Page 91 of Her Favorite Fumble
“If a whale decides to come up under the boat and toss us in the air, you’ll be glad you listened to me.”
“At least it’s a whale now,” he grumbled. “When you were running this scenario by meveryloudly at the dock, it was a sea monster.”
Her cheeks heated. “Yeah, but I saw all the guys laughing at me—okay, atus—and I know some of them are already at the Keel, laughing about the city girl being afraid of sea monsters.”
“I already got a text from Theo.”
“Of course you did.” She sighed, wrapping her arms tighter around the bulky life vest. “It’s just a very small boat.”
“But now you’ve been out in a boat,” he said, opening the waterproof bag at their feet. He pulled out a plastic baggie that had a piece of paper and a Sharpie inside. “Now you can cross it off our list of shenanigans.”
Lucy laughed, taking the list and the Sharpie from him. “I can’t believe you brought this out here with us.”
After drawing a thick black line throughGo out on a boat, she handed the list to him. “That’s it. That’s all of them.”
Everything under the heading ofOur Shenaniganswas crossed out. He held out his hand for the Sharpie, and she put the cap back on before handing it to him.
“We got up to all the shenanigans,” he said, giving her a little shrug.
“I’m sad about it, though. I’ll miss that list.”
“You know, we can alwaysaddto the list.” He pulled the cap off the Sharpie and turned away so she couldn’t see what he was writing.
“That better not involve eating anything adventurous,” she warned. “Or hiking. Or fishing. I am very willing to be the only resident of Wayward Harbor who doesn’t know how to bait a hook.”
He chuckled and recapped the Sharpie. When he handed her the paper, she noticed his hand was trembling slightly, but she assumed it was cold. Not that he would admit it, but it had been warm in town. It wasnotwarm out on the water, and it was only September.
Then she looked at the list.
Our Shenanigans:
Sunrise on Cadillac Mountain
Go out on a boat
Visit Dinghy Doodads
Play football on the beach
Lucy: try a bologna and tomato sandwich
Get married? Y/N
Lucy’s breath caught, and she held tight to the paper as she looked into Nick’s eyes. “Really?”
“Really. I love you, Lucy Macauley, and I want to spend the rest of my life getting up to shenanigans with you.”
It was hard to see the list with tears welling up in her eyes, but she yelled out a yes across the water as she carefully circled theY. Then, after showing it to him, she delicately sealed the paper and Sharpie back in the plastic bag. It seemed to take forever for Nick to put it back in the big bag, but she didn’t ever want to lose that list.
Finally, he was done, and she launched herself into his arms. The boat rocked wildly, but she didn’t care because Nick was holding her. Awkwardly, because they were both wearing life vests, but she was in his arms and that was all that mattered.
“I love you so much,” she said against his ear before pulling back so she could kiss him, until a swell shifted the boat too much and she squealed against his lips.
“We’re fine,” he said. “But I’ll fire up the motor so we can start heading back. Now that you’re going to be my wife, you should probably know I actually don’t love beingonthe ocean all that much.”
“Yourwife,” Lucy said, and she grinned before she kissed him—just a quick one because she didn’t think she liked being on the ocean all that much, either.
“I have a ring for you, but I left it on dry land,” he said. “I was so afraid I’d be one of those guys who dropped the ring in the water, and I would never have lived that one down.”
She laughed as he fired up the motor and yelled over the noise. “Let’s go get it, then. We’ve got a lifetime of shenanigans to get up to.”
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