Page 48 of Standing Still

I watch through the window as she hurries down the street. I turn to see Denny watching me. His brows arch. I flip him my middle finger. I have no reason for hanging around here and decide to head out, too.

I notice Claudia staring at the door where Elle disappeared. I didn’t really think there was much to it earlier when Elle said there was something about her, but watching her now… I’m not so sure.

I head home, leaving Denny with the Mustang and a warning look. I could have embarrassed the shit out of him in front of his girl, but I chose to be the bigger person. The rest of the afternoon, I spend working on the table I’ve been making, trying to focus on not wondering what Elle is doing.

I haven’t heard from her since she left the diner and by dinnertime, as I’m waiting for my pizza to cook and playing fetch with Jedi in the backyard, I start to feel a little pissed off about it. I have far too much pride to chase her.

I hate second guessing myself, but after I’ve checked my phone too many times to be normal for a man, I take a shower, get everything ready for work and get into bed.

Heavy rain is falling when I head out in the morning and the sky is darker than usual, even at this early hour of the morning. Charlie is already out by the boat when I get to the office. He’s standing on the dockside, staring out at the water. He bends down and looks at something crawling along the wooden floor, then standing up. I shout out, but he doesn’t acknowledge me. I shake my head and go inside.

Dev and Dale are grabbing waterproof gear from the lockers in the back hallway. Sarah isn’t here yet. She doesn’t usually get in till eight thirty, after dropping her kids at school.

“Morning boss, any news?” Dev asks when he sees me.

“Not yet,” I say, heading over and grabbing my gear from him. He looks at me, opens his mouth, then obviously thinks better of it. “What’s up with Charlie?” I ask, pulling on my waterproof pants over my jeans.

“Charlie is being Charlie,” Dale says, pulling up his hood and heading out.

“He was grumbling about checking things out, cos ofthe storm.”

“This is hardly a storm.” I pull on my jacket and step into the huge boots we wear to help keep our feet on the deck, especially in the wet conditions.

“You know what he’s like. He’s saying it’s gonna get worse. Oh, Anthony called in. He shit the bed or something.”

“The fuck?”

“Yeah, he ate something bad.”

“Wasn’t our seafood, though?”

“Hell no,” Dev slaps my shoulder, grabs his bag and heads out.

I turn to see Rex with a clipboard in his hand. He writes something on it, then hangs it back on the wall. “Hey Ben,” he comes over. “You need me out on the boat with Anthony being off?”

“Yeah, could use it in this weather. What’s the timetable?” I indicate the clipboard where Sarah adds our charter bookings so we can see them at a quick glance. Rex is my charter guy.

“Nothing till later this afternoon, so all good.”

“Okay, suit up.”

I pull on a ball cap and head outside to grab up a crate of bait. The rain is getting harder, and the wind picking up. Just goes to show how much I was distracted by Elle over the weekend that I hadn’t checked the forecast. This is unusual weather for the time of year, but not unheard of.

It’s hard going out on the water, but nothing we’re not used to and despite the weather, the catch is better than normal. When we get back and carry on wrapping things up, Charlie stays out by the boat again. He hasn’t spoken much, but none of us have been able to have a conversation given the storm.

Now, the rain is slowing, and the docks are busy with all the other boats coming and going. Sarah is inside when we finally finish up and head in. I hear her talking to Rex as I hang up my clothes.

“This is the third one in two weeks,” Rex says, running a hand through his hair.

“I know. I tried to find out why, but they just said they changed their minds.”

“What’s up?” I ask, walking over.

“Cancellation,” Sarah says. “Morning Ben,” she adds.

“Is that a cancellation of the fishing charter this afternoon?” She nods. “This is the third time we’ve had a cancellation?”

“Yes,” she looks at Rex, then back at me. “Anyone want coffee?” she asks.