She swings a crowbar out of the cab and lets it rest on one broad shoulder as she walks. Her heavy boots echo on the boardwalk as she strides straight toward me and my would-be welcoming committee.
The three men break formation, their bravado crumpling under her hard stare.
The short guy fakes a laugh. “Just having a chat, Em. No harm meant.”
Eyes flat as slate settle on him. “Didn’t look like a friendly chat.”
Big guy holds up both hands, mock surrender. “No trouble here. Right, boys?”
The older guy is already backing away, hands buried in his jacket, head down.
She ignores them and turns to me. “You okay?”
I nod, not trusting my mouth to form anything convincing.
She bends and picks up my hat, now with an oil smudge decorating the crown. She wipes it with the hem of her shirt and holds it out.
For a split second, I want to leave it, a casualty of the morning. But she’s waiting, so I take it and jam it back on my head. “Thanks.”
She studies me long enough for anxiety to set in as I shift the bag on my shoulder. “Want me to walk you to your car? Or we can report this harassment, if you’d rather. I’ll give a witness statement.”
“No need,” I say, sharper than I mean to. “I’m fine.”
“Suit yourself,” she says, as if she expected the answer. “If you change your mind, I’ll be around.”
Instead of giving me a warning or a lecture about how Omegas should be careful when walking around alone, she fishes a business card from her pocket and holds it out.
I hesitate a second time before I accept it. The card is nothing fancy, just basic card stock that could be produced at the local print shop. Block letters form three lines in the middle:
Emily Wilson
Superintendent at Wilson Construction
Followed by a phone number with a local area code.
“If you change your mind about filing a report, let me know.” She waits until I slip it into my bag, then with a tip of her head toward me, she hefts her crowbar and strides back to her truck, the engine resuming its growl.
Did she not realize I’m an Omega? Or did she not care? With the wind blowing in the wrong direction, I didn’t catch any pheromones from her, but her confidence screamed Alpha, and those guys were quick to back down as soon as she showed up.
I stand there for a while after she’s gone, the wind whipping hair into my mouth, hat warm and wet on my scalp. Then, I give myself a shake and get moving before I draw any more unwanted attention.
I make it down to the docks and find the right one based on the directions I received, where a water taxi bobs in the water, the nameMisty Pines Resortstenciled onto the side in cursive. The covered seating area is already packed with whatappear to be construction workers, and my stomach twists with unease.
A Beta with a scally cap waves me closer. “You must be Leif Hollis. Was getting worried I’d have to come back for you.”
“Sorry, I was held up.” I clamber over the side and take a seat as far from everyone else as possible, close to the aft rail, where I can track everything coming and going. The metal bench is cold through my slacks, and I hug my satchel on my lap.
From my vantage point, I spot a familiar, battered truck parking at the head of the dock. Emily climbs out, a lunch pail in her hand, and strides down the dock with the same confidence she had approached those Alphas only moments ago.
She leaps over the side of the boat with practiced ease, and the others already there give her a good-natured ribbing for not being there earlier to help load materials. It’s clear they’re all familiar with each other, and if she spots me sitting away from everyone else, she doesn’t comment.
I slide my hat down, careful to keep the oil stain at the back. How embarrassing. If I’d known we would end up at the same place, I would have lether walk me down. Now I feel like an ass for being cold to her.
I focus on the open water, where sunlight cuts a path across the chop, too bright to look at. I imagine how life on the island will be, wonder how misbehaved my new charge will be, and hope I have time to explore the island on my breaks.
This is a new start, and I plan to take full advantage of it.
A few more passengers shuffle aboard, an elderly woman with a shopping tote, a Beta couple with matching windbreakers, and a man with what appears to be a hand-carved walking stick.