The Perfect Match: A New Adult Erotic Romance (Inseparable Book 2) Page 18

  “Come in,” Uncle Charlie yelled from inside.

  Kurt opened the door to find the cluttered office exactly as it had always been. The familiar scent of pipe smoke and engine oil soothed his troubled heart as he stepped inside. His uncle’s large frame spilled out of his old wood and leather chair. When he leaned back, the chair’s springs creaked and pinged as he narrowed his eyes at his nephew without saying a word.

  “I’m back,” Kurt whispered. “I was hopin’ you had a run going out. I’d be glad to fill in if you need a hand or a mate.”

  Uncle Charlie nodded slowly and said, “Going out on the St. Emiliana to do a pick-up run. Should be back here before New Years.”

  The ship was a thirty meter long platform support vessel they used to go out into the gulf for supply deliveries. When he’d left for Houston, there hadn’t been any jobs big enough for her until the middle of January at least. “Got a new client?” he asked.

  “Maybe,” he said. “We’ll be leaving in the morning. Wanna come over for supper? Marianne’s been cookin’ coq au vin all afternoon.”

  “That’d be nice,” Kurt said. “Could I stay over?”

  “Sure,” Uncle Charlie said with a nod. “I got some work to finish before I can leave, but I ain’t double-checked the St. Emiliana yet if ya’ wanna get a jump on the mornin’.”

  “I’ll go do it now. Is there a cargo manifest?”

  “Naw, we going out empty. If you get done before me, just head on over to the house. I’ll be along when I can.”

  Kurt backed out and closed the office door. It felt like he was walking a tightrope, but as long as he kept moving and looking forward he’d be alright. After going out the side door, he went down to the dock where his Uncle’s fleet of platform supply and crew vessels waited.

  At sixty meters, The Grand Béatrice was the largest in his uncle’s fleet and performed the longest runs out into the gulf. His eyes scanned the dozen smaller supply and crew ships until he saw his old girl, the St. Marie, which was the smallest of his Uncle’s ships at eighteen meters.

  As he stared at the St. Marie, he remembered the day he’d taken the kids out on the Atchafalaya river. Looking back, that had been a good day. He thought everything had seemed so hard and complicated then. Looking at that ship again, Kurt considered what he’d give to trade places with himself back on that day. Everything, he thought, I’d give everything.

  Forcing himself to continue, he waved at the security guard patrolling the docks and continued on to the St. Emiliana. After boarding her, he used his master key to enter the bridge and grabbed the clipboard with the checklist off of the bulkhead. Starting in the engine room, he began to work his way through the list and the ship, verifying everything was ready for the run.

  It was mindless work, but it felt good to do something productive. The crew had done a good job, but knowing Uncle Charlie was going to take her out would have kept them on their toes. When he finished the checklist, he sat down in the captain’s chair to stare out at the orange sunset.

  He thought coming back to Morgan City would hurt somehow. Driving through town didn’t feel like much of anything. After seeing Mandy’s car at his parent’s house, Kurt decided to keep going. He didn’t want to risk running into her daughter, Kendall. Ducking into Pawpaw and Meemee’s house without running into anyone was a miracle, but he did feel bad sneaking back out to avoid them when he left.

  Avoiding his family was only part of it. He still hadn’t turned on his cell phone. It was the coward’s way out, but Kurt was more concerned about keeping himself together at this point. He couldn’t face any of them, but as long as he kept moving, he wouldn’t have to.

  * * *

  The next morning, Kurt parked his car inside the secure parking lot next to the dock. He’d gone by the store on the way to his Uncle’s house the night before to buy replacements for the clothes and toiletries he’d left in Houston. Grabbing his new canvas duffel, Kurt locked the car and joined his uncle walking to the St. Emiliana.

  “You got a lot more clothes than usual,” Kurt said, looking at his uncle’s rolling suitcase.

  “Yeah,” he said. “I sho’ do. Where’s ya’ old duffel bag?” When Kurt looked over, he saw his Uncle giving him the eye.

  Uncle Charlie didn’t pry, but he didn’t share too much either unless asked. Kurt had realized about halfway through dinner that no one had asked how his Christmas had been or how Jack and his family were. They were treating him almost like he was a wild animal, trying not to spook him or make him bite.

  At first he was grateful they allowed him his space, but as he was driving to get on the ship he realized where Uncle Charlie might be headed. That was when the panic started. Kurt had to find out before he ended up trapped on a ship heading back to Houston.

  Uncle Charlie dragged his rolling back across the gangway that led to the door in the ship’s bulkhead. Kurt stopped before stepping off the dock as his panic made him sweat. “I can’t do it,” he whispered more to himself than his uncle.

  Uncle Charlie stopped and turned around to look at him. “We gonna be on this ship fo’ about a day before we get anywhere. There’s plenty of time to decide what you wanna do when you get there.”

  “How much do you know about what happened?” Kurt asked before moving an inch.

  “Only one way to find out,” he said, then turned around and went inside.

  Shutting his eyes, Kurt took deep breaths of the sea air. The scent of fish and diesel smoke stilled the panic until he could think again. Trust Uncle Charlie, he told himself. It’s the only way out of this mess.

  He forced his legs to move, walking into the ship with a grim determination that belied the simple act. Uncle Charlie was waiting just inside with a grin on his face. “First steps are always hardest,” he said. “Stow your gear and and I’ll see ya’ in the bridge after ya’ cast us off. You’re the first mate on this run.”

  Kurt was bunking in the common room with the three other crew members he knew. The ship normally took a crew of twelve when it went out for deliveries, but for a pick-up run between Christmas and New Years five was plenty. Greeting them each by name, they all shook hands and chatted while Kurt stowed his gear.

  When Uncle Charlie signaled he was ready to cast off over the intercom, Kurt got the crew moving. Before long, the rumble of the twin engines revving up made his feet tingle as Uncle Charlie took them through the intra-coastal waterway towards the open gulf.

  When the crew finished securing the ship, they went back to the galley to play cards while Kurt joined his Uncle up on the bridge. Neither man spoke until they entered open water, but Kurt could feel the tension eating at him the whole time.

  “So ya’ gonna tell me about it?” Uncle Charlie said as he dug out his pipe and stained leather pouch of tobacco. Kurt watched him load the bowl, tamping it down tight with his thumb before lighting it.

  “What do you know already?” he asked as he looked at the sky.

  “I know ya’ Uncle Jack is feeling pretty low about how he treated ya’.”

  Kurt shut his eyes and nodded his head. “He thought I did somethin’ wrong, but wouldn’t listen to me when I tried to explain.” Polly had told Trey about his job, but Kurt had told Polly. He didn’t cut himself much slack for that fuck up.

  “That’s between you and him,” Uncle Charlie said as he blew the fragrant pipe smoke out to drift against the windshield.

  “Yeah, I suppose it is,” Kurt said.

  “I also know you did the same thing your uncle did to a pretty girl.” Uncle Charlie had an unreadable expression on his face when turned to look at Kurt. “But that’s between you and her as well.”

  Kurt grit his teeth to hold back his rage. “You don’t know what she did.”

  “If you ain’t talked to her and let her explain, neither do you,” he whispered. The statement hit Kurt like a punch in the gut and left him gasping. “Your Uncle Jack stood where you are a couple of years ago. I’m gonna tell you the same th
ing I tol’ him. If you got one willin’ to love you, really love you, don’t ever throw her away, boy. That kind of regret will ruin a life.”

  Kurt stood looking at the squall line bringing dark skies and rain until the drops fell against the windshield. His uncle seemed content to smoke his pipe and listen to the wind and the rumble of the engines. Kurt thought about what his uncle said while hope battled his rage like the ship fighting the storm.

  * * *

  The St. Emiliana slowed as the bow thrusters moved her closer to the dock. Kurt didn’t recognize the area the dock was in, but Houston’s ship channel was one of the largest ports in the world and so far he’d only seen a little of it. He was busy tying off lines and running the electric winch to bring her in tight and wasn’t paying attention to the shore.

  “Yo! Kurt!” one of the hands called from the bow. “You got some crazy friends, dude!”

  Moving closer to the side he saw a small crowd standing between the dock and the nearby warehouses. Lisa and Jen were holding a sign they had obviously made themselves that read Welcome home, Uncle Kurt!

  The impact of seeing Jack, Julie, Charlotte, and the kids all standing there waving and shouting his name left him gripping the railing. He didn’t see Polly at first because she was standing in the back of the group behind Uncle Jack.

  “We got this, man.” The mate he’d been working with to run the wenches patted him on the back. “Go on and say hello.”

  Kurt went down to the dock-level door and lowered the gangway as waves of panic and relief shook his body. Forcing himself to keep an open mind, he stepped down the gangway and knelt to embrace his young cousins who rushed to see him.

  “Uncle Kurt! You’re back! You’re back!” With Jen on one side and Lisa on the other, he buried his face in their hair and hugged them tight.

  “Hey, I missed you,” he whispered. “Thanks for the great welcome sign.”

  “Aunt Polly and Aunt Charlotte helped us,” Jen admitted when they pulled back to let him stand.

  “I colored the letters!” Lisa shouted as she tugged on his hand.

  “You did a great job. I loved it,” he said, trying to keep it together.

  When he stood up and looked at the adults, his Uncle Jack stepped forward first with a slight frown. “I owe you an apology,” he said. “I hope you can forgive me.”

  Kurt took a deep breath and shook his Uncle’s hand. “I swear, I never told anyone.”

  “I know that now. I should have listened instead of taking out my frustration on you.”

  His admission stung Kurt’s conscience. Uncle Charlie had been right when he’d said Kurt had done the same thing to Polly. And there she was, standing back like she was afraid of his reaction. Staring at her face, he realized the others had stepped aside to open the way between them.

  She stepped forward until she was inches away. Her voice trembled as she spoke. “I overheard you and Jack talking the day you got your job. I told Trey the name of the company, but I was never with him after that night at the fire.” Her hand reached out but stopped before touching him.

  Her words sunk a knife in his chest, but they also freed his heart. He grabbed her then, pulling her close and crushing her in his arms. “I’m sorry,” he whispered next to her ear. “I’m so sorry.”

  She hugged him tight, then pushed him back to kiss him hard on the lips. Heat rose inside as her scent inflamed him, but he had to stop as the crew on the St. Emiliana began to hoot and whistle to egg them on.

  “We’ll talk later,” she said as she smiled at him. “But we’re going to get through this.”

  “Yeah,” he said as he laughed in joyous relief. “Yeah, we will.”

  * * *

  After eating dinner and putting the kids to bed, the adults ended up around the fire pit on the patio. Kurt had spent the whole day with Polly, unable to keep his hands to himself. He’d touched her on her back, put his arm around her waist, held her hand, always seeking to reassure himself he wasn’t dreaming. She was just as obsessive, welcoming his attention and giving him quick kisses in return as they spent the day with the family.

  Being able to let go of the poison Trey had injected in his mind had made all the difference. His biggest regret was how easily he’d been manipulated by his cousin. While Jack stirred up the coals and added wood to the fire, Kurt silently vowed to pay Trey back for everything he’d done to them all.

  Uncle Jack and Great Uncle Charlie had spent the day huddled around their laptops on the dining room table. Relieved to hear his Uncle Jack hadn’t lost his job, Kurt only got a sketchy outline from Polly about what he and Uncle Charlie were up to. When he pressed for more details, she gave him a sly grin and told him to ask Jack himself.

  After the fire was going strong, Uncle Jack sat back down on the loveseat and pulled Aunt Julie to cuddle under his arm. Uncle Charlie was sitting in a chair with his feet extended toward the fire smoking his pipe. Charlotte was between Kurt and their great uncle, huddled under a blanket as she smiled up at the sky.

  Polly came out the sliding glass door with two mugs of the hot tea her family drank, giving him one before sitting carefully on his lap. The tea didn’t have a strong scent, but he decided he liked its smooth flavor. The sound of the wind rustling the dry leaves above their heads kept the mood relaxed. Polly took another sip, wrapping her hands around the mug with a contented sigh.

  “Kurt, I’ve got a question to ask you, but I don’t want you to answer it tonight,” Uncle Jack said just above a whisper. That got Kurt’s heart beating like a drum, but he nodded for his uncle to continue. “Uncle Charlie and I are starting a local transportation company as a joint venture between Mouton Transport and Deep Drilling.”

  Jack’s announcement wasn’t that big of a surprise given the situation he was in. Uncle Charlie had been running his company successfully since he’d bought the St. Marie back in the 1980s. It was probably smart to share the risk and profit to keep both sides honest. He guessed they wanted him to run one of the ships, but he didn’t need a night to think about that. “Sounds like a smart thing to do.”

  “We’re going to start off with two ships, but Uncle Charlie can only spare a couple temporarily until the second week of January, two weeks from now.”

  Kurt frowned. Buying a platform supply vessel wasn’t like shopping for cars. New ships cost millions of dollars and they required marine engineers trained to perform the regular maintenance they required. Older ships were cheaper to buy, but could turn into a money pit unless they’d been well maintained. Often times older ships had replacement parts that didn’t match the original equipment specs, so you had to pay for professional inspections to know what you were really getting. “That’s impossible.”

  “There’s a couple a’ ships I had my eye on if the price was right,” Uncle Charlie said quietly. “They might do in a pinch.The problem is we need someone to run the St. Emiliana and the Celia Rose while someone else gets the ships to replace her.”

  “Wait, the Celia Rose is coming over, too?” Kurt asked.

  Uncle Charlie nodded. “CJ is bringing her in tomorrow. He tol’ me to tell you he got your car loaded without a scratch.” CJ was Charles Junior, his oldest son.

  That made Kurt laugh so hard he spilled a little tea on his leg. “You ol’ sea dog, you totally set me up, didn’t ya?” Uncle Charlie only smiled and blew out some more fragrant pipe smoke into the night air. “I don’t need to think about it all night. I’ll drive whichever ship you want me to.”

  “Uh... no,” Jack said with a wry look. “We want you to be our Director of Operations. I want you to work with Uncle Charlie to set up the whole thing and run it for us.”

  “I got too much on my plate to take on another operation here,” Uncle Charlie explained.

  “What?” Kurt asked, his mouth suddenly dry. “I don’t understand.”

  “We think Deep Drilling will let us lease the docks by their warehouse and set up an office there for now. We need to buy the ships, hire
staff, schedule the necessary maintenance, handle inventory, accounting, the works. You won't have to do all that by yourself, but you've been working closely with Uncle Charlie for a decade. You've learned from a master."

  Kurt realized why they wanted him to think on it. Uncle Charlie knew about his dyslexia. Surely he’d told Uncle Jack this was a bad idea, he thought. But when he looked at his Uncle Charlie he saw the same measuring stare he’d gotten in his office in Morgan City. “Do you think I can do it?” he whispered to his Uncle Charlie.

  “I did it once,” he whispered back. “I’m betting you can, too.”

  Polly put her tea down so she could rest her head on his shoulder. Kurt pressed his lips on her forehead and took deep breaths of her scent. The idea of taking the job filled him with equal parts excitement and dread. It was a huge undertaking in an insanely short period of time, and Jack’s company would probably go under if they tried and failed at it.

  The warm person sitting in his lap was snuggling in his arms and making it hard to think. He thought about having a desk job, being available to make a life with Polly. Their immediate problems might be over, but now Kurt had to make some hard decisions that would impact his life in ways he probably hadn’t thought of yet.

  “How long do I have to decide?” he asked his uncles, but Jack answered for them both.

  “We are still working out the joint venture details this weekend, but come January first we need to hit the ground running.”

  “I’ll give you an answer before then,” he promised as his stomach rumbled and burned.

  * * *

  It was obvious Polly expected Kurt to sleep with her in her apartment. Charlotte had been moved to the couch over Uncle Charlie’s protest that he could get a hotel room for a night or two. Julie ignored him and put fresh sheets on Jen’s bed for him. That left Polly pulling on Kurt’s hand when it came time for them to leave.

  The ride back to her apartment was short, but the silence made it feel longer to Kurt. He’d gone from feeling like he had no options left to so many it made his head spin. There was no question what Polly thought he should do from the thoughtful smile on her face.