[ - ]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer Chapter or Story Microsoft Word Chapter or Story
- Text Size +
“Okay, Sleepyhead, up and at ‘em!”

Nick groaned.  “Five more minutes,” he said, drowsily.  The two sleepless nights had caught up to him, and he had celebrated the second round of lovemaking by taking another nap.

Jo had slept too but had wakened earlier than Nick.  She stayed still and quiet, watching Nick’s chest rise and fall as he breathed.  Jo wished fervently that the moment could never end, that she could spend eternity in this bed with him and never have to confront reality.

Finally, she slipped out of bed and went to the bathroom.  She washed herself as best she could and brushed her teeth.  She really wanted to have a shower.

Jo reached up and tugged on her hair.  More strands came out.  Jo looked around for a plastic bag or some container that she could put the hair in.  There might be some kind of evidence in it.  She didn’t see anything she could use, so she wrapped the strands carefully in a facecloth and carried the cloth to the guest bedroom where she tucked it into a pair of underwear.  Then she pulled on the long t-shirt that Nick had given her the night before.

“Hey there…”

Nick opened his eyes at the second call.  He swiveled his head, stretching his neck.  Then he stretched his arms and legs out.  Jo stood in the doorway watching him and biting her lip.

“What time is it?” asked Nick.

“It’s nearly six,” said Jo.

“Time to get up,” said Nick, but he didn’t move.

“Yeah, they have showers here…at the marina…I thought I might…”

“Yeah, me too,” agreed Nick, raising himself up on his elbows.  “Man, I was so tired.” 

He swung his legs over the side of the bed, keeping the duvet strategically placed.  Jo smiled at him and backed out of the room.  Nick threw on some sweatpants and a t-shirt.  He went to the washroom and grabbed his toiletry kit.  He looked in the mirror and ran his hand over his chin.  Scruffy, he thought, I’d better shave.

Together, Nick and Jo headed for the showers.  Nick took his time, shaving carefully.  He figured he could take all the time he wanted.  He’d still be finished way before Jo.  He wasn’t sure what took girls so long in the shower, but…

When Nick came out of the building, he wasn’t sure what to do.  He didn’t want to hang around the showers waiting for Jo to come out of the woman’s side.  He also didn’t want her to come out and be all freaked out or something if he wasn’t there.

Nick decided to go back to the Lenore.  He’d left his cell phone there, and Bernie would be calling soon.  Yeah, he thought, that’s a good idea.  I’ll go back and check…see if Bernie called.  Then if I have bad news, I can maybe think of a way of telling Jo without having her go hysterical.

Nick shook his head as he walked down the dock.  He wasn’t sure he could even verbalize such horrifying news, let alone do it calmly and reasonably.  He just hoped that it would be good news he would be imparting.

Nick was just about to step onto the Lenore when he saw a movement out of the corner of his eye. Striding up the dock toward him was Peter Crofton.

“Nick,” he called.

Nick turned toward him.  Oh shit, where was Jo?  Nick swiveled his neck, as if stretching it, taking in the entire marina in his glance.  He could see the showers.  He prayed that Jo was one of those girls who took long, long showers.

“Pete,” said Nick, as calmly as he could.  “What are you doing back here?”

“Well, I guess I could ask you the same question, couldn’t I?” retorted Pete.

Nick tried to read the other man.  Pete didn’t seem angry or upset.

“I needed to make some calls,” said Nick.  “Something came up about business, and I was stuck in a dead zone, so I decided to come back here.”  Nick was proud of himself that he hadn’t lied.  He shrugged and said, “I’ve got lots of time to get to Florida.”

“Hmmm,” said Pete.  “I came back here to check on Jo.”

“Jo?” Nick repeated the name but said nothing else.

“She called me last night.  She told me that she was staying in a hotel, that she was done with the boat and just wanted to go home.”  Pete leaned into Nick and whispered, “I was kinda relieved, you know what I mean.  She was getting…”

Nick didn’t react.  He kept his face as still as he could and tried desperately to figure out what he should say.

Pete took a deep breath.  “But then, you know, I started feeling guilty…what if she wasn’t okay, what if she’d just got a hotel to have a little privacy for…you know…  Anyway, I decided to come back and check on her…make sure she’s okay.  I’ll still have enough time to get to Ft.  Lauderdale.”

Nick felt sick.  In his mind, he’d cast Pete in the role of murderer.  He had done so without any basis in fact.  Of the two, Pete seemed much more reasonable and mature than Jo.  So why had Nick believed Jo?

It did Nick little good to tell himself that he hadn’t believed Jo, that he had questioned her story at every turn, that he was expecting Bernie to have good news for them.  He still felt guilty for having doubted Pete.

“Well,” said Nick.  It was time to confess, he figured.  He couldn’t let Pete go off on a wild-goose chase checking on every hotel in the area when Nick had Jo right here at the marina.  “She’s okay.  You don’t have to worry about that.  She’s…uh…she’s…with me.”

Pete looked puzzled.  “With you?”

“Yeah,” said Nick.  “Last night, after I got back from being with you…you know, looking for her… she came to the boat…and she…uh…she told me that she’d…uh…told you that she was going to a hotel…and that…uh…”

Pete grinned.

It surprised the hell out of Nick.  He didn’t know what he was expecting Pete to do, but that sure wasn’t it.  He figured Pete would be pissed that he’d wasted the effort to come back here, or that he would be mad at Nick for taking Jo or some kind of reaction that spoke of anger…he wasn’t expecting Pete to grin.

“You Backstreet Boys,” said Pete, shaking his head.  “You’re real babe magnets.  I guess it isn’t in you to let one walk on by…”

“No,” insisted Nick, “it wasn’t like that.  I didn’t…”

A voice came from behind him.  “It wasn’t him, Pete.  It was me.”

Nick looked around to see Jo standing at the stairs to the lower deck.  She was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt.  Her hair was wet and pulled back in a ponytail.  She walked up to Nick and slipped her arm around his waist.  Then she looked at Pete.

“I kinda threw myself at him,” she admitted sheepishly, leaning into Nick.

Nick could feel her trembling against him.  He tightened his arm around her and dropped a kiss on her head.  “Yeah, she did,” he said, “and I caught her.”  He looked back at Pete.  “I’m sorry, Man, I thought everything was straightened out.  I never woulda…”

“Nah, that’s okay,” said Pete.  “No problem.  I just wanted to make sure, you know, that Jo was okay.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” asked Jo, in a challenging tone.  “It’s not like I have an eating disorder or something.”

Nick waited to see how Pete would respond to that.  Pete shook his head and then said sadly, “No, of course you don’t, Jo.”

Jo opened her mouth to…well, Nick wasn’t really sure what, but he knew it would have serious consequences…ones that he wasn’t sure he was prepared for.  He squeezed his arm tight around Jo and then loosened his grip.

“Why don’t you go get started on the dinner?” he said, deliberately not inviting Pete to join them.

Jo got the hint and turned away.  “Sure,” she said, and then she disappeared below decks without saying goodbye to Pete.

Nick stepped up on the dock and started walking, leaving Pete little alternative but to follow him.  Nick wanted to put some distance between Jo and Pete.

“I…uh…I hope this doesn’t get you too far behind schedule,” said Nick, after a few steps.

Pete shrugged.  “I’ll still make it.  Still, if I’d only known, I could have been in Jacksonville by now.”

“Well, maybe,” said Nick, “Hey, maybe you could get Mickey to meet you, and the two of you could finish the trip together.”

Pete shook his head.  “No, that’s not going to happen.”  He sighed deeply.  “I guess it never was.”

Nick raised his eyebrows.

“I don’t think Mickey ever planned on coming along,” said Pete.  “I think I’ve been dumped ‘in absentia’.”

“What do you mean?” asked Nick.  “I thought she was going to fly out to Charleston.”

“No,” said Pete, “I think she just said that because she wasn’t ready to let me down yet.”

“But the calls…?”

Pete looked around him.  Then he leaned close to Nick.  “There were only a couple of calls,” he said.  “The night she called when we were in the restaurant…I think she might have told me then, but we got talking about…well, about you!”

“Yeah,” said Nick, “and then she called later and said she’d try and catch up.”

“I think she wanted to make sure that I was well underway and wouldn’t be waiting for her,” said Pete.  “And the last time she called, in Charleston, she sort of told me then she wouldn’t be coming.”

“Jo said there were other calls,” said Nick.

“Yeah, I know.  I made those up.  She was starting to get hysterical that Mickey hadn’t arrived…I don’t know, like she was afraid she’d had an accident or something…so I told her that Mickey had called when she was napping.”

“Why didn’t you just let her call Mickey?” asked Nick.

Pete sighed again.  “Jo is not my biggest fan, if you know what I mean.  I really didn’t know how she’d react to being with me if she thought Mickey had dumped me.  I was afraid she’d go crazy, and I wouldn’t know how to handle her.”

“She says she’s not anorexic,” stated Nick, bluntly.

“I know she does,” retorted Pete, equally bluntly.  Then he shrugged.  “Nick, honestly, you’re welcome to her.  But I just can’t let you go without warning you…be careful…”

Nick wasn’t sure how to react.  “Um…what?” he said, finally.

“Jo’s a little…unpredictable,” said Pete after a moment’s search for the right word.  “And you’re… famous.  I think you should…”  Pete stopped talking.  Then he turned and looked at Nick.  “Aw hell, I don’t know what I’m trying to say.  Just…just…be careful.  That’s all.”

They’d reached the Sunset Voyager.  Nick wasn’t sure what to say, so he said nothing.  Pete stepped down onto the boat and said, “See ya.”  Then he went below.

Nick walked slowly back along the dock to the Lenore.  Back to Jo.  Back to…