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He grinned, stirring the pot once more and looking thoughtful. “We make such a good team.”
He’d mentioned this before, but something about his tone took Laura by surprise. Team almost sounded like…couple. She tried not to let her thoughts go there. That was a black hole of insecurity waiting for her.
“We do, don’t we?” she said, keeping her voice light. She turned away from him and glanced at the television in his living room, running on mute. The local news had a story about the flooding in nearby Smuggler’s Cove. Laura hoped everyone was okay.
“I really am amazed how quickly you picked up the sailing,” Mark said. “It takes people months, even years, to learn what you’ve done in such a short time.”
Laura shrugged. “You’re a good teacher,” she said simply, even as she kept her attention on the television. “You think the rain will stop by tomorrow for the race?”
“The forecast says it will, and there might be a hurricane forming out there, but if it does, everyone says it’ll miss us,” Mark said. “I’ve been monitoring the weather.”
“Looks like someone up there is looking after you,” she said.
Mark hesitated as he stirred. He smacked the spoon on the side of the pot. “You know it’s okay if we don’t win,” he said, not meeting her gaze.
“No!” Laura squeezed his arm. “Don’t say that. We can win. Garrett thinks so, right? So do Gretchen and Tim. Don’t start planning for defeat. That’s what my mom used to say. When she cheered my sister and me on in little league soccer.” Laura remembered those days so vividly. Her mom so loud on the sidelines, jumping out of her folding lawn chair so much she wondered why she even brought it to the games.
Thinking about her mom and Maddie made Laura remember the spat she’d had with her sister. She still hadn’t heard from Maddie. No texts, no calls, no emails. Laura wasn’t going to be the one to apologize first. Not this time. Even though, at moments like these, she was sorely tempted. But the fact was, Laura still didn’t think she’d done anything wrong. It was time her sister learned to respect her boundaries.
“Must’ve been a great woman,” he said. “I’m sorry she passed.”
“She was very unhappy and I hope she’s found the peace she was looking for.” Laura hugged herself. “Maddie never forgave Mom. Not really, for taking her own life. I get that. I’m mad at her, too.”
“She shouldn’t have left you.” Mark hit the pot with the spoon too hard, and a bit of sauce splattered on the countertop. Laura grabbed a towel and sopped it up. She wondered where the sudden show of emotion came from. “I don’t like the idea of her leaving you…alone.”
“Well, I had Dad. And Maddie. And I was grown, but I guess, I mean, we still need our parents, even when we’re grown. But yeah, I get what you mean.” Did he care? Was that why he seemed so angry on her behalf?
Laura stirred the boiling pot of spaghetti, and scooped up a limp noodle. She blew on it and then tasted it. Perfect.
“Pasta’s ready,” she said. She grabbed pot holders and gingerly took the oversize pot to the stove, where she dumped the pasta into a metal sieve in the sink. Pretty soon, they’d dished out plates and sat to eat at the breakfast bar, sitting shoulder to shoulder. Even a day in had made both of them ravenous, probably because they’d spent most of it out of their clothes.
Laura found she’d devoured half the plate before she even took her first breath.
“Boy, you were hungry,” Mark said, not even a quarter of the way into his own meal. “You clearly worked up an appetite today.”
Mark wiggled his eyebrows, and his reference to their naked wrestling was clear. She felt her face grow hot. “That I did,” she said and giggled.
As they dug deeper into their meal, Mark grew serious.
“So how are you feeling about tomorrow?”
“Good. Why?” Laura spooled pasta around her fork and sent a big bite into her mouth.
Mark pushed spaghetti around on his plate. “I just want you to know that the race tomorrow, it can get intense. But even if we don’t win—hell, even if we don’t finish—it’s okay.”
“But what about the prize money? What about you sailing around the world?” Laura was down to her last couple of bites. She had inhaled her food. Normally, she never ate this fast.
“I’ve been thinking lately that maybe I should think about other options,” Mark admitted.
It was the first Laura had heard of this. “Why? I thought you wanted to see the world. Be closer to Timothy.”
