“Like it?” he called.
“Love it,” she replied.
There was little conversation for most of the trip since it was difficult to be heard over the roar of the motor and the wind. After about ten minutes Jack slowed the boat and turned into a narrow passage hemmed in on either side by marsh grass and weeds.
“What’s this?” Marisa asked.
“The inland waterway. It was dredged by the Army Corps of Engineers, but even at high tide there are some shallow areas. It can be tricky in here.”
“Tricky?” Marisa said warily.
“Relax, counselor. Open up that compartment and hand me the chart inside, will you? It looks like a map with lots of numbers on it.”
“I know what a chart looks like,” she said stoutly.
“Forgive me.” He extended his left hand and Marisa gave him the chart. He unfolded it, frowning slightly, and then stabbed at it with his finger.
“See here? Four feet deep. This boat draws three feet, so even if the chart is just a little bit off, or if the bed has shifted, we could get into trouble.”
“Trouble?” Marisa said weakly.
“We could go aground,” he said, guiding the boat slowly forward. Greenery pressed in on either side and birds splashed in the tide pools on the shore. There was an eerie silence, punctuated by the chirping of crickets and the distant racketing of cicadas.
“Then why did you come this way?”
“It’s shorter, for one thing, and I want to make our reservation. It’s a prettier trip, too.”
“What happens if we go aground?”
“Same thing that happens in a sailboat. Got to get her off the bar and into deeper water.”
“Wouldn’t it have been a lot easier just to drive?” Marisa said logically.
He laughed. “Would you stop being such a lawyer for once? Where’s your sense of adventure?”
“I think I left it back at the hotel.”
“You just said you loved this trip.”
“That’s when we were going thirty miles an hour in open water,” she replied.
There was a grinding sound and Jack said, “Damn.”
“What?”
“I think we’re stuck.” There was a whirring noise as he raised the engine and then gunned the motor slightly. Nothing happened. He shut the engine off resignedly.
“Yup,” he said, and yanked on his tie. Marisa watched as he undid the knot and pulled it off and then began to unbutton his shirt.
“What are you doing?” she asked, aghast.
“Got to go in and push her off,” he said. She watched as he stripped off the rest of his clothes in the fading light, tossing them onto the pilot’s seat. She looked away when he got to his pants, glancing back quickly to see him standing barefoot in a pair of black briefs, looking down at the water. Then he flipped a switch on the instrument panel and vaulted over the side in one swift motion. She heard the scattered splash as he hit the surface.
Seconds later the boat began to rock, and then she heard a loud thud. This was followed by an eerie silence. Marisa waited, ticking off the seconds, which lengthened into minutes. She was just about to jump in after him when Jack appeared in an explosion of spray. He swam strongly a few feet and then grabbed the steel ladder at the rear of the boat. He ascended it swiftly and clambered over the back to land beside her, dripping.
Marisa flung her arms around his neck.
“Hey, hey, what’s all this?” he said softly, holding her off to look down into her face. “You’ll ruin that pretty dress.”
“Forget the dress, I thought you were drowned.” She hugged him closer, pressing her face into his damp shoulder.
“Drowned! I was gone two minutes!”
“But I heard this thud, and then you didn’t come back...” She trailed off miserably into silence.
“All right, all right,” he said soothingly, robbing her back with the flat of one large hand. “I was just swimming under the boat to find where it was caught. I switched on the bottom lights so I could see.”
“So are we free?” she inquired finally, lifting her head and looking around warily.
“We are. Can’t you feel the boat drifting?”
“You must be cold,” Marisa said, stepping back, suddenly conscious of the way she was clinging to him.
“Not while you were holding me,” he said quietly.
“Are there any towels?” Marisa asked briskly, eager to change the subject now that her fear had passed.
“In the duffel bag next to you,” he replied, going to the wheel and starting the engine, steering the boat to the center of the passage. Marisa found a thick beach towel and came up behind him to drape it around his neck.
“Thanks.” He looked over his shoulder. “What do you think, am I a dull date?” he asked, grinning.
“Never.”
“For my next trick...” he said threateningly.
“Please, spare me.”
He guided them through the rest of the narrow passage and then back into open water. He switched on the bow and stern lights as full dark fell around them.
“So much for my clever plan to take the scenic route,” he said, shrugging. “We’ll go back the other way, the passage is deeper.”
“Okay.”
“Sorry about scaring you.”
“I’m over it now. Actually, it was kind of... interesting.”
“Now that it’s over?”
“Now that it’s over,” she agreed.
Marisa came up behind him and tucked the towel more closely around him. “Is that better?” she asked.
“Much,” he replied quietly. He turned and faced her. “I guess I should get dressed. They probably won’t let me into the restaurant this way.” He shut off the engine and let the boat drift as Marisa handed him his shirt. He looked down at her as he shrugged into it.
“You were really worried back there?” he asked.
“Yes.”
They were inches apart, seemingly the only two people abroad on the dark water, even though other boats were passing in the background all the time.
“I didn’t bring you there to ravish you among the reeds,” he said softly.
“If you wanted to ravish me you already had a golden opportunity,” she replied.
“But I do,” he said, pulling her into his embrace again. Marisa wrapped her arms around his torso under the open shirt and laid her cheek against his chest.
“I do want you terribly, and that’s been the source of all our conflicts. You know that,” he said.
“I know,” she murmured.
“Because you want me too.”
She nodded silently.
“What are we going to do about it?” he asked huskily.
“Go on to dinner?” she said desperately, drawing back reluctantly to look up at him.
He pushed a lock of her wind disordered hair off her forehead. “All right,” he said, and bent swiftly to kiss her cheek. “Let’s get this tug into harbor.” He dressed quickly, draping his tie around his neck, and then started the engine again. A short time later he turned into a canal and pulled up to the dock of a brightly lit restaurant. Tiny Christmas lights were strung along the waterfront and Leduc’s was spelled out in neon along the Acadian roof of the building.
Jack tied up the boat and then shrugged into his jacket, glancing at Marisa.
“Feels like something’s missing,” he said.
“Your tie,” she said, gesturing.
“Got a mirror?” he asked, feeling for it around his neck.
Marisa took a compact out of her purse and held it for him as he tied his tie.
“I’m helpless without a mirror,” he said, grimacing. “In school I met guys who could do this blindfolded, but the technique has always eluded me.”
“Can you see?”
“Are you kidding?” he said, tightening the knot. “You could do brain surgery on this dock.” He looked up and squared his shoulders. “Okay?” he said.
Much better than okay, she thought. “Fine,” she said. Marisa glanced into the mirror to make sure her makeup hadn’t been smeared by Jack’s wet shoulder, then replaced the compact in her purse.
Jack helped her out of the boat and they walked hand in hand to the entrance, which was flanked by evergreens bearing more Christmas lights. There was a giant wreath on the door.