by Scotty Cade
“He’s scared, Hawk, but instead of trying to reassure him, what do you go and do?” Justin asked. “You agree with him and his stupid reasoning, and you both leave it at that.”
“Well, what the fuck? What do I do now?”
“You go after him.”
Hawk continued to pace. “God, I wish you’d stick to your own relationships.” Oh shit! Jeremy.
“After last night, I probably don’t have a relationship anymore.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Hawk asked.
“After talking to you, I finally agreed to meet Jeremy in person. He was meeting me at Aqua last night at five o’clock. And guess who didn’t show up?”
“Wait one second,” Hawk said before walking out into the hall.
When he rounded the corner with Jeremy, Hawk thought Justin was going to jump out of the bed. “Jeremy?”
“Justin?”
Justin eyes widened. “You know my real name?”
“He knows everything,” Hawk said. “He and I had a long talk at Aqua last night.”
Justin looked back and forth between Hawk and Jeremy. Jeremy smiled and nodded.
“And you forgive me?” Justin asked.
“I do. But…,” Jeremy said, “if you ever lie to me again, you’re a dead man.”
“I promise,” Justin said, holding his hand out.
Jeremy walked up to the bed, took Justin’s hand, and bent down to kiss him.
“No,” Justin objected. “I haven’t brushed my teeth in over twenty-four hours.”
“I don’t care,” Jeremy said as his lips covered Justin’s.
When the kiss ended, Justin looked over at Hawk. “What are you still doing here? Please go and get Garner.”
“Take my car,” Jeremy said. “I won’t need it for a while.”
“Thanks,” Hawk said through a huge smile.
Hawk took off running at breakneck speed. Instead of the elevator, he took the stairs two at a time until he reached the ground floor. Hawk drove carefully but quickly as he thought about what he needed to do to catch up to Garner.
When he got to ReelCrazy, he started the engines, looked at the GPS to determine Garner’s presumed course, disconnected power and water, and released his lines. He looked at his watch. Seven fifteen. He’s only got about an hour and a half on me. I’m sure I can catch him.
When Hawk rounded the breakwater, he gunned the engines, and ReelCrazy climbed on top of the water and hit thirty knots in under thirty seconds. She was spraying white water on either side of the hull as far as fifteen feet out and throwing a six-foot wake, but he didn’t care. At least people saw him coming. Hawk adjusted his course and paid special attention to the Automatic Identification System, AIS, feature on his GPS unit, which told him all the registered boats within a certain vicinity. In addition, he took out his binoculars and started scanning the horizon.
AQUATHERAPY WAS cruising along in one- to two-foot seas at 8.2 knots with her sails tuned perfectly as she took the fifteen-knot wind off her starboard bow. It was a beautifully clear, warm, and sunny morning, but Garner’s wounded heart by far overshadowed the beauty of the day. The boat was on autopilot, and he was sipping his third cup of coffee, wondering how in the hell he had let himself get in this position.
Garner missed Hawk already. He probably would have stayed had Hawk given him any indication that he wanted him to, but the die was already cast. They had set the ground rules at the beginning, and although it was clear they’d each developed feelings for the other, Garner hadn’t wanted to be the one to put himself out there and admit they might have a chance. Evidently, Hawk felt the same way, so they’d gone their separate ways. Regret warred with inertia, leaving Garner paralyzed. The ocean that usually soothed him now seemed vastly lonely.
Garner jumped when his VHF radio sounded through the quiet of the morning.
“AquaTherapy, this is ReelCrazy. Over.”
Hawk? Garner froze, not trusting his own ears.
The VHF radio sounded again. “AquaTherapy, this is ReelCrazy. Over. I know you’re out there, Garner.”
Garner picked up his radio handset with a trembling hand. “This is AquaTherapy. Over.”
“AquaTherapy, switch to channel seven two. Seven two.”
“AquaTherapy switching to seven two.”
Garner reached down and tuned his radio to channel seventy-two. “This is AquaTherapy.”
“Turn around and come home,” Hawk said. “We’re gonna make this work. Over.”
Garner smiled. “Where in the hell are you? Over.”
“Look behind you. Over.”
Garner stood and looked aft, and he could see ReelCrazy way off on the horizon, barreling toward him throwing off a bright white spray that could probably be seen for miles.
“You crazy bastard,” Garner said. “Over.”
“Call me whatever you like, just come home. Over.”
“Aye, aye, Captain,” Garner said as he dropped the radio handset and got to work coming about. He spun the wheel hard to starboard, ducked when the boom passed overhead, and loosened the port jib sheet and started vigorously cranking the winch on the starboard side. The jib switched sides with a woof as it again filled with wind. AquaTherapy came about with ease and started heading in the opposite direction.
Five minutes later, Garner was looking through his binoculars and could actually see Hawk on the flybridge, yelling his fool head off, his smile glowing.
In another ten minutes Garner started his engine and dropped his sails, anticipating their rendezvous.
Garner idled in the royal blue water and Hawk circled and motored up to his port side. He tossed Garner the bowline and then the stern and he cleated the spring line on his own. When the boats were secure, Hawk stood on his gunwale, giving a mock salute. “Permission to come aboard, Captain.”
“Permission granted. Now get your ass over here.”
Hawk jumped onto AquaTherapy and tackled Garner, both men falling against the vinyl seating and landing on their asses.
“What in the hell are you doing?” Garner asked.
“For once in my life, I’m taking a chance,” Hawk said. “Will you take one with me?”
Garner covered Hawk’s lips with his own. When the kiss ended, Hawk opened his eyes. “Am I to take that as a yes?”
Garner rolled his eyes. “Of course that’s a yes.”
Hawk beamed, and his eyes turned as bright as the ocean. “Good. Now let’s go home.”
About the Author
SCOTTY CADE left Corporate America and twenty-five years of marketing and public relations behind to buy an inn & restaurant on the island of Martha’s Vineyard with his partner of fourteen years.
He started writing stories as soon as he could read, but only recently for publication. When not at the inn, you can find him on the bow of his boat writing m/m romance novels with his Shetland sheepdog Mavis at his side. Being from the South and a lover of commitment and fidelity, most of his characters find their way to long, healthy relationships, however long it takes them to get there. He believes that, in the end, the boy should always get the boy.
Scotty and his partner are avid boaters and live aboard their boat, spending the summers on Martha’s Vineyard and winters in Charleston, SC, and Savannah, GA.
Visit Scotty at http://www.scottycade.com and Scotty Cade on Facebook and Twitter. You can contact him at [email protected].
Also from SCOTTY CADE
Sunrise Over Savannah
Thompson and Caroline Gray were living their dream until Caroline's untimely death just two years after they’d bought the Thundercloud Marina. When Caroline died, she left Thompson alone and emotionally disconnected—until Thompson’s longtime friend and towboat owner Hank Charming tows Garner Holt, a recently retired psychiatrist, and his boat into the marina for repair. Thompson and Hank are both drawn to the sailboat captain, but for very different reasons.
Since high school, Hank has secretly carried a torch for Tho
mpson, even though Thompson remained committed to Caroline, even after her death. Hank is totally caught off guard when his initial attraction to Garner makes him realize this stranger might be the one to help him move on with his life. Thompson establishes a platonic friendship with Garner and starts to see the psychiatrist as his only lifeline to sanity. Life improves until Thompson sees Hank and Garner together, and old feelings Thompson thought were long buried begin to resurface. Garner quickly identifies the unresolved feelings between Hank and Thompson and decides to tap his professional skills and work behind the scenes to help Thompson and Hank see what has been right in front of them all along.
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Also from SCOTTY CADE
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The Love Series from SCOTTY CADE
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Also from SCOTTY CADE
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com
