Page 83 of The Sailor in Polynesia
Jonas nodded. “I did watch that video.” He stopped and looked away. “To me, it looked like you were going to embrace being alone.”
I placed my hand on Jonas’s thigh. “It was more of a goodbye toWelina, really. But I remembered some of the things Lila had said to me. You helped me gain some of my confidence back after Liam, but so did Lila. And that got me thinking. I made some videos and put them up on one of those teaching marketplaces. I’ll be announcing the launch this week.”
His smile for me was so big. He picked up my hand and kissed my palm before threading his fingers through mine. “I am so proud of you. You are going to keep inspiring people everywhere.”
“Anyway, someone randomly commented that they would love to buy a boat likeWelina—well, a Morgan 45 anyway. And it reminded me that Ididget people occasionally emailing me, looking to buy the boat. So I spent hours digging through my emails or comments and found almost fifty people to contact. I got a few offers in, and a local guy came to do a survey and a few test sails, and the new owners committed. I was worried if I said anything... Well, I knew we would start to make plans and they all hinged on the closing. I didn’t want to say anything to get our hopes up.”
“I am so happy for you.” He smiled and tucked my hair behind my ear.
I turned the tables on Jonas. “What areyourplans? Are you still thinking about sellingEik?”
“I have contacted a broker here in Opua. Eivind and Lila are going to stay on board for a little while, but then they are flying over to Australia to meet Lila’s family and coming back in March to have their wedding in New Zealand.”
I tilted my head at him. “But what aboutyou?”
He huffed out a laugh and ran his hands through his hair. “I do not know. I... I wanted to see you. I thought you loved sailing?”
“I do. It is definitely not about that.” I cocked my head and found the courage to ask the big question. “What if we sailedEiktogether?”
His smile was so broad, his joy so radiant. “Eivind and Lila are leaving for good. It would just be the two of us.”
“I know. I would need to either get a job or keep making videos. I suspended my income from the videos, but I think I could start it back up again.”
“Do you want to keep making videos?”
“Do you want to keep sailing?” I countered.
“Yes, I would sail with you. As a partner, my equal. If life had given me a sailing woman to love, I would have done that from the beginning.”
I tugged myself into his lap, kissing his neck, right below his ear. “So life’s given you a sailing woman to love now, huh?”
He laughed when I worried his earlobe between my teeth. “Yes, I love you, my sailing woman. Very much.”
Epilogue
Four more months later...
Lila tried to grab for the ax. Jonas got to it first and held it over his head.
“Jonas!” Lila whined. “Why would you bring me to an ax-throwing place if I’m not allowed to throw an ax?”
“You threw the ax a lot already. Several times. You were not good then, and you will be even worse now.”
Lila blinked up at him and pushed out her bottom lip. She also swayed slightly thanks to the glasses of wine she’d had.
Whose idea was this hen and stag night anyway?
“That might work on my brother, but not on me,” Jonas said firmly.
“Lila,” I said, diverting her attention. “Let’s go inside, get some water, take a bathroom break, and then we’ll see about ax throwing.”
Jonas shot me a look, but I gave him a reassuring smile when Lila harrumphed and weaved toward me. I looped an arm around her shoulders to help steer her in the right direction.
We were on the outskirts of Wellington, at a winery-cum-ax-throwing-range that was the site of the pre-wedding festivities. Most groups were doing wine tastings and carefully throwing axes, thrilled with the novelty of their sunny Sunday afternoon activities.
But not our group. Lila’s friends from Australia—Straya, as she kept saying loudly for any Kiwis in the vicinity—were a rowdy bunch. I understood it—they were college friends, and Lila was one of the first in her group to get married.
I steered her into the bathroom first, where she continued to talk to me from her stall. The wedding was the next weekend at a different winery in the South Island, and Lila’s parents were flying in this coming Tuesday. This was easily Lila’s default conversation topic and had been for the last month.
