Message in a Bottle - Nicholas Sparks [46]
But it was already done. She’d made her decision, and there wasn’t any turning back now. She turned off the lamp, and once her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she looked toward the space between the loosely drawn curtains. The crescent moon had finally risen, and a little moonlight spilled onto the bed. Staring at it, she found herself unable to turn away until her body finally relaxed and her eyes closed for the night.
CHAPTER 7
And then what happened?”
Jeb Blake leaned over his cup of coffee, speaking in a raspy voice. Nearly seventy, he was lean and tall—almost too thin—and his face was deeply wrinkled. The thinning hair on his head was almost white, and his Adam’s apple protruded from his neck like a small prune. His arms were tattooed and scarred, covered with sun spots, and the knuckles on his hands were permanently swollen from years of wear and tear as a shrimper. If not for his eyes, a person would think he was frail and sick when looking at him, but in truth he was far from it. He still worked almost every day, though only part-time now, always leaving the house before daybreak and returning around noon.
“Nothing happened. She got into her car and drove away.”
Rolling the first of the dozen cigarettes he would smoke a day, Jeb Blake stared at his son. For years his doctor told him he was killing himself by smoking, but because the doctor died of a heart attack at sixty, his father didn’t put much faith in medical advice. As it was, Garrett assumed the old man would probably outlive him as well.
“Well, that’s kind of a waste, isn’t it?”
Garrett was surprised by his bluntness. “No, Dad, it wasn’t a waste. I had a good time last night. She was easy to talk to, and I enjoyed her company.”
“But you’re not going to see her again.”
Garrett took a drink of coffee and shook his head. “I doubt it. Like I said, she’s here on vacation.”
“For how long?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t ask.”
“Why not?”
Garrett reached for another packet of cream and added it to his coffee. “Why are you so interested, anyway? I went out sailing with someone and had a good time. There’s not much more I can say about it.”
“Sure there is.”
“Like what?”
“Like whether you enjoyed your date enough to start seeing other people again.”
Garrett stirred his coffee thinking, So that was it. Though he’d grown used to his father’s interrogations over the years, he wasn’t in the mood to cover old ground this morning. “Dad, we’ve gone over this before.”
“I know, but I’m worried about you. You spend too much time alone these days.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Yes,” his father said with surprising softness, “you do.”
“I don’t want to argue about it, Dad.”
“I don’t, either. I’ve already tried that, and it doesn’t work.” He smiled. After a moment of silence, Jeb Blake tried another approach.
“So, what was she like?”
Garrett thought for a moment. Despite himself, he’d thought about her for a long time before finally turning in for the night.
“Theresa? She’s attractive and intelligent. Very charming, too, in her own way.”
“Is she single?”
“I think so. She’s divorced, and I don’t think she would have come along if she were seeing someone else.”
Jeb studied his son’s expression carefully as Garrett answered. When he finished, he leaned over his coffee again. “You liked her, didn’t you.”
Looking his father in the eyes, Garrett knew he couldn’t hide the truth. “Yeah, I did. But like I said, I probably won’t see her again. I don’t know where she’s staying,