Chapter 10 – Lena
“Oh, crap.” I groaned, dropping my hand to shield my eyes. Freaking Conner Ashford, of all people.
“We’re in it now, Lena.” Enzo steered our ancient fishing boat alongside the smallest of the Ashford family’s yachts. “Not like we can leave them stranded.”
“You sure about that?” I avoided Carter’s face-splitting grin. I was still mad at him. Tried to be anyway, but I could never stay mad at him for long.
“Enzo!” Carter whistled. “Mr. Fix-it himself.”
“What’s the problem?” Enzo dropped the anchor, and we bobbed in the calm waters beside the luxury forty-foot yacht that probably cost more than Orchard Hill Farms was worth.
“Won’t start.” Harrison Ashford shrugged. “And we’re useless.”
“Speak for yourself.” Conner punched his cousin in the shoulder.
“Wait here.” Enzo left the helm and boarded the yacht.
“Not likely.” I followed him. If he needed any help, those four weren’t it.
I tumbled onto the deck, slamming my hip, and was greeted by a massive brindled dog wearing a red doggy life jacket around his middle. He towered over me, sniffing my hair, and I wasn’t sure I should move. He had eyes like a wolf, but he wasn’t growling.
“Duke, give the lady some room.” Conner absently called his dog back, but Duke had other plans. I scrambled back to my feet, and the giant dog sat back on his haunches, nudging my hand for head scratches. I didn’t even have to bend over to pet him. His head came up to my waist. “Well, you’re just a big sweetie, aren’t you?” I murmured, scratching behind his ears. “Too bad your dad’s a big land-grabbing meanie.” Duke and I went to join the others standing around speculating about what could be the trouble.
“Did you guys check the engine?” I asked, turning to Carter. I might be mad at him, but he was the only Ashford brother I’d willingly speak to.
“Uh.” Carter scratched his head. “I’m not even sure I know where it is.”
Enzo chuckled and made his way down from the flybridge to the lower deck. All the Ashfords followed like little ducklings. I rolled my eyes and elbowed my way through the rich boys to help my brother open the fancy hatch in the floor.
“Does she sound flooded?” Enzo asked, and I snickered at their blank stares.
“Probably after Conner tried starting it a million times,” Carter offered.
“Did not.” Conner swatted at his brother. “And don’t act like you even know what that means. Duke, seriously, leave her alone.” He snapped his fingers to get the dog’s attention. But Duke was my new bestie. I gave him shoulder scratches, and he leaned into me, eating up the attention.
Enzo climbed down the ladder into the small space below deck. As far as engine rooms went, this was the cleanest one I’d ever seen.
“What’s that noise?” Conrad leaned down into the hatch.
“Sounds like you’re overheated,” I supplied. “You should have seen an alarm flash on the helm.” I watched as Enzo checked the engine water intake system. Sure enough, he pulled out a plastic bag and some other debris.
“How’d that get in there?” Carter asked.
“People throw their garbage into the bay, and it’s bound to get sucked into your engines.” Enzo looked up at the brothers. “Lena, go give it a try, I’m not sure that’s the only problem.”
I waved Carter off and trotted back up to the flybridge, Duke leading the way like a gentleman escort, passing through the main salon and galley. These Ashfords really knew how to do luxury.
Duke let out a terrifying bark and sat back on his haunches, looking at me like he knew I could figure this out. Smart dog. “Ugh, really?” I flipped off the silent alarm flashing red on the dash. “They never even noticed that, did they?” Duke gave a massive yawn.
I tried the ignition. Nothing. They were either out of fuel or they had air or water in the fuel system.
Duke and I headed back to the boys, shoving through the Ashfords to get to Enzo. “Nothing.” I shook my head. “How’s their fuel?”
“Nearly a full tank,” Enzo answered.
“Air?” I asked, and he nodded, turning to climb up the ladder.
“What’s that mean?” Carter asked.
“Lena’s right, you probably have air in the fuel system. We’ll give you a tow to the marina on the south side.”
“Air in the fuel system? That sounds bad.” Conner scratched his chin. “We should take it to the Bay Club on the north side.”
Enzo shook his head. “It’s an easy fix. You probably have a leak in the pipe between the fuel tank and the injection pump. But we’re closer to south side, and we don’t have the horsepower to haul you all the way into the Bay Club.”
“Fine. We’ll call for another tow once we’re in.” Conner dismissed us like we were servants and not good Samaritans helping them out of the goodness of our hearts.
“The south side marina could fix it easy,” Enzo suggested. “It’s not a big repair, and they could use the business.”
“My father would prefer to have the Bay Club specialists look at it. It’s a rather expensive boat, you know.”
“Sure, sure.” Enzo nodded. “Let’s get you boys rigged and back to shore. Lena, can you pull ahead, and I’ll toss you the towlines.”
Carter started clapping and hooting like a buffoon. “Lena, you’re my hero!” He draped an arm around me, whispering, “Don’t be mad,” in my ear.
“Oh, wipe the grin off your face.” I shoved past him, clambering from the fancy deck, over the rail and back on our perfectly fine fishing boat that had seemed a bit luxurious to me before I set foot on the Ashford yacht. The name of the boat caught my eye as I maneuvered around to the bow. Dad’s Handmedown. I’d bet just about anything the old man re-named the boat before he handed it over to his kids to play with. What a life.
Duke barked at me from the bow deck on the yacht, and I called back to him. He was a great dog. If he was smaller, I’d put him in my bag and take him home with me.
I caught the towlines from Enzo and secured them, leaving a healthy distance between the two boats. I watched my brother waving his hands and talking loudly to make sure the Ashford’s knew how this was going to go. Slow and steady. Enzo was right, we didn’t have the horsepower to tow them very far, so we were going to have to let the current help us.
“You think they have a clue what they’re doing with that big boat?” I called over my shoulder as I turned toward the south side marina, the tug of the huge yacht behind us like an anchor pulling us back.
“That’s a hard, fast no.” Carter came to stand beside me, and I did a double take, looking for my brother.
“Enzo thought it best if he stayed back there in case my brothers do something stupid or anyone needs to make a quick, smart decision.”
I snorted a laugh, trying to keep my ‘I’m mad at you’ scowl in place.
“Come on, Lena.” He laid a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry I let Conner ambush you. I would have warned you, but my dad saw your text, and he took my phone.”
“What are you, twelve?” Really, the way the old man treated his adult children was kind of embarrassing. I couldn’t imagine sticking around with my hand out, letting him treat me like that just because he controlled the money. In Carter’s shoes, I’d just make my own way and let the old man bully the others. But I didn’t know what it felt like to be in Carter’s shoes, so that was probably easier said than done.
“It’s complicated. Dad’s a tyrant, but he’s not going to tell me who I can be friends with. I’m just sorry about Conner. He was a little wet when he came home from our spot.” His mouth twitched with amusement.
“He went for an unscheduled swim.” I pushed our speed up a tiny bit, inching us along at a painfully slow rate. “Is he always such a jerk?”
“Who, Conner? No. Sometimes. He’s just not so good at the social, talking to people thing. Don’t let his stuffy businessman facade fool you, he’s just trying to live up to all the pressure of being the next in line to run the family empire.”
I did not want to feel sorry for Conner Ashford. “I guess your dad probably isn’t the easiest to work with.”
“Conner’s pretty good at dealing with Dad. He’s been going head to head with him since we were all kids. Conner always put himself between us and Dad, taking the brunt of his crap for us. The pressure I’m talking about comes from the town. He’s got big shoes to fill. I’m just glad I was born third.”
“Seriously, stop. I don’t want to feel bad for him.” I shoved Carter’s face away with a laugh. I really couldn’t stay mad at him for long.
“I’m not going to let my family bully you. I know you want that land, Lena. I don’t know if I can help you get it. Dad got his hackles up the moment he realized a Contreras was interested in it.”
“I’ll figure something out.”
“I was thinking I could help you look for other options. There has to be a piece of land around here somewhere that would work for your plans that my family doesn’t own.”
“You would think.” It was sweet of him to offer the help, but there was a reason I wanted that parcel. It was close to town on the north side, without being too far from Orchard Hill Farm. It was perfect for tourism, and I wanted it. “I’m not done fighting yet, Carter.” I gunned the engine, heading closer to land.
It was time to dump the Ashfords at the marina—get an eye full of them rubbing elbows with the fishermen at the Rusty Hook bait and tackle shop/boat mechanic—and get back to plotting.