I held out my hand to her as I helped her on the boat. She grinned and immediately went to survey everything. She hadn’t been on my boat in years. “Hasn’t changed much.” She smirked.
I shrugged and started to untie the knots that were holding the boat to the dock. “I don’t get to come out here much. Usually whenever I go out I go out in Tampa. This place is probably a mess, come to think of it.” I laughed.
“Eh, doesn’t look to bad to me,” she smirked and plopped down on one of the benches by where I would sit to drive the boat. “We really should bring Lanie out here sometime.” I saw the happiness in her eyes just thinking about Lanie. “She would love this.” I nodded and started the engine.
“That’d be fun. Hopefully soon we’ll be able to take her out in public more,” I muttered. As soon as I said that, I heard a camera’s shutter close and open and noticed a flash. “God dammit.” I spat and headed towards the end of the boat to yell at whatever paparazzi was there.
I felt Shelby catch my arm as I walked by. I turned back and frowned. “I’m okay with it if you are,” she shrugged nonchalantly. Was she telling me she was okay being seen with me? Did she realize the media would take this and run with it, probably coming up with some crazy rumors along the way?
“Are you sure?” I asked her. “I mean, they’re probably gonna sell all these pictures to magazines and internet sources around the country.” I explained, making sure she realized just what would happen if these pictures did get out. “People are going to start stopping you in the street and asking you if you’re with me.” I chuckled.
She shrugged with a grin. “You’ll probably be right by my side anyway, so it’s not a big deal.” She shrugged. Wow. I was never expecting her to just open up like that.
“Alright,” I nodded. “Well, let me just go say a few words so they know not to follow us out on the water.” I said and she nodded. “Hey guys.” I said as I approached the photographers.
“Nick! Who’s the girl?” One of them asked as they continued to snap pictures.
“She’s my ex wife, Shelby. We’re just taking a little breather. We’re happy to give you the photos you’ve already gotten but we just ask that once we get out on the water you give us our privacy, aiight?” I grinned politely. I heard Shelby snicker in the background.
“Sure, man. No problem,” the photographer smiled. “Thanks for your time, Nick. Are you two back together?” He asked.
I glanced back at Shelby who shrugged. I figured that meant it was up to me. What did I want to say? Whatever I said would for sure end up all over the internet and magazines by that night. “Uh, we’re working through some differences. Our daughter’s sick and we’re trying to pull through together.” I nodded my head, again, to be polite. I had learned over the years the more polite I was towards these guys the easier it was to get them off my back.
“That’s great, man,” another photographer yelled out. “All the best to you both. And we hope your daughter starts to get better soon.” They nodded in appreciation of the pictures and information and turned to walk away.
“Thanks guys, have a good night,” I smiled and headed back to the boat.
“Nicely done,” Shelby grinned as I sat down in the captain’s chair and motioned her over. She grinned and sat down on my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck. She gave me a soft kiss on my cheek.
“Thanks,” I beamed. “I’m used to it by now, I guess. But, uh, just so you know? You’re probably gonna start getting a lot more attention now. If you happen to be somewhere by yourself you might get pictures taken or questions asked. Let’s just agree one place we won’t allow the photographers are in the hospital.” I said as I backed the boat off the dock.
She nodded in agreement. “Sounds like a plan.” She sighed and leaned her head against mine. “So where are we gonna go?” She asked. I shrugged.
“I don’t really have a plan, I just thought we could drive out here a bit and watch the sunset, then maybe eat some dinner and just see where the night takes us,” I smirked. She nodded and kissed me softly.
“I like that idea,” she whispered and began to tug at the hairs at the back of my head. I grinned as she kissed her way down to my jaw line, and then down farther to my neck.
“Wow, all I have to do is take you out on a boat and you’re like putty in my hands,” I laughed and she giggled softly.
“I just missed spending some quality time with you. And I guess the way you’ve been handling situations has really started to prove to me that you’re different. You would have never listened to me back there, you know that?” She asked me and I nodded. She was right. I never would have even thought about listening to her. I would have lashed out at those guys and an article would have appeared in a magazine the next day telling everyone what a psycho monster I was.
“I know,” I mumbled and kissed her softly. I increased the speed a little as we bounced gently over the waves. I grinned I loved this. But then I felt her body tense. “Shell?” I frowned and looked into her eyes. Her eyes were big and she clutched at her stomach. She flew off my lap over to the side of the boat to throw up. I stopped the boat. “Shit.” I muttered and hurried over to her. I placed my hand on the small of her back to try and comfort her. “Baby, you okay?” I frowned as she finished throwing up and climbed back over to sit against the bench. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing heavily.
“Damn, I never used to get sea sick,” she mumbled. I got her a bottle of water out of the cooler.
“I know, you love my boat,” I frowned, trying to figure out why she was so sick all of a sudden.
She grinned, which completely threw me off. She had just been sick, what was making her smile? “Yeah, I love your boat. But I’m not so sure baby loves the boat.” She laughed softly and put her hand on her abdomen.
I got it now. I chuckled and put my hand around the back of her head to pull her in so I could kiss her forehead. “I’m sorry you’re so sick. You wanna head back in?” I asked her. We had barely been on the water for five minutes.
She nodded sheepishly. “I’m sorry. I had no idea it was gonna be like this.” She grumbled and rested her hand on her stomach with a sigh.
“It’s not your fault your sick,” I winked and went back to my seat. She stayed by the edge of the boat to let the wind rustle her hair. Now I would just have to come up with some other surprise or something amazing to do. I sighed and continued on only a little while longer until we reached the dock again. I tied the boat up and hopped over the edge, reaching out my hand to Shelby. She wobbled over, feeling a little woozy again. “You wanna go home?” I asked carefully. I really hoped she didn’t want to, but I also didn’t want her to not feel well.
“I think I’ll be okay if I stay on solid ground for a little while,” she laughed softly. “I’m really sorry I totally screwed up our plans.” She mumbled. I could tell she really did feel terrible.
“Hey,” I squeezed her hand. “It’s okay. We’ll just improvise and come up with something else. We can relax on the beach for a little while or something.” I shrugged. It really wasn’t a big deal to me. Yeah, I’d love to be able to spend some quality time with her out on the water, but it wasn’t the end of the world if I couldn’t. The way I saw it, as long as we were spending time together we’d be okay.
Author's Chapter Notes:
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