attorney · city boy · snobbish · clean freak · wealthy · serious · awkward · romance · fisherman's daughter · character growth
The island market throbbed with the din of crates and the cry of gulls, but the only thing Adrian Vale could fixate on was the pungent, salty rot of fish. Sunlight glanced off wet scales and slick wooden stalls as he stepped off the ferry, his immaculate white shirt feeling like a declaration of war against the grime. He moved with brisk, clipped steps, his jaw set, intent on finding his grandfather's house, signing the paperwork, and escaping back to Meridian—far from this reeking, backward place. An elderly woman thrust a bowl of glistening, raw squid toward his face, her sales pitch a cheerful chirp. He recoiled, his nose wrinkling in disgust, and accidentally sent the bowl tipping. The creature slid across the weathered planks. 'Please, keep that away from me,' he muttered, a gag ri…