Summer Island Hope, page 7
Excitement flooded her. “Really, I can get up?”
He nodded and held up her robe for her to slip her arms into the sleeves. She didn’t ask twice. Careful not to wobble when she stood so he didn’t panic and put her back into bed, she rose and put on her robe, securing it with a bow in front.
“Are you up for climbing the stairs?” he asked, holding his arm out to her.
She gladly took it. “Yes, I’m good.”
Her legs were still a little weak, but she had the strength to make it up the spiral staircase with him behind her. She was sure he’d be ready to catch her if she fell.
“Take it one step at a time. We’re not in a hurry,” he suggested more than ordered. That was a definite change.
They exited to the morning air. Twinkling lights were strung across the pergola and tea candles lit the way to the table where several flameless candles twinkled. A tray of fresh fruit and toast waited with water and juice in carafes.
Proposal? Yes, that’s where the switch in attitude had come from. Now that she was stable, he’d ask her. Sure, they had a lot to work out. Maybe she could allow him the freedom he wanted, to travel the world, while she remained behind with the baby. Not ideal, but then their relationship had been anything but conventional. Did she want to marry him? She didn’t want to reject him. And besides, if they were going to get married, they should do it before the baby came. They needed to pick out bedding, curtains, paint colors, and so much more. She longed to get to work but forced her attention on the breakfast spread ahead. “Wow! You did all this? You’re going to spoil me.”
He pulled out a chair and then pushed her to the table facing the direction of the ocean. “I figured you had such a beautiful spot up here, you should enjoy it. I’ve been wanting to watch the sunrise, so I thought you might enjoy some fresh air with me.”
“Absolutely.” She reached for the carafe, but he snagged it before she could and poured her a glass of water. She sat tall and straight, nervous. Perhaps she’d accept the ring and they could have a long engagement to figure things out. It was the right thing to do considering the circumstances.
“I’m not trying to smother you, but I forgot to mention she still doesn’t want you lifting anything heavy or working until we see the specialist. I’m sorry. It isn’t my choice to keep you confined.”
She wrapped her fingers around his before he could release the glass. “I know I haven’t said it, but thank you for taking such good care of me.” She wanted to show him how much she cared for him. That she hadn’t meant to push him away.
He gave a curt nod and retreated from her touch. She longed to tell him how much she loved him and that she’d marry him right here, right now, if he’d have her, but something held her back. Was she ready to get married out of some sort of motherly need to give her baby a father, or did she really want to be a wife? Would it be different, better, than what her parents had together? “I know I’ve been difficult. I’m sorry. I think it’s because I’ve been so ill and, perhaps, pregnancy hormones. I mean, this crying thing is new to me.”
He chuckled. “For me, too.” He sat in a chair too far away, but she didn’t say anything.
She wanted to tell him again that he didn’t have to stay with her and the baby, that he could go and live his life, but after he’d been with her at the first appointment, she didn’t think she could face any news without him by her side. Now wasn’t the time to dig into everything, though. The girls were right. They needed to spend some time together and get to know this new version of each other. That’s what an engagement was about, right? “I love watching the sunrise.”
“I remember. You would sneak out of bed to head to the beach when we were on the island.”
“You’d follow me.” She winked, heat surging to her skin.
“I miss that beach,” he said with that sexy, mischievous grin of his.
Orange arched from the horizon. “Oh, here it comes.” She took the opportunity to scoot her chair around and take his hand. “I feel like we’re back on our island.”
He squeezed. “Me, too.”
They sat quietly, hand-in-hand, and watched the sun light up the sky. “It’s like a new beginning,” Kat said, hoping he caught her meaning.
“Yes, a new day full of possibilities. Nothing like yesterday.” He kissed her cheek, and she savored the attention.
When the sun rose, she thought about returning to bed and snuggling the morning away with him, but when the sun had fully risen, he stood and announced, “You’ve got a busy day.”
“I do?” She blinked up at him, his image ghostly with the bright sun pouring in around him.
“Yep.”
“What are we doing?” Excitement pricked at her. Ideas flooded in of them walking hand-in-hand on the beach or swimming in the ocean or having a picnic. Spending time together instead of being trapped in the house with nothing but worry around them.
“Not me. You.” He nudged the tray toward her. “Eat up.”
She nibbled on the toast, waiting to make sure her stomach accepted the offering. After a few bites, she decided to take the anti-nausea medicine and her vitamins. “What am I doing today?”
“Something I hope is allowed in that friendship handbook of yours.”
She took a sip of water and quirked a brow at him. “Friendship handbook?” The joyous memory of youthful fun peered out from the past. “Oh, I forgot about that.”
“What is it, and do I need a copy to know how to navigate Jewels, Trace, and Wind?”
“No, not unless I have to worry about you trying to date the same guy as us, borrowing clothes without returning them, or not calling when you need a tub of ice cream and a shoulder to cry on.”
He offered a token grin, but he still remained stiff, as if he moved too quickly he’d break her. “Nope. Guess I’m good, then.”
She wanted to get him to relax, to feel something other than the stress of their situation and make him forget her snippy attitude and lack of loving words. “It was the first contract I drew up. It was in the sixth grade when Rhonda stole Wind’s backpack and claimed it was hers.”
“Oh, the semi-enemy I heard about from the girls. I’m sure that’s a story.”
“Yep. Trace wanted to take her behind the monkey bars to teach her a lesson, but instead, we all reached a pact not to speak with her for the rest of our days. It led to us drawing up a contract that stated how we would treat each other as friends and the Union of the Friendsters was born. It was non-binding of course.” She noticed his flinch at the word born. Was it because he didn’t want the baby or because he feared the baby wouldn’t make it? Did she know how she felt yet herself? No.
She’d never wanted to be a mother, but here she was, and she didn’t want to lose her child. To fail at motherhood before it began. Yet, there were a thousand reasons why she shouldn’t want a baby.
“Sometimes the best agreements are not bound by law,” Wes said with a gaze that stretched the oceans and mountains and distance between them.
“Wes.” Kat wanted to connect with him, longed to feel his comforting arms around her, but he only stood and cleared the plates.
“Not today. Today we enjoy. Tomorrow, we face everything. We can both use the break.”
She swallowed the words that hung on her tongue and forced a happy smile.
They should talk, but he was right. They needed a day to escape and live for a minute. She’d hoped they’d spend it together, reliving their time on the island. “What are you going to do while I’m having my eventful day?”
“Sailing.” He walked in front of Kat to the stairs and kept glancing over his shoulder to make sure she was okay as they descended to the second floor.
“I thought you get seasick.”
He set the tray down in the kitchen and pointed to his neck behind his ear. “I hit the store yesterday and snagged one of these babies.”
She picked up the plate to wash it, but he covered her hand, igniting a spark of hope. They stood next to each other in the kitchen, a breath apart, and she saw his gaze travel the length of her, but he shot away with the plate tight in his grasp. “There was a woman there who I’m guessing is the head of that STSB. I think she took lessons from a military interrogator.”
“Let me guess… Her name was Skip.”
“Yes, that’s her.”
Kat tensed. The woman would tell the entire world about who Wes was and what was going on in their lives. Her pulse quickened, and her face flushed.
His arms slipped behind her, and he guided her to the kitchen chair. “Take a breath. You look like you’re going to pass out. I’ll get the blood pressure cuff.”
The dots faded, and her breath came full into her lungs. “No, please. Just sit with me for a minute.”
He lowered to the chair in front of her, his palms resting on her thighs. “I know she’s Rhonda’s mother because she wanted to introduce me to her. She thinks I’m a guy escaping the city life for a time. That I’m just passing through.”
Emotions swirled, and without a thought of why, tears flooded her eyes.
“I promise. I didn’t tell her anything.” Wes cupped her face. “Darling, I know we need to keep our secret for now. I would never tell anyone what we’re going through unless we were both ready.”
“I know.”
“Then what are the tears for?”
“I don’t know.” She blubbered like a teenage girl over a boy. “I hate this.”
He stood and took her into his arms, gentle and kind with no judgment. “It’s okay. Your hormones are going to be all over the place. But don’t worry. Once the baby’s born, you’ll be fine. And in the meantime, I won’t leave your side.”
“But how will you survive with me like this? What if you get sick of the situation? You’re so distant, and if you’re going to leave, I’d prefer you do it now.” Her unreasonable, unjustified, hormonal words flooded out.
“Shhh. I’d never leave you. I’m the one who wanted to be with you for the rest of our days. That’s a vow I take seriously. I believe it says something to the effect of for better and for worse, in sickness and in health.”
She sniffled and tried to regain control. “Nothing about a surprise pregnancy with an old lady who turns into a sobbing glob of uselessness who’s going to get fat and ugly.”
He cupped her cheeks, a fire flickered in his gaze. “Kat Stein, you are many things, but you could never be ugly, and as for fat…?”
He claimed her lips with such passion, she thought her blood pressure would cause the gauge to explode. But she didn’t care. His desire and need and words made her feel alive and wanted. And for those few minutes, she remembered the couple they were, and it gave her reason to believe they could be that couple again, if not even closer.
Chapter Thirteen
The sailboat teetered with the passing of a wave runner by the docks. Wes eyed the catamaran and hoped he didn’t spend his time hanging over the side while the other men sailed. He enjoyed the ocean and boats, but his stomach always protested the movement.
“Permission to come aboard?” Wes remembered that little tidbit of sailor etiquette from his days living on the bay in San Francisco.
A man with shaggy, sun-bleached hair poked his head up from the engine bay. “Welcome. Yes, come aboard. I’m just checking things out. Dustin will be here in a minute with the cooler, and we’ll head out.”
Wes dropped the waterproof bag he’d bought yesterday onto the bench in the cockpit and offered his hand to Trevor. “Nice to meet you.”
Trevor wiped his hands on a rag hanging from his torn and stained shorts. “Nice to meet you, too. I’ve heard a lot about you. It’s good to put a face with the name.”
“Don’t believe everything they tell you.” Wes could only imagine their concern about him.
“All good. They’re a protective bunch, but once you’re part of their group, there’s no escaping again.” Trevor closed the engine bay then stood and stretched. “Don’t worry. It’s a great group to be a part of. Just don’t go to Friendship Beach without permission.”
“Friendship Beach?”
Trevor pointed to an outcropping of mangroves and a rocky lagoon. “Over there. It’s sacred land that only the girls are allowed on unless you receive a special invitation to join them.”
Wes shook his head. “Seriously? There are Friendster contracts and sacred grounds?” He chuckled. “They had an interesting childhood.”
“I think living in a small beachside town, you need friends to survive.” A man with curly dark hair and broad shoulders marched down the dock carrying a cooler and passed it to Trevor, who secured it with a bungee cord at the back.
“Hi, I’m Dustin Hawk. Trace’s other half.”
They exchanged the obligatory firm man handshakes. Trevor revved the engine, and Dustin cast off the lines, tossing them to Wes.
The river was calm, but the fumes of the engine stirred his queasiness, or maybe it was remanents of the sympathetic nausea he’d been having along with Kat. He forced himself to study the horizon and sat out front watching the eclectic styles and sizes of the waterfront homes. Every few feet, another canal jetted off into the river.
He missed Kat already, but she wanted space and he needed time to think. How could he be there for her when they lost the baby? Everything he’d read indicated a high-risk pregnancy. If she did manage to get through the first trimester, then maybe there would be something to talk about, but for now, all he could do was be there for her.
Once they reached the ocean, the engine cut out, so he returned to the cockpit to help.
“You want to hoist the main?” Trevor asked.
Wes looked to the lines. “Why not? I know just enough to be dangerous, so you might want to guide me.”
Trevor talked him through all the steps of sailing, from unzipping the stack pack and hooking the main halyard to the sail, to hoisting the main line and securing it with the clutch. It wasn’t until the third time they tacked that Wes realized he wasn’t seasick and found himself enjoying the ocean air and the busyness that sailing provided.
“You’re a natural,” Trevor shouted when Wes completed his first tack on his own.
“You’re an excellent teacher. I heard you came here from Seattle to start this business. How do you feel about your decision?”
“Feel about it?” He tilted his hat up, scratched his head, and then lowered it once more. “My life began when I moved to Summer Island. I might have made money and been seen as a successful man, but true success I realized comes from happiness, and I’ve found that with Jewels.”
“What about you?” He turned to Dustin, who was setting out fish trolling lines off the back of the boat.
“I concur with Trevor. Although, I had a tougher time adjusting at first, but once I did, I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else in the world. Of course, Trace keeps me more challenged than the hotel does on a daily basis.”
Wes thought about their words and how he longed for peace in his heart the way Trevor and Dustin appeared to have found it in their lives. The waves hit the bow of the boat, splashing over and draining through the trampolines. Only one of the new pieces of terminology he’d picked up in the last hour or so. “How did you figure out what your passion was? I mean, I know I want to start a charity or something of that nature, but I have no idea what or where or how.”
Trevor maneuvered the boat around a rogue crab trap. The sails fluttered in protest, but a minute later they were back on track and the boat glided through the water on nothing but wind power.
Wes loved the feeling of sailing. The freedom of relying on Mother Nature more than an engine.
Trevor shot Dustin a sideways knowing look. “I pushed Dustin into working on the hotel, but in the end, I think he likes it.”
“Yep, perfect for me. I get to meet new people while I live in a town where I know everyone.” Dustin pointed. “There, that island.”
Wes watched Trevor turn the helm, and without being told, Wes went to work tacking. “What’s over there?”
“That’s the spot where I hope to bring Trace to propose. We’ll be working on a preservation project there this week. Since she’s been an ocean activist since she could swim, I thought it would be a great place to ask her to marry me.”
“Sounds like a good idea.” Wes’s heart fell to the pit of his stomach. How many times had he come up with what he thought would be the perfect proposal, only to have it thwarted or to have Kat say no?
“Jewels tells me that Kat really loves you and she wants to marry you, but she’s scared because of the baby.”
“I told her I wouldn’t leave her.”
“Yes, but she doesn’t want to trap you either.” Trevor shrugged. “So I’ve been told.”
Even if she did manage to carry the baby full-term, they could hire someone to look after it while they traveled. Did their lives really have to be turned upside down because of them having a baby? Other people he knew traveled all the time despite their children. A good nanny could give them freedom.
Dustin reeled in the lines and then went on deck while Wes lowered the main. Trevor handled the helm. They made a good three-man team.
“I’ve heard you two have shared some amazing trips together,” Dustin said while showing Wes how to secure the bridle to the anchor line.
“Yes, we have.” Wes felt Trevor backing the engine until the anchor secured. “And I hope to make more.”
“Sometimes you don’t have to go far when you live in a place like this.” Dustin patted his shoulder on the way by.
The rest of the afternoon, they fished off the beach, cooked hotdogs over a bonfire, and swam in the ocean. His memories kept slipping back to the private island and then to the rooftop deck this morning. When the sun drifted down in the sky, he itched to get back to Kat. He missed her and wanted more than anything to make new memories with her. Maybe Dustin was right and they didn’t have to travel the world to live like they had on that magical island.
They could do both, live on the island with the child and then travel while the nanny watched him or her. But Wes still had no clue what he’d do if he stayed. There weren’t many epic opportunities for major philanthropic work. What purpose would he have here beyond driving Kat crazy?
