Passions in the North Country (Siren Publishing Classic) by Summer Newman

think you’ll be able to fish on your own boat again?” Devon asked.
    “Lobster season, but that ain’t till fall. This year, when I get my boat paid off, I can make it on lobster and some inshore fishing, but until then I’ll be working for somebody else.”
    Jenny didn’t know if she should interrupt, but she was interested in Terry’s problem. “If you don’t want to go out on those trips, could you do another job for awhile?”
    “Fishing and the ocean is all I know, ma’am.”
    Miriam nodded. “He’s done it since he was fourteen years old. Remember when old Rob used to take you out with him?”
    “Yep,” Terry said with a smile.
    “Rob had five men under him,” Miriam said, “but he swore Terry was the best worker in his crew.”
    “You could make a good living at fishing in those days,” Terry reminisced, “but now you have to do whatever you can to survive.”
    “Three-week trips are too long,” his mother said. “They should have a rule against taking men from their families for that long.”
    Terry lifted an eyebrow. “There’s word on the wharf about six-week trips.”
    “Oh, no!” Miriam exclaimed.
    “Six week trips,” Terry said with a sigh, “but what choice does a man have? I need a new motor for Lenore’s car and you got to support your family somehow. Lenore calls the boys eating machines. They want the best of everything. When I was kid, I remember feeling like a king when I got new sneakers that cost two dollars, now they want sneakers that you have to take a mortgage out for.”
    “Where will you be fishing?” Miriam asked reluctantly, almost as if she dreaded the answer.
    “Off the shelf,” he mumbled, not looking at his mother.
    Miriam turned pale and, visibly upset, hurried into the hotel without saying a word. Jenny looked dumbfounded.
    “Need some help unloading that stuff at the dump?” Terry asked Devon in a subdued tone, guilt written over his face.
    “Sure,” Devon answered with a confused glance at his friend.
    Terry nodded to Jenny and told her again that he was glad to meet her. Then he and Devon got into the truck and left for the dump. When Jenny walked into the hotel, Miriam was stiffly clutching the back of a chair and seemed almost on the verge of fainting.
    “What’s wrong?” Jenny asked, quickly striding up to her and making sure she did not fall.
    Miriam sat down. “I’ve had a little too much on my mind, that’s all.”
    “Are you sure you’re all right?”
    “Yes, I’m fine.”
    “I think I should take you to the hospital.”
    “No, no. I’m fine, really. I’ve been worrying too much about things lately and that’s not good for me.”
    “No, it’s not,” Jenny said softly. “And it’s not good to keep things inside.” She sat down beside her. “Tell me what’s bothering you.”
    “I’m not happy about Terry having to go out,” she said. “Fishing is dangerous enough inshore, but out there anything can happen.”
    “I’m sure everything will work out for the best.”
    Miriam seemed reluctant to continue, but then opened up. “He promised me when he was still a boy that he would never fish off the shelf.”
    “If it was that long ago, he probably just forgot.”
    “He didn’t forget.”
    “It’s none of my business, but why don’t you want him fishing there?”
    Miriam burst into tears. “That’s where his father died.”
    “Oh, I’m sorry,” Jenny said, clasping Miriam’s frail hand and trying to comfort her.
    “The captain was under pressure to fish,” Miriam related, “even though they were calling for rough weather. I told my husband to stay home, but he knew he’d lose his spot, so he went. The storm hit and the whole crew was lost. Only two bodies were recovered. One of them was my husband. When he was buried, I knelt on his grave and vowed that I would never let his son fish in the place where he died. When Terry was old enough, I made him promise me that he would never go there. Now he’s