Chapter 23 #2
The flags lining the walkway on tall poles snapped and flapped stiffly.
Waves crashed against the concrete so hard water flew across the sidewalk in places and they had to jump out of the way of a spray of saltwater a few times, laughing, breathless.
The wind whipped Krissa’s long hair around her head, across her face and she kept trying to control it.
“This is hopeless.” A frown edged her forehead. Nate stopped, and propped his bike against the wall. He took her hair in his hands, smoothed it back as best he could, and held it at the nape of her neck. She glared up at him.
“You look annoyed.” He grinned.
She sighed. “Yeah. Sorry. I should have worn it up.”
He reached into a pocket of his cargo shorts and fished around, pulled out an elastic band. “Don’t ask me why I have this. I have no idea.” He wrapped it around her messy ponytail a few times to secure it.
She gave him that look again—like he’d grown a tail—and then smiled. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” They stood there, smiling into each other’s eyes.
Nate let his hands rest on her shoulders.
Then a huge wave exploded against the breakwater wall and shot high.
Icy seawater rained down on them, drenching them.
Krissa screamed and ran, Nate grabbed his bike and followed, and once in a dry place they stood, laughing uncontrollably and gasping for breath.
“I’m soaked!” Krissa held her arms out to her sides. Water had darkened spots of the blue hoodie.
“You’re okay.” They faced each other and Nate wiped water from her face with his fingertips, lingering on her peachy cheek. He watched his thumb stroke across her bottom lip, then their eyes met. He smiled.
They walked on and paused where the breakwater curved, far enough from the waves that they didn’t have to worry. They leaned on the concrete on their elbows, side by side, and stared out at the ocean.
The breeze tugged tendrils of Krissa’s hair loose to swirl around her face. She pushed them back, but didn’t seem bothered. The fresh air had brought a pinky flush to her cheeks and her eyes sparkled. Yeah, this had been good for her.
They turned their backs to the ocean and regarded the mountains behind the jumble of masts in the harbor.
“Would you like to live on a boat like that?” Nate asked her.
“No way!”
“Why not? You love the ocean.”
“I wouldn’t want to live on it, though. I’m…afraid of it.” She peeked at him through her lashes as if she was embarrassed.
“Afraid of it?”
She turned to him. “Yeah. It’s so huge. And deep.
It’s like it’s…endless. I like to look at it from afar but I’m kind of scared of it.
” She paused. “One time I was out on a boat with my family, whale watching with a guy my dad knew. We got off course. We were so far out you couldn’t even see the shore and there were no other boats around. ”
He watched her with fond amusement. “Was it stormy?”
“No.” She shook her head and her cheeks pinkened a little more. “It was fine. It was a beautiful day. But I panicked when I couldn’t see anything but water. I don’t know why. Everyone thought it was funny, but I was terrified.”
“Ah.” He put an arm around her shoulders and hugged her.
“I felt like we were lost. It’s so huge and endless, you could get lost so easily.”
“You can get lost anywhere.” You could get lost in life.
Their eyes met. “I know.”
Nate dragged his gaze away from her and back out to the ocean. “Kind of funny how all my pictures are of water.”
“But it’s calm water. I don’t know how you do that. Your pictures make me feel…I don’t know…soothed. Like the ocean is scary but it’s calming, too.”
“I use a really long exposure. It smoothes out all the little ripples and waves on the water. Of course, I do wait until it’s very calm. Sometimes I wait days for the right conditions.”
“You’re very patient.”
“I guess.”
“Not like me.”
He grinned, hugged her gather. “No, definitely not like you, Miss I-Want-It-Now.”
She cuddled into him and smiled. He liked that she didn’t take herself too seriously. “I guess we should head back.” Regret slid through him.
It took them longer to get home than they’d anticipated and Derek was already there, for a change.
“Where the hell were you?” His eyebrows pulled together.
“We went for a bike ride.” Krissa smiled down at her water-splotched sweater. “We walked out on the Breakwater and it was so fun! The waves were huge. And we went to the zoo.”
“The zoo?” Derek looked from Krissa to Nate. “Seriously?”
Krissa glanced up and frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Derek shook his head and scowled.
She studied him for a few seconds. “I’ll go change and then make dinner.”
She started to walk away. “Krissa. Wait.” Nate stopped her. She turned and looked at him, brows raised.
“Don’t just walk away.”
Her eyes flickered. “What do you mean?”
Nate took a step toward her, stopped. “I mean, Derek is clearly pissed off about something. Make him tell you what it is.”
She licked her lips, eyes darting between him and Derek. Nate, too, shot a glance Derek’s way. His scowl had deepened. Then her eyes came back to Nate. “I don’t want to.”
“I know.”
Their gaze held and he willed her to stand up to her husband, to not let him get away with acting like an asshole for no reason.
Krissa turned to Derek. “Okay. I’ll ask again. What’s wrong?”
He said nothing. His jaw tightened.
“Oh, Derek.” Her shoulders relaxed and she went over to him, put her hands on his waist. “Just tell me. Are you mad at me about something? Because I wasn’t here with dinner ready when you got home?”
Derek looked away, shoved a hand into his hair. “No. Yes. I sound like a spoiled idiot.”
“Yes, you do.” She kissed his jaw. “Are you mad because Nate and I went out together?”
“That too.”
“We just went for a bike ride.”
“I know. I’m a jerk. You two can go have fun if you want. Although…when do you ever get any work done these days?”
She sighed. “I’ll do some work tonight for a few hours.”
Nate held in a groan. She’d been doing so well there. “Is that what you’d planned to do Krissa?”
She turned to him. She studied him. “Yes. That’s what I’d planned. I need to get the proposal done.”
“Okay.” He didn’t want her doing it just because Derek thought she should. He wanted her to tell him she’d manage her work herself, but then, Nate was the one who’d gotten her into this, so maybe expecting her to stand up to Derek wasn’t fair.
“I dragged her with me, Derek. She didn’t want to come. I thought it would be good for her—for both of us—to get out and get our minds off…you know.”
Derek nodded. He kissed Krissa’s forehead. “You’re right, Nate. I’m sorry. I guess I just felt left out. I was sitting in meetings all afternoon while you two were out having fun. But I’m glad you did.”
Nate saw Krissa inhale a deep breath, then let it out slowly. She gave them both a quick smile. “Okay, now I’m going to get changed.”
He was sorry he’d pushed her. But then, not really so sorry.