Contents ( 66)
- Cover
- Books by Valerie Fraser Luesse
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Map of Florida
- one
- two
- three
- four
- five
- six
- seven
- eight
- nine
- ten
- eleven
- twelve
- thirteen
- fourteen
- fifteen
- sixteen
- seventeen
- eighteen
- nineteen
- twenty
- twenty-one
- twenty-two
- twenty-three
- twenty-four
- twenty-five
- twenty-six
- twenty-seven
- twenty-eight
- twenty-nine
- thirty
- thirty-one
- thirty-two
- thirty-three
- thirty-four
- thirty-five
- thirty-six
- thirty-seven
- thirty-eight
- thirty-nine
- forty
- forty-one
- forty-two
- forty-three
- forty-four
- forty-five
- forty-six
- forty-seven
- forty-eight
- forty-nine
- fifty
- fifty-one
- Epilogue
- Keep Reading for a Preview of Valerie Luesse’s Next Book!
- Prologue
- one
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Back Ads
- Back Cover
As they went to supper together, Peyton grinned at his aunt and said, “Have I told you how lovely you look, Aunt Gert?”
“Oh, hush.”
fourteen
Peyton had taken to riding his bike early each morning, pedaling all over the city and even venturing out on A1A, just to see what it would feel like. Now that he was acclimated to St. Augustine, Aunt Gert decided it was time for him to “embrace the Atlantic” and summoned Finn to teach him how to handle a boat in the ocean. They wouldn’t be taking the Madame, which wasn’t built for rough weather should any arise, but instead headed out in Finn’s fishing boat. He had walked Peyton through all the controls and then put him in the captain’s seat. Right now they were cruising through the familiar pass from the Matanzas to the Atlantic, but instead of steering toward Anastasia, Peyton would be going straight out to sea.
This morning, a stiff wind was blowing, making the water a little choppy. “Now the thing you want to remember,” Finn was saying, “is you gotta work with the sea. You’re an intruder as far as she’s concerned, so you gotta mind your manners and pay attention when she talks.”
Peyton grinned at him. “Sounds like a girl.”
“Ha! Just like. Only I always found the Atlantic more forgivin’ than any o’ my women, even in stormy weather. Okay, now look right there. The swells are gettin’ bigger an’ you gotta learn how to ride ’em. Keep the bow fairly low and aim for a slight angle as you go into it. You don’t want to hit a wave straight on ’cause that’s kinda like hittin’ a buildin’ head-on. On the other hand, you don’t want to get sideways in the trough, which can roll you. An’ remember—the rougher the seas, the slower you go. If it gets really bad, you might have to heave to and ride ’er out, but I don’t think we’ll be runnin’ into anything that bad today.”
Peyton followed Finn’s instructions and soon was riding the occasional big swell without any problem. When they were just beyond sight of the shore, Finn told him to shut off the engine and showed him how to drop the boat’s anchor. Then he pulled a beer and a Coke from an ice chest on deck and handed the Coke to Peyton.
“I’d say you made a fine showin’ for your first lesson,” he said. “You keep this up an’ you could take on ferryin’ jobs pretty soon.”
“What’s that, Finn?”
“Your rich leisure fishermen that live on the mainland will pay you to ferry their boats down to the Keys or wherever they mean to go for their trophies. Pays good.”
“Don’t you need some kind o’ license?”
“You do,” Finn said with a smile, “but that can be handled.”
“How long have you had your boat, Finn?”
“Longer’n any woman—’cept Gert, o’ course, but that’s different. Gert’s my best friend—best one I ever had, man or woman.”