“I’ve shut the doors for such a long time though. How do I even know when I’m supposed to open them?”
She looked up at him, smiled, gave him a gentle hug. “You’ll know. Besides, it doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing deal. Taking a step forward doesn’t mean you can’t still look back.”
He hugged her back almost fiercely, and she wasn’t sure how much of that reflected his needs versus his fears. But regardless, she let him hug her.
When he was done, he stepped back. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Absolutely you should have. Come on, Dave. If nothing else, we’re friends, and we always will be.”
He nodded and smiled. “We’ve been friends for a long time, haven’t we?”
“We have.” Maybe she had fears too to deal with—of ruining such a wonderful friendship by asking him out.
He grabbed her hand, and they walked back to the water. “It’s very idyllic here, isn’t it?”
“Can we trust it to remain that way over the wedding?” she asked seriously.
He looked at her, one eyebrow raised.
She shrugged. “I know a little bit about what you do, how busy your life is, and the type of work you are involved in. And I also know some of what happened here.” She motioned behind her.
“We’d like to have a talk with one person, a local, but I don’t know that it’s anything to be worried about.”
“Of course not, but maybe you should check it out anyway.”
“Good point.” He smiled. “So, do you need anything from me?”
“Yeah, your help with setting up and just transporting foods and tables from the yacht to the island.”
“As always, you have that. What about right now?”
“Well, I need to sort out what I have on the yacht to bring here. We’ll need an awful lot of tables, but we can do the bulk of the cooking there on the yacht and bring it up here.”
“That’s what I was hoping for, given the lack of a real kitchen on the island.”
“Okay, I’ll head out right now.”
“Are there things here that we need?” Dave asked. “Like sourcing fresh fruit and vegetables from the village?”
She looked back up at the hill that led to the closest village, not quite an hour away, thinking of carrying all that produce back via carts and lots of walking, and then shrugged. “Not really. I think we’ll use our own suppliers.”
“Okay. Maybe I’ll head to the yacht with you then.”
“Sure, come on.” She asked, “Are you planning on staying here?”
“I’m here for the wedding and a couple days afterward.”
“In that case, you should stay on the yacht with me.” She paused. “If you want to, of course.”
He frowned and then shrugged. “I’m not sure what to say to that.”
“What’s the matter? Scared of being too close to me?”
He chuckled. “I’m sure you’ll be gentle.”
“What if I don’t want to be gentle with you?” She raised her eyebrows.
He burst out laughing. “Did I ever tell you how much I appreciate your friendship?”
She nodded. “Yes.” She wasn’t sure what to say after that. Dave seemed not ready to date or just not ready to date her.
As they got back to the yacht, she returned to the friendly but strictly business relationship they’d had before.
By the time they had checked their inventory and evaluated what they might still need to pick up and bring out, they went over the menu.
“Now I understood I was here for four days, but, if you guys are staying here longer than that, do you want me to leave enough groceries behind?”
He tapped the tabletop and wondered. “I know that Bullard is planning on staying here a good ten days. And he was planning on flying in with a bunch of stuff.”
“Of course.” She looked around. “You guys need a dock for shipload deliveries. And a heliport too,” she added on a laugh.
“We do.” Dave nodded, all seriousness. “I think the guys will get together and build each while they are here.”
“Of course they will,” she said, with an eye roll.
He laughed. “Remember? With money and some serious skills, you can do anything.”
“I know.” She smiled. “Let me know what you decide on the food provisions thing.”
“Will do.”
Chapter 2
Hours later Dave got back onto the small boat with Katie, as she took him back to shore. Together, they walked up to the area slated for the wedding and the reception to take one more look and to check off a few things that she still had on her list. One of which was looking for some level space, trying to decide if there was enough room, or if they needed to build some deck space. They measured Bullard’s shelter, as it could even be repurposed.
She walked inside, shook her head. “I still can’t believe he stayed here all that time.”
“It was a terrible situation that brought him here of course, but, in the end, I think his downtime here was something he was really blessed to have. He needed it for his physical health but also for his mental healing, aside from his brain trauma. I understand Leia was like a balm, both provoking and allowing Bullard some time for deep introspection. We are all so thankful that Bullard had Leia during his time here and now will have her evermore.”
Katie sighed with longing, as she nodded and stepped out of Bullard’s makeshift cabin. She walked over to where the river met the ocean water. “It’s such a damn special space.”
“It really is, and look at all this.” He swung an arm around this beautiful vista. “Hopefully this is a place that will stay this way.” He nodded his head, deep in thought. “We want to keep this pristine for as long as we can. Bullard is buying this as much to preserve it as to set it aside for Leia and his team to use. Bullard will not trample on Mother Earth as he adds in some cabins for his people.”
“Absolutely.” Katie was glad to hear that, but she knew Bullard wouldn’t destroy the land here as he didn’t in Africa at his two compounds there. Over in the bushes something caught her attention, and she thought she saw somebody staring at them. She frowned. “Are there any neighbors?”
“No, not for miles.”
“So we’re being watched then,” she murmured.
He looked at her and nodded.
“Okay then. I wondered if it was just me.” She tilted her head. “We need to deal with that, preferably before all the testosterone arrives.”
“Oh, we’ll deal with it all right.” Dave chuckled. “And I’m telling the team that you said that, by the way.” Reaching out, he tucked her arm into his elbow. “Let’s walk over in his direction.”
“Is that wise?” she asked.
“Well, it’s the best option we have at the moment,” he murmured.
She frowned, and then together the two of them walked along the rocky edge that appeared to be more like steps.
“She had a beautiful five years here,” Katie murmured. “I’m almost jealous.”