I passed a toy shop before I hailed a cab and a small stuffed unicorn caught my eye. I remembered her telling me in her sassy way that she wanted a lot of things—puppies, a BMW, a cottage on the beach, unicorns and a rack like Beyonce. Now she could have all of them, except the rack. I liked hers just the way nature had made it. And now, I had something to decorate it with.
Chapter 11—Rene
I was speechless when Dylan returned to the boat and announced we were shoving off at day break. “Use the afternoon to stock up on whatever we need. I know you want to know what happened at Spencer’s so just get everything out of the way. I’ve got a lot to tell you and I want your complete attention when I tell it.” His tone was sharp. Decisive. There was no point in arguing with him.
Eaten up with curiosity though I was, he was right in thinking that I’d be distracted by my duties if I didn’t get them out of the way. After a quick inventory, I was happy to conclude that we didn’t need much of anything in the way of dry goods and even the meat was in ample supply in the freezer. An order for produce and dairy would pretty well cover it. I got to work on the phone and left Angelo with the task of taking the orders in when they arrived.
Dylan wasn’t in his room and Lady D. wasn’t in hers, either. I finally found Dylan on the sea deck with the monkey perched on his shoulder. He was leaning against a panel that had life jackets, paddles, bumpers for the boats and various other bits and pieces of marine equipment. Lady D. was having a ball climbing around all the stuff, examining every buckle and knotted rope.
The sea deck was where he had first kissed me. It seemed years ago even though it hadn’t even been a month. I’d never had so much happen to me in so little time.
Dylan dangled a rope end just out of the monkey’s reach and played with his pet. I broke the vignette. “She really missed you terribly. I tried to make up for you being sick and then in the hospital, but I know she was pining away.”
“She needs her people in their proper places. But you and Stephen obviously did an outstanding job. She’s no worse for wear.”
“She’s a lot of fun to be around.”
“I’m so glad she decided to like you instead of getting jealous. That could have been very, very difficult.”
“You might have had to get a new chef,” I teased.
“No, but it would have been tough to say good-bye to my little girl.” He reached up to the monkey and scratched her under her chin. She closed her eyes in a trance of ecstasy from the attention.
I guess it shouldn’t have astonished me that Dylan would give up his beloved pet if she failed to take to me, if only hypothetically. I was deeply touched. “Oh, Dylan, that’s a sweet thing to say.”
He patted his shoulder and the little imp jumped on him immediately. “Let’s put her in her room for a bit, shall we? I’ve got a lot to talk to you about.”
Dylan’s stateroom had a ‘sitting area’ the size of most peoples’ living rooms and we settled into the comfort of the sofa for our chat. I was on tenterhooks but I knew better than to rush him.
“Wow,” I said when he got through his tale. “I never expected that. Ever. I guess you really are a gazillionaire now.” My head was spinning. I couldn’t imagine the kind of money that was now in Dylan’s hands.
“Yeah, but my father managed to get his pound of flesh out of me. Three long years I have to wait. I’m still tempted to bag it. I want to find her.”
“Your father may have been mean as a snake, but he was also very smart. You know you can’t bag it. If you do, you cost your sister her fortune, too.”
“Rat bastard. And to think I was all excited about maybe having a ‘new’ relationship with him. He didn’t just think this up over night, either.”
“Obviously,” I agreed. “But you have to consider that he could have left it all to Dawn or none to either of you. He may not have loved you in the conventional sense, but he cared enough about you to leave you a breathtaking amount of money.”
“That’s what Spencer said, more or less. But can people really put any bizarre thing in their wills? I mean, no matter who gets hurt? What my father has done is blackmail me—legally.”
“I’m not the right person to ask. I don’t know anything about wills.” It was hard for me to even focus on Dylan’s dilemma. I was too concerned with the elephant in the room. The one that was screaming: What about us?
Dylan read my mind. “So, I do remember that you said you like the fact that I wasn’t a gazillionaire. My new found fortune obviously changes all that.” He reached behind the throw pillow behind him and presented me with a small stuffed animal. A unicorn. “This is for you.”
“Thank you. It’s very cute.” I was confused.
Dylan reminded me of our conversation on the sea deck. “You told me you wanted a lot of things. At the time I remember thinking that I couldn’t provide you with any of them, except maybe a puppy and only then if it was from the pound. Well, now I can provide all the items on your list. But I draw the line at surgery. No leg lengthening or boob jobs.”
“I remember now. You had me stumped. But I really don’t want a BMW or a place on the beach. I was just being sassy.”
“You do sassy quite well. But, I guess what I want to know is . . . do you still want me? Will the money change the way you feel about me?”
“Honestly? I don’t know yet. I know that sounds nuts, but it’s hard for me to see myself as some filthy rich guy’s squeeze.”
“Squeeze? Is that what you think you are to me?”
“I’m not sure what I am to you.”
“I’m hoping you’re my future.”
It was what I wanted to hear. It was also terrifying in a roller-coaster kind of way.
“I have another present for you.” He brought out a jewelry box. I was relieved that it was way too big for a ring. I absolutely was not ready for a ring.
He opened the box and took a gorgeous necklace with dark amber stones set in pink gold. I’d never seen gems like the ones in the pendant. I was happy he hadn’t chosen to give me something gaudy or terribly expensive. Semi-precious was a good call on Dylan’s part.
“I love it!” I kissed him with a noisy smack.
“Put it on. I want to see it between your sweet breasts. I bought it with this in mind.”
I smiled at him and fastened the necklace around my neck. I pushed my chest out for him. “How’s it look?”
“The diamonds are jealous of the jewels beside them.”
Suddenly the ‘semi-precious’ stones felt a lot heavier against my skin. I raised the pendant and took a closer look. Yep, there was a lot more to the gems than I had first assumed. “Diamonds?”
“They’re called ‘cognac’ and ‘champagne’ diamonds. I’d never heard of them, either. I wanted something that would compliment your eyes. They do that quite nicely, too.” He handed me a slip of paper from the box. “The sales girl thought you’d like to have the specs on your new bling.”
I did some quick addition and tried not to gasp when I learned I was wearing nearly five carats around my neck. “Dylan, you spent a fortune on this!”
“A very small one, I promise. They’re not nearly the most expensive stones in the world. But the girl assured me that the big one is quite rare.”
“It’s beautiful. You’re too generous.”
“Babe, I plan to keep being generous. Nothing’s too good for my precious sweetheart.” He took my face in his hands and tilted it up. His eyes—so breathlessly blue—held mine for a long moment. The warmth of his hands went all the way through me as he searched my eyes. I felt my heart swell with the intensity of his gaze. He searched inside me, going deeper than anyone had ever gone into my soul. I knew I loved him then. I knew I never wanted us to end. “You are mine, aren’t you, Rene?”
I took a deep breath. He wanted, he deserved to know. “Yes,” I whispered, “I am yours.”
He sealed the promise with a kiss. His lips claimed me with a possessive passion that sent a se
aring current through me. Our tongues did a hungry dance as his hands moved down to my neck and gently toyed with the gold chain. “I want to see you wearing nothing but this.”
Chapter 12—Dylan
Heading out to sea as the sun crests the horizon is one of the best things I can imagine. The sky was clear and the Thames was just waking up. It would take the better part of the day to reach the open ocean, but it was enough to know we were on our way.
I wanted to leave the city and the unpleasant days I’d spent in it far behind. I was anxious to spend some time on the water clearing my head. I had an idea of the direction I wanted to take my life and the use to which I wanted to put my new found fortune, but much still had to gel in my head.
Rene had slipped out of my bed to rustle up breakfast for me and the crew. If I hadn’t been in such a hurry to leave the wharf, I would have gotten a replacement for her, or at least an assistant who could shoulder a big hunk of the cook’s duties. I was cursing myself at 4:30 when she left me alone in that big bed. If I had realized how quickly I would get used to having her next to me and how much I wanted her by my side, I would have planned better.
As it was, I was going to make sure that she kept things as simple as possible on her end. No fancy stuff from the kitchen. I wanted to share plenty of free time to let the dust settle and find out what she wanted out of life. I also wanted to make sure that she and I were on the same page when it came to her being ‘mine’.
For myself, I didn’t consider it a temporary situation. Even though we hadn’t made any grand declarations of love or any promises for the future, the word ‘mine’ was still meaningful. I figured by the time we got back to the States, things would have sorted themselves out and we’d be moving along a mutually agreed path into the future.
Rene seemed so perfect for me, but it was unsettling to know that she actually had more real experience being involved with a man than I had being involved with a woman. I never allowed anyone to get close. I never trusted anyone enough to give enough of myself for anyone to know me. I never let any girl stay around long enough for that. I’d made it a life-long policy to run like Forrest at the first sign of ‘attachment’ on either side.
Plenty of times it was too easy. Some woman would act like I hung the moon until she realized that I wasn’t going to start showering her with expensive gifts or taking her on dream vacations. It was always easy to spot the gold diggers and I had a talent for ridding myself of those female leeches.
Unlike me, Rene knew what it was like to have her heart broken. The only time my heart broke was before puberty. Rene had known—twice—the pain of being wrong about someone you’ve invested a lot of time in. In spite of my 'reputation' as quite the lady's man, I still had a virgin heart.
I felt so sure that she was right for me until I started to think about how little I knew about being with one woman for more than a few days or weeks. I laughed inwardly at how I was the one rushing things. That’s how bowled over she had me.
We had the crossing and plenty of time to feel our way. She certainly wasn’t demanding promises from me so there was no point jumping the gun. I’d gone far enough with the necklace already. I hoped that she wasn’t on her computer trying to figure out what that bauble set me back. It could lead to the wrong impression.
No, I most emphatically needed to back off. If I continued at the pace I’d been going, Stephen could be doing his captainly duty and performing a marriage at sea before we reached Florida.
The entire jumble of circumstance and chance had screwed with my head. The bizarre feverish hallucinations, the grand escape from the hospital, discovering Dawn was alive and having my father dead all conspired to contribute to my rash behavior.
We’d have a nice, pleasant crossing. We’d make lots of love, have lots of long conversations and no pushing or prodding on anyone’s part.
That was my plan and I was stickin’ to it.
Of course, I hadn’t counted on the storm.
***
I was pressuring Stephen to make better time. We skipped the Canary Islands altogether. I wasn’t in any mood to fish. A couple days into the voyage I was able to abandon the horrible crutches. I wanted to hurl the awful things into the ocean, and if they had been made of wood, I might have. But as it was I settled for stowing the metal torture sticks far out of my sight. Contributing to the trashing of the sea wasn’t part of my style.
Rene and I were in our favorite spot by the pool on the third day of the trip just being lazy and talking about what we wanted to do when we got back to Ft. Lauderdale.
“I’m anxious to see Hannah,” she told me. “I’ve really missed her and I have so much to tell her.”
“You’ve been talking to her, haven’t you?”
“Yes, but it isn’t the same as being in the same room. I can hardly wait. Plus, I want to show off my bling,” she said as she toyed with the diamond between her breasts. “It really sparkles under the sun, doesn’t it?”
“I still say you are doing the gems a favor by wearing them.”
“You flatterer. That sounds like a pick up line.”
“But I’ve already picked you up. I have, haven’t I?”
“Picked up, tied up and twisted” She stretched her legs in the sun. “I think I see the faintest hint of a tan. How many more days did you say I’d have to work on it?”
“A few more. We’re headed more or less in a straight line so we make the best time. We’ll hit the Azores for fuel sometime late today or early tomorrow depending on conditions. We can go faster on the first part of the journey, but we’ll have to slow down a bit on the last two-thirds to conserve diesel.”
“It seems pretty rough today. Those waves are the biggest ones I’ve seen so far.”
“They’ll slow us down a bit.” It frustrated me to know that Stephen had to throttle back early in the morning. The ocean was angry. The horizon looked a bit on the bleak side.
Stephen appeared on deck right on cue. “Boss, got a mean storm on the radar. Right between us and the Azores. I’ve been watching it all morning and it seems to be building and just hanging in one spot north of the islands. Weather service has issued a maritime warning.”
“Great, just great. Can we go around it?”
“I’m not real comfortable with the fuel situation. I’ve been maintaining speed as you asked and I’m afraid I was cutting it pretty close. I don’t think we’ve got enough to circle south.”
Rene looked alarmed. “You mean we have to go through the storm?” she asked.
“Not to worry, sweetheart,” I told her. “El Loco is state-of-the-art. You won’t even feel it below.”
“He’s right, Rene,” Stephen added. “This rig has more stabilizers than your average cruise ship. We’re pretty much unsinkable.”
She laughed nervously. “I think that’s what they said about the Titanic.”
“Ancient history. That ship hit an iceberg, anyway. We’re way too far south for icebergs,” I assured her. “Maintain the fastest safe speed you can, Stephen. Let’s push through it and if we absolutely have to, we’ll ride it out at Faial.”
“You got it, Boss.”
Thirty minutes later, the sun had disappeared. It was nearly as dark as night and the waves were at least ten, maybe twelve feet. Rene and I watched the lightening light up the crests from the relative comfort of the salon.
“You lied. I can definitely feel these waves. Thank God I don’t get seasick. I hate to toss my breakfast all over your pretty white carpet.” Rene was trying hard not to show any sign of nervousness, but I could tell it was an effort.
I hugged her close. “I know it looks terrifying, but El Loco really is built to take it. Someday I’ll show you all the different fail-safes she’s got, but right now I need to go to the bridge. How about keeping Lady D. company? She gets a little shaky when the sea is rough.”
Rene gave me a brave smile. “I’ll be with your monkey in her room. We might have to eat a whole bag of gummi bears t
o calm ourselves.” I watched Rene pitch back and forth like a drunk as we got hit broadside, but she kept walking gamely on. I added ‘courageous’ to my list of Rene’s many good qualities.
When I got to the bridge, Stephen and his two mates were huddled over the instruments. Their intense concentration told me all I needed to know. We were in trouble.
“Boss, this storm is picking up steam like I’ve never seen. The service says to expect waves as high as fifteen feet. I can handle that, but what has me worried is the lightening. That and the fact that this sea is confused. I can’t seem to find a pattern.”
“We don’t want to broach.” Burying the bow in one of those huge waves was the last thing I wanted.
“Obviously I am trying my best to avoid that.” Stephen snapped as he turned hard to starboard. I had to grab the nearest rail to keep from falling. “They’re coming at me from all sides.” He yanked the wheel in the other direction and we leaned over hard.
It was the first time I’d ever felt scared at sea. Stephen was having trouble keeping the boat under control and that had never happened before. Not ever.
“I’m turning east. I wanted to head for Faial, but it looks like the storm is huddled right over Horto. Even if we have to limp into Corvo, we can shelter there at the ferry dock. The marina at Flores can fuel us up.”
“Okay, Captain. You’re in command. I’m out of my league.” I meant it. It’s one thing to pilot a boat on a calm open sea, but quite another to try to thread a two-hundred foot ship into a tiny port in the midst of a freak storm. “How far are we from Corvo?”
“A little over five miles. But that’s to the north end. We have to skirt around to the south to get to the port.” As he was making another severe adjustment to port, we were hit. The flash seemed like a nuclear explosion. The lights flickered and I smelled the ozone in the air. A few seconds in the dark and El Loco came back to life. “We’ve been struck. C’mon, girl,” Stephen urged over the blinking instrument panel. “Don’t leave me now.” He pounded his fist against one of the screens.
Tempest Tossed: A Love Unexpected Novel Page 24