Bearliest Catch by Bianca D'Arc Read Free Book Online Page A

him, when he
was running out to his boat, his demons chasing him from sleep and
sending him to the water.
    But today, all that was different. He had
Jetty in his house now, and it was as if her presence had chased
the demons away altogether. As if they couldn’t stand in her
presence.
    Wasn’t that a wonder?
    “Are your people generally religious?” he
asked, trying to make quiet conversation.
    “We usually thank the Goddess before we eat,
but that might just be my pod. I don’t know about other groups. In
water, the thanks are silent, but when on land, we can do it either
way—silent or spoken.”
    “It’s important to you,” he observed, eating
his toast.
    She shrugged. “It’s habit and shows respect
for the lives of the fish we hunt so that we may continue to live.
So, yeah, I guess it is important to me. But it isn’t to you?” She
looked at him, frowning a little.
    “On the contrary. My mom always had us give
thanks before every meal. Of course, she’s a priestess, so…” He let
the sentence drift off as he concentrated on his meal.
    He could feel Jetty’s surprise, but he didn’t
look up. He had no idea why he’d just revealed that about his
mother. Even his teammates hadn’t learned about his mother until
after he’d been injured so badly he had to be sent back home. Only
then had Big John become aware of Drew’s circumstances. Mom had met
his stretcher at the airport and taken charge from there.
    His teammates had been duly impressed with
her resources and intensity. She wouldn’t let him die, and he knew
he could thank her for the fact that he’d survived. Now he just had
to get his head screwed on straight again before he could face her,
but he knew she understood.
    His mother had been the one to advise him to
go to Washington and rejoin his friends. She’d said it would be
good for him, and she hadn’t been wrong. Drew was doing a lot
better since rejoining his unit and working with them to fulfill
another mission—this one the oddest of them all, but the most
valuable long-term. They were building this town from the ground
up, and it felt good to be part of the team again.
    “Your mother doesn’t live close?” she asked
softly after the silence had stretched a bit.
    “No. Though she and dad are thinking about
moving here eventually, but I told them not to come just yet. Not
until we’ve made it safer. I couldn’t tell her why or she’d have
been here like a shot, trying to help. I just don’t want her in so
much danger. She’s supposed to be slowing down, teaching the next
generation, but her most recent apprentice is almost done with her
studies, and Mom will probably be nosing around here sooner than I
want. She’s really curious about this experiment.”
    And why in the world was he being such a
Chatty Cathy today? Drew put it up to Jetty’s influence. Something
about her made him want to open up and tell her his life’s story,
which totally dismayed him. What the hell?
    “My folks live in Los Angeles,” she offered.
“I lived there, too, until a few years back when I dove into the
ocean and decided to stay for a while.”
    “After you broke up with your ex, by any
chance?” He pried a little, wanting to know more about the ex that
she’d mentioned before. His jealous bear wanted to claw the dude
and make him bleed.
    “How’d you guess?” She made a face and forked
up more eggs, stabbing them like she was stabbing her ex.
    “Sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up bad
memories.” He tried to convey comfort in his softly spoken
words.
    “No. It’s okay. I was dating an actor, and I
thought it was serious. I didn’t realize he was just playing the
role of besotted boyfriend to get what he wanted. Eventually, I
moved in with him, giving up my apartment and most of my stuff
because his place was small and we couldn’t fit it all. I put many
of my things in my parents’ garage, thankfully. But when the
breakup happened, it was sudden, and I only stuck around