Smooth Sailing

by Susan X Meagher

  They reached the pier and Kaatje expertly tied up the dinghy, then helped Laurie out.

  “Do you have a car here?”

  “No. I ride a bike. It’s right over here.”

  They approached a decent-sized motorcycle chained to a scrubby tree. “I only have one helmet, and you will wear it,” Kaatje said, presenting it.

  “No, it’s more important that the driver be safe.”

  Kaatje pressed it into her hands. “If we go down, it won’t help you to have me protected at that point. Come on, take it.”

  Laurie hesitated, then accepted. She could tell that Kaatje would insist, and she didn’t think she could win an argument with her—at this point. They got on and Kaatje started the engine. The loud rumble surprised Laurie. “This sounds fast.”

  “It’s got to have some power. We’ve got a hill to climb.” They took off and almost immediately started to climb. Kaatje didn’t drive very fast, nor did she take any risks, but the road was not very wide and they were treacherously close to the edge of an increasingly high cliff. It reminded Laurie of going up Topanga or Coldwater Canyon in LA, but she’d always been in her car then.

  They climbed for almost five minutes, finally pulling up to a modern home firmly anchored to a large bare spot on the scrubby green hill. “Wow!” Laurie jumped off and stood with her hands on her hips, looking down at the lovely bay. “This is a million dollar view. Actually, it’s a ten million dollar view in LA.”

  “It is nice, isn’t it?” Kaatje stood next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. She looked happy, almost serene as she joined Laurie in taking in the view. “People here seem to prefer being by the water. Hillside property is less expensive.”

  “In LA both are expensive, and everything in between is more reasonable. But this view is better than anything I’ve ever seen in Malibu.”

  “I love my island.”

  “I thought tropical islands would be more green. Like with bananas and monkeys and rain forests.”

  “They can be. Actually there’s a huge number of monkeys on St. Kitts, and there’s a rain forest on Saba, but this is a dry volcanic island. Not much arable soil, and almost no fresh water.”

  “Speaking of soil, this house isn’t attached to much of it. But it’s very cool. I love the green roof and trim.” Laurie looked at it carefully, noting that it was probably made of poured concrete.

  “It’s modular. All pre-made at a factory and shipped here. It’s very green—figuratively.”

  “Green is good. We’re spending millions trying to be more green, and it really looks good to the public. Our ROI…” She slapped her hand over her mouth. “Sorry. I’m getting back in work mode since I’m leaving.”

  “When did you get out of work mode?” Placing a gentle kiss on her lips, Kaatje showed a smile as she pulled away. She knocked briefly on the leaf green door and entered. “I’m home,” she called out.

  “Kaatje?” a woman’s voice answered.

  Kaatje responded in Dutch, or Antille, or some other tongue that Laurie didn’t understand. She spoke several sentences, and Laurie guessed she was telling her mother she had someone with her, since she heard her name mentioned at the end.

  A lovely woman walked into the living room. She was as pretty as Kaatje, but a bit shorter and more overtly feminine. She was dressed in bright green slacks and a green and pink print blouse accented with tasteful gold jewelry that set off her dark blonde hair. “Hello,” she said to Laurie in an accent stronger than Kaatje’s.

  “This is Laurie, Mammie. She missed her boat yesterday and I told her you’d let her use your computer to get her travel plans settled.”

  “Oh, how terrible. You must have been very upset.” She extended her hand. “I’m Antonia. You’re welcome to stay as long as you like. Theo will be leaving soon and I never use the computer.”

  “Is Papa still home?” Kaatje asked.

  “Yes. He should be leaving any minute. You know he likes to be early.”

  Laurie heard a man’s deep voice asking a question. He spoke Dutch as well, and Antonia answered him, also mentioning Laurie’s name. A handsome, fiftyish man came into the room. He was dressed in a steel-gray suit and he wore pewter-colored, steel eyeglasses. His thick hair was graying, but the dark swath across the top of his head looked just the color of Kaatje’s. “Hello. My wife says you’re visiting a bit longer than you’d like.”

  “That’s true. I’m Laurie Nielsen.” They shook hands, his grip firm to the point of discomfort.

  “Theo Hoogeboom. If there’s anything I can do to help, don’t hesitate to let me know. I have some contacts that might be able to smooth things out for you.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Hoogeboom.”

  Theo’s stern expression morphed into a grin. He turned and removed his glasses, which he then cleaned. When Laurie heard a snicker, she turned to see Antonia and Kaatje both unsuccessfully trying to hide their laughter.

  “What did I do?”

  Kaatje composed herself. “Nothing. It’s just that the way you pronounced our name sounded funny.”

  “Hoogeboom?”

  All three laughed again. “It’s Hoogeboom,” Kaatje said, saying it just like Laurie had.

  “That’s what I said. Isn’t it?”

  “No. The way you said it sounds like ‘hug a tree.’”

  “But…”

  “It sounds rather nice,” Theo said. “Now, let me know if I can help you make a flight.”

  “I don’t care how I get there, but I have to get to St. Thomas by five.”

  “Hmm.” He gave her a doubtful glance. “There’s a daily flight, but it’s usually full. We could use two flights a day, but the facts don’t always win the argument here.”

  Laurie saw Kaatje roll her eyes at this comment, but she didn’t say anything.

  Theo turned to his daughter and gave her a very formal kiss on the cheek, then said a few sentences in Dutch. Kaatje shrugged, looking a bit adolescent, then said, in English, “I’m sure Mammie will give Laurie your number if she needs anything. Thanks for the offer.”

  Theo extended his hand again and shook Laurie’s with an almost military formality. “I hope you’ve enjoyed your time here, Miss Nielsen, and that your trip home is without trouble.”

  “Thank you. I appreciate your offer to help.”

  “My pleasure. Kaatje.” He nodded at her, kissed his wife on the cheek and left, leaving all three women in silence until the door closed.

  Kaatje crossed the room and dropped onto a modern, white love seat. “Do you have any breakfast left over, Mammie?”

  “For you, my dear one, I always have food.” She went into the kitchen with Laurie and Kaatje following.

  “I just have a few minutes,” Kaatje said. “I’ve got clients at ten and I have to order lunch.”

  “Do that from here,” Antonia said. “They’ll take your order on the phone, won’t they?”

  “Maybe.”

  Kaatje took her phone from her pocket and dialed a number, waiting just a second to begin speaking in a language that sounded different. How it was different, Laurie couldn’t say. It just sounded softer somehow. She gestured with her free hand when she spoke, and Laurie watched her, smiling at the animated way she explained what she needed. Antonia interrupted her rapt interest by asking, “What can I make you for breakfast, Laurie? We have fruit and yoghurt and cereal and toast…”

  “I’m very worried about getting to St. Thomas. Would you mind if I used your computer? I’m too nervous to be hungry.”

  “Coffee?”

  Laurie smiled. “I’d love some.” She waited for Antonia to pour her a cup, then they walked to a small room set up as an office and Laurie headed for the computer. “I know what to do now.”

  “Great. I’ll leave you to it.”

  A few minutes later Kaatje came into the room and gently touched the back of Laurie’s neck while she worked. “What have you got?”

  “Nothing yet. The noon flight is sold out
and the only other way to get there is to go to St. Kitts, then Anguilla, then Antigua, then St. Thomas. If everything goes right I’d probably make it, but…” She looked up and made a face. “I’m not counting on that.”

  “Bite?”

  Kaatje held out a piece of toast that Laurie bit into. She almost spit it out, composing herself to ask, “What’s on the toast?”

  “Anijshagel. Anise flavor. You don’t like it?”

  “I’m not used to anise for breakfast. It just caught me by surprise.” She twisted Kaatje’s hand to see white tubular shapes covering the bread. “Interesting.”

  “Do you like sweet things? I can bring you some toast with appelstroop on it. My mom makes it herself.”

  “Apple…what?”

  “Like apple syrup. I’ll bring you some.” She started to leave, but Laurie caught her by the hem of her shorts.

  “Stay with me as long as you can.”

  “I actually have to leave.” She leaned down and kissed her, holding the contact for a few long seconds. “I’ve had a great time with you, and I’d love to see you again.”

  “I would too.” She patted Kaatje on the butt, one of her favorite parts of her body. “Go to work now and have a nice day.”

  “Send me an e-mail or call me, okay? I’ll worry about you until I know you’re set.” She took a pen and paper and quickly wrote her phone number and e-mail address. Another quick kiss and she was on her way, with Laurie looking after her as she walked down the hall, her long, lean, tanned legs taking her away all too quickly.

  *

  Antonia brought in two pieces of toast a short while later. “Kaatje said you might like my appelstroop. Don’t worry if you don’t. I won’t take offense.”

  “Oh, that’s very nice of you, Mrs. Hooge—”

  “Antonia, please. Now, what can I do to help?”

  Frustrated, Laurie leaned back in the chair. “I can’t decide what to do. The flight I need is full and the other one stops three places before it gets to St. Thomas. If I don’t make my boat, I’ll have to stay until Saturday, then go to Miami and try to find my luggage.”

  “Would that be a bad outcome?” she asked benignly.

  Laurie blinked at her, stopping for the first time to consider her plans. Her focus had been only on following through on her original schedule. She hadn’t given a moment’s thought to alternatives. “I guess not. Actually…” she trailed off, not sure what else to say.

  “Kaatje likes you a lot. I can tell.”

  Laurie felt her cheeks color. “I like her, too.” It was very odd talking to the mother of the first woman she’d ever slept with about her feelings, but Antonia was just the kind of person she liked. Subtle, polite, and not too inquisitive. “I guess I could…” She wracked her brain, trying to figure out a way to get her luggage. “My luggage will get to me eventually. I could stay until Sunday and go directly to LA.”

  “Are you trying to get to the boat to meet friends? Family?”

  “No, it’s an enforced vacation.”

  At Antonia’s puzzled look, she spent a few minutes explaining the whole situation. When her spiel ended, Antonia said, “If I were your boss, I’d want you to stay here and relax. But you have to do what makes sense for your situation. If you want to go to the airport, I’ll gladly take you.”

  Laurie bit her lip, considering the possibilities. She hated to have her plans change abruptly, even when she didn’t like the plans in question. But they’d changed in a major way when she missed the boat. No matter what she did now, that mistake had been made. “I’m not sure Kaatje would want me just hanging around. She has to work.”

  Antonia smiled, looking a little sly. “She wants you to stay. And if she’s busy you could stay here at the house while she’s working. You could use our computer or just relax.”

  Laurie’s eyes lit up. Fernando had blocked her access to the cruise ship’s computer, but he couldn’t stop her from using her personal e-mail account to keep in touch with her staff. Getting in a couple of days work in advance of her return made her salivate. “That’s very tempting.”

  “Do what you need to do, but take my advice about one thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Tell Kaatje that you chose to stay. If she thinks you stayed only because you couldn’t get the flight, she’ll…well, she’s a very proud woman.”

  “Thanks for the advice.” Laurie took a big bite of the toast. “Delicious! Could I use your phone to call her?”

  “Of course. Her number is right there on that button. Just press it.” She closed the door as she left the room.

  Laurie punched the button, and in a few seconds heard Kaatje’s clear, lilting voice. “Met Kaatje.”

  “Hi, it’s Laurie. What did you just say?”

  “I just answered the phone.”

  “But you said something besides your name.”

  “Oh, I said ‘with.’ Shorthand for ‘you’re speaking with Kaatje.’”

  “That’s cute.”

  “I wasn’t trying to be cute. I thought you were my mom and I went back to Dutch. How is it going?”

  “Good. Hey…I was thinking…why am I rushing to get back on that dumb boat?”

  Kaatje’s laugh rumbled through the line. “Why, indeed?”

  “If I hung out for a couple of days, would you have time to see me?”

  “Of course. You could sail with me. As a matter of fact, my mother could bring you down to the dock right now. I’m still waiting for my clients.”

  “Hmm…” Laurie thought of all of the things she could do with an internet connection. “I’ve got a lot of calls to make. Maybe I’ll ask your mom to take me to a hotel.”

  “Fine.”

  Not another word. That wasn’t good with Kaatje. She was garrulous when she was happy, stoic when not. Recalling what Antonia said, she tried a different tactic. “What would you like for me to do?”

  She didn’t wait a beat. Her voice had no inflection at all when she spoke. “Whatever you want.”

  Kaatje’s lack of affect might have fooled a woman into thinking she didn’t care. But Laurie had heard that flat tone enough times now to know it meant she not only cared, her feelings would be hurt if one answered the wrong way. “What I’d really like is to get some things settled and then spend as much time with you as possible.”

  “Then you should stay with me.” Now there was an affect. It was an undeniably happy one.

  “Do you want me to?”

  “Yes. Of course. Why would I ask if I didn’t want that?”

  Laurie realized that Kaatje was not going to be the type of woman to give her thoughts away without a certain amount of work. But she was certain the work could be very rewarding.

  *

  Antonia and Laurie set off for Philipsburg on a short shopping spree. When they returned home, Laurie used their bath to take a shower, shave her legs and put on the new clothes she’d bought. Antonia insisted on washing her dirty things, and Laurie gave in, finding Antonia as hard to refuse as her daughter.

  Since Kaatje was out on a full-day sail, Laurie could hook up to the Hoogebooms’ computer and scratch her itch for getting some work done. Thank God Fernando didn’t control the entire Internet.

  Since it was midnight in Osaka and no one was in that office, she had to limit herself to communicating with her staff in Los Angeles. It was seven a.m. at her office, and she was pleased to receive a reply to her first e-mail in moments. She’d trained her staff well. They might drop dead of a heart attack at thirty-five, but no one could say they didn’t work for every dime they earned.

  Antonia went out some time in the early afternoon, after Laurie refused her generous offer of lunch. No longer having to respond to the occasional polite question, she kicked things into high gear. Her phone was working, the internet connection was fast, and she was able to get updates from everyone on her senior staff.

  An e-mail came in from Hiroshi in Japan, and she bristled with excitement now that sh
e was finally able to talk to the people with their fingers on the pulse of Osaka. But Kaatje came in just minutes later. She leaned against the door frame, then said, “I hope you didn’t sit in this room all day.”

  “No, I got up.” Laurie stood and started to approach her, but then got shy and stopped mid-room. Now feeling awkward and unsure, she shrugged her shoulders and smiled. “I was just sending a few e-mails.”

  Kaatje clearly wasn’t feeling shy. She closed the distance between them and put her arms around Laurie, holding her possessively. “Did you miss me?”

  It would have been unspeakably rude for Laurie to admit the thought of Kaatje had barely crossed her mind. Resorting to her usual tactic with a lover, she said what she knew should have been her answer. “Of course. I’ve been waiting for you to come get me.”

  “Good.” Kaatje put her hands on her shoulders and held her at arm’s length. “How are you feeling?”

  Laurie wracked her brain to recall why she might be feeling unwell, then it hit her. “Good!” She said this with far too much enthusiasm and Kaatje noticed it.

  “Second thoughts?”

  Laurie stood there, transfixed by Kaatje’s kind eyes, bluer than the ocean she loved. “No. Not one.” This was true. She’d not had a second to have a personal thought. But now that she did her stomach flipped and she was lost, adrift, even while gazing into those lovely eyes. She nuzzled her face into Kaatje’s neck, unwilling to let her see the doubt, the uncertainty that she knew the perceptive woman would discover.

  “That’s surprising.” Kaatje pulled back and scanned Laurie’s face as carefully as an MRI. “I came out when I was a girl and it took a while for me to adjust.” She gently touched Laurie’s chin, tilting her head as she continued to look at her. “Are you sure?”

  Laurie couldn’t stand to have her look at her with such empathy. “No,” she said, breaking into tears, something she did so rarely she hardly knew how to react. “I don’t think I came out. I just…I don’t know.” Wiping at her eyes quickly and roughly, she felt her hands pulled away, replaced by a nicely ironed blue handkerchief that Kaatje used to dab gently around her reddening eyes.