“I left you the book you started. And a few others.” Bonnie shrugged. “If I missed anything else I guess I’ll see you in a couple days.” He didn’t miss the detached tone in her voice. “I appreciate you bringing me here. The journey has been amazing and the adventure I hoped it would be.”
“We’ll go wait on the boat.” Mavis gave Mandy a substantial push to wipe the curious expression off the teenager’s face. “Move it, Man.” she said.
“No fair. It was just getting good.” Mandy grumbled.
Bonnie tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and looked at David. “This is because I asked you where we go from here, isn’t it? You're pushing me away because I asked if we have a future together?”
“Me sending you off with Mavis?” He could lie to her. He probably should, if for no other reason than he didn’t want to think about her leaving with that sad and disappointed look in her beautiful eyes, but he couldn't lie. “Partially. You need to get unstuck, Bonnie.”
“From what? From you? And who determines when that’s happened?” she challenged. “Me? Or you?”
“I’ll be back in High Tide Harbor soon. We can talk then.”
“Right. Okay.”She turned to go, and he caught sight of Mavis and Mandy suddenly busying themselves with the knot securing the boats together. He shoved his hands in his shorts pockets and glared.
“Just…one thing,” Bonnie said suddenly, and swung around.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“This.” Bonnie slipped her arms about his neck and brought his head down to hers. The kiss she gave him made his brain smoke hotter than Blue Blood's engine had a day earlier. He didn't want to react… didn't want to kiss her back but before he could think, he pulled his hands free and clasped her hips. In his heart, he knew he wasn’t going to have any peace of mind once she was gone. When she pulled away, she waited, forehead pressed against his, as their breathing returned to normal. “Figured I’d give you something to think about while I’m gone. Duchess?”
The bird squawked and flapped her wings from her perch on the upper railing.
“Take care of him, okay, Duchess?”she said.
“Sailing, sailing…”
David stood there, on his boat, and watched as Bonnie Rimmer climbed into the Phoenix with Mavis and Mandy waiting. He was still watching long after the cruiser disappeared into the distance.
—---------
Mavis had spoken the truth, David thought..
He had overestimated how long the repairs to the boat were going to take. He tended to over-estimate how long anything was going to take so as not to disappoint anyone, just in case. The fact that he had the engine humming better than ever a few short hours after Bonnie had left on Phoenix did seem a little like the universe was giving him a solid kick.
He closed up the hatch, grabbed his toolbox and headed to the electrical panel. He’d been postponing a more intense inspection until he had the time and the right instruments. Now it seemed as if he had both in abundance.
He could smell jasmine in the air when he stepped into the hallway. The scent of Bonnie's skin and shampoo clung to what felt like every molecule on the boat. So much for being alone. Bonnie remained all around him.
He could hear her laugh and sense her presence as if she was quietly reading. He could, he supposed, pretend she was in her cabin, behind that closed door.
Irritation prickled his skin. What was wrong with him? He loved being out on the water, on his own, with only the ocean and sky as his companions. It was his refuge, his happy place. His reminder that all was right in his world. She couldn’t have replaced that peace in only a few days. Could she?
“Not if I don’t let her,” he muttered, then started when a streak of green soared in through the open hatch. Duchess settled on the counter, talons gripping the edge of the Formica, and watched him. “What’s up, bird?”
“Squawk. Guaca-mooleee!”
David flipped open the metal panel and shone his flashlight on the connections.
“You’re supposed to be self-sufficient. And I’m not the new guy, remember. No guacamole for you.”
“Nice flat back.”
“I can’t believe I’m spending my evening conversing with a bird.” But he did just that as he examined the wiring, replacing what he could, making note of what needed to be addressed once he was in High Tide Harbor.
Once he was satisfied with the job, he closed the panel and faced Duchess, who had fallen asleep where she was perched. She woke up, though, when he latched his tool-box and stashed it on the floor by the cabinet.
“Guacamoleeee.”
David snorted. “All right. Let’s see what we’ve got for you.” He bent down to check the refrigerator’s contents. Something inside him tugged when he noticed the vegetables had been neatly arranged into containers, with a few salads already made up. He pulled one out, a smile playing across his mouth as he read the note Bonnie had left.
“Eat before junk.” David set the salad on the counter.
“You got this.” Duchess clicked her beak.
“Don’t worry.” He pulled out another container, popped open the lid and set it on the counter by the bird. “She didn’t forget you.” Duchess lowered her beak into the fruit-and-nut selection, then gobbled down the blueber-ries and cut-up strawberries one by one.
He made himself a sandwich to go with the salad, eating at the table, unable to concentrate on his book. Easily distracted, irritatingly frustrated, he carried his beer back up on deck, where he sat down to watch the end of the sunset. Even that didn’t bring him much calm.
Damn It! He missed her. Far more than he expected. Exponentially more than he wanted to. And so much that he considered turning on the engine and heading for home while it was still dark.
He wouldn’t. Not yet. As much as he wanted to see Bonnie again, they needed this time apart. She needed to see what the world had to offer outside the bubble of Blue Blood and he needed to distance himself so that when he got back to his life, it wasn’t tainted by memories of her.
Things would be different once he got to town. As welcoming as High Tide Harbor was, the novelty and shininess would wear off for her soon enough. A woman who had seen so much of the world wouldn’t be content in his little corner of it.