"Is this your boat? It's much bigger than I was expecting. It's like a yacht!" Sapphire couldn't keep the amazement out of her voice as she watched Joel step onto the boat.
With a gentle hand on her back, Hayden urged her shocked body forward. "Technically, it's a cruiser."
Taking her hand, though completely unnecessary, Joel reached out and guided her onto the gleaming deck.
Standing in the spacious uncovered seating area, she just stood there with her mouth open, taking in the details of the boat while both men began moving in and around the boat, putting their things away. Where she stood on what looked like the boat's porch, for lack of a better word, there were plush seats surrounding all three sides with a table in the middle. Beyond the little porch area, through the sliding glass doors, she could see Joel coming from what had to be downstairs. She could hardly believe it. It had a downstairs level too?! Sapphire was starting to feel almost giddy with the amount of luxury she was experiencing.
"Okay, my sweet goldilocks, you ready for the tour?" Joel said, slapping his hands together with excitement.
Nodding her head vigorously, Sapphire shifted impatiently on her feet. "Yes, I am."
Delighted by her excitement, Joel's grin broadened.
The tour was like a whirlwind of divine luxury. The porch, it turned out, was called the cockpit, oddly enough, even though it was outside. She liked porch better, but she could tell Joel was low-key in love with his boat, so she refrained from calling it that out loud. From there, he took her to the salon, which was just the inside seating and kitchen area. With its shining wood grain and stark white paneling, the boat felt brand new. Even the two white helm seats that sat side by side one another looked untouched.
"How many times have you actually used this?" she asked, ducking her head to follow him below deck.
Joel paused, one hand sliding open a pocket door to the first guest bedroom, and looked up thoughtfully. "Maybe three times," he answered before turning to reveal the other larger bedroom across the tiny hallway.
All Sapphire could do was absorb the sights around her. It was just so not what she was expecting. When they had told her she would be going out on their boat, she honestly had expected the worst. At worst, just an old one-engine dingy or, at best, a grimy old fishing boat. Butthis?! This was insane.
Wrapping up the tour, Joel loped excitedly up the stairs to his precious helm's chair while Hayden untied them from the dock.
Leaving Joel to fiddle with his beloved controls, Sapphire stepped out through the glass doors onto the outdoor deck to find Hayden putting away the rope.
"All clear," he called out to Joel over her head before shaking his head at her. "For some reason, whenever we get on this damn boat, I get relegated to some sort of lowly deckhand."
Sapphire laughed and took a seat on the surprisingly soft bench cushions. Pulling her glasses down at the bright sun, she watched the scenery of the marina slowly drift by as Joel guided the boat out from the slip.
Dozens and dozens of boats of all sizes dotted the blue waters. Weaving their way through them, Sapphire watched and listened to people's laughter ringing out before being drowned out by the engines and taken away by the breeze.
Coming through the glass doors holding a beer in one hand and a can of soda in his other, Hayden sat down on the bench next to her.
"I read online that Stardust Cove was named that because of their natural coves, but this looks more like a bay," she yelled over the churn of the engine behind them.
Tilting back the beer bottle, Hayden took a deep swig of the amber frothing liquid before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and nodding.
"Yeah, this is a bay technically. They call it Stardust Cove because there are four of five natural coves along the coastline."
She could just imagine it, her mind conjuring and cobbling images together from movies she had seen. Were the waters the same bright blue in the smaller coves? Were they surrounded by trees or rocks? More than just a little interested, Sapphire stood up, wanting to see the coastline from their new further out view, just as a foamy white wake drifted into their path.
Sapphire felt the sudden shift under her flip-flops. Meeting the strong wave head-on, their boat lifted, and she pitched forward. The startling sound of fear was hovering at her lips as her balance betrayed her and she watched the frothing blue waters from beneath the boat become her only focus.
A strong hand seized her elbow and yanked her back to safety.
Paralyzed by relief and her body still humming from the shock, Sapphire looked gratefully up at Hayden, whose eyes crackled with exasperation.
Without a word, Hayden pulled her alongside him through the sliding doors until he was plopping her down in one of the double helm's seats.
Leaning down, he pressed his lips to her forehead. "You, sit," he commanded.
Feeling chastised and a little bit embarrassed now that the fear had worn off, Sapphire crossed her arms and stared up at him. "Hey, I can swim. I'm not a child."
Without taking his eyes off the watery path in front of them, Joel spoke up. "This morning, you told me you can swim, but you're not very good."
Sapphire scowled at him and watched his grin widen as he felt the invisible daggers of her stare. "No," she said slowly, stretching the word. "I said I was not astrongswimmer."
"Same difference," Hayden huffed and turned to look back through the boat's front windows.
