“Hello, again,” said the clerk. “Welcome back to the Golden Isles.”
“Thanks,” said Nick, dropping his credit card on the desk.
“I thought you were heading to Florida,” said the clerk, nonchalantly, sliding the credit card through the electronic slot.
“We were…I was…I…uh…something came up. We’ll go tomorrow.”
“Hmmm,” said the clerk, thoughtfully, “so it’s not a booking for one?”
“It’s a booking for one boat,” said Nick, suddenly suspicious. “There’s no charge for the people, is there?”
“No, no,” said the clerk, waving his hand through the air. “I just thought you were alone."
Nick signed the credit card receipt without answering. He picked up his copy and walked out of the office, saying, “See ya” over his shoulder.
Back at the Lenore, Jo sat on the sofa waiting for Nick to return. She was a mass of nerves. A strange calm had settled over her on the trip back. It was odd, she thought, that she should be made calm by the realization that she was probably about to get the worst news of her entire life. But knowing the worst was better than not knowing anything at all. Just the fact that they were heading for civilization, for authority, for cell phone range had put Jo’s mind at ease and she had been able to enjoy the trip back.
And she had enjoyed it immensely. Nick was a very personable man, and they had had a wonderful conversation, laughing and joking. Jo found it difficult to concentrate at times because she couldn’t seem to take her eyes off his hands, which rested on the wheel, moving the huge boat through the water with the ease of his fingertips.
Now Jo was sitting on the sofa, waiting for him to return and quivering with nerves…excitement, anxiety and…she didn’t want to put a name to the third one but she did…desire. Immediately after having identified that particular nerve, Jo felt guilty. She was sitting here waiting to hear the worst about Mickey, and she wanted to pass the time by…by what, Jo? Getting laid?
Jo stood up and started pacing the small area of the living room. Breathe, she told herself, breathe. Her heart leapt into her throat as she felt Nick step onto the boat. She stopped pacing and stared at the stairs, watching him descend…feet…legs…torso…face… With each step he descended, Jo’s heart rate went up.
“Okay,” we’re booked in,” said Nick. “What do you want to do now?”
One look at Jo’s face told Nick the answer to that question. It made a thrill of anticipation wash over him.
“I…uh…I…” Jo began. Then she stopped and took a deep breath. “I want to go to bed. I mean…I…um...” Jo knew her face was scarlet. “I mean…have a nap…I…uh…we…uh…we didn’t get much sleep last night. And I’m…uh…tired. So…I’d like to have a nap. Oh, my…”
This last was uttered because Nick had finally reached her. He had walked slowly toward her as she had sputtered out her inane and transparent thoughts. He hadn’t taken his eyes off hers, and when he reached her, he traced his fingers slowly down the side of her jaw.
“We could nap,” said Nick, softly. “Or…”
He got no further. All of the emotion and uncertainty and craziness that had been swirling through them both solidified into one feeling…passion.
Jo took a step forward and fell into Nick’s arms. She tipped her face up to his and whispered, “Yes, please.”
Nick put his mouth on hers and indulged her until she felt the room spinning. Then, without letting go of her, he backed her up the hall into his room and onto the bed.
They made love ferociously, their hands in constant motion. Nick only hesitated once, just before he entered Jo’s slender body. He looked into her eyes, asking her silently if she was sure. In response, she pushed her body up against his and moaned.
They moved together, communing silently except for tiny grunts and whimpers. Then they reached a peak where they could put all the fear and desperation behind them, and they sailed off the other side, careening through the atmosphere together until they eventually floated back to Earth.
When Nick thought he’d reached the point where he could breathe and talk at the same time, he raised his head and kissed Jo on the forehead. He moved out of her, eliciting a small sound of disapproval from her.
“I’ll be right back,” he said.
Nick went to the washroom and disposed of the condom. He looked at himself in the mirror. His cheeks were red, and his eyes were droopy with sex. Was he the dumbest fucking man in the universe or the luckiest? He couldn’t decide. So he went back to bed.
“Glad I closed those curtains,” he said, crawling into the bed.
“Mmm,” murmured Jo in agreement. Her eyes were closed, and she was close to sleep.
Nick moved up behind her, and a few minutes later, he was asleep as well.
They slept that way for two hours, giving Pete ample time to make his way back up the waterway to St. Simon’s Island.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Jo woke up first. It took her a moment to figure out where she was and who she was with. When she did, the sensation of warmth started at her toes and made its way through her entire body. She chanced a tiny turning of her head, not wanting to wake Nick.
God, he was beautiful! And such a kind man. So sweet and helpful. And sexy…oh yeah, he was beyond sexy.
Jo wasn’t fooling herself. She knew that she and Nick had indulged in a round of desperation fucking, but he had made it seem as if he were making love to the most important person in his life. It had been an awesome experience.
Jo reached out and tentatively touched Nick’s face.
He opened his eyes. “Hey,” he said, sleepily.
“Hey,” replied Jo.
Nick sat up in the bed and rearranged the pillows behind him. He propped himself up on them and then said, “Come here.”
Jo moved into the shelter of his arm and laid her head on his chest. She ran her finger lazily over his tattoo of a foot and sighed.
Nick sighed too. He was pretty sure conversation was in order here, but he didn’t have the slightest idea how to begin. So he said nothing for awhile. He was proud of himself for that. He realized that it was older, mature Nick who was in charge of his brain at this point. Younger, stupid Nick would have been babbling inanities like a gushing waterfall.
After a minute or so, Nick ran a fingernail down Jo’s arm, causing her to twitch and then start to giggle.
“Sorry,” she said, turning her head and smiling up at Nick, “but I don’t seem to be in charge of my nerve endings any longer.”
Nick smiled and did the finger thing again, only this time using all his fingers, dancing them down her arm. He laughed at the gasp that erupted out of Jo. “I seem to have some kind of superpower thing going on here,” he said.
“You can say that again,” said Jo.
Then she forced herself to be quiet, to shut up for once in her life and not babble out some nonsense…stuff like how she wasn’t really that kind of girl, she didn’t usually throw herself on strange men, how she wasn’t really insane, all evidence to the contrary, how desperately afraid she had been for her own life and how Nick had saved her… Thankfully, she was able to shut her mouth and say nothing.
Instead, she simply reciprocated Nick’s motion by running one fingernail from his neck down to his navel. This time, it was his turn to twitch and giggle.
“I have a question,” said Nick.
Jo got a queasy feeling in her stomach. “Yes?” she replied.
“You know how you said before that Pete didn’t want me around after that first night?”
“Yes…” said Jo, slowly.
”Well, it was his idea to come here. He’s the one that suggested I make the reservation. Remember…on the boat, when we had lunch together…”
“Yes, I remember,” said Jo. “He did it because he wanted to know where you were. He wanted you to push on to St. Simon’s, and then we would just go slowly behind you and never catch up. Except that you followed us and wouldn’t pass and in the end, he didn’t have a choice about it.”
Jo smiled ruefully, remembering. “That day was not a good day for Pete from the get go. I had started refusing to drink the herbal tea or to eat anything that I hadn’t prepared myself or seen him make. I was refusing to cooperate in my own demise. I started getting more insistent about wanting to talk to Mickey. And I’d sent you that message at dinner the night before…or at least, tried to…you know, about the song.”
Nick smiled down at her. “I remember. At first, I just thought you were a so-so fan and didn’t know the name of the first single. Then I figured it out. You know what I did then?”
Jo shook her head. “No, what did you do?”
Nick sighed. “I sat up all night and watched your boat.” He pointed upward to the bridge far above them. “I don’t know why…and then in the morning, when Pete left so early…like…like…I don’t know, like he was sneaking out of town or something.”
“I think that was the day he’d decided to get rid of me,” said Jo. “I was becoming more trouble than I was worth. He parked that boat in the river and said that we were just going to enjoy nature for awhile. I think he was waiting to make sure that you were long gone, and then he was going to get rid of me. Then, if anyone ever asked, he could say I left the boat in Savannah to go home. So I’m really glad that you turned into that river and saw us.”
“Well, he’s long gone now,” said Nick. “You’re not in any danger any more. And Bernie will phone me back in a couple of hours, and we’ll know for sure…you know…one way or the other…” Nick was not going to put Mickey’s fate into words…one way or the other.
Jo nodded. “And in the meantime, maybe we can go and take showers at the marina, and I can buy some shampoo and stuff.”
“Yes,” said Nick. “That’s a good idea…for later.”
He ran his fingernails down Jo’s spine and then rolled her onto her back.
