I stood looking out over the island, then followed Asher to the bar.
“Grab me a beer, Asher.” He tossed me one from the bottom of the ice, then motioned for me to sit down at the bar.
“Are you serious about this bride thing?”
“I don’t know if I’m serious, but I’m liking the idea.” I took a short drink of beer. “It worked for the others.”
“I still can’t believe your brother allowed my mother to buy him a wife. I mean, I can see it being the case for Parker because, well, it’s Parker, but not for Trey or you,” Asher shook his head and shrugged.
“Actually, I think Trey is the only one that allowed her to get him a bride. The rest of them just got planned, or happened. I mean, how many are there, like four?”
“And me,” Asher laughed. “But I out-smarted them all and got August to marry the bride.”
“That’s still four. I’m not sure I’d call it out-smarting. It’s more like you were out of control and the girl liked August’s responsibility and charm,” I smirked. “Or, could it have been his good looks?”
“Charm and good looks?” Asher laughed out loud. “You forget he looks exactly like me. That’s why we’re called identical twins.”
“True, but you’re very different people. We’ve gone over this already,” I said. “All jokes aside, I think I might want her help, too.”
“Yeah, with finding a wife! That’s what’s blowing my mind right now. You wanting help finding a girl, much less a wife. I just need to clarify, because I don’t even know you right now.” Asher finished his beer. “Did aliens take the real you last time we were out here on this island?”
Chapter 15
Jade
Sawyer had been surprisingly polite, but I wasn’t falling for it. I’d met and dealt with his kind of rich before.
They’re all waiting outside the office for me. This doesn’t look good.
“I’m real sorry about the engine, but thanks to a friendly islander, we got a tow in pretty quick.” I smiled as big as I could. “Would anyone like a cold drink before you head out?”
“Jade, we think we should get our money back since we broke down out there.” Marcy complained. “I think it’s only fair.”
“Marcy, if we had been stuck out there for a long time, I’d have to agree with you, but you were only inconvenienced about fifteen minutes.” I chewed on my inner cheek, trying not to lose my temper. “You spent the whole time inside in the air conditioning, anyways.”
“Miss Campbell, I think my wife is correct. Any other place would automatically refund any expenses.” Todd fidgeted, never making eye contact. “We want to leave your marina a good review, but not after today.”
I stood looking at the six guests in disbelief. The women had literally spent the whole afternoon indoors while the men caught more fish than they could eat in a month, yet they wanted all of their money back.
Well, do I tell them what I really think and get a bad review, or give the money back?
“The best that I can offer you, since you had a great afternoon and there was only a slight issue, is half your money back,” I tried for a compromise. “Wouldn’t we all agree that’s fair, considering all that fish you’re taking with you?”
Marcy began to speak until Todd stepped in, “Yes, I think that’s very fair.”
“Good, follow me inside and we can take care of that.” I held the door open for them to enter. “Cold drinks are on the house if anyone wants one.”
Oh no, Dad’s in the office. He’s going to make a scene about the money.
“Dad, this is the group that went out fishing today,” I went around the counter to the register.
“Looks like you had a good day out there by the look of those ice chests.” Dad walked over by the door. “What was the big yacht doing here again?”
“That nice man towed us in. The engine caught on fire.” Marcy jumped in with the details.
Yeah, she’ll be telling this story to everyone who’ll listen.
“That engine was in tip-top shape. I wonder what happened.” Dad scratched his head. “I’ll go on out there and take a look at it.”