Fish Perfume (Cozy Harbor Marina Series) (19 page)

“Well, Gram is coming home tomorrow and she’s coming to see you next week.”

“That’s what your father said. I can’t wait to see her and hear all about her trip out west. I can’t wait to see you, too. When will you be home?”

“In a couple of weeks.”

“Are you going to keep seeing Ian?”

“I don’t know, Mom.”

“I’m sure you’ll work it out. Well, I’d better let you go. I’ve got a lot to do around here after being away for so long.”

“Talk to you soon, Mom.”

“See you later, sweetie.”

I didn’t mention Gram’s friend Cal to my mom. I figured I’d let Gram have that honor. I wonder what my mom will have to say about it all. I think it will really throw her for a loop. She’ll be happy for her, no doubt, but she’ll be surprised. I remember hearing my mom say many times over the years that she wished Gram would meet someone. When my mom was a young girl, she used to try and fix Gram up with any single guy she came across. When she married my dad and moved away, she felt terrible leaving Gram behind in Rhode Island.

I can’t wait for Sunday. I’ll get to meet Cal and hopefully, I’ll find out what Gram is going to do with her life and the marina. I’m going to ask her if Ian had approached her about the marina. After I find out all that, maybe I’ll be able to make some decisions about my own life. I know what I want to do. I want to stay and run the marina, and I want to be with Ian. At least, I thought I did.

When Ian came to pick me up, I put on a happy face even though my heart wasn’t in it. I wanted to ask him about the marina, but I think deep down I wasn’t ready to hear what he had to say. We ate our pizza and talked about our day and went to bed early. When we hit the sheets, I jumped his bones. He jumped on the bandwagon and it was passion with a capital P. I figured it might be my last night with him. I needed to find out what he was up to and how he felt about me but I wanted one more amazing night.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Another busy Saturday morning at the marina was underway. This morning was especially hectic, and I had to be out in the store with Journey. The tuna were around, and everyone was coming in for tackle. The forecast for today wasn’t all that great for offshore fishing. A cold front was coming through this afternoon with scattered thunder showers forecasted. Tomorrow, though, was supposed to be a great day, and all the fishermen planned to take advantage of it. The only boats that went offshore today were the lobster boats. I think this morning will be a record money-making morning for the marina. Things slowed down after lunch, and I was finally able to go into the office and do a little paperwork.

I was poring over some customer accounts when Mac appeared at my office door. As much as I needed to get some work done, nothing could keep me from spending a few minutes talking to one of my favorite people.

I said, “Hey, Mac. Did you go clamming today?”

He smiled and said, “I sure did and I brought you some.” He pulled a bag from around his back and handed it to me.

Preparing to give him a lecture, I asked, “Did you go out by yourself?”

He shook his head no and said, “I didn’t lift so much as a pinky.”

“Who went with you?”

He said, “Mike’s son, Kyle, came down with his friend, Ryan. They’re going to a clambake tonight, and they have to bring the clams. Kyle called me last night because he knows I know the best spots.”

I laughed. “They needed the Clam Man.”

“Well, Kyle’s been clamming with me for years. I think he was killing two birds with one stone. He checked up on me and got his clams.”

“He seemed like a really nice kid when I met him on the Fourth.”

“He’s a great kid. Mike and Nancy have done a wonderful job with those kids. Kyle is going to Northeastern next fall to get his MBA in business. He always comes down to see me when he gets a chance. He’s also a hell of a guitar player.”

“Oh, really. Does he play in a band?”

Mac said, “As a matter of fact, he does. They’re cutting their first CD in a couple of weeks.”

“Well, when they do, I want one.”

He beamed with pride and said, “You got it.”

“You must’ve had fun going out with two young guys for a change.”

“Oh, yeah. But you’re still my favorite clamming partner. All I had to do was take them to my favorite spots and watch them do all the work. Kyle’s friend Ryan is six-four and can rake like a champ. He’s the Murphy brothers’ nephew. He was an NCAA champion rower. He went to Harvard and is preparing for the next Olympics. I’m hoping I’ll live long enough to see that gold medal around his neck. It does this old heart good to see young men today who are so driven and have such pride in their country.”

“I love watching the Olympics.”

Mac said, “I guarantee you that kid will be representing the good old USA.”

On a more serious note, I asked, “How are you feeling, Mac?

“Meggie, I feel great. I’ve had a life revelation. I think that scare I had was good for me; I’m learning to take it easy. I’m going to let the younger people do things for me without putting up a fuss. I’ve finally realized that I’m an old man. There is no shame in admitting you’re old and you can’t do what you used to do.”

“Mac, you’re not only still handsome, but you’re smarter.”

He laughed and asked me, “Now it’s my turn. How are things going with Ian?”

“Okay. We’ve been seeing a lot of each other. Hey, Mac, do you know if anyone has approached Gram lately about buying the marina?”

“I know a few people have over the years, but I doubt she ever gave it any thought. The marina is her life.”

I decided to press him a little further. “Has anyone I might know approached her?”

He shook his head no and said, “I don’t think so. Why are you asking?”

“Just wondering, that’s all.”

“Well, I’ve got to go, honey. Enjoy the clams.”

I stood up and gave him a hug and a kiss. I said, “Mac, you’re the best.”

He said, “No, you’re the prize, Meggie. Don’t ever forget that.” He gave me a wink and walked out the door.

I didn’t want to tell Mac that I heard Ian wanted to buy the marina, because I’m still not sure how I feel about it. When I’m with him, I believe that he has genuine feelings for me. When I’m away from him, the doubts start rolling around in my brain. I know I’m in love with him. At least, the person I think he is. I can’t accept that he would use me to get to my grandmother. My gut is telling me he isn’t that kind of guy. Then again, look what happened with Jimmy. I was shocked when he dumped me. I didn’t see it coming at all. Okay, he wasn’t Mr. Wonderful but the rejection hurt. It was a big blow to my self-esteem, which was never high to begin with. Maybe I need to step back? Ian has never said how he feels about me. He’s never asked when I’m going home or talked about doing anything together beyond next week. I need to look at this as just a casual thing until I find out the truth. How am I supposed to do that, though? How do I shut off my feelings?

Tonight Ian and I were going out to dinner with his friends. Ian said he’d come and pick me up about 7:00. Mid-afternoon, we got a pretty good thunderstorm. I have always loved thunderstorms, but now that I’m dating someone that makes his living out on the water, I’ve changed my mind about them. After I finished closing up the store, I went out on the dock to see if Ian was back. The
Intrepid
and
Miss Kay
were tied up at the dock, but the
Stalwart
wasn’t back yet. Ian usually gets back around 4:00. Occasionally he puts in a longer day but since we had plans tonight, I was surprised he wasn’t back yet. I was getting a little worried. I decided to go over to the cottage and get ready, and then when he came in I would just go home with him, and we could leave from his house.

I took a shower and put on a beige skirt and a brown blouse and brown sandals. I decided to wear my hair down because Ian likes it that way, and I put on a little makeup. I went down to D dock. The
Stalwart
still wasn’t back. Okay, now I’m really worried. I walked over to A dock. Sexy Cathy and Kenny were sitting on their boat, but I didn’t see anyone else around. Since it was dinnertime, I assumed a lot of people probably went out to eat. I went down the dock to talk to them.

Sexy Cathy looked at me and said, “Meggie, you look really pretty.”

I said, “Thanks. Ian and I are supposed to go to dinner with some friends of his, but he’s not back yet and I’m worried.”

Kenny said, “I’m sure he’s fine. He knows what he’s doing out there. I heard on the marine radio that there was a squall out on the water today when that front came through. Ian has all the latest electronics and he would have seen it on his radar and avoided it. Maybe he had engine problems.”

I asked, “What exactly is a squall?”

Kenny said, “It’s a sudden violent increase in wind speed, which is usually associated with active weather such as the thunder showers we had this afternoon. Most times, they only last a few minutes, but they can cause damage.”

Worried, I said, “I hope he’s okay.”

Kenny said, “Let me see if I can scare him up on the radio.” Kenny got on his marine radio and called Ian several times, but Ian wasn’t picking up.

Sexy Cathy said, “He’ll be coming in soon, Meggie. How about a beer or a margarita?”

I said, “No, thanks, but I think I’ll hang out here with you, if you don’t mind.”

Kenny said, “Come on board and have a seat.”

I stepped onto their boat and sat in one of the deck chairs.

I asked, “Have you eaten dinner yet? I wouldn’t want to hold you up.”

Cathy said, “We had an early dinner on the boat. I decided I was tired of eating out, so I made a bunch of food yesterday to bring down for the weekend. Hey, I’m looking forward to our pole-dancing class.”

I laughed and said, “It should be fun. I guess Dancing Kathy got a lot of the women down here to sign up.”

Sexy Cathy said, “Even Just Howard’s new girlfriend, Barbara, signed up.”

Kenny smiled and said, “I’ve been looking into getting one installed at our house. I can’t wait for my first private recital.”

We all laughed. Kenny tried again to reach Ian on the radio but got no response. They continued to talk about this and that. I could tell they were trying to keep my mind off Ian. I checked my watch—7:30. I looked over to B dock where the sportfishing boats were and saw some of the guys standing around. They must have come back from dinner.

I said to Kenny and Cathy, “I think I’ll go over and see if any of the guys have heard anything.”

Kenny said, “I’ll go with you.”

I said, “Cathy, thanks for the company.”

She smiled and tried to reassure me. “I’m sure he’ll be back any minute.”

Kenny and I went over to talk to the guys. Standing on the dock were Medium Howard, the Murphy brothers, and Randy. We informed them that Ian wasn’t back yet and asked them if they heard anything. They hadn’t, but they had heard about the squall. Randy said it would have been out where Ian usually goes, but he also said Ian would have seen it on the radar and avoided it. They all concluded that he must have had engine problems. Randy went on his boat to call Ian’s other two boat captains, John and Tim, to see if they knew anything. He came back and said he could only reach John, who said he had talked to Ian this morning on the radio but hadn’t talked to him since. The guys talked about squalls and told a few sea stories. By now it was almost dark and I checked my watch again. It was 8:15.

I asked them, “Do you think we should call the Coast Guard?”

Medium H said, “Give him a little more time. Ian would be upset if we sent the Coast Guard out looking for him for no reason.”

Don Murphy said, “Oh look. Here he comes.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. We all headed over to D Dock. Ian docked the
Stalwart
and Randy said, “You’re late. Did you have problems out there?”

Ian said, “Did you hear about the squall?”

We all said, “Yes.”

He said, “I saw it coming on the radar and avoided it. When I went back after it passed through, I came across a sailboat that was in trouble. Their mast snapped in the squall. I gave them a hand and a tow back to Bristol.” He said, “Meggie, I’m sorry I’m late. I’ve tried to call you at the cottage for the last hour, but I guess you were out here.”

Kenny said, “You got your girl here a little worried. I tried calling you on the radio, but you weren’t answering.”

Ian said, “I turned it off. Too many people rambling on it. I needed some peace and quiet. I’ve had a long day.”

The mosquitoes were out in full force tonight, and I waved one off my arm.

Ian said, “Meggie, you’d better go up to the cottage and wait for me before the mosquitoes make a meal out of you. I called Jake and told him we weren’t going to make dinner. I’ll be up in a few minutes.”

I said, “Okay. Thanks, guys.”

I got almost to the end of the dock when I heard Ian call my name and say something. I didn’t quite hear him, so I turned around and yelled, “What?”

All the guys yelled back, “He said you look really pretty.”

I smiled, blushed, and hurried back to the cottage. I can’t believe he said that in front of the guys.

Since our dinner plans were canceled, I decided to make us something at Ian’s. I didn’t have a lot in the fridge, but I did have the clams Mac gave me this morning. Suddenly I realized I was starving and quickly hunted through the cupboard. In the vegetable bin I found garlic, fresh parsley, and some beautiful plum tomatoes that Don and Geri from
She’s the Boss
gave me from their garden. I also found a bottle of clam juice in the cupboard and a box of linguine. I knew Ian had plenty of white wine at his house. Linguine with fresh clam sauce sounded pretty good to me. I was loading up a bag with the ingredients when Ian walked in.

He came over to me and put his arms around me and gave me a big hug.

I said, “I was worried about you.”

He said, “I’m sorry. I’m not used to someone worrying about me. I think I kind of like it. You know, Meggie, the sea and weather can be unpredictable, but I take every precaution to keep myself safe out there.”

“I know. That was nice of you to help those people. You’re a hero.”

He said, “Not really. I just gave them a tow. It was a couple and their eight-year-old daughter.”

I said, “Well, I bet they were glad you came along.”

“They were. They kept thanking me. I’m sorry about dinner.”

“No problem. I’m going to make you a quick dinner at your house. How does linguine with clam sauce sound?”

He gave me a grateful look. “Like heaven. I’m tired, hungry, and I need a hot shower.”

I said, “Let’s go.”

He said, “Do you mind driving yourself? I can sleep in tomorrow a little bit. I’ve got repairs to do on the
Miss Kay
in the morning. John’s going to take the
Stalwart
out.

I said, “No problem.”

I prepared dinner while Ian took a shower. The pasta turned out great. Ian finished first and put down his fork. He sighed and said, “That was delicious. You’re an angel.”

“You’re welcome.”

“You said you’re going to have dinner with your grandmother tomorrow night, right?”

“Yes.”

“I think I might take a ride up to Boston and have dinner with my cousin Christine. I’ll call her in the morning.”

“You’re pretty close, aren’t you?”

He said, “Yeah. She’s my only cousin. We’re a small family. Her father is my mom’s brother. Chris is an only child, too. Her parents live in Florida near mine. Chris and I try to get together at least once a month.”

“That’s nice.”

“You must be excited about seeing your grandmother and meeting her boyfriend.”

I had told Ian about Cal.

“I am.”

“Do you think she’ll come back to work soon?”

“Gram said she wanted me to keep running the marina until it was time for me to go back.”

“When do you have to be back?”

Finally! I thought he’d never ask.

I told him, “In two weeks.”

“Wow. The summer has sure flown by.”

I gave him a smile and said, “I’ve had a great time.”

He smiled back and said, “Me, too. What do you say we clean up and go to bed? I’m exhausted.”

I couldn’t believe that’s all he had to say about me going back. I was so disappointed, but I tried my best not to show it. We did the dishes and went upstairs. In the short time it took me to wash my face and brush my teeth, Ian had fallen asleep. I set the alarm for 4:00 for myself and climbed into bed. I looked over at him and watched him sleeping peacefully. If I slept at all tonight, I would be surprised. There was too much on my mind. I fell asleep for a little while, woke up at 2:00, and couldn’t go back to sleep. I decided to do what I usually do under these circumstances and started saying Hail Mary’s. When I next looked up at the clock, it was 3:45. I quietly got out of bed and turned the alarm off so it wouldn’t wake Ian. I got dressed and went downstairs to the kitchen. I left him a note and told him to have a good time with Christine.