Read Romance on the Edge 01 - Hooked for Free Online Page B

Double Dippin’ . An uneasy foreboding sank into her bones.
    A red morning for the first day of drifting. The maritime warning echoed through Sonya’s head. Red morning, sailors take warning.
    Weather was predicted to blow in that afternoon. When didn’t they get weather in Bristol Bay? She’d even seen it when the wind blew both directions just for the fun of it.
    Right now the sea was gray, choppy, and dressed in whitecaps. The wind blew steady from the east at twenty knots. That would change. She stretched, trying to get the kinks out of her back. The bunk on the boat wasn’t the most comfortable. Not to mention she was edgy over what today would bring. She had a lot to live up to. Her big mouth for one. She’d talked everyone into drifting. Her family had been happy set netting for over fifty years, and here she’d pushed for them to drift.
    “Yo, Captain,” Wes hollered from the starboard side. “Permission to come aboard.”
    Sonya opened the window and leaned out of the pilot house to see Wes bouncing like a rubber ball in the skiff. “Permission granted, matey.” She rubbed her hands together as she noticed the individual cooler he had with him. Looked like she wouldn’t have to settle for a protein bar for breakfast, after all. When he was safely aboard, and in the warm pilot house, she took the cooler from him. Her mouth salivated at the thought of what her grandmother had cooked for breakfast. Cinnamon rolls, blueberry muffins. “What did you bring?”
    “Don’t get too excited.” Wes grimaced, unsnapping his rain jacket. “Margaret made salmon omelets. In my opinion, fish is never a good breakfast food.”
    They supplemented their food stores with salmon, living off the ocean as much as they could. Food was expensive to ship in and even more expensive to buy at the cannery. Then there was the problem of refrigeration. Salmon was caught fresh every day, healthy, and a great source of protein. Unfortunately, Sonya had to agree with Wes. It wasn’t the most ideal breakfast food. Maybe she’d have her protein bar after all.
    “I did grab you some nuts and the last of the apples, in case the omelet wasn’t to your liking.”
    She grabbed the apple and took a bite. It was a bit mealy, but it was fruit. Probably the last she’d see until the season was over and she headed home. So she savored it. “Thanks, Wes. I appreciate it.”
    Wes settled himself on the small bunk while Sonya took the captain’s chair and the bag of nuts Wes had stuffed into the cooler. She’d toss the omelet overboard later and let the seagulls fight over it.
    “How are you doing today?” Wes asked.
    She’d known Wes would show up before the rest of the crew this morning. He had a way of seeing things that no one else did. The talent would serve him well in his chosen career.
    “Nervous. Excited.” Sonya bit her lip and decided to speak her doubts and fears, knowing Wes would see them even if she didn’t share. “Worried. Scared.” Sharing with Wes had always served to calm and center her thoughts. “What if I’ve taken on more than I can handle?” What if she piloted her boat into the foray of the seasoned drifters and made a fool of herself? “What if this gamble doesn’t pay off?” She’d literally laid everything she had on the line. “What if someone gets hurt?” There. Her biggest fear.
    She couldn’t lose another member of her family.
    “Those are a lot of what ifs.” Wes leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “Let’s start with the first one. Do you really believe you’ve taken on more than you can handle? Is that your thought or someone else’s?”
    “Oh, you’re good.” She hadn’t realized she’d let Aidan get to her. How had she let herself doubt? She’d fished out here all her life. She knew fishing. It had driven her crazy when the Fish and Game opened the area for drifters and closed the set netters. The drifters cleaned up. They could go where the fish were, while