A Dolphin's Gift (4 page)

She extended
her dripping-wet hand. "Mr. Edenshaw, you have a deal."

Will
contemplated Nellie’s animated face and eager eyes, surprised to find
himself
considering at least part of her proposal. It was,
in fact, a pretty resourceful idea. Besides, if she didn't do the work, he'd
have to hire someone else to do it in order to finish on time. At least it
would give her a means of paying off a good portion of the back rent while
providing a place for them to live until he was ready to leave on his whale
study. But then, she’d have to find temporary quarters, because there was no
chance in hell he’d set out to sea with a cat, a dog, a hostile kid and a
beautiful woman aboard. No chance at all...

"It's
Will," he said, tempted to take her hand, stubborn enough to refuse it.

"Okay.
Will then." She eyed him dubiously as she continued to hold out her hand.

"I'll draw
up a contract," Will said. "I don't trust handshake agreements,
though I didn't always feel that way."

"Fine, you
do that." Nellie withdrew her hand. Retrieving the brush from the soapy
water, she continued her attack on the carpet.

Will watched
her agitated movements for a few moments before
commenting,
"Don't worry about the rug. It's scheduled to be replaced soon."

"Thank
goodness for that." Nellie tossed the brush into the bucket. Grabbing a
rag, she swished it in the water and wrung it out, then began passing it over a
low table. Glancing with distaste at the dismal-looking upholstery on the
couch, she said, in a wistful voice, "How could this have happened? Uncle
Vern loved this boat. I can't imagine why he let it get so run down."

Will felt a
need to apologize for the
Isadora
's
sorry state, though he didn't know why. Vernon Sinclair had little concern for
the boat during the time Will knew him. "Apparently your uncle had other
priorities and serious financial problems. He'd even resorted to renting out
the boat for cruises and parties, until he let her get so rundown he
couldn't."

Nellie looked
at him with a perplexed frown. "All the time I was growing up the
Isadora
was Uncle Vern's pride and
joy," she said. "He never would have let it get run down like it is
unless there was something drastically wrong. And he'd have to have been truly
desperate to rent it out. It just doesn't make sense."

"Maybe it
was his pride and joy when you were a kid," Will said, "but during
the three years I knew him he showed no interest in the
Isadora
at all. I hated to see the old boat run down like it was
which was why I suggested refurbishing it in exchange for its use."

"It all
just seems odd. Not like Uncle Vern." Nellie stared at Will for a few
moments, distracted by the appealing curve of his lips, nice masculine lips
that had her wondering what he'd be like to kiss. An odd thought, having known
the man for only a day. It started when they were crouched and looking at each
other, and he was so close she felt his breath on her face. Then the spell was
broken when she started thinking about her and Mike going to sea...

Mike! She
glanced around, and noting that Mike and Katy were gone, she said, with alarm,
"Have you seen Mike?"

Will shrugged.
"Not for a while. He probably took the dog for a walk."

"He knows
he's not supposed to go off without asking me," Nellie said. She set her
rag aside and stood. "He could wander off and get lost, or someone
might—" she stopped.

Will looked at
her, curious. "Someone might what?"

"Well,
take him." Nellie turned and started to leave.

Will took her
arm to stop her. "This is Port Townsend," he said. "No one
kidnaps kids here. He's probably just down the dock."

Nellie shrugged
off Will's hand. "I have to find him." She dashed onto the deck.
Leaping to the dock, she rushed through the side door of the boathouse and
looked up and down the long wooden wharf connecting the buildings. "Mike!"
she called out, feeling the first stomach-twisting grip of panic when she
didn't see him. The thought that they'd been followed by someone all the way
from Portland, and maybe even Medford, could not be dismissed.

Will joined her
on the wharf. "I'll go this way," he said, pointing, "
and
you head in that direction. He can't be far. It hasn't
been that long since he was here."

Nellie's heart
pounded as she ran from boathouse to boathouse, cupping her hands around her
eyes to peer through the windows of side doors, rattling doorknobs while
calling out Mike's name. As she pressed her nose to a glass to peer through yet
another side door, a man's voice, coming from behind, startled her. "If
you're lookin' for a boy and a dog, they're over there," the man said,
pointing.

Nellie looked
in the direction the man was pointing and spotted Mike sitting on the dock,
crossed legged, elbows on his knees, knotted fists against his cheeks, staring
at the water. Katy, at the end of her leash, was curled on the dock beside him.
After panic passed, anger took over. Nellie marched up to Mike, while shaking
her finger, and said, in an agitated voice, "I told you to stay on the
boat. I can't be worried about you wandering off and getting in trouble."

"You were
with what's-his-face," Mike spat out, "so I went for a walk."

Nellie caught
her lower lip between her teeth to stop its trembling. Never before had she been
so distracted she'd forgotten, even momentarily, about Mike. But she couldn't
deny that Will had been a distraction. "You know you were supposed to stay
on the boat and not wander off without asking me first," she said.

"I don't
like that man," Mike stated. "He hates Katy."

"He
doesn't hate Katy," Nellie said, "but he loves his cat and doesn't
want anything to happen to him, just like I love you and don't want anything to
happen to you."

"You don't
care that something happened to Daddy," Mike said.

Nellie looked
at Mike, dumbfounded. "I loved Daddy," she said. "Why would you
say something like that?"

"You
looked at that man just like you used to look at Daddy, real close like,"
Mike said.

Nellie stared
at her son. Certainly she hadn't looked at Will Edenshaw the way she used to
look at Richard. She could never look at any man that way, never feel for any
man what she'd felt for Richard. Nor would she try. The stakes were too high.
"Mr. Edenshaw and I made an agreement and I was pleased," she replied.

Mike looked at
her, dubiously. "What kind of agreement did you and what's his face
make?"

Nellie lowered
herself beside Mike. Tucking her legs to the side, she perched on one hip.
"His name is Mr. Edenshaw," she said. "I suggested that you and
I help fix up the boat in return for cutting off some of the back rent and he
agreed. But I need your help. I can't do it alone. And you'll also make a
little spending money helping me, like you did at home. This way we'll be able
to stay on the
Isadora
."

"I don't
like that stupid old boat. It’s gross," Mike said.

"You’ll
like it when it's cleaned and fixed up and painted," Nellie replied.
"At least we can give it a try. It's better than living in an apartment.
You never liked that." She reflected on the times Mike complained about
how he hated the city. Before Richard's death, Mike had never suffered the
closeness of apartment living, or even city life. The house she and Richard
bought was on five wooded acres. "It's not the country like you think of
it, honey, but we'll be away from the city. We'll also have a chance to go
cruising when the boat's fixed up. It would be a vacation of sorts before you
have to start school in the fall."

Mike looked at
her, warily. "Who'll run the boat if we go?"

"Well...
Mr. Edenshaw at first," Nellie replied. "But after his whale study's
over and I get a job, we'll find someone else. There are probably lots of old
sea dogs around here who'd love to have a chance to take us on trips. So what
do you say?"

Mike shrugged.
"I still won't like Mr. Edenshaw."

"I'm
surprised at you," Nellie said. "You're not even giving him a
chance."

Mike's eyes
focused beyond Nellie, and she noted the dark expression on his face. She
turned to see Will walking toward them. Forcing a smile, she said to Will in as
light a tone as she could muster, "As you see, Mike's fine. He decided to
take Katy for a walk."

"Umm,"
Will hummed, while eying Mike, who stared steadily back.

Nellie vowed to
later impose stricter rules and firmer discipline on Mike, if only to keep
incidents like this from happening. But for now, she decided it was best to say
nothing. But when she glanced at Will and saw his narrowed eyes as he continued
to hold Mike's gaze, there was no question about what was happening. Two males
in a standoff. Contemplating the weeks ahead, she suspected it was going to be
a long, stressful voyage.

***

Standing in the
galley, Will watched Nellie's face as she read the handwritten contract he'd
just handed to her, hoping she'd sign it, all but certain she wouldn't. Only moments
before she'd flatly refused to leave the boat for any length of time, then
followed with psychological jargon about security of home and stability of
family life for her son, a concept
Will
couldn’t
grasp. There was nothing stable about home and family. For him, stability came
after he'd left home, when he’d at last taken control of his life...

Nellie pursed
her lips. "Not only am I supposed to complete all of the work you've
outlined in this in just two weeks—" she flicked her fingers against the sheet
of paper "— but the contract says I am to relinquish the boat at that time
and find temporary housing for the duration of your whale study. This was not
our agreement, and I refuse to sign it!" She slapped the paper against the
table and glared at him. "You agreed that I would work on the boat and
you'd adjust the back rent accordingly."

Will peered
into a pair of unwavering hazel eyes. "That's exactly what the agreement
says. You'd be working off almost all of the back rent."

"But I
also told you this is our home and my son and I are here to stay, which means
we will be going with you on your whale study. We have no choice."

Will held her
unwavering gaze. "You have the choice of finding temporary housing for the
short time I'll be gone," he said, struggling to keep his voice calm in
the face of her unrelenting mule-headedness.

"Short
time!
You’ll be gone two months
!"
Nellie cried, her voice shooting up.

"Technically,
I’ll only be gone a month," Will insisted. "But I have use of the
boat for two months. Besides, there are furnished apartments in Port
Townsend."

"Not that
I can afford or intend to pay for,
especially
since I have a legal right to stay on my own boat!"
Nellie set her jaw
and peered up at him. A clear challenge.

Will sucked in
an extended breath to check his temper, which was quickly pushing him beyond
the limit of his tolerance. But the woman was impossible! Trying to deal with
her was like trying to negotiate with a junkyard dog! He also realized they'd
reached an impasse. She had title and possession. He had back rent owed and
time invested, but no written contract to prove it. But he'd try one last ditch
effort to have the boat to himself. "Look, it’s only for a month. Don't
you have relatives or friends where you can stay?"

Nellie shook her
head. "I'm an only child, I have no friends or relatives who'd take us in,
my father passed away a few years back, and my mother lives in a retirement
home where kids and dogs aren't allowed. So you're stuck with us, unless, of
course, you choose to force foreclosure and have us evicted, which will take
considerably longer than two weeks."

Will looked
into a pair of unyielding eyes. Something told him this woman was here to
change his life—complicate it, confuse it, rearrange it maybe—but definitely
change it. She was changing it already. She was determined to remain aboard,
and he didn't have the luxury of time to relocate her. Releasing a heavy sigh,
he said in a firm voice, "You'll have to keep the boy away from my
equipment and out of the bridge unless I'm there."

"I assure
you, my son will be no trouble," Nellie said. But the look of uncertainty
in her eyes defied her words.

Will's mouth
twitched with skepticism. So much for written contracts. Nellie Reid managed to
outmaneuver him into agreeing to something he knew he'd regret. But he admired
her tenacity, and she had a varied assortment of skills he needed. She might
even be of use on the trip. She'd spent time on the
Isadora
so she undoubtedly had navigational skills.

Almost as if
she’d read his thoughts, she looked at him steadily, and said, "In
addition to being very familiar with this boat, once we’re out at sea you might
find me useful in other ways."

Will eyed her
dubiously. Could she be implying what he thought? She was after all a woman
whose marital life had been cut short, and she undoubtedly missed sharing a bed
with a man. "Well, it just so happens I need a mate," he said,
testing.

Flares of
outrage lit her eyes, as she said, "I hope you're not implying what I
think."

"First
mate," Will amended. "There are drift logs in the waters where we're
heading and I can use a spotter on the bridge." A fine lot of help this
crew will be. Three days ago his life was orderly. Work on the
Isadora
was approaching completion, his
sonar equipment was scheduled to arrive any day, and the whales would soon be
moving into Robson Bight where he'd be able to make contact with them. And then
everything went to hell in a hand basket.

He tried not to
dwell on his decision to allow a woman, a boy, and a dog to accompany him and
Zeke on his whale study, but for the first time since Nellie Reid burst into
his life, he seriously began to question the soundness of his judgment. The
possible ramifications could be staggering.