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Authors: Adriana Mather
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knowing under all that bravado.”
“I don’t have any bravado,” Jaxon says from the hallway. “I’m just naturally awesome.”
“Jaxon, eavesdropping is a terrible habit,” she says, “made common by swindlers and little old ladies.”
He appears in the doorway with his confident grin. “Don’t worry. I just came back to see if you were done.”
“That’s up to Samantha,” she says.
“Yeah, I think so,” I say. “Can I come back at some point? I’d love to hear some of those stories about my dad.”
“There’s nothing I’d like more.” She scoops out a mound of batter that smells like eggnog and warm butter.
Jaxon gestures for me to follow him.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
----
The Friendship
“H ow are you not fat?” I ask, gripping the warm cup of hot chocolate with a hint of chili and cinnamon from Mrs. Meriwether’s Sugar Spells Bakery.
Jaxon pats his flat stomach. “Good genes.”
We cross the street toward the harbor, and I get my first view of the enormous ship. “Whoa.”
“You haven’t seen
The Friendship
yet?” He’s all smiles.
“Is that what this pirate ship’s called?”
He laughs. “It’s actually a reconstruction of an East India trading ship, built in 1797.”
I look at him sideways. “You know the exact date?”
“My father used to take me down here as a kid. He built boats, and he loved this one in particular.”
Suddenly his house makes a lot more sense. I sip my hot cocoa.
“It traveled the globe over a dozen times and returned to Salem after each trip, bringing things from all over the world.” He looks out at the masts with their complex wooden tiers.
“Really?” I’m charmed by Jaxon’s love for this old boat.
“Unfortunately, the British took the original in the War of 1812 and sold it for parts.”
“That’s sad. It’s beautiful.”
There’s an openness about him when he talks about this ship. “Yeah, I hate when people tear apart beautiful things.”
My cheeks warm. “So you used to come here with your dad?”
“Yeah, he’d explain all the parts of a ship and how they worked. That’s why I like to build furniture. I built a lot of things with my dad.”
The sky has started to turn from orange to pink. “What was he like?”
Jaxon smiles. “He always wore suspenders, and he had a deep laugh, one of those ones where your whole body shakes. And he carried this old pipe around with him that drove my mom nuts. She used to say he was stinking up the place. But more than anything, he loved my mother. He had the biggest sweet tooth. He used to sneak into the kitchen late at night and eat the new pastries she made for the shop. She would complain, but secretly she loved it.”
His love for his father is so relatable that my breath catches in my throat. “He sounds wonderful.”
He puts his arm around my shoulder and pulls me closer. I tense at his touch.
Maybe Mrs. Meriwether was right about Jaxon. I haven’t even really given him a chance.
I’m just not used to people being nice to me. The couple of times someone from school sought me out like this, it was to play a trick on me, which didn’t exactly help me in the trusting department. I relax my muscles and lean gently against him, getting a whiff of pine needles.
“I didn’t have any friends in the City.” We watch the colorful sky reflected in the water, and I wonder about his arm, which hasn’t released me.
“You always say what you think, don’t you?” He says this like it’s a good thing.
I shrug. “Vivian says I have no filter. Funny thing is, I think I get it from her. But really, I just don’t see a need to sugarcoat things.”
“So then I guess you don’t miss New York?”
“Not exactly. But I miss being able to go to the hospital every day. This is the longest I’ve gone without seeing my dad since he went into a coma. The apartment sold way faster than Vivian thought it would, and we had to move before we could get him transferred to Boston.”
Jaxon
“I don’t have any bravado,” Jaxon says from the hallway. “I’m just naturally awesome.”
“Jaxon, eavesdropping is a terrible habit,” she says, “made common by swindlers and little old ladies.”
He appears in the doorway with his confident grin. “Don’t worry. I just came back to see if you were done.”
“That’s up to Samantha,” she says.
“Yeah, I think so,” I say. “Can I come back at some point? I’d love to hear some of those stories about my dad.”
“There’s nothing I’d like more.” She scoops out a mound of batter that smells like eggnog and warm butter.
Jaxon gestures for me to follow him.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
----
The Friendship
“H ow are you not fat?” I ask, gripping the warm cup of hot chocolate with a hint of chili and cinnamon from Mrs. Meriwether’s Sugar Spells Bakery.
Jaxon pats his flat stomach. “Good genes.”
We cross the street toward the harbor, and I get my first view of the enormous ship. “Whoa.”
“You haven’t seen
The Friendship
yet?” He’s all smiles.
“Is that what this pirate ship’s called?”
He laughs. “It’s actually a reconstruction of an East India trading ship, built in 1797.”
I look at him sideways. “You know the exact date?”
“My father used to take me down here as a kid. He built boats, and he loved this one in particular.”
Suddenly his house makes a lot more sense. I sip my hot cocoa.
“It traveled the globe over a dozen times and returned to Salem after each trip, bringing things from all over the world.” He looks out at the masts with their complex wooden tiers.
“Really?” I’m charmed by Jaxon’s love for this old boat.
“Unfortunately, the British took the original in the War of 1812 and sold it for parts.”
“That’s sad. It’s beautiful.”
There’s an openness about him when he talks about this ship. “Yeah, I hate when people tear apart beautiful things.”
My cheeks warm. “So you used to come here with your dad?”
“Yeah, he’d explain all the parts of a ship and how they worked. That’s why I like to build furniture. I built a lot of things with my dad.”
The sky has started to turn from orange to pink. “What was he like?”
Jaxon smiles. “He always wore suspenders, and he had a deep laugh, one of those ones where your whole body shakes. And he carried this old pipe around with him that drove my mom nuts. She used to say he was stinking up the place. But more than anything, he loved my mother. He had the biggest sweet tooth. He used to sneak into the kitchen late at night and eat the new pastries she made for the shop. She would complain, but secretly she loved it.”
His love for his father is so relatable that my breath catches in my throat. “He sounds wonderful.”
He puts his arm around my shoulder and pulls me closer. I tense at his touch.
Maybe Mrs. Meriwether was right about Jaxon. I haven’t even really given him a chance.
I’m just not used to people being nice to me. The couple of times someone from school sought me out like this, it was to play a trick on me, which didn’t exactly help me in the trusting department. I relax my muscles and lean gently against him, getting a whiff of pine needles.
“I didn’t have any friends in the City.” We watch the colorful sky reflected in the water, and I wonder about his arm, which hasn’t released me.
“You always say what you think, don’t you?” He says this like it’s a good thing.
I shrug. “Vivian says I have no filter. Funny thing is, I think I get it from her. But really, I just don’t see a need to sugarcoat things.”
“So then I guess you don’t miss New York?”
“Not exactly. But I miss being able to go to the hospital every day. This is the longest I’ve gone without seeing my dad since he went into a coma. The apartment sold way faster than Vivian thought it would, and we had to move before we could get him transferred to Boston.”
Jaxon
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