Message in a Bottle - Nicholas Sparks [32]
Remembering her plan, she took a deep breath. She motioned toward Happenstance.
“I was just admiring your boat. It’s really beautiful.”
Rubbing his hands together to remove some of the excess grease, he said politely, “Thank you, that’s nice of you to say.”
His steady gaze seemed to expose the reality of the situation, and suddenly everything came to her at once—finding the bottle, her growing curiosity, the research she had done, her trip to Wilmington, and finally this meeting, face-to-face. Overwhelmed, she closed her eyes and caught herself fighting for control. Somehow she hadn’t expected this to happen so quickly. She suddenly felt a moment of pure terror.
He took a small step forward. “Are you okay?” he asked in a concerned voice.
Taking another deep breath and willing herself to relax, she said, “Yeah, I think so. I just got a little dizzy there for a second.”
“You sure?”
She ran her hand through her hair, embarrassed. “Yeah. I’m fine now. Really.”
“Good,” he said as if waiting to see whether she was telling the truth. Then, after he was sure she was, he asked curiously: “Have we met before?”
Theresa shook her head slowly. “I don’t think so.”
“Then how did you know the boat was mine?”
Relieved, she answered, “Oh… I saw your picture down at the shop in the articles on the wall, along with the pictures of the boat. The young man in your shop said you would be here, and I thought that as long as you were, I’d come down to see for myself.”
“He said I was here?”
She was silent as she remembered the exact words. “Actually, he told me you were at the docks. I just assumed that meant you were here.”
He nodded. “I was at the other boat—the one we use for diving.”
A small fishing boat blared its horn, and Garrett turned and waved to the man standing on the deck. After it had gone by, he faced her again and was struck by how pretty she was. She looked even better up close than she had when he’d seen her from across the marina. On impulse, he lowered his eyes and reached for the red bandanna he had in his back pocket. He wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“You did a wonderful job restoring it,” Theresa said.
He smiled faintly as he put the bandanna away. “Thanks, that’s kind of you to say.”
Theresa glanced toward Happenstance as he spoke, then back to him. “I know it’s not any of my business,” she said casually, “but since you’re here, would you mind if I asked you a little bit about it?”
She could tell by his expression that it wasn’t the first time he’d been asked to talk about the boat.
“What would you like to know?”
She did her best to sound conversational. “Well, was it in as bad a condition when you first got it as the article implied?”
“Actually, it was in worse condition.” He stepped forward and pointed to the various spots on the boat as he mentioned them. “A lot of the wood had rotted near the bow, there were a series of leaks along the side—it was a wonder she was still afloat at all. We ended up replacing a good portion of the hull and the deck, and what was left of her had to be sanded completely and then sealed and varnished again. And that was just the outside. We had to do the inside, too, and that took a great deal longer.”
Though she noticed the word “we” in his answer, she decided not to comment on it.
“It must have been a lot of work.”
She smiled as she said it, and Garrett felt something tighten inside. Damn, she’s pretty.
“It was, but it was worth it. She’s more fun to sail than other boats.”
“Why?”
“Because she was built by people who used her to make their living. They put a lot of care into designing her, and that makes sailing a lot easier.”
“I take it you’ve been sailing a long time.”
“Ever since I was a kid.”
She nodded. After a short pause, she took a small step toward the boat. “Do you mind?”
He shook his head. “No, go ahead.”
Theresa stepped toward it and ran her hands along the side of the hull. Garrett noticed that she wasn’t wearing