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Embarrassed, Dean pulled himself up and limped past him, rubbing at his side. That would bruise. “I’m fine. Let’s get going.”
A morning of hard labor would clear his head and heart. There was nowhere else he wanted to be more than on the water that morning. Well, maybe one other place, but he refused to think about Emilie at his house, probably just waking up. He changed into some scrubbier clothes, not wanting to smell too heavily of fish when he returned home.
When Ranger gave the all clear, they headed out for the first catch of the day. The bay brimmed with fish that time of year, and they didn’t have to go far out to find a net full.
After they dropped the nets, the guys sat around him and stared at him.
Dean swiped at his mouth. He usually shaved after work, as food tended to get stuck in his facial hair. “What? Do I have something on my face?”
Roy nudged Ranger’s foot.
After a few seconds, Ranger cleared his throat. “Something happened yesterday when you met Emilie, huh?”
Dean stared back at them. They’d heard something for sure. Both of them lived with their families in Danvers, and it was only a matter of time before they heard about the rumor. “How did you hear?”
Roy stood up. “So, it’s true? You’re engaged? I couldn’t believe it when Betty’s friend called to ask. She said she saw you together at Busy Bee’s.”
Dean sighed. His workers gossiped too much. Telling them the truth wouldn’t be the best thing to do, not yet at least. “I’m engaged to Emilie Carter.”
Roy sat next to him on the bench and slapped him hard on the shoulder, propelling him forward. His ankle smarted as it rolled against the wooden floor. Immediately, Roy reached for Dean and settled him back on the bench. “Sorry, man, don’t know my own strength sometimes.”
Dean tried laughing through the pain without success. How was he going to ice it around Emilie without worrying her? “It’s fine. I’m sure you’re both surprised. We’re private about the whole thing and only announced it yesterday.”
Ranger stared at him with wide eyes. “I can’t believe you two are getting married. You’ve liked that girl for forever.”
That was the truth. Glad to change the subject, Dean pointed to the wiggling nets. “Better get started.”
The three men grabbed at the heavy load, pulling it up together.
Ranger ran a hand over the flopping fish. The sun hadn’t risen yet, and their silver bodies glimmered in the floodlights. “Oooh, Boss. You were right. This is incredible.”
Dean nodded. “Let’s start.”
Roy and Ranger placed the bigger fish in the ice cooler while he focused on the tedious task of throwing the tiny ones back into the water. Their little bodies wriggled in his hand as he picked them out of the net and dropped them back to safety. Their first load brought in a few halibut, plenty of tuna, and more than enough scup fish. He threw half of the scup back, since most people didn’t like to mess with their tiny bones.
After another load of similar catch, they headed to the docks to give their catch to Sammy, who helped them tie up and unload. Instead of Sammy cleaning the fish by himself, Dean asked to be left behind as his crew went out for their second catch of the day.
“You want to stay with me, tagata malie?” Sammy looked skeptical. He scratched at his skinny belly a few times. “It’s a bloody, stinking mess.”
“Yes, I want to.” Dean helped heave the cooler of fish closer to the dockside filet tables. “I want to get my mind off of things for a while.”
Sammy smiled, and his white teeth glinted in the early morning sun. “Yeah, I heard you’re engaged. Is that true, man?”
Dean distracted himself by separating the fish into groups—hardest to clean to easiest. “Maybe, but let’s talk after the guys go back out again.”
They prepped a full table while the guys unloaded, rechecked everything, and headed out for another catch on the water. Dean was practically bursting to tell Sammy the truth. His island friend didn’t get caught up in rumors around town, so he’d be safe to trust with a secret; his other crew, not so much. It was torture waiting for them to leave.
When the boat was safely out of sight, he slapped a dead fish on the table. “Emilie and I are fake engaged.”
Sammy dropped his knife then picked it up again and chopped off a fish’s head in one clean cut like nothing surprising had been said. “Fake engaged, huh? What does that mean?”
Dean shrugged. “Finn tracked us down at Busy Bees and told Emilie he was engaged to Ava, even invited her to their wedding. I couldn’t just stand there while he asked her if she’d be bringing a plus one.”
“So you’re wanting to be her plus one, for like forever?” Sammy beamed over the table as he pulled the spine from the tuna with one sharp jerk.
Dean’s stomach was usually pretty tough, especially around fish, but it rocked unsteadily as Sammy shook the thin skeleton at him. “No, I didn’t say that.” In an instant, his thoughts returned to the kiss he and Emilie shared. One didn’t do that if it meant nothing, right? No way was that a brotherly kiss. Could she feel more for him? He pushed down the hope growing inside him, remembering how nonchalantly she’d moved on to another topic.
Sammy slapped Dean’s shoulder, sending a line of fish guts running down his arm. “Don’t you worry, brother. She’ll see the light, and if she doesn’t, you can always marry my sister.”
