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"I'd like that." She paused, a question in her eyes. "So back to my place, or…"
"Not yet. The evening is just beginning."
"Really?" she asked with an arch of her eyebrow. "What's next?"
"You'll see."
"You're enjoying being the man of mystery, aren't you?"
"Every second," he said. "But mostly I'm enjoying being with you."
She met his gaze and gave a nod. "Me, too."
* * *
Ria had been in sole control of her and Megan's life for the last year and a half, so it was refreshing to let Drew take the lead. After the breathtaking helicopter ride, she was already prepared to call the date a success. Anything more would just be icing on the cake. As they drove back over the bridge to the city, they were quiet, and it was the kind of quiet that felt right. They didn’t need words to fill the space. They could just breathe and be, and Ria let everything else go.
After getting off the bridge, Drew drove them back to the marina, parking by the yacht club. "Your turn," he said.
"I can't take the boat out now," she said, hating to disappoint him. But she could only use the sailboat when the yacht club was open.
"We don't need your boat. I have one."
"That's right, you do," she said, following him down the docks to the Eleanor.
The large boat was beautiful, older, but well taken care of, and having met the original Eleanor, Ria could imagine all the wonderful times she and Patrick had had on this boat. She checked out the boat, the galley and sleeping berth, and thought Drew and his brothers were going to have a lot of fun in the upcoming years.
"What do you think?" Drew asked.
"It looks to be in pretty good shape."
"How do you feel about a moonlit sail?"
"Pretty good," she said with a smile. "Do you want to do the honors?"
"I'm happy to put you in charge."
"Okay."
It was a nice change to be at the helm of a bigger boat, and Ria enjoyed sailing the Eleanor out into the bay. "How far do you want to go?" she asked Drew as they passed Alcatraz.
"This is good for me," he said. "I think it's time for dinner."
"Out here?"
"Can you think of a more romantic restaurant?"
She really couldn't. "You put some thought into tonight."
"I put thought into everything I do."
That didn't surprise her. Drew might like to fly into the wind, but he wasn't the kind of man to take off without some sort of plan.
He held up two wine bottles. "White or red?"
"White. What's for dinner?"
"Crab salad, fresh rolls, and strawberries."
"Impressive."
"Since you love the sea, I was hoping you liked seafood."
"How could I not? My grandfather was a fisherman."
"What about your dad?" he asked, as he handed her a glass of wine. "You've never really told me about him, except to say that he died, and that your parents didn't get along. What was your relationship like?"
"I adored my dad when I was little. But he didn't turn out to be the hero I imagined that he was."
Drew gave her an understanding look. "Most people don't. What did he do?"
"He cheated on my mom. It went on for over a year. He worked in sales and traveled a lot for his job. The affair was with his assistant, a lovely woman named Gwen. I really liked her until I found out she was screwing my Dad." She sipped her wine. "My father said that my mother froze him out, that after she had me she didn't want to have sex anymore. That he'd spent ten years watching her roll over to her side of the bed, and he couldn't stand looking at her back anymore. So they divorced. I went to live with my mom."
"Why did your sister stay with your father? It sounds like he was the one to blame for the divorce."
"I thought it was pretty clear cut, and I was only eleven. But Kate adored my father, and she was six years older than me. She said I didn't understand, that she'd heard the way my mother spoke to my father, and she didn't blame him. She put it all on my mom. She said my mother broke up the family because she wasn't willing to try." Ria paused. "My mom pretty much said exactly the opposite. Anyway, Kate was almost done with high school, and she didn't want to move, so that was part of why she stayed with my father.. I went to San Diego with my mother and then we eventually moved to the East Coast. I didn't see my father or sister again for a very long time."
