No Ocean Deep

by Cate Swannell

  He loves her too. If he didn’t it wouldn’t still bother him like it does, 15 years on. I just wish there was a way of getting them both to see that there’s love there. She chewed on a mouthful, wondering just what her wayward daughter was up to these days. I haven't spoken to her since the Christmas before last, she realized sadly.

  "We could even call her for her birthday," she said wistfully, pushing her food around on the plate.

  David dropped his knife and fork noisily onto the now-empty plate and stood slowly. He took the dishes over to the sink and silently began washing them. Maggie watched the hunched shoulders of the man she had loved all her life, aching for him.

  "Why would she want to hear from us?" he said so quietly she almost didn’t hear it.

  Slowly Maggie stood up and carried her plate over to the sink, dropping it into the warm, soapy water and wrapping her arms around her husband's slim waist. She rested her cheek on his shoulder blade, breathing in the dusty, familiar scent of him.

  "I think we should do it for us, Dave," she replied softly. "She's an adult." He snorted. "All right, she's always been an adult, even when she was a kid." She smiled against his shirt. "My point is, if we want to talk to her, we should call her. I'm tired of treading on eggshells around her, wondering if she wants to hear from us or not. I want her to hear from us."

  The man continued washing the dishes, letting the soap suds drain off a plate before carefully slotting it into the holder next to the sink.

  "I need to run into town tomorrow morning," he said gruffly. "Best give me a list of things you want. Won't get a chance to get back in there for a few weeks. Too much to do around here."

  Maggie closed her eyes. She knew him well enough to know that he was talking around the conversation because it just hurt too much to do anything else.

  "All right, love," she said, giving him one last squeeze before she moved away. A soapy hand stopped her and she turned back to a pair of grey eyes that gentled as she met them.

  "Call her for her birthday," he said. "If I'm here, I'll say g'day too."

  She kissed him, loving him all over again.

  "Jo-Jo!! Let me have it, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease!!" The young girl reached up on tip-toes, straining to take the piece of paper out of the tall skipper's outstretched hand. "Give it back, you rat-fink, or I'm never speaking to you again!"

  Cadie watched, amused, from the dining table, where the remains of a sumptuous meal were scattered about. The blonde was stuffed to the gills with good food and wine, leaving her with a contented feeling and a rather pleasant light buzz.

  Her lover was teasing the youngest member of the Palmieri household, 12-year-old Sophie, a precocious moppet with long lashes and brown puppy-dog eyes. She usually managed to have Jo completely at her mercy, but tonight the skipper had caught the youngster with, of all things, a clumsily-written love letter from a boy at school.

  "Joooooooooo, don't be mean, you big horrid lump," squealed Sophie, bouncing up and down on the spot in an effort to reach the errant love note.

  "Darling, don't tease," Cadie chided, giggling as Sophie attempted to climb up Jo's sturdy frame. "Try to remember what it was like to be young and in love."

  Twelve-year-old eyes widened in horror.

  "I am NOT in love with him," Sophie protested, releasing Jo and approaching Cadie instead. "I don’t even LIKE him. He's the one who wrote me the stupid letter. I couldn't care less if he fell off the face of the earth." She flounced into the closest chair, folding her arms and sticking out her bottom lip in an impossibly adorable pout.

  Jo chuckled and caught Cadie's sparkling green eyes, reading their expression as a plea to give the kid a break. She wandered over to the youngster and knelt down in front of her, holding out the crumpled piece of paper.

  "Sorry, Soph," Jo said contritely.

  "You're mean."

  "I am, you're quite right," the skipper agreed solemnly.

  "I hate you."

  "You have every reason to."

  The girl looked up into smiling blue eyes and immediately melted.

  Nice to know it's not just me, Cadie thought, watching the scene with amusement.

  "Forgive me?" Jo begged, for once out-flirting the girl.

  "Okay," Sophie nodded. "But only if you promise to take me sailing."

  "You got it, sweetie."

  The girl jumped forward, wrapping her arms around the dark-haired woman and hugging her enthusiastically.

  "I don't really hate you," she declared.

  "Well, that's good to know," Jo said with a grin.

  At that moment, Sophie’s mother, Rosa, came in bearing three large bowls of lemon gelato and a wide smile.

  “Ah, i miei bimbi,” she said as she distributed the sweet dessert. “Enjoy, enjoy. This will be the perfect finish to the meal, I think. It will clean your palette.”

  “Mmmmmm Rosa, dinner was fantastic. Thank you,” said Cadie, dipping her spoon into the gelato.

  “Yeah, thanks Rosa,” Jo added as she scoffed down the treat.

  “I love to feed you, you know that, mia cara, so of course, you are very welcome.” She sat down next to Cadie at the dinner table, while Jo flopped down on the floor in front of Sophie.

  “Cadie?” the girl piped up between mouthfuls. “When are you and Jo going to get married like Paul and Jenny?”

  Jo spluttered and coughed on a half-inhaled mouthful and Sophie leaned forward to pat her on the back.

  “Sophia!” Rosa chastised. “You should not be asking such personal questions, like that. It is very rude.” She wagged a finger at her youngest child.

  “Sorry, mama,” the girl said.

  “It is not me you should be apologizing to,” Rose replied.

  “Sorry, Cadie. Sorry, Jo-Jo.”

  “It’s okay, Sophie,” said Cadie. Jo was still speechlessly trying to catch her breath and coughing. “And I think we’ve decided on a long engagement.” She looked at her red-faced lover who nodded in confirmation and waved a hand helplessly.

  “Why?” said the incorrigible child.

  “Sophia!”

  Cadie laughed and patted the outraged parent on the hand.

  “It’s okay Rosa, honestly,” she said. Cadie had come to adore the Palmieri family, and Sophie in particular, in the short time she’d known them. They had not just accepted her and her quick-firing relationship with Jo, but they had actively welcomed and adopted her. It wasn’t hard to see how they had become her lover’s foster family. Cadie had no problem answering personal questions from the inquisitive girl. “Sophie, it’s going to take a while before I’m eligible to live here permanently. So we decided we’d wait until then before we have a commitment ceremony.”

  Sophie seemed to consider that thoughtfully.

  “I guess you don’t want to get married and then have to leave again, huh?”

  Jo, by now recovered and able to breathe normally again, smiled up at the girl from her seat on the floor.

  “Exactly,” she nodded.

  Sophie sighed dramatically.

  “It’s so romaaaaaaaaaaantic,” she said, flouncing back in the chair, the back of her hand against her forehead.

  “This from the girl who almost vomited the first time she saw us kiss,” teased Jo as she slapped the 12-year-old lightly on the knee.

  “Oh, I’ve matured since then,” Sophie replied haughtily.

  The three adults in the room exchanged amused and tolerant looks, before Mama Rosa stood and wandered over to her progeny.

  “I am thinking you are not mature enough yet to stay up any longer, Miss Sophia,” her mother said. “Bed for you, la mia piccola ragazza.”

  “No way!” the youngster protested. “I want to stay up until Jo-Jo and Cadie leave.” The pout reappeared.

  The lovers looked at each other, silently acknowledging their mutual decision.

  “We’re leaving now, sweetie,” said Jo. She pushed herself to her feet and looked down at the grumpy pre-teen. “We’ve got a busy
morning tomorrow and then we have to get the Seawolf back to Shute. So we need to get our beauty sleep.”

  Sophie looked knowingly at her hero.

  “Yeah suuuuuuuuuuuuuure,” she said, cheekiness written all over her face. “We know why you’re reaaaaaaaaaaaaally going to bed so early.”

  “Sophia! Abbastanza!” The girl’s mother exploded, while Jo and Cadie laughed heartily. Rosa grabbed the back of Sophie’s shirt and bodily lifted the girl to her feet. “Bed! Now!”

  “Okay, okay,” Sophie grumbled. “I’m so tired of everybody else having all the fun.” She turned to walk away from the adults, but was stopped by Jo’s hand on her shoulder, spinning her back around. The skipper tipped the girl’s chin up and leaned down till they were almost nose to nose.

  “Just think how much fun you’ve got ahead of you, munchkin,” she said. “Now where’s that smile?”

  Big, brown eyes with gorgeous long eyelashes gazed up at her adoringly. Slowly a smile spread across Sophie’s face before she flung her arms around Jo’s neck and hugged her.

  “G’night, Jo-Jo,” she said, her mood once more sunny.

  “’Night, bug.”

  Sophie let the tall woman go and moved to Cadie. Relatively new acquaintances, they had not yet been overly demonstrative with each other, but the 12-year-old wasn’t in the mood to be inhibited, and she threw herself enthusiastically at the American. Cadie chuckled and wrapped her up in a close, warm hug.

  “See ya next time, Cadie,” Sophie whispered.

  “You bet, kiddo.”

  And then Sophie was gone in a tangle of arms and legs.

  “La mia dea!” exclaimed her exasperated mother. “I am sorry for her bad manners. I am thinking that – how do you say – all heck is about to break loose with that one.” She rolled her eyes.

  Cadie laughed.

  “Ah, puberty, I remember it well,” Jo said dryly. She slid an arm around her partner’s shoulders and smiled at their hostess. “Thanks again for a lovely evening Rosa.”

  The older woman reached out, cupping Jo’s cheek with one hand and Cadie’s with the other.

  “Look at you two. You are so beautiful, how can I not love you and feed you till you burst.” She smiled beatifically. “I am just sorry Roberto and Antonio were not here to see you.” She patted their cheeks and let them go. “Fishing. I do not understand the attraction.”

  They laughed as they walked down the hall together, then Jo and Cadie each took a cheek, planting goodnight kisses on Rosa, before waving and setting off down the hill towards the marina.

  “Nice night,” Jo murmured as they wandered along, arms wrapped round each other.

  “Mhmmmm. They’re good people. Rosa gave me her recipe for those cannelloni you love so much.” Cadie smiled up at the taller woman. “I guess now I have to learn to cook.”

  “Wow.” Jo looked surprised and pleased. “Those recipes are like state secrets. She must really like you, sweetheart.”

  “I really like her,” said the blonde. “You know that I don’t have a problem being on the other side of the planet from my parents, because I’m with you, but having Rosa and the family be so welcoming has made it a lot easier.” She felt Jo’s grip tighten slightly.

  “I’m asking a lot of you, aren’t I?” the skipper asked quietly, as they walked through the resort grounds.

  “It’s nothing that I don’t want to give, Jo-Jo,” Cadie replied. “There isn’t anywhere I’d rather be.”

  Wow, thought Jo. How did I get this lucky? “You know, there’s only one thing that could make this evening even better than it already is,” she said.

  “Hmmm, let’s see,” Cadie pondered. “Would it be chocolate?”

  “Noooooooooo,” Jo teased.

  “Would it be… a long, cold glass of beer?”

  “No it would not.”

  Cadie laughed low and knowing, sure of where her lover’s mind was going, but enjoying the long and meandering road they were taking to get there.

  “Well, perhaps you’d rather show me, than tell me about it,” she said as they stepped onto the wooden jetty that included the Seawolf’s berth.

  “I could do that,” Jo mused. “Of course, there would need to be some audience participation, or it’s just not going to be the same.”

  Jo let her go long enough to allow Cadie to walk out onto the yacht’s gangplank first, then followed close behind.

  “Audience participation, huh?” Cadie said as she stepped down into the cockpit. “Does this mean I get to watch, and then join in?” She backed down the companionway, her eyes naturally sliding down the long length of Jo’s body as the taller woman followed her below decks. Cadie took her lover’s hand and pulled her into the cabin.

  “Looks to me like you’d rather start first,” Jo said, grinning as a look of lusty determination settled on Cadie’s face as the blonde began undoing the skipper’s shirt buttons.

  “Are you complaining?” Cadie slid her hands inside the now open shirt and leaned forward, kissing the soft skin she found between Jo’s breasts. Jo gasped and caught her breath at the explosion of sensation from such a small gesture.

  “Uhhhhh no, no, I’m not complaining,” she murmured. She reached for Cadie, cupping her cheek and tilting the blonde’s head back. Ducking down, Jo parted her lover’s lips with her own, probing gently with the tip of her tongue. The response was immediate and they deepened the kiss, opening each other with tender ease.

  Mid-kiss, Jo bent her knees, wrapped her arms around Cadie and lifted her, walking them to the bed and lowering the blonde down into the soft sheets.

  “Mmmmmm, is this the audience participation bit?” Cadie sighed as she pulled Jo closer.

  “I think it just might be,” Jo whispered. She pushed Cadie’s t-shirt up and, with her mouth, began a sensual assault upon the velvety skin of the blonde’s stomach, drawing a low, growling response. Cadie raised her hips and Jo took the hint, hooking her fingers under the waistband of her partner’s shorts and pulling them down.

  Cadie felt a sense of urgency, sudden and overwhelming. She wanted – no, needed - nothing more than to feel Jo against her skin, intimately, deeply. She groaned again as Jo’s tongue trailed lower. And quickly. Quickly would be good, too.

  It was the end of conscious thought. Jo’s touch was unendingly relentless, in the best possible way. The teasing and the wash of sensations became Cadie’s total focus and she gave herself up to it.

  I want to spend the rest of my life doing this, Jo thought, letting her own body get caught up in the rhythms of the connection between them. There is nothing better than this.

  “Let’s get this over with,” Jo muttered. She and Cadie were snuggled together in bed and they had just woken after … After a wonderful night, the skipper thought as they lay tangled in their warm nest. But now we have to face our respective demons.

  Cadie reached over to the small table on her side of the double bunk and picked up Jo’s cell phone. They both looked at the small handset glumly while Cadie turned it over and over in her hand.

  “You want to go first?” the blonde murmured.

  “Hell, no,” Jo snorted. “Do you?”

  “Hell, no.”

  More turning. More staring.

  “We could wait until we get home,” said Jo hopefully. “We’d save money using the land line.”

  Cadie looked at her skeptically.

  “Weak, Jo-Jo.”

  Jo shrugged.

  “Eh, I gave it a shot.” She quirked an eyebrow at her lover. “Your turn.”

  More turning. More staring.

  “We could make love instead.”

  Jo laughed.

  “Oh, you’re good. And as tempting as that sounds …” She kissed the blonde softly. Then did it again because it felt so good. “Mmmmmm,” she whispered. “As tempting as that most definitely is, my love, I don’t think it’s going to do either of us any good to keep putting this off.”

  Cadie nibbled at the dark-haired wo
man’s neck teasingly.

  “Damn. I thought I had you there for a minute,” she murmured against the soft skin.

  Jo smiled.

  “You’ve always got me,” she replied, tickling fingertips lightly against Cadie’s ribcage, chuckling as the smaller woman squirmed. “Ah-hah, a sensitive spot, huh?” She reached out again to continue the torture but Cadie was too quick for her.

  “Oh, no you don’t.” The blonde wriggled away and then flipped Jo over, straddling her hips and effectively pinning her to the bed. She grabbed the older woman’s wrists and pressed them into the pillows. “Tickle me, will ya?” She grinned down at her lover, rubbing noses with Jo.

  “Mmmm, I think I like this,” Jo said teasingly, arching her back and pressing her hips up to meet Cadie’s warmth. The sensation tore a gasp from the blonde’s lips and Jo laughed wickedly. “Just when you think you’re in control,” she murmured, then bucked, throwing Cadie off and quickly reversing their position. “You’re not.”

  “Oooooooo,” purred the blonde who suddenly found herself in a very vulnerable position. Jo leaned over her and she liked what she saw in the sparkling blue eyes that were now at very close quarters. There was just one problem. Cadie winced at the sharp pain in her lower back. “Jo-Jo.”

  “Mmmmmm?” Gentle teeth nibbled at her collarbone.

  “I’m lying on the phone.”

  Jo sighed. She had the distinct feeling this particular bout of distraction wasn’t going to get them anywhere other than right back looking at that damn phone. She fished around under Cadie’s backside until she came up with the offending gadget.

  “No getting away from it, is there?” Cadie said quietly.

  “I don’t think so, love, no.” Jo rolled away from her and sat up, resting back against the wall of the cabin. Cadie turned onto her side and supported her head on her hand.

  “Rock, paper, scissors,” the blonde said.

  “Excuse me?”

  “You know,” Cadie replied. “The kid’s game? Rock, paper, scissors.” She made the hand gestures that went with each word.

  “Ah yes.” Jo tossed the cell phone up in the air and caught it again. “Play you for it,” she said. “Loser calls first.”

  “Okay.” Cadie pushed herself up and swung around until she was sitting cross-legged in front of Jo. Both women extended a clenched fist. “Ready?” Jo nodded. “One, two, three.”