Nathan. It had to be enough, for now, that he no longer looked alarmed whenever she told him she loved him. The fact that he was beginning to accept that she did was a giant step. And soon-eventually, she thought, correcting herself-eventually he would accept the fact that he loved her back.
She knew he did. It wasn't a matter of wish fulfillment or hopeful dreams. She saw it when he looked at her, felt it when he touched her. Because she did, it made it that much more difficult to wait.
She'd always looked for instant gratification. Even as a child she'd been able to learn quickly and apply what she'd learned so that the rewards came quickly. Writing had shown her more than a love for storytelling. It had also shown her that some rewards were best waited for. Having Nathan, really having him, would be worth waiting a lifetime.
She turned down an alley of water where the bush was thick and green. It was hardly wide enough for two boats to pass. Near the verges, limbs of dead-wood poked through the surface like twisted arms. Behind them the wake churned white, while ahead the water was darker, more mysterious. Above, the sun was a white flash, hinting, perhaps threatening, of the sultry summer still weeks away. Spray flew, glinting in the light. The motor purred, sending a flurry of birds rocketing above the trees.
'Ever been on the Amazon?'
'No.' Nathan turned to her. 'Have you?'
'Not yet,' she told him, as if it were only a small oversight. 'It might be something like this. Brown water, thick vegetation hiding all sorts of dangerous jungle life. Is it crocodiles or alligators down there?'
'I couldn't say.'
'I'll have to look it up.' A dragonfly dashed blue and gleaming across the bow, catching her attention. It skimmed over the water without making a ripple, then flashed into the bush. 'It's wonderful here.' Abruptly she cut the engine.
'What are you doing?'
'Listening.'
Within moments the birds began to call, rustling through the leaves and growing bold in the silence. Insects sent up a soprano chorus. There was a watery plop, then two, as a frog swallowed an insect for an early lunch. Even the water itself had sound, a low, murmurous voice that invited laziness. From far off, too far off to be important, came the hum of another boat.
'I used to love to go camping,' Jackie remembered. 'I'd drag one of my brothers, and-'
'I didn't know you had any brothers.'
'Two. Fortunately for me, they've both taken an avid interest in my father's many empires, leaving me free to do as I please.' He couldn't see her eyes as she spoke, but from the tone of her voice he knew they were smiling.
'Never any interest in being a corporate climber?'
'Oh, God, no. Well, actually, I did think of being chairman of the board when I was six. Then I decided I'd rather be a brain surgeon. So I was more than happy when Ryan and Brandon took me off the hook.' Lazily she slipped out of her deck shoes to stretch her toes. 'I've always thought it would be difficult to be a son of a demanding father and not want to follow in his footsteps.'
She'd said it casually, but Nathan was so completely silent that she realized she'd hit part of the mark. She opened her mouth to question, then shut it again. In his own time, she reminded herself. 'Anyway, even though it often took blackmail to get one of my brothers to go with me, I really loved sitting by the fire and listening. You could be anywhere you wanted to be.'
'Where did you go?'
'Oh, here and there. Arizona was the best. There's something indescribable about the desert when you're sitting beside a tent.' She grinned again. 'Of course, there's also something special about the presidential suite and room service. Depends on the mood. You want to drive?'
'No, you're doing fine.'
With a laugh, Jackie kicked the motor on. 'I hate to say it, but you ain't seen nothin' yet.'
She spun the boat through the waterway, taking any out-of-the-way canal or inlet that caught her fancy. She was delighted to chug along behind the
The houses pleased her, with their sweeping grounds and sturdy pillars. She enjoyed the flood of the spring flowers and the wink and shimmer of the pools. When another boat passed, she'd make up stories about the occupants that had Nathan laughing or just rolling his eyes.
It pleased her just as much to turn off the more traveled routes and pretend she was lost in the quiet, serpentine waters where the brush grew heavy and close at the edges. Shutting down again under the shade of bending palms and cypress, she took out Jackie's idea of a picnic.
There was Pouilly-Fuisse in paper cups, and cracked crab to be dug out with plastic forks, and tiny Swiss meringues, white and glossy. After she'd badgered Nathan into taking off his shirt, she rubbed sun block over him, rambling all the while about the idea of setting a book in the Everglades.
But what she noticed most as she stroked the cream over his skin was that he was relaxed. There was no band of tension over his shoulders, no knot of nerves at the base of his neck. When he reciprocated by applying the cream to wherever her skinny blue tank top exposed her skin, there was none in her, either.
When the cooler was packed away again, she jumped back behind the wheel. The morning laziness was over, she told him. Turning the boat around, she headed out.
She burst into Port Everglades to join the pleasure and cruise ships, the freighters and sailboats. Here the water was wide and open, the spray cool and the air full of sound.
'Do you ever come here?' she shouted.
'No.' Nathan clamped a hand on the orange visor she'd transferred from her head to his. 'Not often.'
'I love it! Think of all the places these ships have been before they come here. And where they're going when they leave. Hundreds of people, thousands, come here on their way to-I don't know… Mexico, Cuba.'
'The Amazon?'
'Yes.' Laughing, she turned the boat in a circle that had spray spurting up the sides. 'There are so many places to go and see. You don't live long enough, you just can't live long enough to do everything you should.' Her hair danced madly away from her face as she rode into the wind. 'That's why I'm coming back.'
'To Florida?'
'No. To life.'
He watched her laugh again and raise her arm to another boat. If anyone could, Nathan thought, it would be Jackie.
He let her have her head. Indeed, he didn't know if he could have stopped her if he'd been inclined to. Besides, he'd long since acknowledged that he enjoyed the race.
At midafternoon, she pulled up to a dock and advised Nathan to secure the lines. While he obliged, she dug her purse out of the hatch.
'Where are we going now?'
'Shopping.'
He held out a hand to help her onto the pier. 'For what?'
'For anything. Maybe nothing.' With her hand in his, she began to walk. 'You know, spring break's nearly here. In a couple of weeks the college crowd will flock to this, the mecca of the East.'
'Don't remind me.'
'Oh, don't be a stick-in-the-mud, Nathan. Kids have to blow off steam, too. But I was thinking the shops would be a madhouse then, and as much as I might appreciate that, you wouldn't, so we should do this now.'
'Do what now?'
'Shop,' she explained patiently. 'Play tourist, buy tacky souvenirs and T-shirts with vulgar sayings, haggle over a shell ashtray.'
'I can't tell you how much I appreciate you thinking of me.'
'My pleasure, darling.' She planted a quick kiss on his cheek. 'Listen, unless I miss my guess, this is something you never do.'
He was surprised when she paused, waiting for his answer. 'No, it's not.'
