A tall, dark-haired woman was at the helm. Even from this distance Cadie could see she was stunning. There was an aura of confidence about her as she shouted orders to the crew and deftly gentled the boat into place. Unexpectedly, the woman turned and stared up at the hotel, and for an instant Cadie thought she was looking straight at her.
But that can"t be. Not from so far away, surely? Nevertheless she found herself staring back and wondering at the slight tingling sensation she could feel at the back of her neck. Wow.
The dark-haired woman on the yacht broke the connection first to answer a question from one of her deckhands, and Cadie found herself hoping that was indeed the Cheswick Marine boat.
Time would tell. She and the others were due to meet the crew of their yacht in just under an hour. She turned back into the hotel room, and the cool of the air conditioning. Naomi was repacking her luggage, which was already scattered after just one day in the hotel. Cadie flopped down into an armchair and watched with amus.e.m.e.nt.
"Aren"t you going to pack?" Naomi asked.
"Already did," Cadie replied. "I only brought the one bag, remember?"
Naomi grunted and continued to try and wedge her clothes into the already bulging case.
"Why don"t you leave some of that in storage here at the hotel, Nay?" Cadie suggested. "We"re going sailing, not on a diplomatic mission."
"I"m not spending every night on a boat, Arcadia," Naomi grumbled, stuffing yet another pair of shoes in. "There are resorts and restaurants and hotels all over this area, aren"t there?"
"Sure," Cadie replied.
"So, a girl needs something to wear." Naomi grunted as she finally managed to close the bag.
Boy, that was weird, Jo thought as she turned to help Paul tidy up the furled mainsail around the tied-down boom. She had had the uncanny feeling that someone was watching her as they"d berthed. A glance up to the hotel had revealed a woman staring down at her. Blonde, sweet figure, very cute as far as she could tell. But it was the eyes that had held her attention. She couldn"t tell their color from this distance, but they had held her gaze almost hypnotically.
She shivered slightly at the memory.
She couldn"t have been looking right at me, could she? Jo shook her head, trying to focus on what she was doing.
She stopped and took a look around the deck. The Seawolf was looking better than it would at any time over the next three weeks. Boaties, used to living and working in confined s.p.a.ces, were expert at stowing their lives away. Tourists, on the other hand, were another kettle of fish.
"Are we ready to be boarded?"
Jenny stood at the top of the companionway, hands on hips. "Ready as we"ll ever be at this end, Skipper," she said.
"Paul?"
"Bring on the loopies, Jo-Jo."
Jo rolled her eyes at his use of the local derogatory term for tourists. "Get it out of your system now, guys. It"s customer service and tugging the forelock from now on in," she warned.
Both deckies snapped her a mock salute. "Aye aye, Captain," they chorused in unison.
"Oh, shut up."
Jo jumped deftly onto the pontoon and started the walk up to the hotel lobby where she was to meet the senator"s party. Along the way she was greeted by several acquaintances and she answered them cheerily as she climbed the hill. By the time she reached the hotel she had her game face on. She"d learned over the years that, while Americans found the Aussie laidback style of doing things somewhat charming, they also expected the very best in service, and usually they wanted it yesterday. Finding the balance between the two had always been a bit of a battle for Jo. In her early days as a deckhand she"d told more than one customer just where they could shove their strawberry daiquiri.
She smiled at the memory. Ron had been very patient with her. G.o.d knows why.
Jo caught sight of the hotel"s head concierge and walked in his direction.
"Miss Madison! So good to see you again." The top-hatted and tailed man took her hand in a double-handed shake and beamed at her.
"h.e.l.lo, George. It"s good to see you, too. How"s business?"
"Always on the go, miss, you know how it is. What can we do for you today?"
"I"m picking up a party of eight. I was hoping to borrow two of your bellhops and a couple of your jumbo golf carts."
"No problem, no problem at all. Now, what was the party"s name?" George bustled around his desk and began issuing orders left and right.
"Senator Silverberg," Jo told him.
"Ah yes," he said. "I think you"ll find they are already waiting for you in the lobby."
Jo groaned. She was 15 minutes early and still they were waiting for her. I can"t win. Ah well. Showtime.
"Okay, George, thanks. Give me five minutes to get them organized and we"ll be right out, yeah?"
"Consider it done, Miss Madison. See you shortly."
Jo straightened her shirt and took a deep breath, then stepped through the sliding gla.s.s doors into the s.p.a.cious lobby of the hotel. The senator"s group wasn"t difficult to spot. The Americans were cl.u.s.tered around the bar, surrounded by a mountain of luggage.
Figures, thought Jo. G.o.d forbid they should read the recommendations about what to bring on a sailing holiday. She pressed on towards the group, counting only seven. The senator stuck out like a sore thumb. She was louder than the others and was clearly the center of the conversation. Besides, she just looks.. Jo searched for the word... political. Time to bite the bullet.
"Senator Silverberg?"
The woman turned at the question. "That"s me. What can I do for you?"
Jo stuck out a hand in greeting. "It"s more a case of what I can do for you, Senator," she said, summoning her most winning and professional smile. "I"m Jo Madison from Cheswick Marine. I"m your sail guide for the next three weeks."
Naomi looked the taller woman up and down with obvious meaning and her face took on the kind of leer that made Jo"s skin crawl. "Really? Well," the senator drawled, "things are looking up." She held on to Jo"s hand just a little too long. "And I can certainly think of a few things you could do for me, Miss Madison."
Oh, I don"t like her at all, Jo thought as she tried not to snap her hand back. "Please, call me Jo," she said instead. She looked around at the other members of the party. "If you"re all ready, I have some transport waiting outside to take us down to the boat where we"ll settle you into your berths and give you the tour before you decide where you"d like to go this afternoon."
"We"re just waiting on my partner," Naomi said. "She"s in the gift shop, picking up a newspaper or something."
"I"m here now," came a soft voice from behind Jo.
Jo turned and was immediately caught by the most beautiful pair of sea-green eyes she had ever seen. Wow.
Wow, Cadie thought. Those are the bluest eyes I"ve ever seen. Their gazes locked for long seconds and the world contracted around them. It was like she and the tall skipper were wrapped in insulation. Everything else seemed m.u.f.fled and fuzzy and suddenly unimportant.
Jo realized she had taken the woman"s hand to shake it and hadn"t let go. The blonde"s smaller hand just seemed to fit in hers and she found herself softly stroking the back of this complete stranger"s hand with the pad of her thumb.
"Umm, h-h.e.l.lo," Jo said wittily.
Ohhh, gorgeous voice, thought Cadie. "h.e.l.lo yourself," she replied, trying to ignore the tendrils of heat from whatever the woman was doing with her thumb. "I"m Cadie Jones."
The senator broke the spell by bustling over to Cadie and throwing her arm around her shorter partner"s shoulders. "This is Jo, um, what was it? Madison?"
Jo nodded, still unable to tear her eyes away from Cadie"s. What the h.e.l.l is going on here?
"That ought to be easy to remember," smiled Cadie. "I was born in Madison, Wisconsin."
Jo grinned back, relaxing a little as she took in the magical way Cadie"s nose wrinkled when she smiled. How cute is that? she thought.
G.o.d, she has a beautiful smile. Her whole face lights up, thought Cadie.
Jo regained her senses and set about organizing the bellhops to carry the luggage onto one of the golf carts she had requested from the concierge. She made sure everyone was seated comfortably in the other cart. Cadie took her place just behind the driver"s seat, and not surprisingly, Naomi sat down next to her, putting her arm possessively around her shoulder.
Oh G.o.d, please don"t let her be like this for the entire trip, the blonde silently implored the universe. She"s going to drive me nuts if she stays attached at the hip for three weeks. Cadie watched as their intriguing sail guide slipped into the seat in front of her.
Jo finally had everyone settled. She couldn"t help noticing the senator"s firm hold on Miss Jones. I wonder if I caused that, or is this just normal behavior for a senator? She let out the hand brake and nudged the golf cart forward, towards the gentle slope that led to the marina. It never ceases to amaze me how two people you would never guess were partners can end up together. She glanced over her shoulder at the couple, and met a pair of distinctly unfriendly senatorial brown eyes. Jo took a deep breath. Oh, this is going to be a h.e.l.l of a boat ride.
Chapter Three.
One hectic hour later everyone finally had a chance to relax. Luggage had been stowed, some had been sent back to the hotel for storage, much to the crew"s amus.e.m.e.nt, and everyone had been a.s.signed a berth. The senator and Miss Jones had taken one of the two aft double berths, while the two attorneys, Therese and Sarah, had grabbed the other. Toby and Jason, and Larissa and Kelli had been left with the two smaller doubles forward, leaving the two single berths in the forepeak for the three crewmembers to negotiate between them.
Jo watched quietly as the pa.s.sengers made themselves comfortable around the c.o.c.kpit and aft deck. Jenny handed around a tray loaded with gla.s.ses of ice-cold champagne and nibble-sized hors d"oevres of prawns and caviar.
It"s been an interesting hour, Jo reflected as she sat herself down on the roof of the companionway, her legs dangling down into the c.o.c.kpit. She could already tell who was going to have fun and who were going to be the wet blankets.
Miss Jones-she kept being drawn back to those wonderful green eyes-was clearly determined to have a great time, and Jo was sure she would be up for anything. The two men, earnest, bespectacled types who looked disconcertingly alike, were also going to be fine. They were already bouncing with excitement and enthusiasm.
The jury is still out on the two attorneys, Jo thought. But the senator and the two other women are definitely the downers of the group. So far nothing had been big enough, luxurious enough, or interesting enough for that trio. And the senator was still sticking to her partner like glue, casting Jo more than one suspicious glance since she"d picked them up from the hotel.
Jo sighed inwardly. If she"s going to be like this just over one little h.e.l.lo handshake then it"s going to be a very long three weeks. Just because you could have fried an egg on that handshake... So decided not to let her thoughts wander too far down that path.
She watched as everyone settled into their places.
"Okay, well, officially, welcome everyone to the Seawolf. You"ve all met me, but this," she indicated Paul who was standing just behind her left shoulder, leaning on the boom, "is Paul Burton, intrepid crewman, and this," she nodded at Jenny who was standing next to her feet, "is Jenny Gulliver, our hostess and chef."
She waited as the h.e.l.los and introductions made the rounds of the c.o.c.kpit.
"I thought I"d tell you a little about the Seawolf-what she can and can"t do-and then we can talk about the kinds of things you"d like to get up to over the next three weeks." She smiled.
General nods and murmurs of agreement greeted that.
"The Seawolf is a Beneteau 50. Beneteau "cos that"s who makes "em and 50 because she"s just over 50 feet long. She was designed as an all-conditions yacht and she"s quite capable of sailing around the world, though she"d be a bit leaner below decks for that kind of trip," she said with a smile. "For our purposes though, she"s more than adequate." She caught Cadie"s eye again and grinned back at the blonde"s infectiously encouraging smile.
"We"ve got enough provisions on board to last us a few days at a time, but reloading is just a matter of calling our office and having them deliver stores by motorboat, or alternatively, we can restock at the nearest resort.
"There isn"t anywhere in this region of the Whitsundays that we can"t get to within a day"s sail, depending on the conditions. So there"s no reason why we can"t touch base with all the islands and reefs if you wish to. Or we can anchor off Whitehaven Beach for three weeks, if that"s what you"d rather do."
"What about diving and snorkeling?" Cadie asked.
"We have snorkeling gear onboard for everyone," Jo replied. "As for diving, are any of you certified?"
Shaking heads all round.
"Okay then. If you want to learn the basics and get your certification, it"s as easy as a phone call from me to one of the local dive masters who will come and spend the day, or longer, with us. He"ll bring all the necessary equipment with him.
"If fishing is your thing, we have a few sets of light tackle on board, though if game-fishing is more to your taste, we can arrange with one of the resorts to take you out to the outside of the reef where the big fish are."
The two men liked that idea, she could tell, making a mental note to contact the Hayman Island charter company.
"Excuse me?" It was Sarah, the quieter one of the two attorneys. "I heard that it"s hurricane season here. What happens in that case, or any bad weather?"
"You heard right, it is cyclone season-that"s what we call hurricanes, by the way," Jo replied. "But the long-range forecast for the next few weeks is very good, so I"m not antic.i.p.ating any problems, though we might get the odd tropical storm in the evenings. Nothing that should worry us, however. As I said, we"re never going to be so far away from a good anchorage for us to run into any kind of trouble."
"Is it safe to swim here?" Cadie asked.
"If it"s safe to snorkel and scuba dive, Cadie, it"s a good bet it"s safe to swim," the senator said, somewhat derisively.
"Actually it"s a fair question," said Jo, earning a grateful smile from Cadie. "These are tropical waters. That means there"s a lot of wildlife, and not all of it is friendly. But if you stick to a few simple rules then you"re going to have no problems at all, and you"re going to see some gorgeous things down there."
"So what are the rules?" That was Larissa.
"At this time of year, the main things to look out for are jellyfish. The box jelly has a big square bubble on top and very long, trailing tentacles. So does the Portuguese man-of-war, but its bubble looks like a fat cigar with a sail on top. If you see any, stay right out of their way. They"re very nasty. But the best rule is, when in doubt, don"t touch. Everything around here is a national park, by the way, so by law we"re not allowed to remove anything from its natural habitat anyway."
"What about sharks?" Therese this time.
"I"ve never seen one here." She waited a beat. "At least not one that was hungry." Paul and Jenny laughed, and she could see Cadie grinning, but the rest of the pa.s.sengers were still looking apprehensive. "Seriously, people, there is nothing to worry about if you act sensibly, don"t touch and never swim, dive, or snorkel alone."
"What if we hit something and start sinking?" This was from Kelli, a long, tall redhead with a strangely distracted look that Jo was all too familiar with. She"d be keeping an eye on that one.
"It"s not going to happen. But we have a dinghy, and life vests for everyone, plus we have the radio, and three cell phones between us. We file our position and course plan with both our office and the Coast Guard twice a day. Rescue is not far away, even if we"re out on the reefs."
Finally everyone looked rea.s.sured.
"So where we do we go now?" Cadie asked.
Jo tapped Jenny on the shoulder. "Jen, can you get the map from the charts drawer, please?"
"Sure, Skip."
Jo waited till Jenny had unrolled the big map of the Whitsundays on the c.o.c.kpit"s central removable table.
"We"re here." Jo pointed at Hamilton"s marina. "It"s," she glanced at her watch, "about 2pm. We could leave now and go anywhere amongst the islands and be there by dinnertime." She smiled. "My personal recommendation is, as it"s a full moon and a clear night is forecast, it might be a nice way to start your vacation by making it right up to Blue Pearl Bay, here." She pointed. "On the opposite side of Hayman Island from the resort."
Toby grinned. "Sounds like a plan to me," he said. "Can we help, you know, drive?"
"Sure," she laughed. "The only other rule onboard is that when it comes to anything to do with this boat and its wellbeing, my word is absolute law." She smiled toothily. "That goes for Paul and Jenny, too. So, yes, please do pitch in, but my advice is that these two know how to make this boat run, so it"s a good plan to listen to them."