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  He nodded and Brooke moved in behind him to take the plate and scraps. “I really wish you’d allow the men to rest and have a real meal,” she protested.

  “We only have four days left to catch the rest of our quota. There simply isn’t time for pleasantries like a sit down meal.”

  She started to reply only to be drowned out by the blaring noise of an alarm sounding.

  Nathan turned his attention to the monitors on the back wall. The air around Brooke suddenly grew tense. “What’s happening?”

  “Low water alarm.”

  “What does that mean?” She could already feel the panic building in her chest. Any kind of alarm couldn’t be a good thing. The last alarm that had gone off was the result of the rogue wave and Adam’s words about keeping her survival suit handy once again haunted her. She glanced down at her wrist, still encased in a bandage and splint.

  His eyes scanned one screen, then the next. “It means we’re losing water in one or more of our holding tanks.”

  “I’m guessing by the alarm that’s a bad thing?”

  He nodded. “If the crabs aren’t completely immersed in water they’ll die. We have pumps that continually circulate seawater through those tanks. Something may have happened to one of the pumps.”

  Before she could question him more, Adam appeared on the wheelhouse steps. “We have a breech in one of the water pipes. We’re spilling seawater into the bilge.”

  “Hell.” Nathan slid from his seat and raced past Brooke. “Tell Zach to get up here and take over steering and Kyle that we need his help down below,” he yelled to her on his way through the common area toward the engine room door.

  Brooke ran down the steps and rushed out to the deck. “Zack, Nate wants you watching the helm. Kyle, he wants you below deck helping him, Adam and the others.”

  Both men raced past her. Brooke spun on her heel and followed them back inside only to pause in the galley, unsure of what to do next. Her heart pounded against her chest, causing fear to course through her veins. Panicking wouldn’t do a bit of good. She needed to be sensible about the situation. What, if anything, could she do to help? She knew nothing about mechanics or the inner workings of a boat, but standing still didn’t seem like a viable option.

  She quickly descended the narrow ladder leading to the engine room and nearly went deaf from the cacophony of sounds bouncing around the enclosed space. Nathan and Adam stood next to a large pipe with a hole about the size of her thumb in its side. Water spewed out in a powerful stream, falling into the bilge below to be pumped back out to sea. Knowing he wouldn’t easily hear her over the roar of the engines, she yelled to make sure she was heard. “I know this is probably a stupid question, but is there anything I can do to help?”

  Nathan spun around to face her, tension and concern pinching his features and making him look angry. “Don’t ever come down here without out putting on ear protection, and yes, I want you to run out on deck and check the water level in the middle tank.”

  She nodded, turned to leave, then realizing she didn’t have a clue of what he’d just asked her to do, twisted back to face him. “How do I do that and what should the level be?”

  “About halfway down the deck right in the middle of the boards will be what looks like a manhole cover. Pull it off. You’ll then be able to see the crab. The tank is only half full so the water should completely cover the crab with several feet to spare.” Brooke nodded and quickly sped back through the engine room, up the steps and out on deck. She raced across the wet and slippery deck with a single focus in mind. Halfway to the stern, she spotted the cover, slid to a stop and promptly landed on her ass when her feet slipped out from under her.

  She hit the deck with an “umph,” landing partially on her butt and partially on her already injured arm. For a few seconds she didn’t move while she wrestled with the pain that radiated down her legs, up her back and through her arm. Damn if that wasn’t going to leave her bruised and sore tomorrow. That is if they made it to tomorrow. Even she knew that a boat taking on water wasn’t a good thing.

  With a newfound urgency, she scrambled onto her hands and knees and, ignoring the pain in her wrist, tugged at the cover. It was heavy and didn’t budge. She pulled harder and vowed to start going to the gym when they returned to Seattle. If she wanted to stay a member of this crew, she’d have to gain some strength. The cover moved slightly, giving her the encouragement she needed. Slowly she tugged at the steel, until eventually it gave way, revealing the crab inside.

  The water level was a lot lower than he’d told her. While it still covered the crab, it was probably a good four or five feet below the top.

  Leaving the cover off, she struggled to her feet and ran back inside. This time when she entered the engine room, she grabbed the ear protection off the rack next to the door that she’d missed the first time. She placed the muffs over her ears and wove her way around the engine.

  With Adam holding a patch over the hole, Nathan was wrapping the pipe in what looked to be strips of some type of rubber. She paused, wondering if she should interrupt them or wait until they were finished.

  “Well?” Nathan asked without pause.

  “The water level is a good four or five feet below the top, but it’s still covering the crab.”

  He and Adam exchanged looks.

  “Slack tank,” Adam said.

  Nathan nodded. “If we don’t get this pipe fixed, we could have a bigger problem than dead crab.”

  CHAPTER 11

  “What’s a slack tank?” Brooke asked from behind him.

  Irritation shimmied through Nathan’s system. He admired her for wanting to learn all she could about the boat and the job, but now was not the time to ask questions. Prepared to send her away on a promise to explain later, he glanced over his shoulder and found himself staring directly into her fearful eyes.

  Some people would argue ignorance is bliss, especially when possibly facing a life and death situation. He didn’t agree. As far as he was concerned, knowledge was power and, despite their current situation, he would do his best to answer her question.

  “When the tank isn’t full of water, it can cause the water that is in there to slosh around. When that happens, it destabilizes the boat and can cause it to turn turtle and sink.”

  For a few seconds he swore he could actually see the blood drain from her face and worried that she’d faint. The last thing he could handle right now was Brooke passing out. Instead of going down like he feared, she swallowed hard and replied with that same, “I see,” he’d heard from her that day back in her apartment.

  She was trying hard to keep her composure. He could see it in her body language, her facial expressions and yearned to put her mind at ease. “The sea is calm right now, so there’s nothing for you to worry about. If we can get this temporary patch to hold, we fix it proper after the season end. If not, we’ll have to head in now and hope the crabs don’t die and the sea doesn’t kick up before we’re safely into the harbor.”

  “What can I do to help?”

  He finished wrapping the rubber around the pipe while he thought about her question, then shook his head. “Nothing right now. I think the boys and I have this under control. Why don’t you go up to the wheelhouse and keep Zach company until we’re done?” Idiot! Almost immediately he wanted to kick himself for sending her to sit with Zach, especially when she was frightened.

  She hesitated, then apparently deciding to follow his orders, turned and headed out of the engine room. His gaze followed her as she went and he wondered what exactly was going through her head. Would she seek comfort from Zach in Nathan’s absence? A quick stab pierced his heart at that thought. He couldn’t very well leave in the middle of the repair to ease her concerns, though, not when the rest of their season and possibly their lives depended on stopping the leak.

  “Hey, you want to finish this before we lose the whole tank?”

  Nathan turned to look at Adam. “Sorry. Yeah, let’s get this f
inished.”

  Once the last of the rubber was in place, Adam tightened down the clamp to hold everything in place. “Okay.” He drew in a deep breath and held it. “Let’s turn the pump back on and see if the patch can sustain the pressure.”

  Adam slowly turned the lever, and within seconds, seawater once again flowed through the pipe. Nathan inspected the patch job. It seemed to be holding. “Now it just has to make it until we fill the tanks and get in to off load. Until then, let’s make sure we keep an eye on it.”

  Adam nodded. “You got it. Now you want to tell me what’s going on in that head of yours?”

  “What?”

  “Don’t ‘what?’ me. You know what I’m talking about.”

  Nathan frowned. “No, actually I don’t.”

  “Fine. I’ll spell it out for you. What’s going on between you and Brooke?”

  Nathan sputtered, before his mouth hung open like a fish out of water. “There’s nothing going on between us.”

  “If that’s true, then why the looks?”

  “What looks?”

  Adam gaped. “The looks that make me think you have feelings more than friendship for her.”

  “I think you’re seeing things.”

  “Am I?”

  A tense silence fell between them and then, for the first time in recent memory, Nathan conceded. “My feelings don’t matter, and even if they did, they are in no way going to interfere with our work here. My job is to keep you guys as safe as possible while we do this. I simply don’t have time to think about her right now.”

  After several seconds, Adam nodded. “While I’m not against seeing the two of you end up together, I’m glad to know you still have your priorities straight. So when this trip is over what are you going to do?”

  Nathan looked over his shoulder at the engine room door. “I don’t have a clue.”

  * * *

  Even as they sat in port a week later, after offloading the remainder of their catch, Nathan still didn’t have a clue what to do about the diminutive redhead who consumed his thoughts and rocked his heart.

  He rolled onto his side and punched his pillow for what seemed to be the hundredth time. It was simply the let down of having the season over and not the fact he still couldn’t shake Brooke from his thoughts.

  Nathan fell onto his back and stared up through the darkness at the ceiling. He’d had his reasons for bringing her along, none of which at the time had anything to do with love. Love? It couldn’t be love. That feeling had died a long time ago, or so he thought. He recognized the unfamiliar need burning low in his belly, but couldn’t bring himself to label the long dormant emotion. To do so would bring him nothing but trouble.

  Brooke was a volatile mix of emotions churning inside a tiny body. She had more baggage than a 747 could carry. None of it changed the fact that his body ached for her and his heart craved a love he knew only she could provide.

  Therein was the problem. From what Willow had told him, Brooke had never been in a real relationship with the opposite sex. Whenever possible, she made a point to avoid men in general and other than he and Adam, Nathan couldn’t think of any other man who she’d allowed to get close to her, until she’d agreed to come aboard the Northern Lights.

  He hadn’t actually expected her to come or make it much past the first trip, but she’d not only surprised him by digging in her heels and working through her fears, she’d successfully bonded with this crew. Much to his chagrin, she’d connected more with Zach than he might have liked, but to know she could overcome her own self-imposed obstacles gave him hope for something more.

  Facing the ugly truth she might be more attracted to Zach was another problem entirely. It only made sense, since she and Zach were about the same age and shared many of the same interests, whereas there was a decade separating him and Brooke. Despite what he’d hoped were signals of interest from her, he had to face the real possibility they were just too different to make a go at a relationship.

  What am I thinking? Nathan kicked the covers off and swung his legs over the side, planting his feet on the floor. He already had them in a doomed relationship and didn’t even know how she really felt about him. The entire point might be moot if her feelings were only platonic. Still, with her past, he doubted she’d make the first move, even if she were interested. Which left him right back at square one.

  How could he possibly test the waters with her when she was so skittish? Any move he made that asked for more than the friendship they already shared might frighten her away and cost him everything he’d worked so hard to achieve. Then again, maybe it was simply a matter of her not knowing how to express her true feelings.

  He scrubbed a tired hand over his face and stood up. His head was spinning and, despite his exhaustion, there wasn’t any way he would be going back to sleep anytime soon. It was good thing they’d be heading back to Seattle tomorrow and not back out to fish. Nathan slipped from his bunk, careful not to wake the others, opened the door and walked out into the common area. He glanced over at the door to his cabin and stopped dead in his tracks. It sat wide open, the light from the galley shining through the opening just enough to reveal an empty bunk. Her blanket and pillow were there, but she was gone.

  A sudden rush of panic flooded his body and he tried to stay calm. She couldn’t have gone too far, could she? With them docked next to Danny’s boat, anything farther than the deck would require her crossing the Talisman to get to the dock. After reprimanding her on the hazards of boat jumping alone, he didn’t think she’d actually disobey his orders. Besides, it wasn’t as if she knew anybody on land, so there wouldn’t be any reason for her to leave the boat. So where was she?

  A noise from the wheelhouse caught his attention. He paused, then turned and slowly climbed the stairs. Through the darkness, he saw her sitting in the co-captain’s chair staring out the window. She cradled her knees to her chest, her arms wrapped around them like a blanket.

  “Brooke?”

  She jumped, turning a quick gaze toward him. “You scared me.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.” Her cheeks glistened in the moonlight, and his heart clenched. Had he or his men done something to upset her? “Are you okay?”

  She quickly swiped a hand under each eye, but didn’t answer.

  He stepped up into the wheelhouse. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  She shook her head.

  “It might make you feel better.”

  “I doubt it.”

  He turned and sat on the top step and leaned back against the front wall.

  She stared out the window.

  “Did one of the guys say something to upset you?”

  “No. They’ve all been amazing.”

  “Okay, then is it something I’ve done?”

  Her attention jerked to him. A horrified expression preceded an, “Absolutely not.”

  “Well, if it’s nothing to do with us or the boat, then does it have something to do with going back to Seattle? Is it about that trial you were involved in back in Florida?” He’d promised Willow he wouldn’t say anything, though he’d already broken that promise with his warning to her at the beginning of the season. She’d been shocked by his words, but she’d never asked how he knew and he’d never offered up an answer, instead, choosing to let the subject drop without additional comment.

  Her eyes widened for a moment before she cast her gaze back out the window. “I meant to ask you how you knew about that. Then I decided it was probably Willow’s doing.”

  “She was worried about you.”

  “She worries too much.”

  “Well, after she told me what was going on, I was worried, too.”

  “Is that the reason why I ended up on your boat? Was this supposed to be your way of protecting me?”

  Nathan laughed. “Rogue waves. Broken pipes. Sinking boats. Yeah, I really offered up some protection.”

  “If it’s so dangerous, then why did you allow me to come along?”


  “Because I couldn’t stand the idea of knowing you could possibly be in danger and not do something to help. While it isn’t the safest environment to work in, most of the fleet does return to port every season intact. In my eyes, the danger you were facing in Seattle trumped what you might endure out here.”

  “So the conversation we had about me losing my job and you needing a cook was just a ploy to get me to say yes?”

  He grinned. “It worked, didn’t it?”

  She returned his smile with a slight one of her own. “That it did.”

  “It would’ve killed me if this bastard you helped put away managed to get a hold of you because I did nothing.”

  “That bastard is my stepfather.”

  He paused, wondering if he’d heard her correctly and not liking one little bit where the conversation was heading. “Your stepfather? Why would your stepfather want you dead?” He held his breath hoping the answer he got wasn’t what he thought it was going to be.

  “Because I testified in a rape trial against him.”

  “Rape?” That’s what he was afraid she was going to say. An ugly awareness worked its way into his system and it was everything he could do not to punch something. “Was he the one?” He didn’t bother to finish the sentence, already knowing the answer.

  She nodded and swiped a hand beneath each eye to clear away her tears.