Water Lily in July (8 page)

He nodded. As she vanished inside he took a deep breath. At least she hadn't told him to leave. His dinner idea was a spur-of-the-moment, but he wanted to see her. Needed to see her.

Light footfalls echoed on the gallery. “That's done. It'll come on as soon as the light level drops to a certain point. Which it should do anyway, but the switch is a little temperamental, to put it mildly. It keeps resetting itself.”

“Told you, the lighthouse is haunted.” He winked at her.

Kaylie scrunched up her nose. “No it isn't. It's a dodgy switch. I'll get Lucas to check it again in the morning. He's our electrical genius. It might be worth replacing it now it's summer and we have seventeen hours of daylight to play with.”

Rob reached out and cupped her face. He held her gaze. “I had so much planned for the duration of your leave.”

“Me, too.”

He closed the gap between them, almost able to feel the heat from her body. “I wanted to court you properly, slowly, but all that got taken away.”

“This is only temporary. Crispin will be back, I'll have my leave and—”

“Let me finish.” He leaned in, his lips only a fraction away from hers. “I love you. I wanted to spend almost every day of your leave with you and maybe even take you out on the boat and teach you how to fish.”

“You're nuts…” she managed, looking flabbergasted. Had he left her wordless?

“The best kind of nuts, but I don't care. I know how I feel. I've spoken to you every day for weeks and I love you.” He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her.

~*~

The power of his kiss left her breathless and senseless. As he pulled back, Kaylie stood in his arms, feeling as if she were floating on air. A lot more than the one hundred and fifteen feet off the ground she already was.

“Am I going too fast?” Rob asked. “I understand if you don't want to get involved with another sea-going bloke.”

“Phil wasn't a sea-going bloke. He wasn't a fisherman or a sailor. He was a systems analyst on an oil rig.”

“Even so…”

“Rob, I'm not rushing into anything. He's been gone three years, and he wouldn't want me to mourn him forever. Besides, if I really was scared of the sea, would I be working out here, never mind living on the coast?” She glanced out over the ocean. “Tide's turning.” She sighed. “You'll miss it.”

He nodded. “Will you come and see me off?”

“Try stopping me.” She followed him down to his boat and kissed him goodbye. Then she stood on the rocks and waved until she could no longer see him. She whispered a prayer for his safety and headed slowly up the ladder and to the kitchen.

Lucas sat at the table. He grinned at Angus. “Smitten.”

“Aye,” Angus agreed. He put two cups on the table and sat. “Smitten is a good word.”

“No it isn't,” Kaylie argued, pouring a mug of coffee.

“Perhaps she'd prefer bowled over, infatuated, or swept off her feet instead?”

“Oh, enough.” She dropped into the spare chair. “Have you nothing else?”

“Plenty of words,” Angus laughed. “Give him three hours, and he'll be on the radio wanting to say goodnight.”

“More like two,” Lucas said.

Kaylie shook her head at them. “If you two can't say anything nice, then…”

“Don't say anything at all,” Angus finished. “We're just teasing ye, lassie. We're both pleased for ye. But it does mean ye'll be leaving us.”

She swallowed her coffee. “Why?” she asked, frowning.

“Ye really think Rob'll let you go for six weeks at a time?”

“Crispin's wife doesn't have a problem with it.”

“It's different for a bloke.”

“I don't see how.” She swirled the coffee in the cup. “But we'll see what happens. Anyway, I must get on. See you both later. Lucas, could you take a look at that switch again in the morning? It'd reset itself to off again.”

“First thing.” Lucas scrawled a note and stood. “I'm off to bed. See you in the morning.”

Angus rose as well. “Aye. See you at breakfast.”

“Night.” Kaylie headed up to the radio room. She settled into the chair with her book and opened it to where she'd gotten. The radio crackled and she reached for the mic. “Wolf Point Lighthouse.”

“Just wanted to say good night.” Rob's dulcet tones filled the small room.

“You're early,” she replied.

“Huh?”

“Angus and Lucas said it'd be two to three hours before you called in.”

“Well, boo them, as Ollie would say.”

Kaylie laughed.

“I miss you, and I've only been gone forty-five minutes.”

“I miss you, too.” The radio crackled and she readjusted the frequency. “
Seascape,
are you still there?”

“I'm still here. I'll be back in three days. I'll come over and see you then. If that's all right with you.”

“I'd like that.”

“I might even sneak you out to church on Sunday—if they can spare you for an hour or three.”

“I don't know. Crispin might be back by then, but I'll ask the blokes in the morning and see what they say.”

“You do that.” Rob paused. “I'd better go. I love you. Good night.”

“Love you, too. Over and out.”

9

“Kaylie, get up and look at this.” Once again it was Angus shaking her awake.

Kaylie pulled a face at the man as she turned over. The clock on the wall said 5:00 AM. She wanted to sleep. “Really? You come up at 4:00, insist on relieving me as you can't sleep. I've only been in bed an hour. I'm tired. Go away.”

“I need ye tae see this, lassie.”

Then she shook herself. Would he have bothered her if it weren't important? He knew how essential breaks were on this job—especially when he instigated them. “OK, give me a minute to put some clothes on here.” She dressed quickly and took the stairs two at a time. Grabbing the offered binoculars, she raised them to her eyes and scanned the horizon.

There was nothing. No clouds, not even seagulls, just miles and miles of flat, unnerving calm. “OK, I've looked. So, what's so important that you had to drag me all the way up here just after I've fallen asleep?”

Angus put his hands on his hips and turned his all-knowing eye to the view. He held his hand out for the binoculars and she handed them back to him. He stood still before pacing around the lantern gallery.

“Well?” Kaylie looked at his weatherworn face as he came back in front of her.

A veil of concern covered his eyes. “Ye'd better call that fisherman friend of yours and get him tae come home. There's a storm coming.”

She laughed. “A storm? There's not a cloud in the sky.”

Angus's eyes bored into hers. “I'm telling ye, lassie, a storm is coming. A big storm. The likes o'which ye have never seen. We need to call it in and batten down the hatches.”

“Okay.” His instinct had never been wrong before. Going back inside, Kaylie lifted the radio and tuned it in to Rob's frequency. She just had to hope he was awake or within reach of his radio. “Wolf Point Lighthouse to
Seascape
. Are you receiving? Over.”

~*~

Rob sat on the deck as the sun inched its way above the horizon, into what promised to be a perfect day. If the wind didn't get up soon, he was going nowhere—well he could use the engines, but that just seemed a waste when he wasn't in a rush to get home. He'd arranged to see Kaylie when he got back to port, and he could speak to her on the radio any time he liked. Soon he would feed out the lobster pots which would need a good twenty-four hours to sit.

The radio cracked and her melodic tones came over the airwaves. “Wolf Point Lighthouse to
Seascape
. Are you receiving? Over.”

With a smile, Rob got to his feet and made his way to the bridge. He grabbed the mic and keyed it. “Wolf Point Lighthouse, this is
Seascape
, receiving. Is that you, Kaylie? Over.”

Her laugh was as refreshing as a cold glass of lemonade on a hot day. “Who else would it be? Over.”

“Maybe Angus finally perfected his Kaylie impression? How are you? Over.”

“I'm good. Listen, Angus says there's a storm coming in. A big one. It isn't on the radar yet, but he thinks it'll be a good idea for you to head in sooner rather than later.”

Rob glanced around as she spoke. “Storm, ah, right. There isn't a breath of wind out here.”

“I know. I've never seen the sea this calm. But I trust Angus, and if he says there's a storm coming, then I believe him. Over.”

Rob checked his position, although he knew exactly where he was. Forty-five miles southeast of the lighthouse. “I'm due back in two days. Tell Angus to keep his hair on, and I'll be fine. Is there any chance you'll be back on leave by then?”

Her laugh sent shivers down his spine. “I wish. I can't see me getting away until September or October now.”

“That isn't fair.”

“That's life.”

He chuckled. “In that case, your next care package will contain a very long braid of plaited hair for me to climb up that incredibly high tower you live in to rescue you. I miss talking to you in person. Over.”

“You only saw me last night. Anyway, you can court me over the radio just as easily as in person.”

Rob grinned. “Yes, I can, but I can't kiss you over it. Over.”

“Sure you can. You do it like this.”

Kissing sounds came over the radio, and he roared with laughter before responding in the same way.

Kaylie giggled. “See, it's easy.” There was a pause. “You will head in, won't you? Over.”

“As soon as I can. Tomorrow at the earliest. Over.”

“Rob…”

He cut her off. “I have lobster pots to put out. If the radar picks up this storm, I'll head right in. I'll speak to you later. Over and out.”

Replacing the mic, Rob flicked on the weather channel on the radio. There was nothing about any storm coming in the next twenty four hours. Still, if Kaylie thought it important enough to warn him, then the least he could do would be to heed it and go back a day early. If nothing else he'd get to see her. He went on the deck and started to feed out the remaining pots.

He decided to head farther out and set up the overnight catch early—that way he could make port by midafternoon tomorrow at the latest. He shook his head. No, he'd go back now. Take what fish he had, wait until this ‘storm' blew over and come back tomorrow for the lobsters. It wasn't as if they'd be going anywhere.

~*~

Kaylie made her way back up to the lantern room. This job certainly kept one fit, although the pay and living conditions left a lot to be desired.

Angus glanced away from the horizon for a few moments. “Talked to him then, lassie?”

She moved to the light and started cleaning it. If there
was
a storm coming in, they had to be ready. “Yeah. He'll turn around when he gets the chance.”

“Good, the sooner the better. Now there's work tae do, so let's crack on. This storm is a'coming.”

Kaylie glanced at the flat sea and deep blue sky.
Storm. Right
.

If nothing else this would be good practice at “battening down the hatches,” as he termed it. She'd seen bad weather here, but nothing that got Angus as spooked as he was now.

But the day passed and nothing happened. No clouds, no hint of rain, not even a breath of wind.

Rob called to say he was in port and asked where the storm was. He teased Angus something chronic about being a scaremonger and said he'd be leaving on the morning tide if nothing happened.

As Angus started to plead with him to stay ashore, Kaylie headed to the lantern room.

Lucas looked at her. “It's taken all day but I replaced the switch. I couldn't find anything wrong with the old one, other than it just not wanting to work. Not that this one does either.” He sighed. “It must be a circuit breaker somewhere, but I don't know. I'll radio the mainland, and ask them to send out the original electrical specs, see if it's something generic rather than obvious.”

“Thanks anyway. I'll just do it manually for now.”

“Already taken care off. I'll see you in the morning, bright and early.”

~*~

Kaylie stood hunched over the radio, concern growing with every passing minute. Above her the sun shone from a cloudless blue sky for the second day. Around her the sea was a sheet of glass.

There had been no sign of Angus's storm over night and there still wasn't a breath of wind. Now it was 7:30 AM and the radar was telling her something disconcerting.

She adjusted the screen and frowned, checking it against the barometer and other readings she had. She went over the figures again, always coming to the same conclusion.

“If the wind changes, your face will stay like that.” Lucas's voice startled her. A cup clunked down in front of her. “Coffee.”

“Thank you. And that's what my mother always said,” she replied.

“What's up? Are you letting Angus get to you with his doom and gloom and storm theory?”

“It's not a theory any longer.” She pointed to the screen.

Lucas whistled low and long. “Whoa…that's one monster storm system.”

“Winds close to hurricane strength, according to this.” Kaylie flipped up another screen to show him.

“How come no one saw it coming?”

“Oh, they did. Just didn't think it'd come this way, so didn't bother to warn anyone.” She paused. “We've got twenty-four hours at the most, probably far less than that if my calculations are right. My concern is the leading edge of the system.” She ran a fingertip across the screen. “If that collides with high tide, then we have problems. I need to call this in.”

Lucas perched a hip on the desk. “Hold up. Problems such as what?”