Dreams Adrift (A River Dream Novel) (14 page)

“
Thanks,” I said, “but I’ll be all
right.”

She nodded slowly and released my arm. “Then I
guess I’ll go. If you need anything, or just want to talk, you’ll
call me, right?”

I turned back to look out over the dark, empty
river, as dark and empty as my heart. Then I turned back to
Rhiannon. “If I do, I will, I promise.”

“
I mean it, Mike. Tonight,
tomorrow, a year from now, you call me if you need me,” Rhiannon
said, lowering her chin and raising her eyebrows in emphasis.
Suddenly she was that best friend I knew from days gone by, knowing
what was good for me better than I did myself, and not shy about
reminding me.

“
I will, Rhi. We may have
forgotten for a while, but you’re still my best friend.”

“
You haven’t called me Rhi since
we were five,” Rhiannon said with a slight smile.

“
Thanks for being there, Rhiannon.
I would have fallen apart if you hadn’t walked in that door.” I
struggled to keep my voice even.

“
I let you down once, Michael.
I’ll never let that happen again, that you can count on.” She gave
me a quick hug, walked to her car, and drove off. I was alone with
my memories.

I stood there on the porch in the deepening
dark for some time. Then I turned and went into the house.
Geddaway
would be unoccupied tonight. It was time I faced my
ghost.

Twenty-one

The next day I woke up alone in our big empty
bed in our big empty house and realized that, without Maeve, it no
longer felt like home. Without her, it was just a place to stay. A
place that maybe I needed to get away from for a while, maybe for a
long while. I knew that someday I might be able to return, but
right then I just didn’t want to be there.

Having decided I didn’t want to stay at River
Dream raised the question about where to go. I decided to go
sailing. Sailing had always been my way to escape.

Since it was August, I figured I’d sail south
for the fall. I’d spend the winter among the islands and in the
spring, well, I’d decide then where to go next.

Maeve and I had been planning that trip to
Bermuda, so we’d been taking navigation classes and had ordered the
new boat. It was due to be delivered the next week, giving me time
to get myself ready to go and time to get River Dream ready for me
to be gone. The first thing I did was call my father.

He sounded skeptical. “So you’ve decided to go
sailing. You’re going to spend the winter sailing the
Caribbean.”

Knowing my dad, I should have expected
that.

“
Yes, that’s what I’m thinking,” I
said. “The new boat will be ready on the sixteenth. I just need to
make arrangements for someone to look after River Dream while I’m
gone.”

There was a moment’s pause.

“
Just how long do you think you
will be gone?” my father wanted to know.

How long I would be gone was something at
which I could only guess. “Six months, a year, it
depends.”

“
You’re going to go off sailing
around the Caribbean for a year?” my dad asked. He no longer
sounded skeptical, but his voice wasn't approving
either.

“
You sound like you think it’s a
bad idea,” I said a bit defensively.

“
No, not at all, I’d love to go
with you,” Dad said.

In the background I heard my Mother say, “I
heard that, Owen.”

Dad chuckled at my Mom's remark. “All right
son, I’ll make a few calls and get things set up with the house.
What about the other boats?”

I hadn't thought about that. The other boats
couldn't just sit at the dock at River Dream
indefinitely.

“
I’ll get Jeremy to store them for
me. I’m sure he won’t mind the rent money.”

“
Son, he probably won’t charge you
any rent. You own forty percent of the marina,
remember?”

“
Oh yeah, I forgot,” I said
sheepishly. “Thanks, Dad.”

My next call was to Hans to see if he wanted
to come down that weekend and help me sail
Riverscape
and
Geddaway
up to Oriental. Even over the phone I could sense
the conflict he felt.

“
I would if I could, Michael,”
Hans explained, “but April’s family is having their annual reunion
this weekend. I wouldn’t hear the end of it if we didn’t go. Her
parents are hosting it this year. I am sorry.”

“
I understand,” I assured him,
though I was a little disappointed. I wondered whatever happened to
anytime 24/7/365. Marriage happened, I guess. The disappointment
must have shown in my voice.

“
Michael,” Hans said, “let me talk
to April, explain the situation. I’m sure she’ll
understand.”

Now I felt like a jerk. I should have known
Hans wouldn’t let me down. It was my turn to be the stand-up
guy.

“
Really, Hans,” I said, “it’s all
right. I’ll call Chase. He always jumps at a chance to go
sailing.”

“
Are you sure, Michael?” Hans
asked, concern evident in his tone.

“
I’m sure, buddy, but thanks,” I
said. “Give April a hug for me.”

Chase couldn’t make it either. He was leaving
Friday afternoon for some kind of technology instructors’
conference, and the ticket and room were already paid for. He
offered to blow it off anyway, but I told him not to do that.
Derrick was out of state on a trip with his family. A sad
coincidence, but they had another funeral to attend. That’s why
he’d had to leave so quickly the day of Maeve's service.

I was trying to think of who else might want
to do some sailing when the phone rang. Thinking it was probably my
dad, I picked it up.

“
Hello.”

“
Hi, Mike,” Rhiannon said, her
voice tinged with worry. “I called to see how you were holding
up.”

I took a deep breath and considered my answer.
“I’ve pushed out to several seconds at a time,” I told
her.

“
That’s good,” she said, sounding
a bit relieved.

“
Rhiannon, I’m glad you called. Do
you still sail?”

“
I haven’t for a while, why?” she
replied, evidently puzzled by such a question.

“
I need to sail my boats up to the
marina in Oriental this weekend so Jeremy can put them in storage
for me,” I explained.

She didn't say anything for a minute, and then
asked slowly, “Why would you do that?”

“
I’m going to go away for a while.
Maeve…Maeve and I bought a new boat, a bigger boat. We were going
to sail it across to Bermuda and back this fall. I’ve decided to
sail it down to the Bahamas instead and spend the winter bumming
around the islands. It’ll do me good to get away from here for a
while.”

“
That actually sounds like a great
idea. I think it’ll do you a world of good. I guess I could come
down and help,” Rhiannon said. I could almost hear the relieved
smile on her face.

“
Great,” I said. “When can you get
here?”

“
What time did you want to get
started?”

I thought about that quickly and replied, “The
earlier the better.”

“
I could come down Friday after
work. Would you be okay with me staying in the front
bedroom?”

When she asked, I could almost hear my
mother’s voice questioning if it was a good idea. I decided there
was no harm in an old friend spending the night in the spare
bedroom. Any romantic ties between Rhiannon and me had been severed
long ago.

“
That would be fine with me,” I
assured her. “I’ll see you Friday night.”

After getting off the phone with Rhiannon, I
went out to the garage to get the Grand Cherokee. As I opened the
garage door, I noticed the empty spot where Maeve’s car should be.
It hit me that her car was still parked down at the stables. For
the first time since the hospital I thought of Raven, her mare. I
would have to do something about Raven.

Dimly, I remembered Maeve’s friends from the
horse club at the funeral. They had been very upset about what had
happened and very sorry they hadn’t been able to do more for her. I
mouthed what now sounded in my mind like clichéd
platitudes.

Maeve had become close to them but I’d never
gotten to know them that well. Now I would need their help finding
a home for Raven. I hoped I hadn’t been too much of a jerk at the
funeral.

Deciding that dealing with that could wait, I
backed the Cherokee out of the garage and headed toward Oriental.
Then I realized I needed to make arrangements for the Jeep and
Maeve’s car, too. For a minute I felt overwhelmed. I pulled over,
took a deep breath, told myself to take care of one thing at a
time, and continued on to Oriental.

“
Hey, Mike. I was really sorry to
hear about Maeve. How are you holding up?” Jeremy asked when I
walked into his office at the marina.

“
I’m making it through one minute
at a time right now, Jeremy.”

Jeremy nodded understandingly. “Just let me
know if there’s anything I can do.”

“
Thanks, Jeremy. As a matter of
fact, there is something I need to talk to you about. I’m going to
need to store my boats for a while.”

Jeremy turned around and grabbed a notebook
off the shelf behind his desk before he answered. “Not a problem,
Mike. I assume you’re talking about dry storage.”

“
Yeah. I’m going to bring them up
this weekend. I plan to make a day of it.”

“
Do you need anyone to crew for
you?” Jeremy asked as he made a note on the schedule.

“
No, I’ve got a friend coming to
help out. Thanks anyway. I will need someone to shuttle me back and
forth to the house,” I said, after a moment’s thought.

“
I can get one of the guys to do
that,” Jeremy said. “Your new boat is coming in on the sixteenth.
Do you want to store that one too?”

I turned to look out the window that opened
onto the boat yard as if expecting to see the new boat sitting
there.

“
No, that one is the reason I’m
storing the others,” I explained. “I plan to sail the new boat to
the Islands for the winter and spend some time down Bahama
way.”

Following my gaze, Jeremy said, “That sounds
like a good plan. It’ll get you away from here for a while. That’s
probably the best thing for you.”

“
Yeah, I hope it’ll do me some
good.”

With that worked out, I headed to Scoops to
get some lunch. The folks who worked there had known Maeve pretty
well, and they all expressed their condolences. When I finished
lunch, I knew it was time to head to the stable. I had an idea
about what to do about Raven.

Twenty-two

I’d learned that on the day of Maeve’s
accident, Raven had been spooked by a couple of kids on dirt bikes
who weren’t even supposed to be in the woods. The kids came around
a bend in the trail and practically ran into the horses. Maeve and
Raven were in the lead. Raven reared up in fear and surprise.
Maeve, who had turned around to say something to the rider behind
her – probably about there being motorbikes on the trail - was
caught off balance and thrown from the saddle. The park rangers
never caught the kids. After learning the whole story, I realized
I’d been wrong to put the blame on Raven.

Pulling into the parking lot at the stable, I
spotted Maeve’s Porsche where she’d left it the morning of the
accident. It was kind of hard to miss a red Porsche 944.

For a moment I couldn’t breathe, and tears
pooled in my eyes. Memories of the Christmas Eve I gave her the car
came flooding back. I nearly turned around to leave but, with great
effort, got my emotions under control and pulled in next to the
Porsche.

I went into the barn to find Rita, the owner.
She was talking to someone, so I headed to Raven’s stall. It was
empty. I went out the back to look at the paddock, and there she
was, grazing. I called to her, and she looked up. A lump formed in
my throat. If it had been Maeve calling her, Raven would have
trotted right over. My confidence that I could handle taking care
of her wavered.

“
Mike, we’re all so very sorry
about Maeve,” Rita said as she walked up behind me. She’d probably
told me the same thing at the funeral, but I barely remembered
seeing her and her daughter there, much less what they might have
said.

I swallowed hard, trying to force down the
lump in my throat. I finally managed to say, “Thank you,
Rita.”

“
Have you even begun thinking
about what to do about Raven?” Rita asked. I suspected she knew
that was why I was there.

Turning towards her, I said, “I was hoping you
could help me with that. I want to be sure she goes to someone who
will take as good a care of her as Maeve did.”

I saw tears well up in Rita's eyes.

“
Mike, I’ve always been fond of
Raven,” Rita revealed. “My daughter is just old enough for her own
horse now. I know Raven is a good and gentle horse. If you’re all
right with it, I’d like to buy Raven for her.”