Dune Drive

by Mariah Stewart

  “You go on now, girl.” She held one of Chrissie’s hands for a moment, then smiled what Chrissie called her knowing smile.

  Jared stopped to say good night as well, and Ruby whispered something in his ear.

  “What did she say to you?” Chrissie couldn’t help but ask.

  “She said she’d see me later tonight. I told Owen I wouldn’t keep you out too late, but I doubt she’ll still be up when we get back.”

  “Yeah, she said something like that to me, too. Like the night wasn’t over for us. And she smiled the way she does when she knows something. Which of course made me think she knew where we’re off to.”

  “Is there any doubt? This is Ruby Carter we’re talking about.”

  They walked in the middle of the road, and she stopped. “Wait, the boat’s out there. We’re here. How are we getting out there?”

  “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” He took her hand and started walking again.

  “You don’t mean swim, do you? Because I’m wearing a dress that I really love, shoes that cost more than my first apartment, and it’s almost dark and the water’s dark and who knows what’s in there? Well, crabs for sure, and fish. Lots of fish. Sharks maybe, too. No. Uh-uh. Not swimming out to your boat.” She shivered. “Sharks. No. Just . . . no.”

  “Well, yes, there are several kinds of sharks that you might find in the Chesapeake, but the ones that might come this far up into the bay probably aren’t harmful. Most stay closer to the mouth of the bay, though there have been sharks up in this area. Not as common as, say, Florida.”

  “ ‘Probably aren’t harmful’ is not good enough for me.”

  “So you’re saying you’d give up our first night of bliss because you’re afraid to swim fifty feet into the bay?”

  “That’s not a fair question.”

  Jared laughed. “I wouldn’t make you swim.”

  “Then how are we getting out to the boat?”

  “Patience, and all will be revealed soon enough.”

  They walked a little farther down the road, then Jared said, “Take your shoes off.”

  “I knew it,” she grumbled.

  Jared laughed again. “Just your shoes. For now. See where you are?”

  It wasn’t completely dark, but she still had to squint to see. When she took stock of the scenery, she realized that just ahead was the pier Cass’s father had started building the year before. He’d wanted a place where the people who bought the houses he built could tie up their boats, but the plan was put on hold when the merchant ship was found fifty feet off the pier. The section of the pier that had been completed, however, still stood.

  “We’re at the pier near the river.”

  “And right down there is the little boat we’re going to row out to the big boat.”

  “Well, don’t you think you’re clever.”

  “Actually, I do.”

  They reached the end of the pier, and the rowboat was there as he’d told her. It was tied up fore and aft, so he lowered her into the boat, then followed. He sat on the center seat and picked up the oars.

  “Ready?”

  “I am.”

  “I should be singing, like in a gondola.”

  “We’re not having that conversation again.” She laughed.

  “You could sing.”

  “I just want to watch you row.” And for a few minutes, she did. The muscles of his arms rippled as he dipped the oars in and out of the water.

  “Don’t wear yourself out,” she said.

  “No danger of that. Besides, here’s the diving platform.”

  He rowed up to the platform, the rowboat bumping softly against it. He steadied the rowboat, then helped her out before tying it to the platform.

  He took her hand and led her across the deck toward the cabin.

  “Wait,” she said. “Look at the moon. It’s so big and bright and shiny on the water.”

  “It’s either a romantic sight or a call to all the crazies to come out of the woodwork.” He kissed her neck. “My cousin Joanie is an emergency room doctor. She hates working when there’s a full moon because she swears it brings out the worst in people, especially people who have issues to begin with.” He stopped and leaned back to look into her face. “You sure you’re ready . . . ?”

  “I am so ready, Jared.”

  “ ’Cause you know I’ve been wanting to make love to you since . . . I can’t remember when I didn’t want to make love to you. Maybe just that first time, when we walked around St. Dennis, but after that day on the boat, I knew I wanted you. But I knew you’d been hurt, and I didn’t want you to think that I’d—”

  “Jared. Shut up.”

  “Okay.”

  His lips moved back to her neck, then traveled to her throat, then to her chin, and by the time they reached her mouth, she was hungry for him. He picked her up and with a breathless “Watch your head,” he carried her down to the cabin, ducking against the low ceiling. The small windows were open and there was just the tiniest bit of light. She reached behind her to unzip her dress, and when she dropped it on the floor, he backed her to the bed. She sat up on her knees to pull his shirt over his head, and tug at his belt, murmuring, “You don’t need these.”

  He shed his clothes while she removed the rest of hers and fell back with her, covering her mouth with a kiss that was hot and demanding until she craved more. His hands seemed to be everywhere at once—her back, her breasts, her face, her thighs—as if he needed to touch every part of her, and it seemed he couldn’t touch her fast enough, as if he was afraid she’d disappear.

  His tongue flicked in her mouth and she welcomed it, meeting it with her own. When his lips started a slow, torturous slide from her neck to her shoulders, from her shoulders to her breast, she moaned softly and dug her fingers into his back. When she couldn’t take any more, she whispered his name, and he pushed her knees apart. He paused and reached behind her and opened a sliding compartment. She heard the crinkling of foil and a moment later, he asked, “You sure you want to . . .”

  “Oh God, yes,” she murmured, her breath ragged.

  Jared laughed softly and slid inside her. She felt the warmth, the rush of heat and need that became an ache, then she was spinning out of control. He seemed to know just where and how to touch her, instinctively knowing what she needed before she did. There was such tenderness in every stroke of his hands on her body, she could have cried. No one had ever taken such time, such care when loving her. Ripples of sensation coursed through her, and she rode the good wave until it crashed down on them both, leaving her wrecked and breathless, her heart racing, her mind in a jumble.

  “Oh my God,” she gasped. “That was . . . that was . . .” She covered her face with her hands.

  “That was pretty incredible. Are you sure we haven’t done this before?” Jared laughed softly. “What are you doing?”

  “My brain’s been rattled. Like there was an earthquake in my body and it went all the way to my brain. I’m not even sure I remember who I am.”

  “Let me see if I recognize you.” He pulled one of her hands from her face. “Hmmm. Not sure. The eye is familiar, though. Pretty shade of green.”

  “You can’t possibly see what color my eyes are. It’s too dark.”

  “Then I suppose it’s because I remember, which means I must know you. Now, if I could just remember your name . . .” He pulled away her other hand and looked into her face. “I know mine must be Ohmygod, because that’s what you called me. Several times, actually.”

  “I can’t believe I did that.” She covered her face again. “Don’t tell me I did that.”

  “Oh yeah. And you must think I’m a murderer, because twice you said, ‘Ohmygod, you’re killing me.’ ”

  “Enough. Stop!”

  “Never would have taken you for a screamer, Chris.”

  “I hate you. Let me out of here.”

  He laughed and pulled her closer.

  “If I said anything else, plea
se don’t tell me. I don’t want to know.”

  “I’m teasing you, Chrissie.”

  “You made that up? You mean, I didn’t say . . .”

  He shook his head.

  “Did I say anything?” One hand left her face.

  “Just my name a time or two.”

  “That was so mean. I was so embarrassed. I thought maybe I’d zoned out into another dimension.” She paused, then lowered the other hand. “One of those places where unexplainable things happen.”

  He rolled off her and onto his side, and she pulled the blanket over her.

  “Now she gets modest,” he said.

  “I guess after you’ve screamed your way through sex, there’s not much left to hide, but I’m chilly.”

  He got up and opened the chest at the foot of the bed, then pulled out a blanket and spread it over her. It was soft and just the right weight, and she snuggled under it, savoring the moment and their closeness. Jared lay next to her, propping a pillow behind his head. Chrissie closed her eyes and let herself drift in the coziness of the blanket and the warmth of his arms as they wrapped around her, the gentle rocking of the boat at anchor. Nothing had ever felt as right as loving Jared. She’d never felt so at peace with herself, and she knew she was exactly where she belonged.

  “Don’t go to sleep,” he warned. “Owen reminded me to bring you back to the store tonight to stay with Ruby.”

  “I know. Just a few minutes, though. I’m so comfortable I feel like I’m floating.”

  “Where I come from, we call that afterglow.”

  “Maybe.” She stretched, then curled up, her head on his arm that rested behind her. The boat rolled gently on the tide, and she had to fight to stay awake.

  “Tell me something else that you can’t explain,” she said quietly.

  He was quiet for so long she thought he hadn’t heard her.

  “Jared?”

  “You. I can’t explain you, and how I feel about you. I never expected you, or anyone like you, to come into my life and turn it around. So that’s my answer. Not dragons or mermaids or UFOs. It’s you. I never expected to fall in love, but I think I am.” He ran his fingers lightly along the inside of her arm. “I don’t understand how it happened, but it did, and for the record, I’m okay with that.”

  She opened her eyes and looked into his, trying to think of something to say, but there were no words, because she hadn’t expected his response. When she realized she wasn’t going to find what she needed to tell him what he meant to her, she pulled him down and kissed him, and decided to show him instead. Owen could wait.

  • • •

  “CHRISSIE? CHRIS?” JARED was prodding her to wake her up. “We need to get back. It’s two in the morning, and if Owen is still at the store waiting for us, he’s going to be plenty pissed off.”

  “Okay.” She stretched her arms over her head. “This is a pretty comfy bed, for a bed on a boat.”

  “It’s the captain’s bed, so it has to be comfortable. I know I won’t do as well on the other one.”

  “The other what?” She looked for her bra, found it under the bed.

  “The other boat. My dad and I are going to Brazil in a few days and—”

  “What? Brazil? When?”

  “Delia has a book tour coming up and Dad didn’t want to go with her. He has a crew working on a wreck down there that he thinks might be the Santa Augusta.”

  Chrissie looked at him blankly.

  “It’s a Spanish ship that was lost off the coast of South America in the 1500s. Dad’s been researching it for years. He finally got the okay to salvage, so he wants to go down there himself, and he asked Rachel and me to go.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s an important ship, and an important find. I won’t say it’s once in a lifetime, because there have been others, and there will probably be more, but it’s still exciting.”

  “What about the ship here?”

  “Owen’s going to run the job until I get back. He’s more than capable. Dad wants to give him his own crew eventually so he can send him to work his own wrecks.”

  “Does Cass know that?”

  “Yes, we even talked about it tonight. She was really happy that he’s going to get that opportunity.”

  “Even if the ship he goes to salvage is in, say, Peru, or Madagascar, or Australia?”

  “Australia has some fine salvagers of their own, but yes, she knows. She understands it’s a big leap for him, both financially and professionally. Chandler and Associates is the best in the business. It’s a great opportunity for him.”

  “If you can’t brag about yourself, who will?” she muttered.

  “It’s not bragging if it’s true, Chris. We are the best. My father worked really hard for a very long time to earn his reputation. He’s proud of it, and so am I. And if you ask Owen or anyone else who works for us, they’ll tell you they’re proud, too.”

  He dressed, then sat on the edge of the bed and watched her pull her dress over her head. When he started to help her with her zipper, she said, “I have it.”

  “What’s wrong, Chris?”

  She’d lost an earring, so she looked on the floor, then pulled back the blankets, then the sheets. She found it under the pillow she’d been using and put it back into her ear.

  “Chrissie, what’s the matter?”

  “Nothing.” She tightened the earring in the other ear. Old Chrissie would have bitten her tongue. New Chrissie wasn’t about to. “Okay, yeah, there’s something. It’s like we just had sex—several times—and I don’t even have my clothes on and you tell me oh so nonchalantly that you’re leaving.”

  “I’m leaving St. Dennis, I’m not leaving you.”

  “What’s the difference?”

  “The difference is that I’ll be back to you. This wasn’t a one-nighter, Chrissie. This thing between us—this is real. It’s not going away. And I’m only going for a few weeks at the most. I’ll be back.”

  “And then where will you go?”

  “Wherever the job sends me. Like everyone else, Chris. I do what my job requires. Just like you do.”

  “My job doesn’t require me to leave when things start to heat up.”

  “That’s unfair.” He watched her brush her hair with her hands. “What are we really talking about here?”

  “We’re really talking about me thinking we had a relationship and finding out that you’re not sticking around.”

  “You’re just going to have to trust me, Chris. You’ll see. I’ll go, I’ll come back. I’ll go again, I’ll come back again. That’s how it works when you’re in a relationship.”

  “No. People leave, but they don’t come back.”

  He sighed. “I get it. I do. But I’m not your father and I’m not your brother. I’ll always come back to you. You have to see it to believe it? Fine. Not a problem. You’ll see, and you’ll believe, and one day, you’ll understand that I will always come back. It’s that simple.”

  “Can we go back now?”

  “Did you not hear me say I’m falling in love with you? Know how many times I’ve said that to a woman? Zero.”

  “I heard. It took my breath away. And I feel the same way. It’s just that . . .”

  Jared sighed and got up from the bed. “Just tell me you will give me the chance to prove I mean what I say.”

  She nodded. “I’ll give you the chance, of course I will. I’m sorry. It’s just . . .”

  He took her in his arms. “I know. People who should have been there for you haven’t been. But this is different. This is us. Chrissie and Jared. I won’t let you down. I promise.”

  • • •

  TO CHRISSIE’S SURPRISE, he started the engine of the Cordy E and pulled anchor. Guiding the boat back into the bay, he kept one arm around Chrissie and the other on the wheel. A million stars spread overhead, fireflies winking across the heavens. A gentle breeze blew over the bow and kissed her bare shoulders. In the distance the lights from the oppo
site shore were reflected in the dark water of the Chesapeake. The full moon had dropped lower in the night sky, its light dimming as it edged toward dawn.

  “I like staying in the cove at night these days,” he told her as they rounded the point. “I like knowing that I’m fifty feet from shore and another fifty feet across the road and the dune to the store. I like being close to you.”

  “I like being close to you, too.”

  She rested her head on his shoulder and smiled to herself. She pushed away any thoughts of time and distance coming between them. She’d decided she was going to trust Jared and fate that nothing would come between them. He’d made it clear he was in for the long haul. She was, too. Trust didn’t come easily to her, and she was only a little surprised that he’d picked up so quickly on why that was a problem for her. But he was right: he isn’t her father, and he isn’t her brother. She needed to see her relationship with Jared as something apart from them and not allow the past to color the future.

  He drove the boat into the cove, skillfully avoiding the sandbar she knew was there somewhere, though she wasn’t sure where.

  “You know there’s a sandbar out here?”

  “It’s off the right.”

  “How do you know that? How do you know how deep the water is?”

  “Depth finder.” He pointed to the instrument panel, then turned off the engine and dropped anchor.

  He took her hand and said, “Come on. I’ll row you ashore.”

  Her shoes in her hand, she stepped down into the small boat and sat on the seat facing the shore. Jared began to row, pausing to ask, “You sure you don’t want me to sing? I can do country, classic rock—even learned a couple of forties tunes just for you. Well, bits and pieces of one or two. But you could fill in those parts I don’t know.”

  Somehow she’d managed to keep a straight face. “You’re such a romantic devil,” she told him. “But just row.”

  He brought the boat as close to the shore as he could before scraping the bottom, then put the oars down and rolled his pants legs up to his knees. In bare feet, he jumped over the side of the boat, then held a hand out to her.

  “There’s nasty eel grass down there.” Chrissie looked into the water. “It slithers against your legs and . . . ugh.”