Allie giggled, "Come on, Evan, we're going to be late!" She took his hand and ran down the dock. "How can we be late if I'm driving?" She just smiled in response. "Help me get this up there," she said, handing him her small suitcase. He was still confused how she could pack so little on a 3-day boat trip. He smiled and tossed it aboard. He stepped up onto the sailboat and held out his hand to her, "All aboard!" Allie took Evan's hand and stepped onto
The Amelia.
"Are you sure your parents are cool about you taking the boat?" she asked. Evan smiled his reassuring smile, "Don't worry about it. We're going to have so much fun." He unhooked the boat from its figure 8 knot and took the wheel. "You ever been on a boat, Allie?"
"I've been on ferries with my family when I was younger, but nothing like this."
Evan laughed, "Well then, you're in for quite a ride."
The Amelia
began to speed up. Allie shrieked in delight. The wind pushed her hair out of her face, her eyes were big, and her laugh flowed through the air. "Evan! This is great!" Her summer dress fluttered in the wind, and she had to keep it down with one hand. She walked up to the front of the boat and leaned over the rail, staring out into the ocean beyond. Evan loved her like this, he loved her happy. Sure, she was loud and got excited easily, but it was worth it to him.
A good eight or nine miles out he stopped. "Need help with the anchor?" Allie had come up from the front of the boat. "Sure," Evan replied, and took her to the starboard. "Here, just hold this while I turn that lever and when I say so, drop it." Allie nodded. "Now." The splash sent water droplets over the side of the boat. Evan stood up and brushed his hands off on his shorts. "That should be good for now." Allie stood and hugged him. "How about a tour?" she asked. Evan chuckled, "Sure." He took her hand and since she had already become familiarized with the deck, he led her below into the cabin.
It wasn't terribly large or horribly small. Allie first walked into the main room, a small kitchen with a little table stood before her. To the right was the bedroom, and across from that the bathroom. "There really isn't much to it," Evan admitted. Allie spun around and placed her arms around his neck. "It's perfect," she whispered. "You really are the best, you know that?" Evan replied, and kissed her.
"I should start making something for dinner, it's almost six," Allie said.
"Yeah, there's food and pots in the cupboards over there," Evan pointed, "Call me down when you're done."
"Where are you going?" Allie asked.
"I'm going to put down the sail and get our bags from the deck to bring them down."
"Okay," Allie replied and got to work. Evan walked up the stairs back up to the deck. He had already found their bags, and the sail didn't take too long to take down. What Allie didn't know is that beforehand, he had stored some tables and chairs along with nicer table settings in the compartments underneath the bench in the back of the boat.
He pulled out the table from the largest compartment, and placed it right in the center the front deck. He brought over the two chairs and set them looking over the ocean. He brought out his mom's favorite tablecloth, not too expensive, but definitely a statement. The plates were fine china with some golden designing along the edges. The utensils were his parents' silver wedding forks, knives, and spoons. He brought out the two glasses he had stored, and then two champagne glasses. "She'll be surprised with the smuggled champagne," he thought. And the final touch, is in an empty bottle, and Allie's favorite -- a white rose.
"Evan! Dinner!" Allie called from below deck.
"One second!" He replied. Evan grabbed their bags, brought them down, placed them in the bedroom, and came back to the small kitchen.
"What did you make?" he asked.
"Well, I couldn't decide, so I made some salad, and then some angel hair pasta," she replied.
"It sounds perfect," Evan said, and reached behind her to carry up the pot of pasta and bowl of salad.
"Where are you going?" Allie asked.
"Stay right here, I'll be right back, okay?" Evan said. Allie nodded. Evan carried the pasta pot up, and served the two of them. He placed the bowl of salad off to the side, and then went back down to the cabin.
"Okay," he said, "Close your eyes." Allie looked at him quizzically, but did as he said.
"Take my hand." Evan said. She did.
"Now, really carefully, walk up the stairs..." Evan led her up the stairs and onto the deck. He led her so that she was facing the table. He covered her eyes with his hands.
"On the count of three. One...Two...Three!" Evan removed his hands, and Allie's eyes fluttered open.
She was speechless. "E-Evan...ohmygosh! This...This is amazing!"
"No need to thank me," Evan replied, spun her around, and kissed her. "Now, shall we eat?"
Allie nodded, and walked over to a chair. To her surprise, Evan pulled out the chair for her, and pushed it in as she sat down. "I have one more surprise," Evan said. "What could be more of a surprise than this?" Allie thought to herself. Evan pulled out the champagne. "Ta-da!"
Allie giggled, "You're horrible." Evan grinned and he poured the two of them a glass. "To us," he toasted. "To us," Allie echoed.
After dinner, Allie helped Evan put the table, chairs, and table dΓ©cor back into their designated cupboards. After a while, they had settled down on the bench in the front of
The Amelia
, Allie's head on Evan's shoulder, Evan's arm around her waist. "Tell me a story," Allie whispered. Evan looked down on her and smiled, "What story could be better than the story of tonight?" He took her face in his hands, she wrapped her arms round his neck and into his hair. "I love you, Allie," and Evan kissed her.
A cool breeze wafted across the deck while the two slept.
Evan woke as the first rays of light. He got up and set a pot of coffee in the kitchen below deck. He came up to see Allie stirring. "Hurry, or you'll miss the sunrise. It's almost as beautiful as you," he said smiling at her.
Allie looked at Evan for several moments, also smiling. She thought to herself, "I wonder what he has in store for this day." Then she got up and walked next to him at the edge of
The Amelia
. The sun was just cresting. "You'll go blind doing that," Allie remembered her mom saying whenever she'd stare at the sun. It didn't matter at this moment, it's far too beautiful. She took his hand and sighed.
Evan brought his hand around his waist and wrapped his arm around hers. "I love you as the sun loves the horizon."
As it crept higher, Allie realized she needed somewhere to relieve her dinner from the night before. "Where's the bathroom?"
Evan was started by her sudden mention of the facilities, but not for the right reasons. His mind was drifting more toward a shower. A shower would be nice. "We don't have a shower or anything. But the toilet's at the back of the boat. If you need to shower... ocean water's really nice actually." He remembered the first time he went swimming.
When Allie was finished taking care of business, she came out and got a cup of coffee while it was still fresh. She could hear Evan on the deck. "He could be setting sail again," she thought. She decided to make some breakfast, but it probably wouldn't be wise to cook while the boat's moving. So she went back up to the deck.
Indeed, Evan was walking to the wheelhouse; the sails had been unfurled. "Evan, don't you want some breakfast before we go again? And what about the anchor?"
"I weighed anchor while you were using the restroom. I want to bring the boat around the other side of the island before breakfast. There's a wonderful view of the beach and some cliffs."
"But how am I going to cook with the boat rocking? It'll make a mess!"
"Cook? Just grab a snack for now. We can cook when we get there."
Allie scoffed, but went back down. The bittersweet smell of coffee was making her shaky, but she loved it in any case. She found some small muffins in the kitchen's stowage. She ate one, then brought the other one and another cup of coffee up to Evan. Pouring the coffee was a little annoying with the boat clipping the waves.
Evan gladly accepted the coffee. Weather reports indicated clear skies, but the ocean was being quite choppy for such. No matter, he'd had plenty of experience with his dad.
The hot coffee steeled his nerves, the muffin steadied his hunger; well, what little of it that he got. He took two bites, then set it down. Allie had eyeballed it for a few minutes and then decided to finish it piecemeal. Now she was sitting down with her head in a book she'd found below deck. Evan thought of what he hoped might happen in the coming hours or days.