Book Boyfriends Wanted 3: His Curvy Treat

It really didn’t get any better than a day outside. A cool breeze, a gentle sway of the boat, birds chirping, the smell of fresh water and flowers. Summer wasn’t quite here yet, but it was so close I could taste it. I was ready to shake off the winter and get back to being outside and free.

First, I had to sit through training I’d been through five other times. No one got a pass, not even if you were a lifer. Which meant I was there, again.

“Hey!” I heard from across the room. I looked up and found my friend, Ava Bailey, waving and rushing toward me. Ava and I worked together on the Tours from the Cove boat tours. She left MacKellar Cove through the winter for school, but she was back for her third summer as a guide.

“Hey,” I said, hugging her when she sat down.

Ava was a hugger. She was since the day we met. She was also a college student and still all shiny and happy and the way a person was supposed to be when they were twenty-one and had their entire lives ahead of them.

“Your hair looks awesome. How was your winter?” she asked.

“Thanks,” I said, touching my purple locks. It was my latest color. “Winter was good. Busy but not insane. How about you? How are classes going?”

“Great,” she said with a grin. “I can’t believe I only have one more year.”

“Assuming you pass your exams,” I teased.

Ava shoved me and grinned. “True. I’m only here for today, then will commute for a few weeks until exams are over. But hopefully I can keep doing this even after I graduate.”

Ava was a secondary education major with an ELA certificate who was hoping to move full time to the area and teach middle school. If she did, she was going to continue to work summers as a tour guide to earn extra money. I hoped it worked out for her.

“Is it too early to start looking for jobs?” I asked.

Ava nodded. “A little. I have one more semester of classes and then a semester of student teaching. I’m hoping I can land a spot here and stay on after, but I don’t know of any MacKellar Cove teachers looking to leave.”

I grinned. “People have a tendency to stick around here forever.”

“I totally get why.”

Ava grew up a few hours away on the other side of the Adirondacks. MacKellar Cove sat along the St. Lawrence River, west of the mountains. A small cove separated the town from the river, giving us opportunities for swimming and fishing in a quiet area relatively untouched by the deep, powerful waters of the St. Lawrence.

It was home for me. Sanctuary in a way. It was the only place I ever wanted to live, the only place I could imagine living.

“So, what have you been up to? Meet anyone new?”

I shook my head and forced a smile. Ava was a coworker and sweet, but she didn’t know me well. She didn’t know that meeting someone new was not going to happen. Been there, done that, had the scars to prove I survived it.

“Nah. You know how it is here. Everyone knows everyone.”

Ava nodded solemnly. “It’s really the only downside to living here. But since I didn’t grow up here, it’s not as bad for me. There are still a lot of new men for me to discover.”

I grinned. “Definitely. Hopefully you’ll find a good one.”

“God, I hope so. I’m sick of being single.”

“You need some friends,” I told her with a chuckle. If I didn’t have my group of friends, I’d go nuts, but not because I was waiting for a man. Having good friends made everything better.

“I need that, too,” Ava said with a laugh. She wound her long, dark ponytail around her hand and swung it over her shoulder. She was pretty with a cute nose and hazel eyes behind glasses that made her look a little nerdy. She was curvy like me, but where I could wear maternity clothes even though I’d never been pregnant, Ava looked more like Marilyn Monroe with her sexy, proportional curves.

Our boss and the owner of the company, Walter Coronado, moved to the front of the room. Everyone fell silent. Walter was a good boss and treated all his employees like family. It was why people came back year after year to work for him.

“Hello, everyone. Are you ready to get back on the water?”

We all cheered.

“Good. I’m ready, too. We’re going to run through some basic stuff that most of you have heard before, then we’re going to talk about the tours we’re offering this summer. I’m really excited about this summer and can’t wait to share it with all of you.”

“Woohoo!” Ava called.

Walter smiled at her. “Glad to see you’re just as excited, Ava. How was school?”

“Good,” Ava said, “but I’m ready to be back here for a few months.”

“We’re happy you were able to come back. For those of you who are new, we have a lot of employee events so you can all get to know each other. I hope you’ll participate,” Walter said, meeting the gazes of the staff.

I sat back in my seat at the back of the room and surveyed the others. Most of them I knew from previous years working on the boats. A few faces were new. Every summer, the staff got younger and younger. Not the operators, but the guides. I was one of the oldest ones left, and at twenty-nine, I didn’t usually think of myself as old.

I got it, though. Last summer, one of the other guides was about to get married. Another one was pregnant. One was finishing college and not coming back to the area. It was the kind of job most people didn’t hang on to for a long time. But I loved it. I loved cracking jokes with the tourists and being outside and knowing I was safe because there was nowhere to hide on the boats. Nowhere to get trapped or cornered or…

I pushed the thoughts away and focused on what Walter was saying. All of us were required to have fishing licenses and CPR and lifeguard certifications. In order to drive the boat, a captain’s license was required, and most of us didn’t have that, but in an emergency, we all knew how to use the radio and get help if needed. Walter didn’t take any chances with his customers or employees.

The safety stuff was a review for me, but I listened anyway. When it was time for lunch, two massive sandwich platters arrived, courtesy of Walter. Ava and I grabbed food and returned to our seats.

“This is so good,” she said around a mouthful. “I was starving. I didn’t eat breakfast this morning.”

“Why not?”

“I’m trying that intermittent fasting thing. A friend of mine lost a ton of weight doing it.”

“You don’t need to lose weight,” I told her.

She shook her head. “Oh, I definitely do. If I could drop about forty pounds, I’d look so much better.”

“You do not need to lose forty pounds!”

Ava rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I really do.”

“Curves are hot, and if someone you like can’t see that, then you shouldn’t be with them.”

Ava smiled. “I wish I had your confidence. I get overlooked all the time for the skinny girls. I’m kind of sick of it. I just want a guy to see me and have his eyes do that lazy slide up and down before he smiles and asks what my name is.”

“College is not the time to judge men for the quality of their choices,” I said.

She laughed. “True, but I figured I would have met someone by now. If I don’t find The One this year, I worry I’m going to be single forever.”

“Would that really be the worst thing in the world?” I asked.

She shrugged. “The worst thing? No. But I don’t want to be single. I don’t know how you’ve stayed single for so long.”

I grinned. “Good vibrators.”

Ava choked on her drink and struggled to breathe while she coughed up the water. I slapped her on the back and felt bad for scandalizing her.

“Jeez,” she wheezed. “You need to warn me before you say something like that.”

“Sorry,” I said, grinning wryly.

“No, you’re not,” Ava said.

I shook my head. “No, I’m not.”

We laughed.

“What did I miss?” Walter asked, turning the chair in front of our table around to face us.

Ava and I exchanged a look and broke out laughing again.

“Trust me,” Ava said. “You don’t want to know.”

I nodded.

Walter raised a dark eyebrow at us and shook his head. “Pretend I didn’t ask. How is my dream team doing this year? You ladies ready to handle the big boats?”

Ava and I exchanged a glance and nodded.

“Good. I’m going to keep you two together as much as possible. Elise, while Ava is finishing up school, I’m going to pair you up with a few of the newer guides. We need to find a third to send with you two on some of your trips. You need to let me know who works well with you.”

“I’m sure anyone will be fine,” I said automatically.

Walter smiled. “I’m sure they will, but I want to be positive. It won’t cost anyone their job, but I trust your judgment. I know you’ll find someone great to pull onto your team.”

I appreciated the confidence he had in me, but I was a background kind of person. I could get up in front of guests and make them laugh, but I wasn’t good when it came to getting to know my coworkers or figuring out who was the right fit with the customers and who wasn’t.

The only reason Ava and I were friends was because she didn’t give up on getting to know me. She was always nice, but she was the one who made the effort over the last few years.

“She’ll find someone awesome, won’t you?” Ava asked with far more confidence than I felt.

I nodded. “Yep.”

Walter held my gaze for another minute, then nodded and asked how we were doing.

“Good. Ready for tours to start,” Ava said. “And ready for exams to be over.”

Walter chuckled. “Don’t rush it. College should be a fun time. A time for you to find yourself and figure out who you are. Those were some of the best years of my life. It’s all downhill after college.”

Walter and Ava laughed, but I had to force a smile and choke back the bile threatening to spill out. College was the worst three years of my life. So bad I left college a year early and finished my degree online. Just the fact that I was alive and surviving on my own made life after college much better than college.

The bar was low for me.

Walter stood and knocked on the table. “Back to it. Elise, we’ll talk in a few weeks or so about your first instinct with some of the newbies. You guys ready for a tour?”

We nodded and cleaned up our lunch. Walter led the group outside to the boats. Tour boats couldn’t dock in the Cove because of the shallow water so we were just south of town on the bank of the river. The St. Lawrence was plenty deep for the boats Walter had. All six of them.

“Ooh, I like that one,” Ava said when she saw the shiny, new boat in the water at the Tours from the Cove dock.

I laughed. “Of course you do.”

“Oh, come on,” Ava said. “It’s gorgeous.”

I nodded. “It is, but I’m more of a well-worn kind of girl.”

Ava grinned. “Yeah, yeah, I know. It has to be broken in for you to know it’s any good.”

I smiled and followed her onto the deck of the first boat. It was one of the biggest ones in the fleet. Cove 1 and Cove 2 were used for the tours that ran consistently to the local castles and other tourist attractions.

Walter went through the boat for the sake of the newbies, showing them all the little things they needed to know about it. He also reminded them that they would always work with an experienced crew member so they had plenty of chances to learn the ins and outs of each boat.

Since Cove 2 was exactly the same as Cove 1, we moved to the next dock and walked onto the smallest boat, the one used only for private tours. It didn’t get used often, but it was there and it was a good boat.

The last dock held the three boats I favored, including the new one that fit in the same class size. They were the utility boats. The boats that were used for regular cruises but held about half as many people. These were the lunch cruises, the dinner cruises, and the sunset cruises. I’d driven one of them a few times on really quiet cruises. It made me think about getting my captain’s license, but I hadn’t made that choice yet. Especially because the big boats scared me.

When we stepped on the deck of the new boat, Ava sighed. “She’s gorgeous.”

I grinned. “Yes, she is.”

“See, I told you you would love her.”

I chuckled. We listened to Walter’s spiel then filed off the boat and down the dock with the others. Walter dismissed us when we got back to the training room.

“I was hoping we’d have time to grab a drink and catch up, but I have class in the morning. Next time?” she asked. “I’ll be back this weekend.”

I nodded. “Sounds good. Drive safe getting back to school.”

“Yes, Mom,” Ava said with a smile. She hugged me again, then we walked in different directions to our vehicles.

I drove north past MacKellar Cove and thought about stopping in town, but I was ready to be home. I pulled into my neighborhood and waved at Mrs. Lockhart. Her trailer was the first one after the entrance, and she was the unofficial neighborhood watch. Nothing happened without her knowledge, or her approval sometimes. Knowing she was always watching made me feel safer and was one of the reasons I bought my home when I moved back to MacKellar Cove.

Some people looked down on trailer parks, or mobile home communities if you were upscale, but I loved where I lived. My neighbors all watched out for each other. We got together regularly for impromptu gatherings, and everyone pitched in to help each other out. And in our area of Upstate New York, there were plenty of communities like ours, full of people who owned their own home on wheels.

I backed my hatchback into the spot next to my trailer and checked my mirrors before I got out. Satisfied no one was around, I got out and locked the car then skipped up the two steps to my door. I unlocked my door and went inside, closing and locking the door behind me. I listened, even though I knew I was alone, just to make sure.

My trailer was small with an open floor plan, just how I liked it. No one could hide because my closet didn’t have a door and neither did my bedroom. The only door was into the bathroom, and that was wide open with a clear shot through the see-through shower curtain.

I poured a glass of water and carried it to the couch. I turned on the TV and called my mom.

“How was it?” my mom said when she answered the phone.

“Training was good, Mom.”

“Was Ava there?”

“She was. She has one more year and is still hoping to find a teaching job here. She’s also looking for a student teaching position for the second semester.”

“I’ll ask around,” Mom said. My mom was also a teacher, but she was at MacKellar Cove High School. She said if Ava wanted to work with her, she’d take her in a heartbeat, but Ava was set on middle school.

“Thanks, Mom. How was your day?”

“Good. Dad and I got the boat out of the garage. Ian is going to take a look at it for us.”

“Good. Let me know when you want me to help you get it in the water.”

“If Ian says it’s good, then soon. Bob and Sandy already have theirs in the water. They went out today. Said it was beautiful. A little cold, but gorgeous.”

“It was definitely a nice day. Walter bought a new one for tours. Ava loved it.”

“But you didn’t,” Mom said with a smile in her voice. “You always like the things that have the edges rubbed off.”

“It’s better when all the kinks are worked out.”

Mom chuckled. “Well, I can’t always disagree with you. Are you coming over for dinner tomorrow night? Chelsea said she might come. You should call her.”

I nodded and made a mental note to check in with my cousin. We grew up like sisters, both of us the only children of sisters. Our families spent a lot of time together when we were younger. Chelsea and I drifted when I went to college, but we’d gotten closer again in the last few years being back in the same town.

“I’m planning to come. I’ll talk to her. Are Aunt Cathy and Uncle Ken coming?”

“Yep. And maybe one day you two girls will bring someone over to fill in those last two spots at the table.”

I made a noncommittal noise and let my mom ramble on. She knew I was in a serious relationship with Andy in college, but they never met. He never wanted to travel with me when I went home to visit my family, and eventually, I stopped visiting. For almost a year, I didn’t see my parents because of him.

I know now it was one more thing he wanted control over. But he was the reason I’d never bring someone to fill up the empty seat I sat next to at the table. Maybe Chelsea would have a kid one day and she could fill both seats.

Not that I thought it would get my mother to stop talking about my need to settle down.

“…never see it happen. I just don’t know about you young kids now. Waiting forever to get married and have kids. Don’t you know that if you don’t start having kids soon, you might not be able to? I mean, you’re not that young anymore, not biologically.”

“I know, Mom,” I said. I’d never win the argument with her, so I agreed and blamed my lack of interest in dating on having grown up with almost all the single men in town. She told me I should broaden my horizons and date men who didn’t live nearby, but I told her I wasn’t driving two hours each way for a date.

And she thought my generation was crazy.

“Promise me you’ll give me a grandchild one day, Elise,” she begged. It was how she ended every conversation.

“I promise I’ll try,” I said, like I always did.

She huffed because she wanted more than that, but we both knew I got my stubbornness from her, so that was the best she could expect.

“I love you, Mom,” I told her to ease some of the irritation.

“I love you, Elise. We’ll talk soon. I’ll ask if anyone knows any single men who aren’t more than an hour away. I’ll let you know.”

“No, Mom—”

“Bye, darling.”

“Mom...” I looked at my phone. “And she hung up on me.” I shook my head. I couldn’t say I blamed her. Once upon a time I wanted kids. Two, maybe three. With a big yard to play in and a husband who doted on all of us.

That dream ended the day I landed in the hospital.