A Dolphin's Gift (14 page)

Nellie had made
a point of keeping out of Will's reach whenever he was near. "It's
Mike," she said with a sigh. "He's talking about running away to
Medford."

"He's
trying to manipulate you."

"He's
upset." Nellie clasped her hands behind her back while considering their
options. She wanted Will to be a part of her life, if not through marriage,
then something long-term and leading in that direction. But right now, the odds
were against that happening unless she and Will could start to build a true
relationship, which would mean some minimal physical contact. But Mike would
have to be excluded from seeing it until he began to accept Will's presence in
their lives. He would in time, but it was too soon to expect that to happen.
"You said a lot of things earlier about..." she stopped.

"Making love
or setting boundaries?" Will asked.

"Well,
setting boundaries." Nellie said. "I’ve been thinking about that,
well reconsidering."

Will squeezed
her elbow and released it before Mike could turn around and catch him touching
her. "I was hoping you’d see things my way," he said. "Besides,
you owe yourself a life beyond your son."

"I have no
life beyond my son," Nellie said. "He is my life. What I'm talking
about is a private life when he’s not around, setting boundaries for that."

Will gave her a
sideways glance. "What did you have in mind?"

Nellie
shrugged. "I don’t know, hugging, kissing, a little light… well, you know."

"If you
mean exploring each other’s bodies, I’m for that. But what if, like you said,
boundaries don't work? I can tell you right now that if you ever let me make
love to you, I'd never be satisfied with cold showers again."

Nellie pursed
her lips, annoyed that every suggestion she made seemed destined to fail.
"Then just forget I mentioned it," she said, perturbed. "I'm too
tired to think about anything except settling Mike for the night and crawling
into bed. Alone."

Although she’d
had a moment of weakness in broaching the subject of boundaries with Will, she
was glad she'd finally come to her senses. Playing hide-and-seek on the
Isadora
, while trying to find a place to
hunker down with Will and test the limits of their boundaries, which would
fail, would put them in constant danger of Mike discovering them together. And
who knows what he’d find them doing the next time that happened. She sighed.
Love was a complication she just didn’t need in her life right now.

On arriving
back at the
Isadora
, Will was the
first to realize something was wrong. "I'm positive I locked the
door," he said on finding the door to the salon unlocked and ajar.
"Did either of you come back to the boat after we left?"

"No,"
Nellie replied. "Mike and I stayed together the whole time. Maybe the door
didn't catch and it swung open when the boat rocked."

"Maybe
so," Will said. But the fact was he knew he'd locked the door. He'd made a
point of checking it after he'd closed it. "You two stay here," he
said. "I want to look around and make sure no one's aboard." Stepping
inside, he flipped on the light. Nothing seemed disturbed. After checking every
place where someone could hide, he motioned that things were clear.

After Nellie
sent Mike off to get ready for bed, Will said, "I'm going to look around
some more. I want to make sure Zeke's still in the master stateroom."

"I'll be
there as soon as I get Mike settled," Nellie said. A few minutes later she
found Will in the galley crouched on the floor in front of Zeke’s cabinet,
peering inside. "Why are you looking in there," she asked. "I
locked Zeke in my stateroom before we left."

"The door
was open," Will replied. "But he's not in here either."

"How could
the door to my stateroom be open?" Nellie said. "I'm absolutely sure
I closed it before we left so Zeke wouldn't get out. I even rattled the
handle."

"That may
be," Will said, "but it was open when we got back. Zeke," he
called in an anxious voice. He returned to the master stateroom and checked
behind the desk and in the locker and to his relief, found Zeke crouched under
the curved seat at the bow. He grabbed Zeke by the scruff of the neck and
dragged him out from under the seat, then carried him to the galley and put him
in his cabinet, and Zeke curled up in his box. On closing the cabinet door,
Will turned to Nellie, who had followed him into the galley, and said,
"There's no doubt someone was aboard, and whoever it was has a key. The
door to the salon wasn't forced."

"Who could
have keys?" Nellie asked. "We have the only two sets, don't we?"

Will's brows
gathered in worry. "I thought so. But maybe your uncle gave a set to
someone else. He rented the boat out a few times, and the locks have never been
changed."

"Well, I
don't want to stay here tonight if there's someone prowling around who might
come aboard while we're sleeping. It could be the man with the gun,"
Nellie said. "He asked Mike where we were going, so he might have followed
us here, for whatever reason."

"I
agree," Will replied. "If it was just me, I'd stay and wait for the
guy to come back, but with you and Mike aboard I'm not going to take any
chances. Meanwhile, get Mike settled for the night and stay with him so he
doesn't go off, while I check with some of the people around here and see if
anyone spotted someone coming aboard or hanging around the dock. I also want to
call the Port Townsend police and see if they ever found the man with the gun."

"When you
do, tell them that someone broke into the boat so they can file a report."

"There's
no sign of forced entry, so there’s nothing to report," Will said.

"Nevertheless,
I want you to tell them someone trespassed."

After Will
questioned the few people on the dock, none of whom had seen anyone board the
Isadora
, he called the Port Townsend
police on his cell. It was no surprise to learn that the man with the gun
hadn't been found, and since no crime had been committed, the police weren't
pursuing an investigation. There was still no information on the stolen car,
which the police reported had remained parked where Nellie last saw it.

Will felt
uneasy, and he didn't want to alarm Nellie unnecessarily, but she needed to
know what was going on. "It looks like the man with the gun may have left
Port Townsend," he said. "The big question is, what does he want with
us, and why? Meanwhile, let’s get underway. I want to be well away from here by
dawn."

***

Will studied
the radar screen. The rotating beam indicated they were in the middle of a wide
channel and no vessels were ahead of them, but he noted that two vessels
trailed off their starboard quarter about two miles behind. If they were being
followed, he’d
know
by morning. He'd keep a close
watch. If anyone pulled up alongside and came aboard with a gun, though, there
was nothing he could do to defend Nellie and Mike, short of beating the hell
out of him, if he could first disarm the guy. But he'd cross that bridge when
and if he came to it.

Meanwhile, he
had a channel to navigate. The last thing he needed was to ground the boat. He
checked the scan on the depth finder display. The bottom was still out of
range. He didn't mind negotiating the narrows in the dark—the
Isadora
had good navigational
equipment—but he was starting to feel drowsy from the monotonous drone of the
engine and the blackness ahead. He'd push on though. He was anxious to be away
from Campbell River. If the intruder was the baldheaded man, he had a gun and
they didn't. Nor did they have the security of police protection if needed. He
hadn't mentioned it to Nellie, but the Coast Guard responded only to calls from
distressed vessels, those in eminent danger of sinking.

He poured
coffee from the thermos Nellie brought up to him earlier and took a long slow
sip. It had never seemed so lonely in the wheelhouse before. Actually, he
realized he felt lonely whenever Nellie wasn't around. But he'd insisted she
sleep so that in the morning, when they anchored, she could keep watch while he
slept for a couple of hours.

He thought of
her asleep in her big wide berth and wished he could crawl in up with her. He
could imagine wrapping his arms around all those female curves and holding her
against him after they'd made love, and sleeping with her in his arms. He
glanced at Zeke, who sat beside the radar screen, and reached over to scratch
the tabby's head. "Do you sometimes feel your love life is lacking?"
he asked, the sound of his voice easing the drowsiness. "No, I don't
suppose you do. I hope you don't hold your operation against me, but it was for
your own good." Zeke arched his back, stretched his front legs and let his
sleek body ripple down to his back legs. Then he jumped onto Will's shoulders
and settled around his neck. Will scratched him behind the ears. "But sex
isn't everything," he continued. "In the long run it's companionship
that matters."

Will wasn't
sure that was true. Although he and Nellie hadn't made love, he couldn't
imagine the day he wouldn't enjoy it with her. But it seemed appropriate to
tell Zeke it wasn't everything. He scratched Zeke's throat and Zeke raised his
chin. "There's a lot to be said for companionship," he continued,
feeling purrs reverberating. "Nellie's a great companion. And Katy is a
pretty good-looking woman too," he added almost as an afterthought.

He realized
Zeke had stopped purring, and he qualified his statement. "I know she's
not exactly your type, but sometimes the ones we think are the least likely are
the ones who get our attention. Take me for instance. Who'd ever think I'd be
chasing after a woman with a kid? God, what a woman. What a body." He
concentrated on Nellie's female assets, and soon there was no question, he was
awake in more ways than he needed right now. He took another sip of coffee, but
the warmth did nothing to ease the problem below his waist.

Zeke's claws
came out, kneading Will's shoulder. "Thanks, old buddy," he said. He
dipped a shoulder, dumping Zeke onto the chart table. "But even that won't
distract me now."

"Will?"
Nellie called up the companionway. "Is Mike up there with you?"

"No. Just
Zeke," Will called down.

"Oh."
Nellie appeared at the top of the ladder. "What time is it?"

Will glanced at
the clock on the control panel. "Almost two-thirty." He reached for
her hand, helping her into the bridge. "How come you're not in bed?"

Nellie
shrugged. "I couldn't seem to fall asleep."

"That bed
too big and empty for you?"

Nellie smiled.
"Maybe."

Will checked
the depth finder. Noting that they were out of the narrows and in the middle of
a wide channel, with little chance of running aground, he slipped his arm
around Nellie and pulled her against him. "I was getting drowsy," he
said, "but now I'm awake, in more ways than one, which is good, I
think."

Nellie rested
her hand on his belly. "Just for the record, so am I."

Will eyed her,
curiously. "Are we on the same wavelength?" he asked, "about
being awake in more ways than one."

Nellie looked
up at him and smiled. "I was married, Will. And yes, we're on the same
wavelength. I might not have something sticking out in front, but I still feel
the need."

"And I
suppose we still have boundaries," Will said.

"As
difficult as that might be, yes," Nellie replied.

Shoving to the
back of his mind, thoughts of what he and Nellie could have, Will focused again
on the radar screen. After an inordinate amount of time had passed, and he was
still studying the radar, Nellie asked, while studying the screen, "How
long has that boat been there?"

"Since we
left Campbell River," Will replied, glancing again at the depth finder.

Nellie eyed the
radar. "Do you think it's following us?"

"No, not
necessarily," Will lied, not wanting to alarm her. But he was all but
certain they were being followed. The boat had kept a constant distance behind.

"There's
another—" Nellie pointed to a second vessel on the periphery of the
display.

Will had been
aware of that one too. In fact, he was fairly certain both vessels were
following them. Whether they were traveling together was another question. "Probably
fishing boats eager to get an early start," he said, hoping to sound
convincing. Nellie didn't need the added burden of worry. Mike's threats of
running away were enough.

"So,
what's the plan?" Nellie asked.

"We'll
drop anchor near Beaver Bay in a few hours, and after I sleep some, I'll set up
the equipment and see if we can attract some whales." He looked askance at
her, and added, "We'll also take a bath in a hot springs there."

"That
sounds nice," Nellie replied, "but I don't have a swim suit, and I
won't swim nude."

"Maybe not
in front of Mike," Will said, "but you could in front of me. I
wouldn't mind."

"Sorry,
but skinny dipping's definitely out of bounds."

A smile tugged
at one corner of Will's mouth. "Then I propose we put in place a look but
don't touch rule. We'd stay on opposite sides of the pool, which is in an
enclosed building, and see what we're missing. I'm just an ordinary male, so
the sight of me shouldn't incite you to go beyond the limits of our
boundary."

Nellie gave a
short, ironic laugh. "You're definitely no ordinary male," she said,
her fingers making a meandering pattern on his belly.

Will let out a
little gasp. "Careful," he said. "You're about an inch away from
big trouble. And I mean big." He nuzzled the side of her face. "Then
on the other hand, I like what you're doing, so maybe we can extend the
boundaries an inch or two lower than where you are?"