Page 28 of The Island in Bramble Bay
‘I love you, Maggie.’ Charlie said softly. Words which others had said before but which had never meant as much as they did coming from Charlie, the man that bizarrely, she also loved. Something she would have said was impossible after such a short time but had happened nevertheless.
After what they’d been through that day Maggie knew that this love wasn’t going to be straightforward. Charlie clearly had plenty of baggage to go with her own but she also had the feeling that it would be worth it. Every time she looked at him, except maybe when he was so angry earlier, she couldn’t believe that they were together, that he had chosen her.
But she needed to make them even, to let him know what kind of person he was getting involved with. At the very next opportunity.
24
SUNDAY DAWNED AND looked to be a perfect spring day but Charlie checked the weather forecast thoroughly, just to be sure. The last thing he wanted was to have anything go wrong the first time he was going to take Maggie sailing. He wanted it to be perfect.
Jan from the café had come up trumps and prepared him a picnic which luckily he remembered to retrieve from the fridge just before he left the house. He went down to the boathouse, stowed the picnic in the small galley ofIdlewildand checked that everything was ready to go before he bounded back up to the house to wake Maggie.
She was still sound asleep; it was early, especially for a Sunday and he had come to learn that Maggie was not a morning person. Placing a cup of tea on the nightstand next to her, he kissed her cheek and watched her as she slowly woke up. He found it amusing, the very few times he’d seen her wake up, that opening her eyes seemed to be such a struggle.
‘Hey, honey, it’s time to wake up. We’re going sailing.’ He hoped that might make her excited enough to leap out of bed, but no.
‘Mmm. Sailing. Is it sunny?’
‘It’s glorious. Cup of tea for you here.’
She exhaled heavily and propped herself up on her elbow, eyes barely open, feeling for the cup of tea which Charlie shifted towards her wandering hand. He sighed quietly. It would be a miracle if they were on the water before lunchtime.
Almost an hour later, they had finally made it onto the boat. Charlie carefully manoeuvred her out of the boathouse while Maggie sat on the nearest seat to him looking a little worried.
‘Will I have to do anything?’ she asked nervously.
‘No, this boat will mostly do everything for us if we want. It’s a little boring that way but great if I want to sail alone. We can do stuff if you want though?’ he shrugged, smiling at her.
‘No, that suits me fine, I just want to sit back and try to enjoy it.’
‘Well, you’re good for now but when we leave the harbour we’ll get the sails up and once we get into the wind you’ll need to move around the boat depending on which way she’s leaning.’
Maggie looked panic-stricken. He thought back to how scared she’d been in his little motorboat the first time he’d taken her shopping. ‘If you don’t like it we’ll switch back to the motor and take it steadier.’ But he had a feeling that once she felt the wind in her face, she’d love it.
They passed over the path of the chain ferry which crossed the entrance to the harbour and once they were in open water, Charlie hoisted the sail and set their course for the west coast of the Isle of Wight.
Maggie seemed okay. She was sitting at the stern, just behind him and had been quiet while he was sorting out the boat. Once Charlie was happy that the conditions were as he’d expected, he turned on the digital steering and joined her.
‘Have you let it sail itself before?’
‘Yeah, a couple times. Don’t worry, you’re safe and it’s only for a few minutes while I show you what’s what ‘cause believe me, I want to sail this boat today.’
He carefully explained to her what she should do when he tacked, and the boat would lean. He told her what to watch out for and what she should do if he called certain commands to her, which although unlikely, he wanted to prepare her for just in case.
He went back to the wheel and took control of the boat while Maggie sat on the edge of the boat, looking braver than she had only a few minutes before. She was starting to find her sea legs, he thought.
When he prepared to tack, he shouted ‘Starboard’ to Maggie in plenty of time, which was just as well as she looked to him to check she was doing the right thing before she moved. He gave her a thumbs up and then let the sail flip as he tacked into the wind. The boat tilted and Maggie shrieked as she was sprinkled with spray but she had a huge grin on her face when she turned to look at him. She was beautiful.
Once they had passed the Needles, the trickiest part of their short voyage, Charlie sailed closer to the island and dropped anchor off the coast near a sandy bay that looked as if it would be difficult to access from the land. Being slightly sheltered, the sea was calm so Charlie was able to relax and enjoy their picnic lunch. Maggie went into the cabin to find some glasses, plates and cutlery while he tied off the ropes and then they sat on the deck which spanned the bow of the boat, in the sunshine.
‘Do you feel like a sailor yet?’ Charlie asked, between bites of his sandwich.
‘God, not really. I don’t know how you would begin to learn how to do that. But I do love being on the boat with you.’ She smiled at him, her cheeks still rosy from the wind and her hair a tousled, yet attractive mess. ‘Where did you learn?’
‘I joined the sailing club at college and spent manymanyhours on Lake Tahoe. It’s not like the ocean but I loved it. Then I did a course on sailing on the ocean before I got the boat, I guess just after I bought the island.’
Maggie rolled her eyes. ‘It still sounds bizarre when you drop it into conversation. You bought an island!’
He laughed. ‘I know, now that I live here all the time it seems like a very fancy thing to own, for a forester.’
