‘Got it – I won’t be a sec,’ I said to the menfolk. To Hannah, I said, ‘Hot tea coming up, Hannah. Hang in there. Do you want toast too?’

‘Mmm, yes please.’ She licked her lips. ‘With lots of butter.’

I went below deck and assembled the odd array of beverages and snacks. Tea and buttered toast for Hannah. Beer and a bowl of salted peanuts for Josh and Duncan, and a Coke No Sugar for me. Okay, the nuts were for me too.

I made it up the ladder without spilling a drop – hot or cold. Hannah practically lurched at the plate of toast and stuffed some into her mouth – I figured I would probably have to make her more.

Duncan opened his beer, took a swig, and sighed out a satisfied, ‘Ahhh,’ as though he was in a beer commercial. ‘So, did Gary find you, or did you find us?’ he asked as he rested against the edge of the boat.

‘Gary found us – but only after we’d thought to head down the pier,’ Josh replied.

‘Yeah, sorry about that. Poor timing with most of us off the boat, but I didn’t want to miss this berth. Would have made for a shitty trip to Tinos tomorrow – pun totally intended.’

‘It’s cool, Duncan. We didn’t think you’d deserted us or anything,’ I said. Josh raised his eyebrows at me, and I laughed. ‘Well, maybe a little at first.’

‘Yeah, that’s a little closer to reality.’ Josh was such a bugger. I poked my tongue out at him. ‘That’s twice,’ he said.

‘What’s twice?

‘You keep poking your tongue out at me. I’m starting to think that either you like me – or you’re in the second grade.’

My first instinct was to poke my tongue out at him. I curbed it. Instead, I sent mock daggers at him through my eyes.

‘Oooh, you’re kinda scary when you’re mad,’ he joked.

Hannah piped in with, ‘I’m guessing that if Sarah really gets mad, she actually is scary.’ Duncan thought that was hilarious, as evidenced by a loud guffaw coming from the top deck of the boat where he was doing boat things.

‘What’s that supposed to mean? Are you turning on me too, roomie?’

Hannah waved me off. ‘You know what I mean. I heard all about that dinner with the rude Ossies from Marie. You don’t put up with anyone’s bullshit. You can own that, you know – it’s something I like about you.’

‘Whaaat? Liddle ol’ mee? Wha, Ima sweet as piah.’ I donned my best Southern accent and batted my eyelashes at her.

She rolled her eyes in reply. ‘Mostly you’re sweet as piah, but if something goes down, you’re the girl I’d want to have my back.’