All The King's Horses: A Tale Of Eternal Love

by Downs, Alethea

  She fell silent as she busied herself with the meal, and so he used the time to take in his surroundings. She obviously had a bit of money; there were several expensive looking antiques as well as the plush furniture. A painting on the wall caught his eye, and so he wandered over to study it.

  “Who’s the beautiful woman in the painting?” he called out.

  “If it’s the painting above the fireplace then that’s my mother.”

  “She’s very exotic looking.”

  “She was a mixture of Spanish and Norwegian.”

  “A very good mix obviously,” Kent said appreciatively. “I can see where you get your looks from.”

  Her head popped around the door frame. “My father met her at the opening ceremony of the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. They spent most of the two weeks together. When she went back to Spain he was devastated.”

  “So he followed her back to Spain?”

  “Yes. When she answered the door to him she smiled and asked him what had taken him so long. And the rest, as they say, is history.”

  Kent didn’t have any trouble believing a man would follow a woman that beautiful to the ends of the earth. The one in the kitchen could probably command the same dedication too, and although she hadn’t inherited too many features from the woman in the painting she was certainly every bit as stunning.

  “Do you have much in the way of family, Kent?”

  “No, not any more. Mum died when I was in my early twenties, and Dad passed on a few years back.”

  “No siblings?”

  “No. Mum couldn’t have any more children after me. Something went wrong while she was giving birth and put an end to any more babies.”

  She bustled through the door with a platter of meat. “That’s a shame.”

  “Yes, it’s been hard since Dad died. I felt a bit disconnected from the world without any family members to turn to.”

  She looked up from what she was doing. “That’s understandable. I don’t have any siblings either, and if I were to lose Daddy I’d feel the same way.”

  He wandered over to where she was setting the table. “What were you doing swimming out there so early that morning?”

  She froze. Her hand was halfway to up from the drawer with a fistful of cutlery. “Just one of those silly things,” she said slowly. “On a whim I decided to go for an early morning swim.”

  “In the dark…?”

  “Yes.”

  “You mustn’t be the best of swimmers it was dead clam out there.”

  “Yes, it was, but I got disorientated in the dark and panicked. Kent, could you give me a hand bringing the food through from the kitchen?”

  He complied with her request but couldn’t help noticing how evasive she was being. It wasn’t difficult to see she didn’t want to talk about it and that puzzled him. He would have thought most people would want to talk about very little else when they had been through such an ordeal, especially when they were with the person who had saved them. But he wasn’t one to pry, and so he decided to let the matter drop. If ever she decided to tell him about it then he would be happy to hear her story.

  “I must conclude that you are a good cook,” he said, when the meal was over. “I haven’t stuffed myself so full in years.”

  “I’m glad you enjoyed it.” She poured him a cup of coffee. “I don’t know a lot about you yet. What line of work are you in?”

  “I’m a charter boat skipper.”

  “Do you own your own boat?”

  “Yes and no,” he answered grimly.

  “Yes and no? That’s a bit of a contradiction.”

  “I do own my own boat,” he explained, “but not for much longer.”

  “Are you selling up to do something else?”

  He sighed. “Not exactly, I bought the Bonnie Lass a few years ago knowing it would be a long hard road paying her off.” He stared into the depths of his coffee cup for a few seconds. “Just recently business hasn’t been so good. I was struggling to meet the repayments. To cut a long story short the storm the other day damaged the boat badly enough to cause the bank to recall the loan.”

  “And you don’t have the money so they’re taking the boat off you?”

  “Yep, that’s about the size of it.”

  “Kent, that’s terrible. What are you going to do?”

  “I’m not sure yet. I’ve got fourteen days to come up with the money before I lose the boat, so I’m praying for a miracle to happen.”

  “Fourteen days doesn’t give you much time.”

  “No it doesn’t.” He smiled across the table at her. “But I didn’t come here to dump my troubles on you.”

  “You’ve no one else to talk to about it.” Her green eyes were full of concern for him. “Besides, I’ve a feeling we’re going to be friends, so you can dump your troubles on me anytime.”

  His smile broadened. “You are a remarkable woman, Christy Lane. It was my lucky day when I pulled you out of the surf.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Kent looked at the bank statement and scowled. Seven hundred and sixty-three dollars was the sum total of funds available to him at this moment in time. When the boat was sold he may end up getting ten or twelve thousand after the bank had taken what he owed them. But for now it was seven hundred and sixty-three dollars.

  He had to be out of the house in three days time. Thankfully he had a buddy who owned a lifestyle block not far out of town who had told him he could camp out in an old shack he had on the place. It had electricity and running water but very little else.

  The bath water would have to be heated up in pots on the wood-range, and the toilet facilities were a long-drop out the back of the shack. But he wasn’t complaining. It was a roof over his head and would cost him nothing but a monthly electricity bill.

  He would have to scout around and see if he could pick up a job. He wasn’t likely to get more than a part time job at this time of the year, but then he wouldn’t need much to get by on.

  He looked at the statement again. He knew what he was going to do with at least two thirds of that money. He was going to withdraw it and hire a boat for the day. Then he was going to ask that gorgeous Christy Lane to spend the day out on the water with him. They had exchanged phone numbers before he had left her place the other night, and she had already phoned him three times and texted him at least eight. He didn’t know what she saw in a loser like him, but he couldn’t deny he liked the attention from her.

  She had mentioned during the last phone call that she had never been out on the bay, and would love to cruise the harbor and look at all the islands that were dotted around, if that hadn’t been a pretty broad hint he didn’t know what was. It would be money well spent, and he had only to put the invitation to her to seal the deal. Picking up his phone he tapped out her number.

  “Hello, Christy speaking.”

  “Hello, Christy, it’s Kent.”

  “Oh, Kent, I was just thinking about you. I was wondering if you’d like to come around to dinner on Saturday night. Daddy’s shifting in on Friday night and he’s keen to meet you.”

  “Yes, of course. Actually I’m phoning you with an invitation of my own. I’m hiring a boat tomorrow and wondered if you’d let me give you a tour of the Bay of Islands?”

  “Oh, Kent, I’d love to.”

  “Good. I’ll pick you up at nine sharp.” He slipped the phone into his pocket and smiled to himself. It was strange how life could dish up a whole bunch of conflicting things at once. On the debit side he was losing his house, his boat, and his livelihood all in one foul swoop. But then on the credit side it had brought along the most incredible woman who had made him feel more alive than he had in years. It was like his father used to say, ‘behind every cloud is a silver lining.’

  ♥

  Christy placed the phone down and stared at the window at a pair of sparrows squabbling on her front lawn. What was she doing? This was falling for her. She knew his financial situation wasn’t good, and yet here he
was hiring an expensive boat to take her for a cruise. He couldn’t afford that, but was willing to do it so he could spend time with her. The sad thing was he didn’t know the truth. He didn’t know she hadn’t been swimming in the bay that morning. He couldn’t possibly know she was trying to take her life.

  The sparrows were really going at it now, tumbling over and over, each one trying to gain ascendency over the other. She would have laughed at their comical antics if she didn’t feel so ashamed of herself. Kent didn’t know about the cancer. She should have told him the night they had dinner together.

  The right thing to do would be to tell him she was going to die and then just walk away forever. He couldn’t get hurt that way, and then her conscience would be clear. But whenever she heard his voice on the phone or pictured his handsome face her heart just melted. She hadn’t felt this way about anyone since Mike. She knew she was being selfish, but she couldn’t help it. She was falling as hard for Kent as she knew he was for her.

  She thought back to the time she had lost Mike. The anguish, despair, and desperation had crowded in on her like a thick winter fog that clung to her without mercy, seeping through her defenses and leaving her saturated with sorrow. If she let Kent fall in love with her then she would be putting him through the same ordeal. Could she really be that selfish?

  The two sparrows were gone now. One had conceded defeat and had allowed the victor to chase him out of the garden. Christy knew she should be chasing Kent from her life. He was a sweet man who deserved better than what her cancer would put him through. She decided she would tell him the night he was coming for dinner. She wanted to enjoy tomorrow with him first, and that wouldn’t happen if he knew the truth.

  ♥

  “What a beautiful day it is,” Christy said, when Kent arrived to pick her up. “I’ve been really looking forward to this.”

  Kent opened the car door for her. “The sea is like a mirror this morning it’s that calm. It’ll make for a wonderful cruise.”

  She snapped the seatbelt in place and settled back into the seat determined to not feel guilty. She hadn’t looked forward to an event like this, or enjoyed the company of a man so much in years. “So how long have we got this boat for?” she asked, as they headed towards the marina.

  “Until eight o’clock tomorrow morning.”

  “So we’ve got it all day.” She wound don her window and breathed in the sea air. “I almost feel like a school girl I’m so excited.”

  “A day out on the water is always guaranteed to make a person feel alive,” he said enthusiastically.

  ‘Alive.’ There was that word again. The man sitting beside her had no idea that the woman he was falling for wouldn’t be ‘alive’ for much longer.

  She drew in a deeper breath of the salt laden air and held it there for a moment. She was determined she wouldn’t get depressed today. Not today of all day’s. She would enjoy the time spent with this wonderful man. Fate owed her at least one happy day before the cancer took her.

  “If we’re lucky we might see some dolphins’ out there today.”

  She let go of the breath she had been retaining and turned to look at him. “Dolphins…do you really think we will? I’ve never seen dolphins’ before.”

  He nodded. “They’ve been coming into the bay quite a bit recently, chasing after the fish that are here. So I’ll be surprised if we don’t see them.”

  She took the opportunity to study his side profile as he watched the road ahead. He was as good looking from this angle as he was from the front. Soft brown eyes, strong jaw line, even tan, and perfectly shaped nose. He really was quite flawless.

  He caught her looking at him. “What…?” he asked sheepishly.

  “I was just enjoying the great view.”

  He grinned. “That’s the first time anybodies called me a ‘great view’ before.”

  “Well you are, so you’d better get used to me staring at you.”

  “You’re going to be good for my ego. The way things have been going recently it’s been taking a bit of a hammering.”

  She lightly touched his shoulder. “Let’s try and forget our troubles for one day and just enjoy ourselves.”

  “I’m all for that.” He pulled to a stop in the marina car park and got out to open the door for her.

  “Men never do that for women anymore,” she commented, after she had got out.

  “More is the pity. My father always did it for my mother, and so I just kinda picked it up off him.”

  “It does make a women feel special,” she admitted.

  He walked her down to the jetty. “There she is,” he said, pointing to a large boat tied up and waiting for them. He helped her on board before casting off. “Let’s get out there and see what the day holds for us.”

  They had only been skimming across the glassy water for half an hour or so when Kent cut the throttle right back. “Look over to your right,” he told Christy.

  Christy squealed with delight. “Dolphins’, Kent it’s dolphins’.” She watched transfixed as a pod of eight or nine came up to the boat and swam along beside it. “Kent, they’re beautiful.”

  He cut the throttle back even more as she leaned out over the side to get a better look. One came up and brushing against the hull rolled over and peered up at her with one big eye.

  “Kent, he winked at me. I swear he winked at me.”

  He laughed. “It can appear that way sometimes,” he agreed. “They’re very intelligent creatures.”

  The dolphin was still brushing along the hull when Kent cut the engine dead and allowed the boat to lightly drift on the calm water. “Do you want to stroke him?”

  She looked at him in surprise. “Can I?”

  “If he lets you. He looks like he’s in a playful mood so he probably will.”

  “How do I reach him?”

  “Go down to the end of the boat and climb down the ladder. If he’s interested he’ll come around to see you.”

  She turned her head to look at the stern then looked back at him. “What…you mean I should get in the water with him?”

  He nodded. “That’s the only way to get up close and personal.”

  She hesitated. “They won’t bite me will they?”

  “I’ve never known them to bite anyone before. They’re the gentlest creatures you could hope to come across.”

  Straightening up and peeling off her shirt she slowly made her way towards the ladder. “I can’t believe I’m going to swim with a dolphin.” As she slipped out of her shorts and stood hesitantly in her swimsuit Kent had to call on all his willpower to look away. She had the perfect body, and if she didn’t get in the water soon he couldn’t be held responsible for staring.

  The dolphin had already followed her around and was waiting by the ladder. “Are you sure this is going to be safe?”

  “I’m positive,” he assured her. “I’d join you myself if I didn’t have to keep the boat under control.”

  Descending the ladder she dipped a foot in the water. “It’s cold.”

  “Well, it’s early spring so it’s bound to be a little cold at first.” He walked down to join her. “The best thing to do is just plunge in. Once the initial shock wears off you’ll be warm enough.”

  Christy took his advice and released an ear-shattering shriek. “You rat,” she said, immediately afterwards, “it’s freezing. No wonder you didn’t come in with me.” She suddenly let out another scream as a dolphins brushed past her legs.

  “It’s alright,” Kent called out to her, “the dolphins’ are only being friendly. But if you keep screaming like that they’ll get frightened and swim away.”

  She held her breath as one came straight towards her. She felt the smoothness of its body as it shimmied past her. “That felt amazing,” she gushed, starting to lose her fear.

  “Next time he comes past place your hand on his back and swim along beside him.”

  Christy did as she was told, and was amazed the dolphin didn’t seem to mind t
hat a human was touching him as he swam along. “This is unbelievable.” She looked up at the boat to see Kent smiling down at her. “Thank you for this experience.”

  “It’s my pleasure.”

  She let go of the dolphin and swimming over to him clung to the side of the boat.

  “You look like a beautiful mermaid down there,” he said admiringly.

  “And you the handsome sailor lured to his doom by the siren of the sea.”

  “A mermaid like you would be worth being lured by.”

  “Be careful sailor boy, you just might get what you wish for, and there where would you be?”

  “I never get that lucky.” He cast his eyes in the direction of the dolphins’. “It appears they’ve grown bored with us, they’re heading off.”

  “Might be just as well, I’m starting to get rather cold.” By the time she had swum around to the ladder and climbed back into the boat he was ready with a warm towel to wrap her up in. “You’re a thoughtful man, aren’t you?’ she said appreciatively.

  “Couldn’t have you freezing to death now could we?” he said, trying to make light of it, and she couldn’t be sure if that kind of intimacy embarrassed him or whether he was just being humble.

  She toweled herself down and put her shirt and shirts back on while he started the boat up and slowly moved off. “Where are we heading now?” she asked, after she had joined him at the wheel.

  “I thought we might explore a few of the islands in the bay. Some of them have lots of Pipi on their beaches if you know where to dig for them. We’ll cook some up for our lunch.”

  She turned her face to the gentle breeze. “I haven’t eaten shellfish in so long, and Pipi are my favourite.”

  Kent took her to three islands. They explored, they swam, and they ate. By the time they were heading back to the marina the stars had come out, and Christy was wrapped up warm in Kent’s big coat and taking in the sky with a sleepy satisfaction.