Captain Gary stood, shaking hands with Palmer first before he turned to me as I pushed my chair out. It wasn’t goodbye officially yet, we’d say our final farewells in the morning, but Cap seemed to be leaving a little piece of something with each of us tonight.
“Ember,” he said, his grin wide and warm as he took me into an embrace. He held me tight, giving me a little pat on the back as he released me. He looked around before lowering his voice. “This was a tough one, aye? But listen, it isn’t over for you. Not if you don’t want it to be. I think you handled these last two charters with absolute poise. And at the risk of sounding like a broken record, I’m proud of you. You have my respect — and my recommendation. No matter what you choose to do next.”
“Thank you, Captain,” I said, offering a small smile. “That means a lot to me.”
He nodded, squeezing my shoulder, and then he moved on to Finn while I took my seat again.
There was a deep pit in the middle of my stomach once Captain Gary was gone. I longed to talk to Leah, but knew it wasno use. I wished for a moment to explain myself to Eli, but felt I didn’t deserve his forgiveness even if he’d give it to me. I even found myself wanting to make amends with Gisella, but the way she glared at me as soon as Captain left and then flicked her hair over her shoulder and turned her back on us to effectively cut us from the group, I knew I didn’t stand a chance.
I was still lost in my wishful thoughts when Finn stood up.
His chair scraped back loud against the stone, pulling everyone’s attention. My brows furrowed as he placed both hands flat on the table, his shoulders squared.
He looked like he was going into battle, and my hackles rose like I was his second in command.
“I’d like to say something,” Finn said, voice calm but carrying weight.
“Cool,” Gisella said flatly. “No one cares.”
She turned back around, but Bernard sucked his teeth and waved her off. “Pipe down, Gisella. Let the man have his go.”
“He can speak all he wants. I won’t be listening,” she said, crossing her arms defiantly.
Bernard rolled his eyes and then smiled politely at Finn. “Go on, love.”
“I know there’s been a lot of speculation this season. About me. About Ember. About Gisella,” Finn started, his eyes scanning everyone at the table. “And I know we didn’t exactly do a good job of controlling the rumors or the optics.”
A ripple of unease passed through the crew. It was the ugly beast we’d all been ignoring since the morning everyone found me and Finn in the guest cabin. We’d shoved the thing into a closet and latched the door, acting like there was nothing more to discuss even when we all knew there was.
But now, there were not guests on board to tend to, no charters to run, no jobs to do.
And Finn was apparently done holding his tongue.
“Before the reunion happens — before you all hear it from producers or see it edited and twisted into something it’s not — I want you to hear the truth from me.” Finn’s gaze flicked to me, warm and steady. “From us.”
My heart slammed against my ribs. He looked so confident and sure, but I was near positive he was barking up the wrong tree with this crew. They wouldn’t listen. They wouldn’twantto listen.
“I’m sorry for the way we hurt you,” Finn said, addressing the table. “It wasn’t our intention to have things blow up the way they did, to make a mess of a crew that had become friends. Believe us or not, that night was the first between us, and we intended to tell all of you that next day. We just never got the chance.”
Gisella scoffed, her arms folded, body rigid at the other end of the table. Finn addressed her directly next.
“I’m especially sorry to you, G.”
That made her tight expression slip.
“I know it must have been painful, finding us the way you did, and you shouldn’t have had to experience that.”
Gisella was quiet as Finn looked back to the crew, that apology weighing heavy in the air.
“But I want to be clear about one thing.” His voice sharpened slightly. “When I crossed the line with Ember, it was after I ended things with Gisella. Not before. I owed her honesty — and I gave it, before anything happened.”
The table erupted in whispers, eyes snapping to Gisella.
“Is that true?” Bernard asked bluntly, leaning forward with interest.
All heads turned to her.
Gisella’s face flushed a dark red, her mouth opening and closing without a sound. She finally shrugged, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “Depends on how you define ‘ended.’”