The Sea Owes Me a Fortune

Chapter 003

“Have you lost your mind, girl?”

Their mother, Kate Hathaway, had come home without either of them noticing. She gave Anne a sharp rap on the head.

Anne immediately shrank back, rubbing the sore spot. “I was only joking! Did you have to hit me, Mom?”

“You deserved it,” Kate said, glaring at her. “Get outside and mend the nets.”

Then she turned to Sydney with a sigh.

“Sydney, I’m not trying to be cruel, but you need to hear this now. If you marry Jasper and make your home with us, I’ll treat you like my own daughter. But if you expect him to move into your father’s house, you can forget it.”

Jasper opened his mouth, but a sharp look from his mother stopped him.

“No son of mine is going to become his in-laws’ doormat just to get married. So please put that idea out of your head.”

“Mom!” Jasper glanced at Sydney’s swollen, tearful eyes and sighed. “This is between Sydney and me. Why do you have to say all that?”

“I’m your mother. I’m entitled to have my say!”

“I’m sorry. I understand.” Sydney struggled to hold back her tears, then turned and ran.

Jasper hurried after her and caught her by the arm.

“Let it go, Jasper.” Her voice shook. “Maybe we’ll get to be together in another life.”

“To hell with another life. I want you in this one.” His voice was firm. “Give me a year—no, six months. Six months at most, and we’ll be married. I promise.”

Matthew’s scheming all came down to money, didn’t it? With his new ability, Jasper could earn it. He had already lost one lifetime. This time, he meant to have both money and the woman he loved.

Sydney saw the certainty in his eyes and found herself nodding almost before she realized it.

Jasper let out a relieved breath. He took a piece of candy from his pocket, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth.

“Just give me six months.”

He was humming when he returned home. The moment he stepped through the door, he found his mother waiting with a stony expression. Beside her, Anne looked delighted that someone else was in trouble.

“Mom, before you say anything…” Jasper raised a hand as if taking an oath. “I’m not moving in with the Hunnams. You have my word.”

Then he produced the candy and presented it to her with a flourish.

“Come on, Mom. Don’t be mad.”

Kate couldn’t help laughing. She accepted the candy but gave him another reproachful look.

“You earn a little money and start wasting it already. Your sister-in-law’s been complaining to me, you know. Until you set up a home of your own, what you earn goes into the household.”

She held out her hand.

Jasper promptly gave her ten dollars. “Can’t I keep a little for myself?”

“Honestly, what am I going to do with you?” She took the money with a helpless laugh. “I’m saving this for your wedding. If things don’t work out with Sydney, we’ll find you someone else…”

“Leave the wedding to me, Mom,” he cut in quickly. “Anyway, it’s my turn to go out with Dad tonight. I’m going to grab something to eat and get some sleep.”

He slipped away before she could answer. Kate could only shake her head.

At two in the morning, Jasper got up and set off for the docks with his father, Kyle Holt.

The family owned a single wooden sailboat. It didn’t even have a winch for hauling in the nets. What they brought home depended on the weather and a fair bit of luck.

Kyle was a quiet man, and they barely exchanged a word on the walk. Jasper found himself overwhelmed by guilt.

In his first life, he had never dared tell his family why he’d moved in with the Hunnams and taken Tim’s place. They had simply thought he’d lost his mind. His father’s hair had gone gray almost overnight, and he’d been left to endure the village gossip.

Kyle hadn’t even reached sixty when he died. Jasper’s mother followed him the next year. Losing them like that had become one of his greatest regrets.

“Dad, once I start earning enough, you should stop going out to sea,” Jasper said suddenly. “Next year, I’ll fix up the house and buy you a television. You and Mom can stay home, watch your shows, and grow vegetables. You won’t have to keep going out in all weather.”

Kyle stopped short, then shot him a look.

“Daydreaming at two in the morning now, are you? Fixing up the house, buying a television—your mother and I would settle for seeing you married!”

Jasper didn’t try to explain. He followed his father aboard the boat.

While Kyle steered, Jasper sat down and willed the lights into view. In an instant, the sea around him lit up.

It took him a while to adjust. Most of the nearby glimmers were faint and white. Here and there he spotted stronger colors, but they were too deep for the net to reach.

They would need a longline for those. Longlines were a nuisance to rig, though, and the family had never made one.

“If only we had a proper saltwater rod…” he muttered.

Kyle overheard him. “If you want to fish with hooks, we can get someone to rig us a longline when we get back. What good is a rod going to do?”

“You don’t get it, Dad.”

Jasper sighed and was about to explain when a broad patch of orange light caught his eye a short distance away. He drew a sharp breath.

“Dad, over there! Quick, head that way!”

He pointed toward the glow, so excited he wanted to take over the steering himself. Kyle had never seen him so eager.

“You usually look half-asleep when I bring you out here. What’s got into you today?”

Despite his bewilderment, Kyle turned the boat in the direction Jasper indicated.

As they drew closer to the orange light, Jasper could barely contain himself. He waited until they were in the right position, called for his father to stop, and reached for the net.

Kyle frowned. “You won’t catch anything worth having here. Don’t waste time. Let’s go to our usual spot first.”

“Just trust me this once, Dad. We won’t regret it.”

Jasper couldn’t tell what kind of fish were below them, but that orange glow had to mean something valuable.

Unable to talk him out of it, Kyle handed him the net. Jasper took a deep breath, twisted at the waist, and cast it out across the water.

After decades of fishing in his first life, he handled the net with ease.

Kyle noticed at once. “Jasper, since when did you get so good at casting?”

Caught off guard, Jasper gave an awkward chuckle. “You’ve yelled at me about it so often I’ve started practicing in my dreams. Guess it paid off.”

He quickly changed the subject. “What do you think, Dad? Are we going to catch anything?”

Kyle shook his head. “I doubt it. A few small fish, at best.”

“Want to bet?” Jasper’s eyes shone. “I think we’re going to bring up something really good.”

He trusted his new ability. It hadn’t led him wrong.

“Listen to you! Still wet behind the ears, and you want to bet against me?” Kyle gave him a dismissive look. “All right. If there’s nothing in that net, you’re done with the Hunnam girl. Agreed?”

“Agreed.” Jasper didn’t hesitate. “But if we get a good catch, you and Mom have to stop interfering. I decide who I marry.”

“Fine,” Kyle said at once. “But you’re not moving into her father’s house. Do that, and I’ll break your legs.”

They talked for a few more minutes before Kyle suddenly stood up.

“That should do it. Let’s haul it in.”

Jasper was on his feet at once. They each took a side of the net and began pulling it aboard. As the weight grew heavier in their hands, Kyle’s eyes brightened.

“Well, now. There really is something in there!”

Jasper grinned. “Told you, didn’t I?”

“Three, two, one—heave!”

They pulled together, bringing the mouth of the net over the gunwale. With a wet rush, a mass of yellow croakers came into view, their glossy scales shining like a heap of gold.

Kyle drew a sharp breath. “Y-yellow croaker?!”