EDGE (14 page)

Their group consisted of Cache and Tom, who had heeded her advice last night and smelled as if he’d bathed in “ode de bug.” The welts on his face were red but not as inflamed. Noseeums produced a bitch of an itch despite their diminutive size, must be killing him not to scratch.

Sergei already had Quentin, David, and Jonah outfitted with paddles and life jackets, and was instructing them on the importance of balance and how to board and launch a kayak without tipping over. Mel took over teaching Cache and Tom. Cache wasn’t a novice to the sport and helped her in educating Tom.

Sergei and his group were already bobbing in the water waiting for them by the time she held Tom’s kayak steady for him to climb in and shoved him off the shore. He gave a satisfied shout with his wobbly but successful launch. Cache struggled getting into the kayak, but launched from the beach like a pro. By the time she joined them, Cache was showing Tom how to paddle.

A day on the sea, whether fishing in the ocean boat, sightseeing, or kayaking were always her favorites. There was something about the power of the ocean that never failed to refuel her spirit.

Sergei took lead, paddling one of the two double-seated kayaks with Quentin in front. At least one of those hadn’t been lost yesterday. Replacement cost started in the thousands. Jonah rowed with David in the other. The rest of them were in single boats. Mel took up the rear as they began a leisurely, steady journey over the cove toward the open waters of Kachemak Bay.

The ocean was still and reflective, except for the roll that was ever present in deep water. The sun burned through the leftover clouds and warmed her skin. She raised her face to the rays, enjoying the heat. Even though it was the middle of June, it wouldn’t be long before summer disappeared. Birds sang overhead, a harmony of gulls, puffins, and black-legged kittiwakes nestled into the cliff faces of the fjords.

Puffins were her favorite. Comical creatures with their black and white bodies, they spent the summers getting so fat on fish they lost the ability to fly. Jonah and Quentin laughed as the puffins tried to waddle along the edge of the cliff’s edge. A few jumped, frantically flapping their wings until there was nothing to do but dive or plop on the water with a loud splat.

Cache had his camera snapping away.

“Hey, Cache,” David said. “Would you mind taking a few pictures of me and my boy?”

“Love to.” Cache clicked away, getting everyone in turn to pose for a shot.

Mel felt the focus of his camera and paddled hard right, ruining the shot.

She hated having her picture taken.

He deposited the camera in his waterproof pouch and matched his stokes with hers, joining her at the back of the group.

She’d done a fair job of ignoring him all morning. With the amount of work she’d had to do to get this party off, it hadn’t been hard. She could tell he wanted to “talk.” Had known this would happen once she was stuck in a kayak with the length of Kachemak Bay ahead of her. She was strong but the size of his biceps and length of his arms belied any chance of her out-paddling him. Besides, the innkeeper in her would never let her behave in such a manner toward a guest.

“I wanted to thank you for taking care of Tom last night,” he said. “I can imagine he wasn’t good-natured about what happened to him.”

Remembering had her forcing back a chuckle. “He’s not much of an outdoor enthusiast.” Which begged the question, why he’d chosen to experience The Edge to begin with? An all-inclusive resort in the Bahamas seemed more his style.

“About before,” Cache began.

Before being the kiss.

“Why don’t we leave it alone? Chalk it up to us wanting different things.” It irked her that he didn’t fit nicely into her preconceived ideas of men. Set her off balance. She cut her paddle harder into the water and shot a boat length ahead.

One powerful stroke and he was right with her. “Mel—”

“Listen, I’d rather not do this.” She wanted to enjoy the outing. The sunshine. She didn’t want to talk relationships. For one thing she wasn’t good at them. Garrett was the longest pairing she’d ever had and they weren’t really “together.” A few stolen nights over the winter didn’t make a relationship. That much she knew.

“I need to know something,” he tried again.

“Cache—”

“Let me finish. I don’t understand. You’re a woman. You’re supposed to want assurances.”

Guess she wasn’t the only one with preconceived ideas. “Do I look like most women?”

Sergei turned around and cleared his throat. “Do I need to remind how voices travel over vater?” He jerked his head toward the rest of the group who were avidly listening to their discussion.

Hell’s bells, she knew that. Cache had a way of muddling her brain, or something, and making her forget the simplest details. “Sorry, guys.”

“You know, Aunt Mel,” Quentin said, “Mr. Cruise has a point. You’re stereotyping him.”

“Huh?”

“Dr. Lillian says that men need reassurances just as much as women.” Quentin finished as though he was a forty-year-old counselor instead of a ten-year-old boy.

“Since when do boys watch talk shows?” Whatever happened to Scooby Doo?

Quentin twitched a shoulder. “Mom watches, and it’s on when I get home from school. You pick up stuff.”

“Okay, this is too weird,” Tom piped in. “We are in Alaska, kayaking over the open ocean, and for once I seem to be getting the hang of it. So, can we get back to the adventure?”

“There is nothing more adventurous than relationship between man and voman,” Sergei said, his voice dead serious. “Though Tom is right. Ve are missing some powerful sights. Mel, describe vhat is up ahead.”

Grateful for Sergei steering them back on course, Mel picked up her travel monologue and started pointing out various landmarks, related history, and animal and aquatic life. They maneuvered toward a small grouping of massive rock formations jutting out of the ocean, covered in plump tawny and umber-colored seals. Some barked with a frenzy as though catching up on gossip while others sunned themselves on the sun-heated rocks.

“Wow. This is so cool,” Quentin exclaimed.

Cache fumbled for his camera. “Unbelievable.” His shutter made a few consecutive clicks. He lowered it and reached into his camera bag, pulling out his telephoto. A quick twist and he’d exchanged one for the other. With his camera up to his eye and his paddle resting across his lap, Cache shot frames as the current drifted him closer to the sea lions.

The black dorsal fin of a killer whale rose stealthily from the depths not a hundred yards away. If there was one, there would be more.

“Cache, back off,” Mel cautioned paddling toward him. “To your left.”

“What the hell is that?” Tom’s voice cracked.

“Everyone get back. Sergei, get them out of here.”

“David, Tom, this way.” Sergei steered him and Quentin, toward a quiet inlet safely away from the seals and the pod of killer whales, but still within view. David and Jonah kept abreast of them while Tom paddled like mad, passing them up.

“Cache!” Mel hard paddled toward him.

“Yeah, just a sec.” Rapid clicks of the camera’s shutter followed.

Damn man was too caught up in his photo shoot to pay attention to the potential dangers around him. The orcas would most likely be interested in a few seal snacks than investigating them, but she didn’t want to be confused by mistake.

Another fin carved the surface of the dark water between them. Way too close to the nose of her kayak.

“Shit. Cache, come on.” She’d been close to killer whales when kayaking before, but never this close.

“Yeah? What?” He lowered his camera and looked around, then gulped.

A whale nudged her kayak, causing it to bob erratically. “Oh, God.” Her heart leaped into her throat.

“Mel!” He reached out a hand as though he could steady her kayak from where he floated too far away to be of any help.

She took a harder bump, and the kayak flipped.

One minute she was on the surface, the next fighting to get upright. The bitterly cold water hit her with a rush of painful pinpricks. It was like dipping her head into a bucket of ice water. Instant brain freeze. She blew bubbles out of her nose and tried not to panic. Easier said than done as she hung upside down, trapped in a kayak anchored on the surface while a pack of killer whales hunted below. She could see the white patches behind their eyes and flanks gleaming in the dark depths of the sea. Swinging her paddle, she twisted her upper body and rolled, righting the kayak, sputtering as she came up gasping for air.

“Mel, you okay?” Cache was there alongside of her, his hand grabbed her boat, keeping them together. “Damn it to hell. Talk to me.” Fear lined his face. She saw guilt there too.

She tried to answer him, but all she seemed able to do was blink water out of her eyes and gasp air into her lungs.

“Mel!” He shook her. The action caused the kayak to bob again.

That got her attention. “Y-yes.” She came back into herself. “Let’s get out of here.”

The whales seemed to have satisfied their curiosity with her and Cache, and swam toward the seals baying on the rock.

She’d kept a death grip on the paddle throughout the ordeal, and now sliced deep with it, propelling the kayak toward the rest of the scared and worried group in the protective inlet. Water dribbled off the end of her nose, and down her back. Her upper body was soaked. The skirt at her waist had done a fair job of keeping a lot of the water out of the hold, but not enough.

She shivered in the sunshine.

The ocean seemed to reflect a thousand different colors of blues and greens in the bright light of the golden sun with each ripple of a wave’s edge. She heard the clicking of spruce needles like chimes stirred in the breeze. Even the beating of her heart pounded with an effervescence that fizzled in her blood.

Fear had a way of putting things into prospective and making everything sharp and vibrant.

“Mel, I’m sorry,” Cache said, keeping time with her. “I should have been paying attention. Are you sure you’re okay? We should head back to the lodge and get you warm and dry.”

“I just need to get to the beach.” And time to process what had happened.

When they rejoined the group, David, Sergei, and Tom expressed their worries, but it was Quentin’s reaction that cut through them all and helped reassure young Jonah.

“Aunt Mel, your baptism was
so
way cooler than anybody else’s. Could you show me how you rolled the kayak? That was totally sweet!”

She loved the kid. He’d stolen her heart in a matter of days. “Maybe another time, and when we are in the safety of The Edge’s cove.”

“You’re on!”

“Let’s break for lunch,” Sergei said, giving her a once over and an impressed smile.

Mel’s heart thumped more normally, but the wetness of her clothes, or the reality of what hadn’t happen, had her shaking with cold.

The small secluded inlet had a family of otters floating on their backs, with caramel-colored baby pups resting on their mothers’ stomachs. Their big black eyes and comical faces were alight with mischief.

Jonah perked up and giggled as an otter splashed Quentin. Mel was grateful the otters were there. Their presence turned everyone’s attention away from what had happened and how dire the situation could have been.

Guilt sickened his stomach. When Mel had disappeared under the surface, with the bottom of her kayak marking where she’d gone down, he’d been ready to dive in after her. Then suddenly she was back as though performing a trick. Only the ashen color of her skin told the story. His heart had yet to settle. It had been his fault. He’d put her in danger over the need for a damn picture.

“Are you coming in?” Mel hollered, her kayak already beached. He could see her shivering in her wet clothes from where he’d fallen behind.

Everyone else had already stowed their boats on shore, out of reach of the softly lapping surf. The boys ran up the black pebbled beach with David following slower behind them. Sergei helped Tom out of his kayak. He was the only one left.

A few fast, hard stokes and the kayak surfed a small wave, bumping up onto shore. Pain sliced, hot and thick, through his leg from the jarring.

Christ. He sucked in his breath. When Tom had asked if he was physically up for the kayak trip he said no problem. He’d be sitting most the trip. Other than his upper body, he hadn’t moved and stretched his legs since they started out.