Message in a Bottle - Nicholas Sparks [48]
He shook his head then, knowing that didn’t make any sense. She said she’d read the articles in the shop—maybe that’s where the strange look came from. He thought about it, finally deciding that had to be the case. He knew he’d never met her before—he would have remembered something like that—and besides, she was vacationing from Boston. It was the only plausible explanation he could come up with, but even now there was something that didn’t sit quite right about the whole situation.
Not that it mattered.
They’d gone sailing, enjoyed each other’s company, and said good-bye. That was the end of it. As he’d told his father, he couldn’t reach her again even if he wanted to. Right now she was probably on her way back to Boston, or she would be in a few days, and he had a hundred things to do this week. Summer was a popular season for diving classes, and he was booked up every weekend until late August. He had neither the time nor the energy to call every hotel in Wilmington to find her, and even if he did, what would he say? What could he say that wouldn’t sound ridiculous?
With these questions rolling through his mind, he worked on the engine. After finding and replacing a leaking clamp, he reinstalled the carburetor and the engine casing and cranked the motor. The engine sounding much better, he freed the boat from its lines and took the Boston Whaler out for forty minutes. He ran it through a series of speeds, started and stopped the engine more than once, and when satisfied, returned the boat to its slip. Pleased that it had taken less time than he’d thought it would, he collected his tools, returned them to his truck, and drove the couple of blocks to Island Diving.
As usual, there were papers stacked in the in-box on his desk, and he took a moment to review them. Most were order forms, already filled out, for items that were needed in the shop. There were a few bills as well, and settling himself in his chair, he worked quickly through the stack.
Just before eleven, he finished most of what he needed to do and headed toward the front of the shop. Ian, one of his summertime employees, was on the phone when Garrett walked up and handed him three slips of paper. The first two were from distributors, and from the short messages scrawled, it seemed likely there had been a mix-up with some of the orders they had placed recently. Another thing to take care of, he thought, starting back toward the office.
He read the third message as he was walking and stopped when he realized who it was from. Making sure it wasn’t a mistake, he entered his office and closed the door behind him. He dialed the number and asked for the proper extension.
Theresa Osborne was reading the paper when the phone rang and picked up on the second ring.
“Hey, Theresa, this is Garrett. There’s a message here that you called.”
She sounded pleased to hear from him. “Oh, hi, Garrett. Thanks for returning my call. How are you?”
Hearing her voice brought back memories of the evening before. Smiling to himself, he imagined what she looked like as she sat in her hotel room. “I’m fine, thanks. I was just going through some paperwork and I got your message. What can I do for you?”
“Well, I left my jacket on the boat last night and I was wondering if you found it.”
“I didn’t, but I really wasn’t looking that closely. Did you leave it in the cabin?”
“I’m not sure.”
Garrett paused for a moment. “Well, let me run down there and take a look. I’ll call you back and let you know whether I found it.”
“Is that too much trouble?”
“Not at all. It should just take a few minutes. Will you be there for a little while?”
“I should be.”
“Okay, I’ll call you right back.”
Garrett said good-bye and left the shop, walking quickly back to the marina. After stepping aboard Happenstance, he unlocked the cabin and went below. Not finding the jacket, he turned and glanced up the deck, finally spotting it near the stern, partially hidden