“Get it together, girl,” she told herself as she glanced at the clock. She wanted to catch the 7:00 p.m. ferry. If she waited, Mike would stop her from catching the later one.
She rubbed her eyes with her sleeve, switched the car on and drove away from the little cottage where she and Mike had spent so many blissful, passionate hours.
The thought that she would never be with him again almost made her skip the turn for the landing and keep going up to town, just so she could see him one more time.
She knew better, though. So she turned.
The landing was actually pretty crowded, as lots of people were coming over from the mainland for the weekend. Few, however, were taking the return trip. In fact, hers was the only car loaded on by the crew.
The captain, who she’d met on her previous trips, offered her a big smile and said, “Come on aboard, miss! Gonna have the whole lounge to yourself tonight.”
The lounge consisted of a dingy cabin with a few bench seats and a couple of vending machines. She’d rather take her chances on deck, even if there was no handsome, charming man to convince her not to jump overboard if she got too seasick this time.
Walking up on deck, she watched as the crew finished readying to sail. Dusk was approaching, the late spring day coming to a close. But it was still light enough to easily see the shoreline, and she could visualize the cute little town beyond it.
There wasn’t much wind tonight, and just a light chop. She hoped that meant she wouldn’t be sick over the side, but wasn’t ruling anything out.
“Off we go!” cried the captain to his crew, and she gripped the railing, saying her goodbyes as the engines roared to life.
But before they slipped out of the dock, she spied a vehicle approaching the landing. It sped across the parking lot, spewing gravel, flashing its lights.
Not just its headlights, but its police light, as well.
A few loud blurps accompanied it.
“Oh, God,” she whispered, knowing it was Mike.
He’d gotten her note too soon and was coming to...what? To ask her to stay? How could she stay when she was so out of place here, when her career was such a holy scandal?
Besides, she didn’t want to live on Wild Boar Island. She had no chance of a career here. And while the people were nice enough, and she’d love to visit again, she hated living like a butterfly in a box.
Mike was building a new life here; he had a job that was safe and steady, where he could really work toward a future. There was no room for her in that life, or that future. God, why couldn’t he have just let her go?
“Seems there might be a problem,” the captain said, calling down from the upper deck. “We’ll have to delay for a few minutes.”
“Oh, please don’t,” she said, wondering if he could see the tears tracking down her cheeks. She just didn’t have the strength to say goodbye to Mike’s face.
“Sorry, miss. That’s Chief Santori. Gotta find out what he wants.”
It was hopeless, so she stayed still, watching as Mike pulled up to the very edge of the dock. The ferry gate was up, blocking his passage, but Mike rolled the window down and yelled up to the captain. “Sorry to be late, but I really need to get on board.”
“Is it an emergency?”
He looked away from the captain, staring at her through the windshield. Finally, he yelled back, “It is to me.”
“That’ll do, then,” the captain said. He glanced back toward her, and Lindsey figured he’d noticed the comings and goings of her and the chief. They might have fooled some people by pretending to travel apart, but the captain had to have noticed that whenever one of them went across on the ferry, the other one did, too.
Lindsey wrapped her arms around herself, trying to maintain her calm as the captain lowered the gate and sent one of the crew members over to drive the SUV on board. As soon as he relinquished the wheel, Mike strode up the gangplank, heading straight for her. He was so handsome, his hair windblown, his strong body looking amazing in soft, loose-fitting jeans and a dark T-shirt. The man was even more delicious out of uniform. Of course, he was most delicious out of clothes altogether.
Stop it. Don’t think about him that way.
His steps slowed as he drew closer.
“Mike, what are you doing here?”
“Oh, Lindsey, wow, fancy running into you here. Did you remember to take your Dramamine?”
“Why did you follow me?”
“What makes you think I followed you?” he asked with a shrug so nonchalant she almost wanted to smack him. How he could be so calm and casual when she was a churning mass of ugly emotion?
“I’ll ask you again. What are you doing here?”
“Why do you care?” he asked, his voice finally revealing something other than that forced good humor. She heard anger there, and perhaps hurt.