Off Limits Marine

The sailing school was set on a beautiful piece of property on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Her grandfather had founded the school after he had served in the Navy in World War II. Her father had taken it over a few years after her oldest brother was born. He’d offered the business to both of her brothers, but they’d made lives of their own in Seattle and Chicago and had no interest in an almost-failing business. So she was left to run the place on her own.

The boathouse sat near the water’s edge, the lower story home to the Honeymoon. The shallow, sandy bottom on the western shore made it impossible to launch the sloop without trucking it to a deeper harbor, yet another cost to add to the ever-growing list for her trip. But she was almost ready to get wet and Annie was looking forward to that moment.

The upper story of the boathouse was a single room surrounded by windows that overlooked the water that the counselors sometimes used as a game room on rainy days. “There’s something I want to show you,” she said.

Annie led him to the lower floor, pulling open a creaky door. Light flooded in from the far end, and she flipped a switch to illuminate the bay even more. The Honeymoon loomed large in the cavernous space, resting in its timber cradle.

“Look at this,” he said. Gabe reached out and pulled her into a friendly embrace. “I can’t believe you decided to keep it. How did it get here?”

She’d stopped listening to their conversation and was focused on the feel of his hand on her shoulder. She’d been living off the memories of their last encounter, the dance they’d shared at the wedding.

“Annie?”

“What?”

“How did you get the boat out here?”

“I had it trucked across the country. It cost a fortune, but I just couldn’t sell it. I wanted to finish it, for Erik. And for me. It’s almost done. I’ve just got to put in the electronics and raise the mast and do all the rigging.” She paused. “You could help me with that. If you’d like.”

Gabe smiled and nodded. “I would like that. For Erik.”

“I can talk about him now without crying,” Annie said.

Gabe turned to face her, his hands resting on her waist. “I told you it would get better.”

“That’s why I’m going to sail it to California. I’ve decided it’s the final thing I’m going to do for our marriage. He always wanted to sail across the Pacific, just the two of us.”

“And who’s going with you?”

“I’m going alone,” she said. “I’m going to leave at the end of August. If the boat isn’t ready, I’ll stop along the way and have the work done. It should be finished by the time I get to the Caribbean, and then it’s a quick sail to Panama and then up the coast of Mexico to San Diego.”

“You realize how difficult it is to sail north to California? You’ll be sailing against the wind most of the way. And you’ll have hurricane season on the East Coast. You’re planning to leave at the worst time of the year. I don’t think you’ve thought this out very carefully.”

She’d been hearing the same thing from everyone she’d told. It’s too dangerous. There are hurricanes. How will you keep watch? “I’ve heard all the cons,” Annie said. “I’m an experienced sailor. I can handle whatever comes along.”

“I think you’re overestimating your talents. I don’t approve. And I don’t think Erik would approve either. And your parents certainly wouldn’t.”

She stepped back, avoiding his touch. Annie thought that Gabe, of all people, would understand what she was trying to do. “Well, luckily I’m a grown woman and I don’t need anyone’s approval. Besides, I need an adventure. I spent five long years sitting at home, waiting for my husband, wondering when our life was going to begin. And then he was gone, and all that waiting was for nothing. I need to go out and find my own adventures in life, not wait around for someone to bring them to me.”

“Annie, this is dangerous for two people, let alone one. Anything could happen out there. And no one would be able to help you.”

“Of course it’s dangerous. It wouldn’t be an adventure if it wasn’t a little dangerous. But maybe I need some danger in my life. Maybe I wouldn’t feel quite so numb.” Annie’s anger went from a simmer to a boil. Who did he think he was? Sure, he may have helped her out for a few weeks after Erik’s funeral. And maybe they had agreed to be friends. But what right did he have to make decisions about how she ran the rest of her life?

“Maybe it would be better if you didn’t stay here,” she murmured. “I...I have work to do. You know the way out.”

With that, she turned on her heel and strode out the door. As she walked back to the office, she realized that the parents were starting to arrive for the last-day picnic. She’d have to paste on her friendliest smile and pretend that everything was just fine.

“Annie!”

“Go away,” she shouted. “I can’t talk now. I’m too busy.”

“You don’t look busy to me,” Gabe said.

“Well, you don’t know anything about me. I’m not surprised you think that.”

Annie yanked open the screen door and walked into the kitchen, only to find the camp cook, Sarah Martin, hard at work on the lunch for the campers. Cursing to herself, she walked through to the front room, which was stacked high with boxes of T-shirts and foul-weather gear, all imprinted with the school’s logo.

She distractedly began to sort them. Hopefully, Gabe had taken the hint and headed for his car. But when she heard the screen door slam, she knew that the argument would probably continue.

Annie heard his footsteps in the hall, and a few seconds later he appeared in the wide archway. He stared at her for a long moment, then raked his hands through his hair. “You know, right after you and Erik got married, he took me aside and made me promise that if anything happened to him that I’d watch over you. And I agreed. And if I had married, he would have done the same thing for me. I take that promise very seriously, Annie.”

“Well, I absolve you of your responsibility. Whatever promises you made are hereby canceled.”

“It’s not that simple,” he said.

“Yes, it is. I’m going to make that trip, and you can’t stop me.”

Gabe crossed the room to stand in front of her. “All right, here’s the deal. Over the next couple months, we’re going to take the Honeymoon out on a series of shakedown cruises. We’ll get the boat operating properly for a single-handed sailor, and I’ll make sure that I’m confident that you can handle her in rough weather.”

“I’m a better sailor than you are,” she snapped.

“Yes, I know that. If everything is cool, I’ll be waving goodbye to you from the dock.”

It wasn’t a bad deal, Annie thought to herself. She was confident in her abilities as a sailor. And it would be nice to have some help in the shakedown phase, since there would probably be more than enough work for the two of them.

“All right,” she said.

“We’ve come to an agreement?”

Annie nodded.

Gabe grinned. “All right, then.” He glanced around the room. “Is there anything you need help with? I can give you a hand with the picnic. Or maybe put these boxes away.”

“No, I’m fine.”

Gabe reached out and took her hands in his, giving her fingers a squeeze. “There’s nothing wrong with asking for a little help now and then.” He slowly drew her hand up to his lips and kissed the back of her wrist.

Annie held her breath as a rush of warmth snaked up her arm. His dark hair had fallen across his brow, and she reached out and brushed it from his eyes. She could feel her heart beating in her chest as they stared at each other for a long moment.

“I should probably go take a look at that apartment,” he murmured.

“Yes, you should,” she said, letting her fingers drift down his temple and cheek.

Gabe turned into her touch and she froze, her fingers splayed on his jaw. Slowly, he bent forward and Annie knew that he wanted to kiss her. But after the last time, would he stop himself? Or would he give in to his impulse?

In the end, Annie decided to take things into her own hands. Pushing up on her toes, she wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a long, delicious kiss. It had been over a year since she’d kissed a man with any type of passion. Her first kiss with Gabe had been so sudden she hadn’t had a chance to figure out what it was all about.

But this kiss was different. She’d show him exactly who was in charge here. She made all the decisions in her life, including when to kiss him. Annie hadn’t intended to let the kiss go on as long as it had, but now that they were well into it, she wasn’t sure how to bring it to a graceful end.