Donovans 01 - Amber Beach

along various parts of the strait. At one point there was a pool of sunlight glittering way out on the water, but it didn’t last long. Wind closed the hole in the clouds and a hundred shades of gray settled seamlessly over land and sea.
    The Tomorrow ’s blower was already on when Jake reached the dock. Before he had taken two steps the engine roared to life and settled into a muscular muttering. He went aboard fast.
    “Going somewhere?” he asked, closing the cabin door behind him. Hard.
    “It’s time I learned how to drive the boat.”
    He grunted. “There’s no way you can learn enough to search the San Juans alone.”
    Honor sat behind the helm and didn’t say another word until the SeaSport’s engine had warmed up to operating temperature.
    “Cast off,” she said without looking at Jake.
    “Not this time.”
    Without a word she got out of the helm seat and went to the dock. She undid the bow line and the stern line, stepped on board, and headed for the cabin. Jake was already in the helm seat.
    “I meant it,” she said through the open door. “I’m driving.”
    “Use the aft controls.”
    A moment later she put the gear lever in reverse and eased up on the throttle. The boat began backing away from the dock, out into the shallow cove. She started to turn the boat away from the dock the same way she had seen Jake do it, waiting until the bow was just clear of the end of the dock.
    Wind gusted, catching the Tomorrow full on the side. More quickly than Honor would have believed possible, the boat whacked broadside into the end of the dock.
    Jake came out of the cabin carrying a boat pole. He pushed the Tomorrow off the dock. “Try again.”
    She did. This time the bow banged against the dock.
    “Reverse,” he said.
    She missed the gate for the shift. Before she could find it, wind had blown the stern back onto the dock. Jake shoved off. She went into reverse, but somehow the wheel position was wrong. Instead of backing away, the stern was sucked against the dock again.
    Honor set her teeth to hold back the kind of language her daddy said only men used. She tried again. The bow scraped against the dock. Even as she jammed the gear lever into neutral to kill speed, she jerked the wheel as though to turn the bow away. It didn’t do any good, of course. In neutral, the steering wheel was useless.
    “Better,” Jake said, pushing the boat off the dock again. “It would have worked if the wind hadn’t stopped blowing the stern.”
    She reached for the shifter again.
    “No,” he said curtly. “Check your helm position first or we’ll ram the dock but good this time.”
    After a few more tries, Honor got the Tomorrow away from the dock despite the unpredictable wind. Bleakly she admitted to herself that it was more due to Jake’s instructions than to any of her own skill. She wouldn’t have believed how much a little wind could push around something as big as the Tomorrow. The thought of landing in a real wind made cool sweat break out on her spine.
    “Now take the forward helm,” Jake said. “Head for that point of land.”
    Honor looked where he was pointing and went into the cabin. He stood by the aft controls until he felt them respond to her hands. When he climbed into the pilot seat across from her, she didn’t so much as glance in his direction.
    “Where are we going?” she asked.
    “To the marina to top off the tanks.”
    The thought of docking the Tomorrow made Honor cringe. She knew that coming up alongside a dock was a lot more tricky than simply pulling away from it—and she had made a real hash of that.
    She worried all the way to the marina.
    “I’ll take the aft station,” Jake said. “If I tell you to let go of the controls, do it.”
    She nodded and hoped her relief didn’t show. He went out on the stern and began calling directions to her. She didn’t argue or hesitate. She simply did what he said as best she could, even when she thought she should be doing the opposite.
    The dock approached with unnerving speed. She missed the gate on a shift into reverse.
    “Let go!”
    Even before Honor lifted her hands, the control levers took on a life of their own. While she wiped damp palms on her sweatshirt, Jake killed the forward momentum and tucked the boat alongside the dock with a few swift maneuvers.
    Honor let out a shaky breath. The whole time the gas tanks filled, she thought about what she had done wrong on the landing. Besides missing the shift gate, she