The Stars Over Bittergate Bay

Chapter 47

47

L eo’s pigheaded insistence on breakfast meant that they might have missed Jonas entirely. Sidney chugged his coffee, had taken half a bite of a day-old scone and then was out the door, pulling on his boots, as he hopped toward Elmmond, leaving Leo in his wake.

When they finally drove through town, Sidney bounced his knee impatiently, scanning every parking lot they passed for Jonas’s truck.

He directed Leo to the marina in very few words, anxious, trying to sort out what to say. How to apologize. Lines he was rehearsing in his head flooded out his ear as they pulled into the marina. Jonas’s truck was parked in the corner of the lot.

Sidney was out the door of the car before Leo had put it in park.

“Sidney, Christ! Slow down!” No time. He had to find Jonas. He couldn’t let him leave without explaining what had happened. Without telling Jonas he was sorry.

Sidney jogged through the misty gravel lot and ducked under the slanted tin roof of the covered slip where Jonas’s boat was. Had been.

The trawler wasn’t there.

Jonas would be gone for five days. St. Clement’s Island. Sidney had found a map in Jonas’s study, not that he really knew how to read nautical maps or sail a boat. But he was willing to try.

He stalked up and down the wooden planks, eyes narrowed, half looking for Jonas, half assessing the other boats for one he might be able to steer. The only sound aside from his footsteps was the clanking of riggings against masts and the gentle slosh of water against hulls. He didn’t know how to steal a boat. He didn’t know what he was doing. And Jonas was nowhere to be found.

Sidney tried to take a deep breath, looking at his options for commandeering, as Leo appeared on the docks behind him.

“What are you doing?” Leo demanded.

“He’s not here,” Sidney said. Then he turned. “Do you know how to sail?”

“Yes, I’ve been taking boating lessons for the last fifteen years.”

“Really?”

“No. How hard did that demon hit you?” Sidney groaned, throwing his head back.

“Leo, Jonas is gone.”

“He’ll come back.”

“I need to—” Sidney insisted, trying to pull away as Leo grabbed him gently by the shoulders.

“Sidney. Breathe.”

“Leo!”

“Sidney.”

“He shouldn’t be out there alone!” Untrue. Jonas was more than able to take care of himself. But Sidney needed to be with him.

“We’re not stealing a boat so you can chase after your ex-boyfriend.”

“He’s not my ex-boyfriend.”

“Well, he’s not your boyfriend either,” Leo said. A slap in the face would have been kinder. Sidney jerked out of Leo’s grasp, furious. Primarily at himself. “Where are you going?” Leo called after him as Sidney stormed back into the parking lot.

“I’m going to charter a boat.”

“With what money?” Sidney came up short. Fuck. He did have no money. Leo’s footsteps crunched on the gravel behind him, and Sidney spun to face him again.

“Leo…” Sidney immediately resigned himself to begging. “Please, Leo?—”

“Stop.” Leo held a hand up toward Sidney in a wonderful imitation of their mother when she wanted them to quiet down. “Where were you going to go to charter a boat?”

“The harbormaster’s office is just down the street.” Leo took a deep breath and stared at him, unblinking. “Leo, I know I?—”

“Stop,” Leo said, far more gently this time. “You don’t have to do all that. We’ll see how much they cost.”

The harbormaster’s clerk looked up from a newspaper. The cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth emitted a thin line of smoke. He’d shaved his moustache at least. Sidney might’ve believed he was twenty.

“You again?” The clerk chuckled. “Let me guess? More charts? And who’s this? Your, ah…” The clerk trailed off, his mouth drooping open slightly at the sight of Leo’s smirk. “Your lawyer?” The clerk straightened up, stubbed out the cigarette in an ashtray, and didn’t bother looking back in Sidney’s direction as Leo ruffled his damp curls with his fingertips. “Welcome to the harbormaster’s office, sir.”

“Thanks.” Leo could make a single word into a flirtation and in other circumstances, Sidney would have gagged. As it was, he grinned, mentally jumping for joy. Thank God for handsome older brothers. “We’re looking to charter a boat.”

“Sure, I’ve got the names of some local charter companies,” the clerk reached below the desk and produced a ledger, still not taking his eyes off Leo. “Most of ‘em will be closed for the holiday, but—” Sidney grimaced, ready to argue. But Leo was leaning against the counter with one elbow, wearing a charming smile.

“We’re only in town for the weekend, and we were hoping to take a little tour of the coast.” The clerk glanced over at Sidney, disdain flooding back into his expression for the briefest of moments.

“Both of you? Cause I’ve got a boat, but it’s small. More than two would be a tight fit.”

“Hmm,” Leo pondered. “That’s a shame.”

Oh, God. Sidney walked over to look at a map on the wall, and acknowledged to himself that he was not going to be able to stomach much more of this. And it was wasting time. Maybe Dom had a boat.

When he looked back over his shoulder, the clerk was leaning heavily toward Leo, and his voice had dropped, and Sidney was mere moments away from pretending he needed a cigarette so that he could go outside and wait for Leo to possibly seduce them into a boat ride with the world’s most annoying clerk, when the door to the harbormaster’s office swung open. Sidney thought he’d be grateful for any distraction, but when he turned, his stomach leapt into his throat, and he had to clutch the wall to keep himself upright.

Jonas looked tired. His shoulders sagged beneath the straining seams of his work shirt. There were rust-colored circles beneath his eyes and a thick layer of stubble on his jaw. He took two steps into the building before glancing around, his eyes widening as they landed on Sidney. Jonas flushed a deep cherry red across the top of his cheekbones, and he took a step back.

“Mr. Rookwood,” the clerk prompted, entirely oblivious to the way Sidney’s heart was thundering in his chest. “How can I help you?”

“Uh, yes.” Jonas’s eyes dropped from Sidney to a piece of paper clutched between his hands. His grip was so tight, he was going to tear it. Jonas stepped up to the desk, his gaze fixed downward. “This is a temporary cancellation form,” he laid the paper on the counter and smoothed one hand across it. “I needed a permanent cancellation.”

“Ah. Sorry about that.” The clerk reached below the counter, and then bent down, ducking fully out of sight. Leo was staring at Sidney with wide eyes, and Jonas was determinedly looking at neither of them, shuffling with something in his pocket.

“Jonas?” Sidney managed. Jonas didn’t turn. His shoulders stiffened and the clerk reemerged. Jonas put his hands on the counter.

“Here you go.” He slid a single sheet of paper to Jonas, and Jonas took it with a nod.

“Thanks, Freddie.”

“Mr. Groen isn’t back until next week,” Freddie the clerk said to Jonas’s already retreating back.

“I’ll come by and speak to him,” Jonas replied. And then he was gone.

Jonas had barely looked at Sidney. He hadn’t acknowledged him or spoken to him or… or anything. Was Jonas furious with him? He had every right to be, Sidney suddenly realized. It was Sidney who had cost him everything. It was Sidney who had been so unreasonable. It was Sidney who had left.

The reality of it hit Sidney all at once. Karolina and Claire were coming to pack up the library. Jonas had given up his home. Shame pressed in around Sidney’s lungs and suddenly it was hard to breathe. He wanted Jonas back, but Jonas didn’t want him.

“Oh no. He forgot his watch.”

Sidney jerked around. His silver pocket watch was dangling from the chain in Freddie’s tobacco stained fingers. Sidney lurched forward, hitting his ribs hard against the edge of the counter and snatched the watch out of the clerk’s hands.

“Hey!”

“I’ll take it to him,” Sidney said in a breath, and then ran out the door.