Page 65 of The Sailor

Chapter Twelve

Zach was pissed. Not at Marit, but at Lucas Pearson. How dare he harass Marit like he was? What was the point? What did he hope to gain? Zach had no idea, but the fact that the man was acting like a grade school bully didn’t sit well with him. Not at all.

Marit had been through hell at the hands of her brothers. And apparently down in Portland, as well. She didn’t talk much about Thorne Deaton, but she’d said enough for Zach to know she’d felt as if she had to leave for her own safety. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel that same way here in Rockville because of Pearson.

He needed to do something about it, but he wasn’t sure what. He hated that Marit hadn’t told him about the texts, but he hadn’t lied. He really did understand. Being part of a true family was new to her. Having people in your life who would support you no matter what, who’d have your back . . . it wasn’t something she’d experienced before.

And he could even understand her fear that he’d find himself in trouble if he stepped into the situation with Pearson. But Zach wasn’t dumb enough to do or say anything that might get him thrown into jail.

No, there were ways of dealing with Marit’s tormentor that would guarantee the man would slide back under whatever rock he’d crawled out from under. Zach and his family knew everyone in Rockville. Without doing anything illegal, they could get others in town to make Pearson’s life as miserable as he was making Marit’s.

“You okay?” Linc asked, as they took a break from moving boxes from their mom’s to the rental house . . . which was no longer a rental.

“No,” Zach said honestly. He briefly explained Marit’s situation, and what had been going on for months, and the fact that he’d just learned about the text harassment when they’d pulled into the driveway earlier.

“You want me to talk to him?” Linc asked.

That right there was something Zach vowed to never take for granted. The fact that he had people who would take on his burdens with no questions asked.

“Not yet. I’m thinking I’d like first crack at him. The man has got to understand that Marit is off limits. I don’t even understand why he’s continuing this asinine line of harassment. If Marit wasn’t good at what she did, no one would hire her. But the fact that Eliot has not only kept her on, but given her more and more responsibility, and even let her take his boat out a couple of times to do pot and buoy maintenance when he couldn’t be there, tells me everything I need to know. And it should tell all the other lobstermen around here the same thing. She’s a damn good fisherman. Why can’t he just leave her alone?”

“Because that’s how bullies are. But you’re right, there has to be another reason. Something more than just her gender. Does she have any idea why he hates her so much?”

“No.”

“Huh,” Linc said. “I mean, I could be wrong. Sometimes people just take an exception to others. There might not be a reason. Like how people bullied me when I was in high school, and they thought it was okay to treat me like shit just because I was different than them.”

“Speaking of which . . . how are things between you and Harper?”

Linc shrugged. “Don’t see her much. Don’t really talk to her either. Just in passing when I drop Kash off after spending some time with him.”

“You’re doing that more and more, aren’t you?” Zach asked.

“He craves male one-on-one time, and it’s not as if Victor will give that to him. The man just enjoys pointing out all his supposed weaknesses. He’s gonna lose his grandson if he continues to be such an ass to him.”

Zach didn’t disagree with his brother. But he did wonder why Linc was taking it upon himself to become Kash’s mentor. Deciding a change of topic was in order, he asked, “How are things with you? How’s your shoulder?”

“How’re your knees?” Linc countered.

Zach snorted. “About as good as they can be.”

“There’s your answer for me too then.”

Linc. He was stubborn as hell. The man’s shoulder had almost been ripped from his body in the crash behind enemy lines, but Zach supposed the very stubbornness that was driving him crazy at the moment had helped Linc put one foot in front of the other for a week as he evaded the enemy forces trying to track him down.

“She’s different,” Linc said after a moment.

For a second, Zach thought he was talking about Marit. Then he realized Linc was talking about Harper. That he’d circled back around to their previous topic.

Linc went on. “She’s struggling. Did you know she’s paying her father rent? That bastard is charging his own daughter to stay at his house. She’s working her ass off to make enough to pay her dad, while trying to give Kash the kind of Christmas she’s never been able to give him before. It sucks.”

Zach was a little surprised Linc cared so much. Especially after the way Harper had treated him when they were teenagers. But that had been a long time ago, and as Britt and Marit both pointed out, people changed. It seemed as if maybe Harper had learned a hard life lesson . . . and was still learning it.

A loud peal of laughter rang out from the other room, where their mom had been storing all the baby stuff she’d been accumulating.

Something occurred to Zach. He looked over at his brother. “What about the other rental house?”

“What about it?” Linc asked.