9

THE DAY OF Annie’s departure dawned gray and rainy, the weather matching the mood that had descended over the little white house on the bay and held Gabe in its clutches.

The students had been gone for a week, and in that time, all traces of their presence had been stowed into boxes and bins and packed neatly for next year’s school. The books had been balanced and, to Annie’s relief, there was enough profit to pay the bills and the taxes.

Over the past few weeks, she’d also managed to get a few more sponsorships through Topsail magazine, which had added valuable resources to her budget. A line of freeze-dried meals had signed on, along with a bottled water company. And she’d received a brand-new set of sails from a top maker in the business.

Despite all the good news, Annie had been unusually quiet over the past few days, and no matter how much teasing or cajoling Gabe attempted, she could barely muster a smile. He couldn’t tell if she was scared or sad, or a little bit of both.

She arranged, then rearranged everything on the boat at least two or three times, hoping to find the best balance between space and convenience. Gabe had insisted that she take more bottled water than she’d originally packed, and agreed to deleting one of the spare foresails that she’d decided to take.

“Did you check all the batteries on your emergency equipment?” Gabe asked.

She glanced up from a list she was reading. “What?”

“Batteries,” he repeated. “For the emergency beacon and strobe. And for the air canister on the life raft. That needs a battery, too.”

“This list just keeps getting longer and longer,” Annie said. “At this rate, I’m going to be leaving in October.”

“Give me that,” he said. “I’ll finish up with this while you go grab your foul-weather gear. With this rain and wind, you’re going to need it.”

She leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Still watching out for me,” Annie said.

“I’m never going to stop,” he replied, dragging her into his arms. Gabe kissed her, gently at first, then with increasing passion. He kept telling himself that this was the last day they’d spend together for almost six months, but it hadn’t sunk in yet. He kept expecting her to change her mind and start unpacking the boat.

But Annie showed no signs of altering her plans. She was focused and determined, refusing to sink into periods of self-doubt or indecision. Gabe had never seen her like this, so strong and capable. She showed absolutely no weakness in the face of a huge undertaking. Hell, she ought to be the one training for NASA.

“What are you thinking about?” Annie asked, looking up into his eyes.

“I was just thinking that with your organizational skills, you ought to apply to NASA.”

That brought a smile. “I don’t know. That’s a little risky, don’t you think?”

“Riskier than sailing from here to San Diego?”

“It’s not like I’m going around Cape Horn,” she said. “And I’ll barely be out on the open ocean. This is an easy trip.”

“Excuse me if I don’t agree.”

“I have something for you,” Annie said, reaching up to smooth her fingers across his brow. “Stop looking like the world is about to end.” She left the room for a few seconds, then returned with a large vinyl envelope, the kind she kept her charts in.

Annie handed it to him and he peered inside. “This is my whole trip, planned out day by day. I’m not always going to be able to stick to this, but I’ll try to call once a week so that you can know where I am and where I’ll be the following week. I’m going to stop and see Lisa and Nellie. And I’m going to spend a few days with my parents in West Palm Beach. And my grandfather plans to fly into Miami and then ride along from Miami to the Keys.”

“This is great,” Gabe said.

“Are you going to be okay?”

He nodded. “I’m allowed to be a little sad, aren’t I? After all, no more spontaneous stripteases. No more late-night skinny-dipping. No more pizza in bed.”

“I’m sure you’ll get along. In another month, the cast will be gone and you’ll be a free man. You can go out dancing and drinking and having a fine time.”

“I suspect most of my nights will be spent at home, alone, waiting for you to call. Worrying. Wondering where you might be.”

“That’s going to get old awfully fast,” Annie said.

“Yeah, well, it’s my self-pity, and I intend to wallow in it.”

“This doesn’t need to be a bad thing,” Annie said. “I’m really excited about this trip. I’ve always wanted to do this, from the time I was a little kid, and now I am. You’ve already made your dreams come true. You fly helicopters.”

Gabe knew he was being selfish. Of course he wanted her to stay. But only part of that was because he was concerned for her safety. The other part was all about his own needs. He loved having Annie with him, waking up to her each morning, falling asleep with her in his arms each night.

At least he’d have her house to remind him of the time they spent together. He planned to stay at her place until he was cleared for duty. He’d leave her sheets unwashed so he could smell the scent of her hair every night, and he’d leave a bottle of her favorite wine in the fridge and put her battered and muddy garden shoes next to the door, as if she’d come home at any minute.

He’d already snapped plenty of pictures on his phone, most of them when she wasn’t looking, then chosen a number to put on his computer, as well. In truth, Gabe had done everything he could think of to make their time apart go as quickly and as smoothly as possible.

Annie stood in the center of the kitchen, her expression calm, a tiny smile curving her lips. She slowly turned in a circle, then nodded. “I’m ready,” she said.

Gabe felt the knot tighten in his stomach. She’d wanted to leave at one, but it was just past eleven. He thought they’d share one last lunch together.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

A wide smile broke across her pretty face. “Yes. It’s time for me to go. Right now. I can feel it.”

Gabe grabbed his crutches and got to his feet, then walked over to the back door. Annie picked up a canvas bag she’d packed with drinks and snacks, then handed him the keys to the house.

“No wild parties. Make sure to keep the lawn mowed. And try to make the bed occasionally.”

He gave her a quick salute. “Aye-aye, Captain.”

Annie shook her head and laughed. “Argghh.”

“Argghh,” he replied.

They walked down to the waterfront, her hand resting on his arm, her gaze fixed on the boat floating on anchor. When they reached the dinghy, she turned to him. “I guess this is it.”

He pressed his forehead against hers. “Goodbye, Annie. Fair winds and smooth sailing.”

“Goodbye, Gabe. I’ll see you around.”

He gave her a soft, gentle kiss, cupping her face in his palms, his lips lingering over hers until he knew he couldn’t delay any longer. Then he helped her into the dinghy and pushed it off the shore.

Their gazes locked for a long moment as she drifted. Then she grabbed the oars and began to maneuver herself toward the boat.

“I love you, Annie,” he called, his voice echoing over the water.

“I love you, Gabe,” she replied.

At first, he wasn’t sure that he’d heard her right. But there was no other way to interpret what she’d said. She’d waited until the very last minute that they spent together to reveal her true feelings. And she loved him.

Gabe stood on the shore, his gaze taking in the melancholy scene before him. He watched as she stowed her things, then got the boat ready to go. They’d taken the mast down, and it was tied to the top of the cabin, where it would remain as she made her way through the Intercoastal Waterway. The bridges that crossed the waterway made it impossible to move through it for any great distance with the mast up.

The cool rain had already drenched his shirt and hair, and he brushed the damp off his cheeks, waiting for one last goodbye. Annie winched the anchor up and dragged it into place on the deck, then made her way back to the cockpit. He saw the puff of exhaust as she started the engine. A few seconds later, the sailboat surged ahead, and she turned it in a wide circle to head south, toward the mouth of the bay.

She waved to him as she passed by, then threw him a kiss that he pretended to catch. “Safe journey,” Gabe murmured to himself as he waved back.

He’d waited years to have a chance with Annie, and they’d found happiness together. But now she was leaving, and though he wanted to believe that everything would be the same when she returned, Gabe wasn’t naive.

Absence didn’t always make the heart grow fonder. But if Annie loved him like she said she did, then he had every reason to hope that they’d be together at the end of her trip...and for the rest of their lives.

* * *

BY THE TIME Thanksgiving rolled around, the Honeymoon was anchored in the beautiful blue waters off the coast of Belize. After sailing from Jamaica straight to Cancun, Annie found her confidence in single-handing. The weather had been good, without a single threat from hurricanes, and the boat had been operating without a hitch.

As she sliced a mango for her lunch, she looked out at the small harbor, searching the flags that each boat flew to designate its home country. There were at least four or five American flags and a couple Canadian flags.

The family in the sixty-foot sloop had invited her for Thanksgiving dinner, along with the rest of the Americans anchored in the harbor. Tomorrow, they’d all make their way over to the boat to enjoy a locally grown turkey and the traditional side dishes. Annie had promised to bring the wine, as she had packed much more than she’d ever have time to drink.

As promised, she’d called home once a week, using the satellite phone that Gabe had bought her. Their conversations were always longer than they should be, considering the ridiculous rates, but Gabe wasn’t concerned about the money.

Though she’d brought her laptop along, she’d limited herself to using it just once a week, when she sent in her copy for her column in Topsail magazine and when she retrieved emails from her account. It was always a sketchy affair, making sure the battery was charged off the boat’s engine, then finding an internet café with Wi-Fi before the battery ran down again.

Gabe had written her every day, keeping her up-to-date with the details of his life. But his last few emails brought unwanted news. He’d been medically cleared to return to duty, but since he still had two months before his assignment to test pilot’s school, he was being sent back to Afghanistan.

He’d accepted the orders without complaint. In fact, he’d been anxious to get back into the air again and reunite with the guys in his unit. But for Annie, the thought of him walking back into a war zone frightened her. Had she been at home, she would have tried to talk him out of going, encouraged him to find a way out.

But Gabe had always put duty to his country before everything else in his life, and now, that included her. She’d thought about leaving the boat at a marina and flying home to see him before he left, but she was already on a thin budget, and the expense of going through the Panama Canal was looming in the next few weeks.

Annie took a bite of the mango, then licked the juice off her fingers. She could always call him. He wasn’t scheduled to ship out until next week, and though this wasn’t her regular night for a call, she wanted to hear his voice anyway.

She grabbed the sat phone from the cabin and brought it out onto the deck, then sat down beneath the sun shade that she’d draped over the cockpit. With sticky fingers, she punched in his phone number.

Her heart began to flutter as she waited for him to pick up. He always kept his cell phone on, knowing that she might call, but this time it rang and rang and he didn’t pick up. Finally, Annie turned the phone off, then wondered if she ought to try Lisa and Nellie.

The two of them had promised to keep in touch with Gabe while she was gone. Certainly, they would know whether his orders had been changed. She dialed in Lisa’s cell phone and waited as it rang, but like Gabe’s, there was no answer.

“Where is everyone?” she murmured.

Suddenly, she felt completely alone in the world. Annie was surprised by the intensity of emotion, the depth of loneliness that overwhelmed her all at once. Tears swam in her eyes, and with a soft laugh, she brushed them away.

It was probably the holidays that had brought out the tears, Annie mused. Everyone was back home, enjoying Thanksgiving together, and she was here, eating mangos and getting ready to celebrate with a bunch of strangers.

“Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Annie Jennings. You’re on the greatest adventure of your life. Hundreds of people would give their left arm to do what you’re doing. So stop whining and suck it up.”

She’d been gone nearly three months, and in that time, she’d learned so much about herself, about a strength she never knew she possessed. There were moments on the water when everything seemed to go wrong at once, when a confluence of bad weather, broken equipment and loneliness converged to make her absolutely miserable from morning until night.

But Annie had learned to pick herself up and get back to the business at hand. She’d learned to put aside her emotions and deal with challenges one at a time. She allowed herself some time to feel sorry for her solitude, but never more than ten or fifteen minutes every few days.

She’d also come to the conclusion that she was in love with Gabe and had been for much longer than she was willing to admit. The pinpoint had moved back from his injury to the moment when he danced with her at Lisa and Nellie’s wedding. As far as she was concerned, fate had put him into her path and they’d been meant for each other all along.

“Ahoy, the Honeymoon!”

Annie looked over the gunwale to see a rubber dinghy approach with a devastatingly handsome Swede at the controls. She’d met Gunnar yesterday right after she’d dropped anchor and learned that he was also headed to the West Coast through the canal.

“Hello,” she called, sending him a bright smile.

“I heard you talking to yourself,” Gunnar said in perfect English. His Swedish accent was barely detectable.

“You did?”

“You know what they say. Once you start talking to yourself, you won’t be able to stop.”

“Do you talk to yourself?” Annie asked.

“Of course I do,” he said. “I’m a brilliant conversationalist. There’s no one else I’d rather talk to.”

Annie laughed. It was nice to have a handsome man pay attention to her. “Can I help you with something, or did you just come over here to warn me about my one-way conversation.”

“Actually, the Johnstons invited me to their Thanksgiving tomorrow and asked if I’d bring something to add to the feast. I was hoping you might have a recipe or two that I can borrow.”

“I’m just taking wine,” Annie said.

“I’d like to cook something. But I don’t know anything about Thanksgiving.”

Annie grabbed the line from his dinghy and invited him on board. Though the ache of loneliness was still there inside her, at least she could distract herself for a while.

“I have a dish you could make. You can get yams and brown sugar and butter at the local market. And I have a bag of marshmallows. You could make candied yams. That’s a very traditional dish.”

“Yams,” he said. “And marshmallows.”

“Do you know what marshmallows are?” Annie asked.

“Of course. I went to college in America. They’re little puffy things that you melt in hot chocolate.”

“Right. Well, when you put them on top of sweet potatoes, they’re heaven.” Annie jumped up and grabbed a pen and paper from the cabin, along with the bag of marshmallows.

She handed them to Gunnar and opened the bag and popped a handful in his mouth. “Ewww,” he said. “They’re just sugar.”

“What did you expect?” Annie asked, laughing.

She spent the next hour teaching Gunnar about the various Thanksgiving customs that she usually observed, and he seemed to be a captivated student. But Annie could tell that he was interested in more than just conversation. In fact, she’d met a lot of single men cruising the Caribbean who were available for brief flirtations and casual sex.

No doubt Gunnar could have his pick of the ladies, but Annie didn’t intend to be one of them. She had a man waiting for her at home. At least she thought she did.

When Gunnar got up to leave, Annie was careful to maintain a physical distance between them. But it was no use. He stepped closer and gave her a kiss on both cheeks, then moved in to kiss her lips.

Annie didn’t stop him, but when his tongue tested the crease of her mouth, she drew back and smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said.

“Thanksgiving,” Gunnar said.

Annie nodded and waved as he drove off in the dinghy, the small outboard engine carrying it smoothly through the harbor.

She cleaned up the cockpit and then headed down into the cabin. It had been a long day, and she was exhausted. Tomorrow was a holiday, and she’d wait to try Gabe again. Tomorrow was a holiday and they’d talk as long as they wanted. She needed him to fill an empty spot in her heart, a spot that threatened to get bigger if she tried to ignore it. A spot that no other man could fill.

* * *

GABE GRABBED THE strap of his duffel and hoisted it over his shoulder, then stepped away from the battered old bus that had brought him to the seaside village in Belize. He’d been traveling for nearly twenty-four hours, bouncing from airport to airport and then taxi to bus, until he found himself at his destination.

The trip to see Annie hadn’t been planned, but after he got his orders to return to Afghanistan for the two months before his new assignment, he decided that he wasn’t going to set foot in a war zone until he’d had a chance to be with her once more.

He knew exactly where she was and that she planned to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with some Americans she’d met. So all he had hoped for was a trip without any delays. He glanced at his watch. It was 6:00 p.m. local time, and Annie should be exactly where she said she would be, on a sixty-foot sloop with a family called the Johnstons from Cape May, New Jersey.

He walked down to the waterfront and scanned the boats in the harbor, looking for the familiar blue hull and silver mast of the Honeymoon. He caught sight of the boat, bobbing on its anchor, but after watching it for a long moment, he realized that it didn’t look like she was aboard.

He heard laughter coming from another boat, a large sloop that had been tied off to one of the docks, and decided to wander over and inquire about Annie. At least she was still in the marina, that much was certain.

Gabe reached into his pocket and held the small velvet box between his fingers. He’d bought the ring months ago, right after Annie had invited him to stay in the apartment above the boathouse.

He’d considered it an act of faith, a sign that he’d do anything and everything to make it work with her. There had been times when he wondered if buying the ring had been bad luck, especially when things fell apart between them. But Gabe was ready to take the chance, ready to know if she really meant what she said as she sailed away from him.

Her words still echoed in his brain. I love you, Gabe. So simple, yet powerful enough for him to want to change his life forever.

He’d leave his life as a combat pilot behind once he headed to the test pilot’s program in February. He’d also work on a doctorate through Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. The next few years would be busier than usual, but Gabe was looking forward to starting a new career path.

As he walked down the dock, he heard a familiar laugh, the sound echoing over the water. He turned his attention to a sixty-foot sloop anchored near the Honeymoon. A large group of people had gathered in the cockpit and were enjoying a meal together.

Gabe squinted against the late-afternoon sun, searching for a glimpse of Annie. She was sitting near the stern, facing him. A handsome man sat beside her, his arm thrown over the back of her chair. They seemed to be deep in conversation.

Gabe watched them both for a long minute, trying to make sense of what was going on. The man seemed to be captivated by her, but Annie wasn’t giving him much encouragement. Every time he tried to engage her in conversation, she’d give him a quick answer and then turn back to the others at the table.

Gabe glanced around for a dinghy he could borrow or rent, but he couldn’t find anything available. He thought about walking back to the harbormaster’s hut near the gate, then decided against it. Instead, he set his duffel down at the end of the pier, then kicked off his boat shoes and stripped out of his shirt.

The casual cargo pants he wore wouldn’t weigh him down too much. He zipped the ring into a pocket before diving off the pier and heading out into the harbor toward the elegant cruiser.

No one heard him approach, but when he grabbed the swim ladder and crawled on board, the conversation stopped immediately. He appeared over the stern of the boat, dripping water from his cargo pants, which clung to his lower body like a second skin. His gaze caught Annie’s and she gasped.

“Gabe?”

He grinned. “Hi, Annie.”

“Oh, my God. Gabe!” She scrambled out of her seat and jumped onto the deck, circled the cockpit and leaped up onto the stern. Gabe wasn’t prepared for the intensity of their embrace. She flew into his arms, knocking him off balance.

She screamed as they both fell into the water. Gabe cupped her face in his hands and gave her a long, deep kiss before drawing back to look into her eyes. “God, you look good. Look at your hair. It’s so blond.”

“What are you doing here? How did you get here? How long have you been here?”

“I came because I had to see you, and you don’t want to know what it took to get here.”

“How long can you stay?”

“A week. I can catch a military transport out of Honduras next Friday. But until then, I’m all yours.”

She kissed him again, once on the lips, then raining kisses over his cheeks and eyes. “I was just thinking about you yesterday. I was so lonely I was wondering what it would take to go home to see you. And now you’re here.”

“Would you like to come back on board and dry off?” someone called from the boat.

“Actually, we’re good,” Annie said, kicking away from the boat. “I think we’ll just swim back to my boat.”

“All right, then,” Mike Johnston said. “But if you’d like to come back later for dessert, you’re welcome.”

“Thank you for the invitation,” Gabe said.

“Thank you,” Annie called.

They swam the short distance to the Honeymoon, then Gabe helped Annie crawl on board. He followed her up the ladder, then grabbed her from behind and picked her up off her feet.

“Do you have any idea how much I missed you?”

“Not half as much as I missed you,” Annie said.

“Are you having fun?” Gabe asked.

Annie nodded. “Although I really wished you were here with me. There are so many wonderful things to see and do, and I wanted to share them all with you.”

“There’s something I want to share with you,” Gabe said.

He reached inside his pants pocket and retrieved the blue velvet box. It dripped water as he opened it and held it out to her. Annie’s eyes grew wide as she looked down at the box, the diamond sparkling in the late-afternoon light.

“What is that?” Annie asked.

“You know what it is,” he said with a grin. “Do you think you may want to marry me someday?”

“Someday?”

“I’m not going to be hanging out in any war zones in the near future.”

“I thought they were going to send you back until February,” Annie said.

“They were. But I guess I’m needed at Pax River. They’ve decided I’ll stay there until I start test pilot’s school in February. After that, graduate school and then NASA. Or maybe I’ll take that teaching job at the academy. I don’t know that the future holds for us, but I know that I want to spend it with you.”

“It’s a beautiful ring,” she said. Annie thought about it for a long moment, then shook her head. “I can’t do it.”

Gabe’s heart stopped. “You can’t?”

“I can’t make you leave the military, Gabe. I can’t put conditions on our feelings for each other. I was wrong to do that. And if you want to continue to fly, then that’s up to you, too. I’ll love you no matter what you decide to do.”

Gabe held out the box to her. “Marry me, Annie.”

“When?” she asked.

He began to laugh. “I don’t know. We’ll have to work out all the details.”

“Do you think we can find someone to marry us down here?”

“You want to get married this week?”

Annie nodded. “I do. I don’t want you going back home without me married to you. You might meet some beautiful woman who wants to steal your heart.”

“All right,” Gabe said. “Now take the ring.”

“No, you have to put it on me. Get down on one knee. There’s a way this is done.”

Gabe did as he was told, pulling the ring out of the box and rolling it between his fingers. “I’m going to ask once more, and if you don’t say yes this time, I’m going to throw you in the water. Annie, you’re the woman for me. I’ve waited all these years for you, and I don’t want to wait a moment longer. Will you marry me?”

Annie nodded. “Yes, Gabe. I will marry you.”

She threw herself into his arms and kissed him. From across the harbor they heard cheering and applause and turned to find the crowd on the Johnstons’ boat standing and celebrating with them.

Annie wrapped her arm around his waist and hugged him tightly, then waved at her new friends.

“Who is that guy you were sitting next to at dinner?” Gabe asked.

“Oh, that’s Gunnar. He’s from Sweden.”

“Do I have any reason to worry about him?”

Annie glanced up at him and shook her head. “Nope. No reason at all. I’m pretty sure he was looking for some of that friends with benefits action, but I only do that with one guy.”

“We’re not just friends anymore,” Gabe said.

“But we were friends first,” Annie said. “And then lovers. And soon we’ll be spouses. And lifelong partners. I think maybe we’ve always belonged together. It just took us a little while to find each other.”

Gabe gathered her into his arms and kissed her, bringing another round of cheers from the nearby boat. “I think we should take this down below,” he said.

“Aye-aye, Captain,” Annie replied.

* * * * *

If you enjoyed this novel, look for previous Harlequin Blaze titles from Kate Hoffmann, available now!

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