Chapter 28: Chapter 28

“I told you, I’m not expecting anything.” She backed away to let him out. “But whatever happens, you aren’t alone. I'm here”

David had purposely kept close to land, so as not to be considered offshore; some risks, even alone, he wasn’t about to take. He did a quick evaluation of the intake valves, the bilge pump and, specifically, the head gaskets. If they blew one of those they’d be dead in the water.

Despite the years Blue Blood had spent unoccupied and moored, she was in pretty good shape. Until he got her into dry dock and really dug into the engine, however, he couldn’t risk burning her out completely.

“Well?” Bonnie asked when he slammed the engine hatch shut. “What’s the verdict?”

“All the things I really worry about seem okay. Let’s start her back up.” He walked around Bonnie and climbed back into the pilot cabin.

“We’ve only been out on the water a short time. How far have we gone?” She took a tentative seat on the bench beside him.

“About thirty miles. Hopefully we’ll catch some fast water, otherwise we’re looking at over a week to get there.” He smiled.

“Though I bet you’d be good with longer.”

“Here.” He handed her his phone. “Since you volunteered, you’re officially a life-form patrol. We’re about ninety minutes from Palm Bay.”

“Aye, aye, Captain.” She descended the ladder with new purpose.

He turned the engine back to full, half-expecting that clanging noise to start again, but it was sounding smooth. Relatively confident , he accelerated and resumed course. Sure enough, by the time he radioed ahead to the marina for an open slip, the boat was still running fine.

“What a cute little town.” Bonnie popped back into the wheelhouse and, standing beside him, shielded her eyes as he pulled into a small marina. “I’ve never even heard of it.”

The stretch of local businesses took up most of the street on the opposite side of the marina. The fish stall was doing a brisk trade, as was the fresh-lemonade-and-organic-fruit-bowl stand that was new since he’d last been here. The telltale hint of treetops a few blocks away belied the park beneath the barely blooming blossoms and branches. The few blocks of downtown wound in and around each other, but it was one of those places that appealed to him.

“It’s definitely a blink-and-miss-it kind of town, but it has a lot of charm,” David said as he waved at a group of sport fishermen heading out in a trawler for the day. “They’re getting a late start.”

“How early do they normally go?”

“Most groups are out and their lines in the water by six thirty at the latest.” David craned his neck to see where he was going.

Bonnie had done her share of traveling. Grams had always thought it important to expose Bonnie to as much of the world as possible. It was also, Bonnie learned at an early age, the best strategy to make sure she appreciated her own home, her own neighborhood. Her own life.

Stepping off Blue Blood and onto the dock in Palm Bay reminded her instantly of some of the smaller Greek or Italian islands she’d visited. The smattering of colorful boats, street stalls and quaint hole-in-the-wall businesses were familiar to her and made her smile. “My grandmother would have loved this spot.”

“You think?” David sounded surprised.

“We’d always travel off the beaten path. Go out on our own, just see where roads took us. She loved visiting new places, especially if they were ones that hadn’t been touched by a lot of tourism and commercialism.”

“Sounds like a woman after my own heart,” David said.

“Yeah.” Bonnie looked up at the sky, and pretended that the morning sun rays came straight from Bella. They wandered past various businesses including a tiny tourist shop with starfish holiday ornaments and ships in bottles displayed in the windows, and a store filled with handmade candles.

He wasn’t kidding, Bonnie thought. Palm Bay was absolutely charming.

At the hardware store, David bought a few emergency tools and spare bits and bobs for the engine. Next they hit up Aft to Stern Parts and Supplies, proving to Bonnie her grandmother hadn’t come close to teaching her all there was to know about boating. But something told her she’d be much more informed about engines by the time they reached their destination.

To save time, they visited the grocery store and left loaded down with kitchen supplies and healthier food alternatives before taking it back to the boat. Trip two consisted of a couple of bags of fruits and vegetables from the farmer’s market, along with bottles of red wine made just a few miles away. She was still chuckling at the horrified expression on his face when she’d grabbed a handful—or two—of kale.

He was most definitely not a fan, but she’d take it as a challenge to convert him.

A last-minute detour into a bookstore had Sienna realizing just how long it had been since she’d read anything for pleasure and, making up for lost time and with Monty’s en-couragement and contributions, she ended up with a selection of mysteries, romances and the latest Stephen King thriller.

“You’re adding these to my expense sheet, right?” Her teasing smile faded at his guarded expression. “What? What’s wrong?”

“You might want to rethink getting another cell phone.” He moved to block her view of the periodicals stand.

“What?” She pushed him to the side.

“What don’t you want me to…see?” Her jaw dropped. On the front page of a major San Diego newspaper was her picture with the headline “Runaway Bride Sienna Fairchild Goes Missing at Empire Marina.” “Oh, no.”

“Afraid so.” Monty gently pulled her away and, after offering the cashier a distracting smile, flipped over the paper. “If it’s made the papers you can only imagine what social media’s like about now.”

“My Instagram page runneth over, I’m sure,” she grumbled. “And it was turning into such a nice day.”

“Still is.”

Monty paid while she asked the cashier for the local branch of her bank.

“It closed a few months back,” the young woman said with a snap of her gum. She didn’t even look up as she ran Monty’s card.

“Closest one now is about twenty miles in-land. But they’re closed today.”

Even if she found a way there, her ATM card was back in her purse in San Diego.

“Right.” Sienna wasn’t enjoying this part of the journey. At least she’d get a replacement cell phone at the nearby store. That hope was quickly dashed by her lack of ID.

“I’m sorry, but it’s company policy.” The friendly middle-aged man behind the counter at the cell-phone store blinked at her. He re-minded her a little of a frog with over-round eyes and an equally round face. The fact that his shirt was the color of algae probably didn’t help. His name badge read Herb. She didn’t like Herb at the moment.

“But I told you, I’ve lost my ID.” Not ex-actly true, but close enough.

“There must be an exception to the rule,”

H