Chantal hadn’t yet been up to this area of the boat. It looked like the cockpit of a plane.
‘It’s a fairly sophisticated piece of machinery. A slight step up from your average tugboat.’ He winked.
‘It feels like you’re free up here, doesn’t it?’
The sparkling blue of the ocean stretched for miles around, and the sun glinted off the waves like a scattering of tiny diamonds.
‘That’s what I love most about it. I can think out here.’ A shadow crossed over his face. ‘It’s like I have no problems at all.’
‘Do you ever wonder what would happen if you sailed away and never came back?’
‘Are you trying to tell me something?’ His smile didn’t ring true, the crinkle not quite reaching his eyes.
‘I’m serious. Don’t you think it would be great to go somewhere new? Start over?’ That sounded like the most appealing idea she’d ever come up with. A fresh start. No baggage. A clean slate unmarked by her previous mistakes.
He shrugged. ‘Yeah, I think about it for five seconds and then I realise what a stupid idea it is.’
‘Why?’
‘I couldn’t leave my family.’
‘Even if it was the thing you wanted to do most in the world?’
‘It would take something pretty spectacular to make me seriously consider it. To date, nothing has come close.’
Chantal bit down on her lip, hating herself for allowing his words to sting. He was clearly drawing a line in the sand, defining their relationship… or lack thereof. She should be happy. He’d absolved her of any guilt about leaving him at the end of the week. But the words cut into her as real and painful as any blade.
‘Doesn’t hurt to fantasise,’ she said wistfully.
‘Sometimes it does.’ He looked as though he were about to continue but his face changed suddenly. ‘We’re going to stop soon, but you might want to head portside in a minute.’
Chantal looked from left to right. ‘Portside?’
‘Sorry—boat-speak.’ Brodie pointed to a section of the railing to his left. ‘Stand over there.’
‘You’re not going to tip me overboard, are you?’
He smirked. ‘Don’t tempt me.’
Chantal went to the railing, holding on to the metal bar with both hands. ‘What am I looking for?’
‘You’ll know it when you see it.’
Beautiful as the view was, she couldn’t see anything much. They were clearly approaching land, but the fuzzy green mounds still looked a while away. She shielded her eyes with her hand, searching.
Something glimmered below the water—a shadow. Holy crap, was that a shark? Moments later the water broke, and a group of a dozen dolphins raced alongside the boat in a blur of grey and splashing blue.
‘Did you see that?’ Chantal shouted, leaning over the railing to watch the majestic creatures leap out of the water over and over.
They were so sleek. So fast and playful.
‘Careful!’ Brodie called out with a smile on his face. ‘Don’t fall in.’
‘There’s so many of them.’
She watched, mesmerised by the fluid way the dolphins moved—as if they were trying to keep up with the boat. Their smooth bodies sliced through the water, their beaked faces appearing to smile. They looked joyful. Uninhibited.
Chantal could feel the heat of Brodie’s gaze on her, boring holes through the thin layer of her ankle-length dress. Right now his boat was the most amazing place in the world. How would she ever leave it at the end of the week?
SEEING CHANTAL’S FACE when she discovered the dolphins had melted his insides. The sparkle in her eye, her squeak of delight, the way she’d hung over the railing as though she was desperate to jump into the water with them… it had been too much.
After the dolphins had moved on he’d steered them to Nelson Bay and moored in the spot normally reserved for one of the dolphin and whale-watching companies. After ordering Chantal off to the shower that morning he’d called in a favour with a friend who ran the mooring services for the Port Stephens region. Now they had a couple of hours for lunch before he’d need to leave the area and head back to Newcastle.
A spread of smoked salmon, bagels with cream cheese and fresh fruit covered the table that sat in front of the curved leather and wood seat. He’d also popped a bottle of champagne, which sat in a silver ice bucket.
‘Did you know the dolphins were going to be there?’ Chantal asked, taking a hearty bite out of a bagel. Cream cheese spilled forward, coating her upper lip, and her pink tongue darted out to capture it.
He remembered her obsession with bagels back from when they were at Weeping Reef together. Despite being slim as a rail, she’d devoured the doughy delights every morning for breakfast. Always with cream cheese. God, he had to stop looking at her mouth. She dived in for another bite, her eyes fluttering shut as she savoured the flavour.
‘You never know for sure. But there is a group of dolphins who live in the area, so it’s common to see them.’ He took a swig of his water.
‘They live here?’
‘Not specifically in Nelson Bay, but in the general Port Stephens area. It’s a big pod too—about eighty dolphins, I think.’
‘Wow.’ She sighed. ‘They’re so beautiful. I’ve always wanted to do one of those swim-with-the-dolphins things.’
‘They’re a lot of fun. The bottlenecks especially—they’re very playful.’
Her eyes widened. ‘You’ve done it? I’m so jealous.’
‘Yeah.’ Brodie nodded, a memory flickering. ‘We did it as kids once… me and Lydia. Before her accident.’
For a moment he wondered if she would dig further, ask about Lydia’s accident. Instead she said, ‘What do they feel like?’
‘They’re smooth—kind of rubbery.’
‘What do they eat?’
He laughed, taken by her intense curiosity. ‘Fish, squid… that kind of thing.’
Lying back on her chair, she kicked her legs out and crossed her ankles. A contented sigh escaped her lips. ‘I’m so full. That salmon was amazing.’
‘You’re welcome.’
She turned her head, shielding her eyes
