In Hot Pursuit Read Online Free PDF Page B

mule-headedness.
    "Short
time! You’ll be gone two months !"
Nellie cried, her voice shooting up.
    "Technically,
I’ll only be gone a month," Will insisted. "But I have use of the
boat for two months. Besides, there are furnished apartments in Port
Townsend."
    "Not that
I can afford or intend to pay for, especially
since I have a legal right to stay on my own boat!" Nellie set her jaw
and peered up at him. A clear challenge.
    Will sucked in
an extended breath to check his temper, which was quickly pushing him beyond
the limit of his tolerance. But the woman was impossible! Trying to deal with
her was like trying to negotiate with a junkyard dog! He also realized they'd
reached an impasse. She had title and possession. He had back rent owed and
time invested, but no written contract to prove it. But he'd try one last ditch
effort to have the boat to himself. "Look, it’s only for a month. Don't
you have relatives or friends where you can stay?"
    Nellie shook her
head. "I'm an only child, I have no friends or relatives who'd take us in,
my father passed away a few years back, and my mother lives in a retirement
home where kids and dogs aren't allowed. So you're stuck with us, unless, of
course, you choose to force foreclosure and have us evicted, which will take
considerably longer than two weeks."
    Will looked
into a pair of unyielding eyes. Something told him this woman was here to
change his life—complicate it, confuse it, rearrange it maybe—but definitely
change it. She was changing it already. She was determined to remain aboard,
and he didn't have the luxury of time to relocate her. Releasing a heavy sigh,
he said in a firm voice, "You'll have to keep the boy away from my
equipment and out of the bridge unless I'm there."
    "I assure
you, my son will be no trouble," Nellie said. But the look of uncertainty
in her eyes defied her words.
    Will's mouth
twitched with skepticism. So much for written contracts. Nellie Reid managed to
outmaneuver him into agreeing to something he knew he'd regret. But he admired
her tenacity, and she had a varied assortment of skills he needed. She might
even be of use on the trip. She'd spent time on the Isadora so she undoubtedly had navigational skills.
    Almost as if
she’d read his thoughts, she looked at him steadily, and said, "In
addition to being very familiar with this boat, once we’re out at sea you might
find me useful in other ways."
    Will eyed her
dubiously. Could she be implying what he thought? She was after all a woman
whose marital life had been cut short, and she undoubtedly missed sharing a bed
with a man. "Well, it just so happens I need a mate," he said,
testing.
    Flares of
outrage lit her eyes, as she said, "I hope you're not implying what I
think."
    "First
mate," Will amended. "There are drift logs in the waters where we're
heading and I can use a spotter on the bridge." A fine lot of help this
crew will be. Three days ago his life was orderly. Work on the Isadora was approaching completion, his
sonar equipment was scheduled to arrive any day, and the whales would soon be
moving into Robson Bight where he'd be able to make contact with them. And then
everything went to hell in a hand basket.
    He tried not to
dwell on his decision to allow a woman, a boy, and a dog to accompany him and
Zeke on his whale study, but for the first time since Nellie Reid burst into
his life, he seriously began to question the soundness of his judgment. The
possible ramifications could be staggering.
    ***
    " Two months on the Isadora with him! That sucks!" Mike slipped out of the dinette, scaled the ladder leading from the galley up
to the salon, and marched outside. He stood with his hands on the railing,
gazing at the boat house. From behind the closed door to the fo'c'sle, Katy
barked.
    Nellie followed
Mike and stood beside him. "It probably won't be for more than a
month," Nellie said. "Then we'll have the boat all to
ourselves."
    "But it's
our boat," Mike groused. "I don't know why