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“I haven’t thought about anythin’ else. I guess we were wrong about that drydock. She’d had that slow leak for a while now, then Jason ran over a damn reef when he was fillin’ in for me last week. And, of course, the bilge pump failed again.” Tommy sat opposite him.
“That damn bilge pump.” Alex shook his head. “I was there with Jason—it’s not like he ran us aground. A wave just tossed us against the reef.”
“The best I can figure, that bump might have knocked the driveshaft seal loose and she started takin’ on water. And without a workin’ bilge pump . . .”
“Yeah, that makes sense. This is my fault. I should have told Hope we needed to dry-dock the boat, regardless of the cost. I just didn’t want to floor her with how much it would be. She’s been watching the bottom line pretty carefully.” Alex ran a hand over his face. “Too late now.”
Tommy laughed, and Alex looked up, startled. “Stop bein’ such a prick.”
“Great, you too? Turtle Guy wasn’t enough?”
That made Tommy laugh harder. “Yeah, I was startin’ to wonder if I was gonna have to pull you off that guy.” Then he became serious. “That’s not what I’m talkin’ about, though. Man, why are you always so hard on yourself? This was an accident. The boat hit some coral, loosening the seal, which failed on our trip to the dive site, and when the damn bilge pump broke again, she sank. That’s how it usually happens—a bunch of little things happen at once and cause a big thing.”
Tommy met Alex’s eyes. “Out there, you told me not to blame myself. Now I’m tellin’ you the same thing, man.”
CHAPTER 36
Hope trudged with exhausted steps, in need of a drink. Upon her return that evening, she grabbed a bottle of white wine from the restaurant refrigerator along with a glass and made her way down the pier, inspecting the newly installed swing. Wood framed to match the palapa around it, its four-foot waterproof vinyl cushion enticed. She sat down on it, enjoying the back-and-forth motion as she poured a glass.
Hope had experienced a moment of guilt walking by Alex’s apartment without alerting him. He wanted to talk to her about a new dive boat, but she couldn’t face it tonight. Not after her battle. The past few days had been beyond exhausting, and she was running on fumes. Her eyes grew heavy with the gentle movement of the swing.
“Hope, what are you doing?”
Yelping, she dropped the bottle on the wooden deck and nearly broke her glass before whirling around. Alex stood there, brows lowered.
“Don’t you ever make any noise?”
He sat next to her. “I was about to text you, then I noticed you out here. I’ve been worried about you since you stormed out of the lobby earlier. Why are you sitting out here alone?”
She poured a generous amount of wine into the glass and handed it to him. “Here. I’ve only got one glass. You take it—I can just drink straight from the bottle.”
“I take it things didn’t go well at the insurance company?”
Hope gave a low growl. “The agent was a malignant little troll with a very high opinion of himself.” She put the bottle down. “I set the police report in front of him, sat down, and told him I wasn’t moving until he approved my claim. He told me this was highly irregular, and he couldn’t possibly do anything for me today. So I smiled sweetly at him and told him he better get comfortable because I wasn’t leaving without my money. That was . . . about 1 p.m., I think.” She laughed. “By 4:30, he was visibly sweating.”
“You sat in his office for over three hours?”
“You’re not the only one who can be stubborn, Mr. Monroe. I asked if he preferred pizza or pasta for dinner, and he finally caved. He had the claim approved by five and said the payment would hit our bank account in five to ten business days.”
She rubbed her eyes with both hands. “He emphasized that he was doing it as a one-time courtesy, and I should be very grateful. So I said, ‘Well, hopefully you’re enough of a gentleman to give me the couch to sleep on because I’m not leaving until that payment posts.’”
Hope laughed and looked at Alex’s astonished face. “Oh, he was so mad! I think he was desperate to get rid of me at that point. So he got started processing the wire transfer, and I came around his desk to watch him do it. I didn’t trust him an inch, little bastard.”
Alex’s laughter had been building during the last of her story.
“What?”
“Nothing—go on.”
“In the end, I got it done. He said since it was finalized before 6 p.m. the payment should post sometime tonight, so I left. He probably locked the door after me.” She wrapped an arm around the frame of the swing. “I drove home like a maniac and refreshed my bank balance for the next two hours. The payment posted about eight, and we now have $100,000 to buy the new boat.”
Hope picked up the bottle again and held it up to him as a toast before taking a big swig. Setting the bottle back on the ground, she continued to lean forward, rubbing her face with both hands. “I cannot believe how tired I feel right now. I could go to sleep just like this.”
“That looks really uncomfortable. Come here.” Alex gathered her up and shifted her sideways so her legs were across his lap, and he cradled her upper body in his arms.
“I felt like I slayed a dragon an hour ago. What happened?”
“The adrenaline wore off. Now you’ve got the hangover.”
