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Message in a Bottle Page 14
Author: Nicholas Sparks

The lights from the buildings along the shore seemed to flicker in the slowly thickening fog. Happenstance rocked slightly in the rising swells as it approached the inlet, and Theresa looked over her shoulder for the things she had brought with her. her jacket had blown into the corner near the cabin. she made a note not to forget it when she got back to the marina.

Even though Garrett had said he usually sailed alone, she wondered if he had brought anyone out besides Catherine and herself. And if he never had, what did that mean? She knew he had watched her carefully this evening, though he’d never been obvious. But even if he was curious about her, he’d kept his feelings well hidden. He hadn’t pressed her for information she wasn’t willing to give, he hadn’t questioned her about whether she was involved with someone else. He hadn’t done anything this evening that could be interpreted as being more than casually interested.

Garrett turned a switch, and a series of small lights came on around the boat. Not enough to see each other well, but enough so that other boats would see them approaching. He pointed toward the blackness of the coast—“The inlet is right over there, between the lights”—and turned the wheel in that direction. The sails rippled and the beam shifted for a moment before returning to its original position.

“So,” he finally asked, “did you enjoy your first time sailing?”

“I did. It was wonderful.”

“I’m glad. It wasn’t a trip to the southern hemisphere, but it’s about all I could do.”

They stood beside each other, both seemingly lost in thought. Another sailboat appeared in the darkness a quarter mile away, making its way back to the marina as well. Giving it a wide berth, Garrett looked from side to side, making sure nothing else would appear. Theresa noticed that the fog had made the horizon invisible.

Turning toward him, she saw that his hair had been blown back by the wind. The coat he was wearing hung to midthigh, unzipped. Worn and weathered, it looked as though he’d used it for years. It made him seem larger than he really was, and it would be this image of him that she could imagine remembering forever. This, and the first time she had seen him.

As they moved closer to shore, Theresa suddenly doubted that they would see each other again. In a few minutes they’d be back at the docks and they would say good-bye. She doubted he would ask her to join him again, and she wasn’t going to ask him herself. For some reason it didn’t seem like the right thing to do.

They made their way through the inlet, turning toward the marina. Again he kept the boat in the center of the waterway, and Theresa saw a series of triangular signs marking the channel. He kept the sails up until approximately the same spot he’d first raised them, then lowered them with the same intensity he had used to guide the boat all evening. The engine kicked to life, and within a few minutes they had made their way past the boats that had been moored all evening. When they reached his dock, she stood on the deck while Garrett jumped off and secured Happenstance with the lines.

Theresa walked to the stern to get the basket and her jacket, then stopped. Thinking for a moment, she picked up the basket, but instead of grabbing her jacket, she pushed it partway under the seat cushion with her free hand. When Garrett asked if everything was okay, she cleared her throat and said, “I’m just getting my things.” She walked to the side of the boat, and he offered his hand. Again she felt the strength in it as she took it, and she stepped down from Happenstance onto the dock.

They stared at each other for just a moment, as if wondering what would come next, before Garrett finally motioned toward the boat. “i’ve got to close her up for the night, and it’s going to take a little while.”

She nodded. “I thought you might say that.”

“Can I walk you to your car first?”

“Sure,” she said, and he started down the dock with Theresa beside him. When they reached her rental car, Garrett watched as she fished through the basket for her keys. After finding them, she unlocked the car door and opened it.

“Like I said earlier, I had a wonderful time tonight,” she said.

“So did I.”

“You should take more people out. I’m sure they would enjoy it.”

Grinning, he answered, “I’ll think about it.”

For a moment their eyes met, and for a moment he saw Catherine in the darkness.

“I’d better get back,” he said quickly, slightly uncomfortable. “I’ve got an early morning tomorrow.” She nodded, and not knowing what else to do, Garrett held out his hand. “It was nice to have met you, Theresa. I hope you enjoy the rest of your vacation.”

Shaking his hand felt a little strange after the evening they’d just spent, but she would have been surprised if he’d done anything different.

“Thanks for everything, Garrett. It was nice meeting you, too.”

She took her seat behind the steering wheel and turned the ignition. Garrett shut the door for her and listened as she put the car into gear. Smiling at him one last time, she glanced in the rearview mirror and slowly backed the car out. Garrett waved as she began to pull away and watched as her car finally left the marina. when she was safely on her way, he turned and walked back up the docks, wondering why he felt so unsettled.

Twenty minutes later, just as Garrett was finishing up with Happenstance , Theresa unlocked the door to her hotel room and stepped inside. She tossed her things on the bed and made her way to the bathroom. She splashed cold water on her face and brushed her teeth before undressing. Then, lying in bed with only the bedside lamp on, she closed her eyes, thinking about Garrett.

David would have done everything so differently had he been the one who had taken her sailing. He would have tailored the evening to suit the charming image he wanted to project—“I just happen to have some wine, would you care for a glass?”—and he definitely would have talked a little more about himself. But it would have been subtle—David was good at anticipating when confidence crossed the line to arrogance—and he’d have made sure not to cross that line right away. Until you knew him better, you didn’t know it was a carefully orchestrated plan designed to make the best impression. With Garrett, though, she knew right away that he wasn’t acting—there was something sincere about him—and she found herself intrigued by his manner. Yet had she done the right thing? She still wasn’t sure about that yet. Her actions seemed almost manipulative, and she didn’t like to think of herself that way.

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, and for all I know, she could be leaving town today.”

His father watched him in silence for a moment before asking the next question carefully. “But if she were still here and you knew where she was, do you think you would?”

Garrett looked away without answering, and Jeb reached across the table, taking his son’s arm. Even at seventy his hands were strong, and Garrett felt him applying just enough pressure to get his attention.

“Son, it’s been three years now. I know you loved her, but it’s okay to let it go now. You know that, don’t you? You’ve got to be able to let it go.”

It took a moment for him to answer. “I know, Dad. But it’s not that easy.”

“Nothing that’s worthwhile is ever easy. Remember that.”

A few minutes later they finished their coffee. Garrett tossed a couple of dollars onto the table and followed his father out of the diner, toward his truck in the parking lot. When Garrett finally got to the shop, a dozen different things were going through his head. Unable to concentrate on the paperwork he needed to do, he decided to go back to the docks to finish working on the engine he had started repairing the day before. Though he definitely had to spend some time in the shop today, at the moment he needed to be alone.

*  *  *

Garrett pulled his toolbox from the back of his truck and carried it to the boat he used when he taught scuba diving. An older Boston Whaler, it was large enough to carry up to eight students and the necessary gear needed for underwater dives.

Working on the engine was time-consuming but not difficult, and he’d made good headway the day before. As he removed the engine casing, he thought about the conversation he’d had with his father. He’d been right, of course. There wasn’t any reason to continue feeling the way he did, but—as God was his witness—he didn’t know how to stop it. Catherine had meant everything to him. All she’d had to do was look at him and he’d feel as if everything were suddenly right in the world. And when she smiled . . . Lord, that was something he’d never been able to find in anyone else. To have something like that taken away . . . it just wasn’t fair. And more than that, it just seemed wrong . Why her, of all people? and why him? for months he had lain awake at night, asking himself “What if.” What if she’d waited an extra second before crossing the street? What if they had lingered at breakfast for another few minutes? What if he’d gone with her that morning instead of going straight to the shop? A thousand what ifs, and he was no closer to understanding the whole thing than he had been when it first happened.

Trying to clear his mind, he concentrated on the task at hand. He removed the bolts that held the carburetor in place and removed it from the engine. Carefully he began to take it apart, making sure nothing was too worn inside. He didn’t think that this was the source of the problem, though he wanted a closer look just to make sure.

The sun rose overhead as he worked steadily, and he found himself wiping the sweat as it formed on his forehead. Yesterday at about this time, he remembered, he’d watched as Theresa walked down the docks toward Happenstance . He’d noticed her right away, if for no other reason than she was alone. Women who looked as she did almost never came down to the docks alone. Usually they were accompanied by wealthy, older gentlemen who owned the yachts that were moored on the other side of the marina. When she stopped at his boat, he’d been surprised, though he’d expected her to pause for only a moment before moving on to her final destination. That’s what most people usually did. But after watching her for a little while, he realized that she had come to the docks to see Happenstance , and the way she kept pacing around made it seem as if she were there for something else as well.

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Nicholas Sparks's Novels
» Two By Two
» See Me
» A Walk To Remember
» Nights in Rodanthe
» The Notebook
» Dear John
» The Last Song
» The Lucky One
» Safe Haven
» The Wedding
» Message in a Bottle
» The Rescue
» The Guardian
» A Bend in the Road
» The Choice
» True Believer
» Three Weeks With My Brother
» The Longest Ride
» At First Sight
» The Best of Me