Chapter 11: Part 3

Sam grabbed the boom vang. Somehow during the storm the line had broken. Mostly improbable, but still he sat here with the crapped out line in his hand.



He stared at the rope. His mind going through the possibilities of how the vang could have broke like this. The first thing he guessed was someone had cut the line, but it didn't look cut. At least he didn't think it looked cut.



He ran a tight ship. Every line, every pulley, every part was checked over and over again. A fray like this one must have taken weeks to develop, but this occurred overnight in a storm when his sails were stored.



The line holding the boom still shouldn't have broken. But here he sat, wondering if his riggings were marred. If one of the pulley's broke then he would be okay, if two broke he'd need to make a run to the main island and stock up. If three broke, he was screwed.



"Hey, can I come out?" Delanie waved from the shore.



"Sure, let me motor the dinghy over."



She cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled. "No need, I'll swim."



He watched her strip off her shirt and shorts revealing a black bikini. She waded out into the water and then dove in, stroking perfectly to the side of the ship.



He reached down and grabbed her arm, pulling her onto the deck. Thoughts of fixing the vang fled his mind as she squeezed the water from her hair.



Totally oblivious to his interest, she stretched her arms overhead then bent at the waist. "Whoo, I need to swim more." She looked up and her eyes went wide. "What? Do I have seaweed hanging from my hair?"



He cleared his throat, "No, no seaweed."



She stood tall and faced him. "What's up?"



He bit his tongue to keep from saying that he was. She didn't need that. They had some stranger on the island and they needed to get off.



"Why the bikini?"



"No one is here. I found the knife. It was behind the broiler. I'm not sure how it got there, but who knows. Maybe I accidently put it in that cabinet and it got shoved in the back."



"Are you sure?"



"Yeah, I'm sure."



"What about that strange feeling?"



"I don't know, maybe an animal."



"The footprints?"



"Someone was probably here then left. We don't know how old those prints were."



"They had to be from today. The rain would have washed them away yesterday."



"Yeah, but it was probably just some lost soul who took refuge on the island then left this morning. You know how people are. They need help but don't want to be a bother. Plus, you can't see the house from that side and we weren't running any lights. They wouldn't have known there was a house on island. They got scared, anchored and left once the sun came up."



"Maybe."



"Have you seen any more strange footprints?"



Sam didn't want to concede defeat. She might be right, but what if she was wrong. "No, but–."



"Hey, let's just enjoy the day and not think about strangers skulking around on the island. No one is here."



"I need to fix some rigging."



"I'll help."



"You know anything about sailboats?"



She smiled and popped up on her tiptoes to lay a kiss on his cheek. "No, but I'm good with directions."



He laughed out loud and pulled her into a tight embrace, relishing the feel of her near nakedness. His hands slid over her flesh, memorizing every curve, dip and swell. Hot damn, she was amazing.



"Now, mister touchy feely, let's get to work."



"I need to get some supplies from below." He traipsed downstairs, trying to rid his mind of her perfect body while he maintained his focus on fixing his boat. "Okay, this is just like any other majorly difficult task. I maintain focus and ignore the distractions." He swiped a hand down his face. "Who the hell am I kidding? I could never ignore her."



Sam grabbed the line and some tools. He grabbed two bottles of water and headed top deck. Delanie was touching the mast and investigating the halyard.



"I wish I knew more about sailing ships."



"I could teach you."



"You know, I think we are going to have a nice long relationship."



"Delanie, I know this island is different than real life, but I agree. I think we can have something special."



"Follow me." Sam took her to the front of the ship and began explaining the way the boom vang worked. She listened intently, helping him out when he needed a hand.



Delanie laughed easily as they worked together. He grew comfortable with her. Almost like he'd known her for years. His dating history was sketchy at best. Never before had he actually done a project with a woman he dated. The relationship existed long enough to go to dinner and then to bed, but nothing more. He had kept a few girls around for a couple of months, but he'd never actually cared for any of them. The emotional attachment was non-existent, but with Delanie he felt emotionally tied to her.



He felt something building in him that he thought had died off never to be reclaimed. His heart swelled when he though of a future with her. Maybe he could get off the boat and make life work. He needed to try because he wanted a future with this magnificent woman.

Copyright Sara Thacker 2011