There were three keys on the ring. Her hands were still shaking as she tried each key in the drawer’s lock. The third one worked—thank God.
She’d brought along a whole bin of Mattie’s favorite toys for this boat trip; so naturally, he had to go looking for something else to play with—like a loaded flare gun. She didn’t remember Michael being this much of a handful, but then again, she’d had a lot of help with Michael.
It was ironic; she’d been up half the night worried that Mattie would somehow get his hands on Allen’s gun, and here he’d found another lethal weapon on the boat. So far, except for one nice, mild surprise, it had been a pretty sketchy morning.
Allen had finally come to bed around 4:30 AM. He’d stashed the gun on the top shelf in the bedroom closet. Susan kept tossing and turning, but managed to nod off about an hour later. She stirred a bit when Allen got up again at seven, but he told her to sleep in. He even volunteered to make breakfast for Mattie.
Susan dozed off again. She had a dream about Walt and Michael. Her firstborn was about Mattie’s age in the dream. They were in a crowded train station, but she could see Walt over by the newsstand, looking at a magazine. She tried to hold on to Michael’s hand, but he kept slipping away. Her husband wasn’t paying any attention to them at all. She was terrified that Michael would get lost. She kept calling to her husband, “Walt, I need you to help me!”
She woke up, feeling as if she were still reaching out for her lost little boy.
It used to be she’d awaken from such dreams and tell herself everything was all right. But now after dreams like this one, she almost always sat up in bed and cried. This morning was no different.
Susan used up three Kleenexes before she smelled the coffee—and there was bacon cooking, too.
It was 9:35. She threw on her robe and paused by the open closet door. She checked the top shelf, but the gun wasn’t there.
Downstairs, she found Mattie in front of the TV again, watching the DVD of
“It means I locked the
Susan put her arm around him and kissed him. “Will you marry me?”
“Yeah, come to think of it,” he replied, kissing her back.
While she poured the coffee and made toast, Susan couldn’t quite look her handsome, considerate fiance in the eye. He had no idea she still had dreams about Walt.
Later, she cut up last night’s leftover chicken, tossed in some bacon, and made a chicken pasta salad to serve up cold with Tuscan bread while they were on their nautical excursion around Skagit Bay. Susan put on sneakers, jeans, a heather-green pullover, and a windbreaker; then she got Mattie into a pair of jeans and his Disney World sweatshirt.
They’d been on their way down to the boat when she’d realized they had no sunscreen. So Allen had said he’d drive to Rosie’s Roadside Sundries and buy some. He’d told her to put the food in the boat’s refrigerator and don their life vests so they’d be ready to sail by the time he returned.
That had been over a half hour ago. Susan sweltered in the life vest and windbreaker. Then again, maybe she was perspiring because she’d just had one of the major frights of her life seeing Mattie with that flare gun.
She led him to the built-in sofa and sat him down. “Now, what did I tell you when we first came aboard this boat?” she asked.
He pouted slightly. “Not to touch anything without axing you.”
“That’s right,” she said. “And did I tell you it was okay to touch that flare gun and play with it?”
“No.”
She nodded. “That was very, very dangerous. One of us could have been seriously hurt. Now, if you can’t obey the rules of being a good sailor, you can’t go sailing. You sit here and think about that while we wait for Allen to come back from the store.” Reaching into the toy bin, Susan laid out some things on the table to keep him occupied. “I want you to stay put and play quietly—like a good sailor, okay?”
“’Kay,” Mattie murmured.
Mussing his hair, Susan walked back toward the galley area. She climbed two of the three steps up to the deck. The wind whipping at her hair, she peered out at the back of the house for a few moments. She kept hoping to see Allen’s BMW come around the driveway. But there was no sign of him.
“Well, Allen must have had to go all the way into town for the sunscreen,” she announced, stepping down into the cabin again. She’d said it more for herself than for Mattie, who was bringing a little Fisher-Price airplane in for a landing on the narrow table.
Susan got busy putting away the plastic plates and glasses—and checking out all the drawers and cupboards of the compact galley.
There was a
It struck her as odd that they couldn’t get decent cell phone service in the area, but they were able to get e-mail on this boat. She sat down at the navigating station and found the pullout drawer for the keyboard and the mouse.
“Will we see any pirates?” Mattie asked, focusing on his toy plane.
“Not on this trip, honey,” she said. She was thinking at this point, they might not even see the rest of the bay. Allen was awfully late. Maybe this e-mail was from him. She clicked on the icon, and the e-mail listing popped up on the screen. The sender was [email protected], and the subject was: Welcome & Happy Sailing!
Susan opened the e-mail.
Dear Mr. Meeker,
Thanks for renting your Catalina C28 Cruiser Sailboat from Bayside Rentals Partners, and welcome aboard! We’re glad we were able to secure the Seaworthy for you. We apologize again for the confusion with the other boat, and we’re happy we could meet your specific request. As you can see, your Internet access is up and working. If you have any problems or questions, don’t hesitate to e-mail me or phone: 306/555-0416. For more information on the operating features of your Catalina C28, simply click on the link below or refer to the instruction manual. We appreciate your business, and happy sailing!
Sincerely,
Chris
Bayside Rentals Partners
http:///www.jCatalinaC28/features.html.
Susan clicked KEEP AS NEW, to save the e-mail for Allen. It looked like he’d gone to a lot of trouble to reserve this particular boat. He’d been adamant about getting out on the water before noon today.
Susan glanced at her wristwatch: 12:40. This was getting ridiculous. He’d been gone nearly an hour.
“Mommy, can we go up on top?” Mattie asked.
Susan got to her feet. “Sure, sweetheart.” She found his Mariners baseball hat in the toy bin and put it on his head. Mattie grabbed his Woody doll from the bin of toys. Susan helped him off the settee and led him up the steps to the deck. “You’ll have to hold on to me while we’re up here—the whole time, okay?”
“’Kay,” he said. “Where’s Allen? When’s he coming back?”
“That’s what your dear old mother would like to know,” she muttered. Susan glanced over at the house again as she came up on deck. There was still no sign of him.
She sat down with Mattie in the cockpit. Susan started to adjust the visor of Mattie’s baseball hat so he wouldn’t get sunburned.
“Is that Allen?” Mattie asked, pointing toward the house.
Susan turned and gaped at their rental house. At first, she didn’t see anything. She’d been focusing on the driveway that wound around near the back porch. It took a few moments for Susan to realize what Mattie had
