A Dolphin's Gift by Patricia Watters Page B

seemed to make things worse."
    "Ah yes.
The venerable Dr. Emery," Will said, a cynical edge to his voice.
    "I'm sorry
if you don't have faith in therapists," Nellie clipped, "but Dr.
Emery has done a good job helping us get our lives back together."
    "Okay,"
Will said, with resolve. "I'll stay in the fo'c'sle with Mike. Meanwhile,
we'll be pulling out at daybreak so you'd better get to bed early." When
he didn't leave right away, Nellie waited, wondering if he might take her in
his arms and hold her and kiss her as before. But he didn't move toward her,
and after a few moments, he turned and left. And with his departure, Nellie
felt a profound emptiness. In Will she saw a man she
could love, a man who made her feel wanted and needed in a deeply sensual way.
    He was also a
man who was avoiding marriage and she wondered why. The curious thing was, he
seemed to have no insight into his own seemingly insecure psyche, and she
didn't have the experience or knowledge to unravel the reasons behind his
solitary existence and his reluctance to make a permanent bond. Maybe in time
she'd understand him, but for now, if she wanted to share her life with Will, though
their relationship be brief, it would have to be on his terms. Sex without
marriage, and love without the promise of anything more.

CHAPTER 5

 
    The following
morning they were greeted by a dismal overcast sky heavy with low scudding
clouds. While listening for the rain, which threatened to come at any moment,
Nellie checked the latches on the cabinet doors and secured the heavy strap
around the small refrigerator. Will told her they'd encounter large ocean
swells in the Straits of Juan de Fuca and to be prepared for rough seas. The
big, overhead door to the boathouse was now raised, and she saw whitecaps
everywhere. The seas looked dark and menacing, an unwelcome contrast to the
beautiful late summer days they'd been having. Feeling uneasy, she said to Will,
when he came to check the galley, "I hope it doesn't get as stormy as it's
threatening."
    "It's just
morning clouds," Will assured her, while making a quick round to recheck
the latches on the cabinets. "The wind will blow them away before
long."
    "We've
never had morning clouds like this before," Nellie said.
    " The season's changing," Will replied. "We'll be
fine."
    Nellie peered
out the porthole again. "It still looks kind of rough," she said,
then glanced back at Will, and added, "Are you sure you can handle the
boat alone?"
    "No
problem," Will assured her. "I spent six weeks cruising Johnstone
Strait by myself last summer. This old girl and I weathered several
gales." He thumped a wadded fist to the bulkhead. "She’s a tough old
lady. Our main concern will be watching for deadheads and drift logs. They
don't show up on radar." Satisfied that the galley was secure, he turned
and left.
    Mike, who was
sitting on the floor in a corner of galley, elbows propped on his folded legs,
face against his knotted fists, looked at Nellie and said, "What about
Katy?"
    "We'll
keep her here in the galley," Nellie said. "She'll be fine in her
box."
    "But Mr.
Edenshaw's dumb old cat's going to be in here too," Mike said, eyes
focused on Will’s apartment where Zeke sat on the window ledge staring down at
them.
    "Then
they'll just have to learn to get along," Nellie said, wondering what
would happen when they turned Katy and Zeke loose in the galley. Will had
removed the door to one of the larger lower storage cabinets and replaced it
with a plywood door in which he'd cut a cat-sized opening so Zeke could have a
place to hide. Inside the cabinet he'd placed a pad covered with a piece of
flannel and a small litter box. Zeke, Nellie suspected, would probably spend
most of the cruise inside the cabinet. For Katy, Nellie purchased a
fleece-lined dog bed just before they left Medford, and the little dog lay
curled contentedly inside. "Meanwhile, you need to straighten your cabin
before we get underway," she said to Mike. "I saw clothes