Chapter 23

JAMIE

As I pushed us off from the Astor dock, I thought about Lori and me. We were rapidly becoming a couple, and that scared me. The circumstances were bizarre; we had forged a relationship out of necessity. But I was really taken with her.

It would be terrible for Lori if I tried to rush her into a relationship. She might not be ready. She might not be interested. Or she might not be capable of giving her heart so soon after losing her family.

I didn't want to create more pain in her life, but I so wanted to let her know how I felt without scaring her.

Lori didn't have any real choices. If she rejected my feelings, she wouldn't want to stick around. She would most likely strike out on her own, and that would be very dangerous. If others had survived and discovered a woman alone, her safety wouldn't be worth a paper kite in a hurricane.

If I didn't let her know my growing feelings, she might think I wasn't interested. She might decide to leave to find someone who was interested in her.

Either way, she would be in dangerous territory.

Together we had a chance to live a pretty full and normal life without worrying about injury, violence, starvation, or murder. Alone, all those dangers would be a daily concern.

I needed to talk this over with her, but I had to find a way to do it without making her feel trapped. She needed to know I wanted to protect her and provide for her and that I demanded nothing in return except her company, if that was all she wanted to share.

During the trip from Astor to Deland, I realized I was falling in love. It was so unexpected. After Arthea died, I was so dead inside that love never bothered me. I went through the motions of living without really living. Now I saw what could be in my life, and that enthralled me.

As we cruised past Holly Bluff Marina, I saw a big house with an even bigger Morgan Building style boathouse. That just might be big enough to protect our houseboat during storm season. If I stocked the boat and had it completely ready to go an extended trip, and then shut it down and stored it in a boathouse, we would have it when hurricane season ended. Then we could take a cruise up the intercoastals towards Savanna.

"Hey, let's check if that boathouse will handle this boat. If so, we can keep it clean, safe and ready through the storms, if we get any."

"Storms?" she asked. "Are you talking about hurricanes? I've never experienced one of those."

"Hurricane season is June through the end of October." I explained. "But the worst threat is from the middle of August until the first part of October. Having some dry shelter will prevent any flying debris from tearing up the hull and maybe sinking her."

Lori eyed the place and shrugged her shoulders, so I turned into the canal beside the marina and shut down the engines.

The brick house was old but in magnificent shape with a combination screen and glass swimming pool enclosure. The house was set back off the river about 200 feet and the ground was higher than the homes in the immediate vicinity. That might help keep the house from flooding during a ten-inch tropical rain.

I liked the interior. It was sparsely furnished, but everything was new, clean and tasteful.

Lori commented on the taste of the owners more than once.

The kitchen was the entire center of the house, with oversized appliances and two ovens. These people must have entertained a lot.