Page 64 of Marlin's Faith

That was all that needed to be said about it, too.

“I’ll bring back some fish outta my freezer,” I told him and he nodded.

“Sounds good.”

I downed my coffee and headed for my bike, I knew Faith was safe enough with my best friend, but that still didn’t mean I liked leaving her here like this one bit. I shot a text to her phone with where I was headed and to call me when she woke up so she didn’t worry or have to contend with wondering if I was coming back. I figured she’d be freaked out enough.

With a heavy sigh, I fired my bike back up and made for Ft. Royal, I wanted to get back here sooner rather than later.

34

Faith…

I woke and it was so quiet, there was no distant crash of waves on the shore, and there wasn’t any hum from the A/C unit. It was so very still, too, which meant I wasn’t on the boat, either. I pushed myself into a sitting position and heaved out a breath.

No, I wasn’t in familiar surroundings, but Iwassafe. I was on the orange farm and if Marlin wasn’t here in the bedroom, knowing him, he wasn’t likely far away. I got up and had to smile. He’d laid out my favorite, long, summer dress and sandals for me. He’d even remembered clean underthings. I dressed quickly and sighed out. It was warm in here. Too warm, almost like the house didn’t have A/C, but what home in Florida didn’t? Also, it’d been much cooler the night before. I wondered if Bobby had turned it off.

I let the dress fall around my body, the soft, breathable, jersey knit, fit well in the chest, but didn’t cling badly to the rest of me. The teal and white chevron pattern was flattering, too. I picked up the light, white lace wrap that I liked to wear with it and slid my feet into the white sandals that waited for them. I went downstairs, figuring that I would find Marlin in the kitchen, but the house was deserted.

Panic began to swell in my breast and I forced it down, my fingertips finding the metal and leather cuff around my wrist. I opened the door to the house and pushed on the old, wooden screen door, letting myself out onto the porch. It was oppressively hot out here too, only marginally less bad than inside but that was due to the slight breeze rustling through the trees which marched in lines away from the house.

It was as if the house had been built, and orange trees had been planted in the back yard, but then the owner decided that he wanted more. The next thing you knew, there were rows of trees in all four directions, though they’d had the foresight to leave a little bit of a front yard, not only for kids to play on, but also an expanse to park cars on.

Marlin’s motorcycle was conspicuously absent, and so was Bobby’s battered old truck. I bit my bottom lip and listened, and hearing distant voices, picked that direction to walk in. I stayed out in the middle, between two rows of trees, so I wouldn’t be missed, and took my time making my way towards the talking and laughing I could hear.

“Whoa! Hey, look who’s up.” Bobby smiled and waved at me from further up the row, and I slowed. I didn’t see Marlin with him, or among the other men standing around the back of his truck.

“I was looking for Marlin,” I called softly.

“Ah, he went back to his boat to pick up a few things for y’all. He should be back soon, he’s been gone for a fair bit.”

I smoothed my face into a mask of neutrality; I didn’t want to show any of these men that this news upset me, or how afraid I was. Besides, if Marlin entrusted Bobby with my care, then I was reasonably sure that I could, too.

“You hungry?” Bobby called and I nodded carefully. He looked me over, considering and said to one of the men standing near the front of the truck, “Miguel, grab me the blanket off the front seat, would you?”

The man complied. He was older than Bobby, by quite a bit, maybe fifties or sixties, and a deep, deep, tan from too much time in the sun. He smiled at me and handed Bobby, who was clearly his boss, the blanket. Bobby laid the blanket across the tailgate of his pickup and then held out a hand, motioning for me to come closer. I took stock of the situation.

Bobby, sure, but there were five other men standing around with him including Miguel. All of them appeared to be a worker of some sort in overalls with tank tops underneath, skin gleaming with a coat of sunscreen. Some wore heavy carpenter like pants and tees. I chewed my bottom lip in consideration and Bobby smiled.

“Boys, give the lady some room,” he said and all of them looked at him quizzically but stepped further out from the truck. I sighed inwardly, and felt terrible. I gripped the leather cuff around my wrist and forced my feet into motion.

“There you are,” Bobby said with mild strain as he caught me around the waist and lifted me, setting me on the blanket on the bed of the truck. I squeaked and tried to remember to keep my breathing under control. He eyed me and handed me an icy bottle of water out of a cooler in the back of his truck.

“Am I not supposed to be out here alone?” I asked.

“Nah, you’re good,” he said and his smile was warm with adorable dimples that would have made my sister Charity go on for hours. He pulled the red trucker hat off his head and scratched the top of his sweat-soaked, dark brown hair before replacing it. He reached into another cooler and handed me a half a sandwich wrapped in waxed paper.

“Thank you,” I murmured.

“You’re good, you’re good,” he repeated, though he was studying me rather intently. Some of the other men were, too. I shifted uncomfortably and with shaking hands unwrapped the sandwich.

“Lunch time is over boys, head on back to work,” Bobby said quietly and the men nodded and began cleaning up.

“Thought you was gonna sleep all day, Darlin’.”

“It was too hot, I woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep.”

Bobby swore, “A/C went out again. I’ll head back to the house to fix it in a little while. First, I figure I should go over the rules of this place with yah.” He chuckled, “You ain’t done nothin’ wrong Sweetheart, just some things to go over for your own safety.”

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