asked, needing to fill the silence that had slowly closed in around us.
    “We should be there in about eight hours. Get some sleep, Aesa. You've had a long day.”
    “I'll stay up here with you, if that's okay. But I can go if I'm bothering you . . . ”
    He turned away from the darkness before him, a glint of light playing in his eyes from the dim light of the cabin.
    “You have never been a bother to me, Aesa. Of course, you may stay.”
    He held my gaze while we stared at one another across the tiny room, and I swore my heart stopped, if only for a moment. Never been a bother . . . His words echoed through my mind, contradicting so many things I had thought as a child, thoughts that had colored my adult truths. Perhaps I had been wrong about him. Perhaps I had been wrong about a lot of things.
    I wanted to press him right then and there—to sort out all of the things that had haunted me throughout my life—but I stopped myself short. First, I needed to get to know him as he currently was, then I would work backward through our perceived differences and injustices in an attempt to mend what had so long appeared to be broken. Sensing my hesitation, he continued on as if he knew my thoughts.
    “Aesa, would you like to bring some food up for us both? We could have a private dinner. It's been a long time since we've eaten together—as a family.”
    “Absolutely. I'll go get it now.” I jumped out of my chair and made my way down the deep and narrow stairwell that led to the galley below. I needed the escape far more than I could have imagined, feeling a tear escape the corner of my eye as I reached the bottom of the stairs. Not wanting the others to see, I quickly wiped it away, drawing my sleeve across my cheek before proceeding into the kitchen area where the crew was lively, full of energy and hopes for a speedy and profitable season.
    “Need something?” Robbie asked, his mouth full of the chicken they had prepared.
    “Dad just asked me to bring him some food. I'll just fix plates for him and me and get out of your way.”
    “Aren't you going to join us for dinner?” the young greenhorn asked, smiling wide. His cocky attitude was still intact, but there was a playful undertone to it that hadn't shone through before.
    “You scalawags? That seems highly unlikely, you know, for a captain's daughter,” I replied, keeping the grin that wanted to escape well hidden. My dry approach wiped his expression clean in a hurry. The immediate blankness that overtook his face made me crack, and I couldn't help but laugh out loud. “I'm kidding. I promised Dad I would eat with him. I haven't seen him in a long time. He thought it would be nice . . . to have a family dinner, of sorts.”
    “A long time?” Robbie asked with a raised brow. “That's a wee bit of an understatement, Aesa, wouldn't you say? Nine years is damn near a decade.”
    “Glad to see you paid attention in math class, Robert,” I replied, heading to the stove to pull two plates out of the cabinet above.
    “I pay attention to a lot of things, Ice. Don't get it twisted.”
    “Then you know how much I hate that