Author's note: This shorter piece flows directly from Deep Dive (Part 5), and actually concludes the Mendocino sequence. It will make a lot more sense if you read Part 5 first.
_________________________
It was morning now, around 7 a.m.
While Kate, Jacob and Megan slept, I'd gone back into the house, quietly grabbed a jacket and some boots, and headed off for a pre-dawn walk in the Mendocino Headlands.
Three hours later, trudging along the cliffs in the early light, I was no closer to understanding why I felt so conflicted about Kate.
I
did
know I was feeling both happy, and pissed off.
Happy, because I'd never met anyone else remotely like her. She was so...
incandescent.
Pissed off, because my feelings for her were deepening, and I was starting to question her need for other sexual partners. Particularly other men.
You're such a fucking idiot,
I thought to myself
. You had
no
problem with Michelle, but can't handle Jacob. Jesus, boy - get it together.
Pushing back, Pissed-off Me flashed an image from earlier that night: not of Kate eagerly riding Jacob's cock, but of the two of them lying on the couch afterwards, tenderly entwined with each other, sound asleep.
Something just didn't feel
right,
and I was at a loss for answers. Frustrated, I turned back towards the cottage.
The sun was glowing faintly in the east, rising in the mist. A foghorn sounded in the distance. Other than that: silence.
Stepping up on the front porch, I paused, took a deep breath, and opened the front door. I wasn't sure what I was expecting to see. And I wasn't expecting what I found.
Barefoot, in fitted blue jeans and a white Aran sweater, Kate sat alone in the centre of the couch, staring at the fireplace. The logs had burned down to embers now, and they glowed only faintly in the watery morning light.
Megan and Jacob were nowhere to be seen.
They've already left,
I thought. I hadn't expected that. Usually, our guests stayed at least until breakfast.
She looked silently at me as I stepped into the room. For the very first time in our relationship, I could see that she'd been crying. I was lost for something to say.
She looked at me with an expression I'd never seen before. She almost seemed... abandoned.
"Heyyy," she said softly. "Glad you're back... I was worried when I found you gone." She stopped for a moment, struggling to collect her thoughts. After a few seconds of silence, she asked quietly, "Do you want to talk?"
"Not sure," I answered, not really taking the time to consider my options. "Not sure..." I repeated quietly. "No... probably not now," I finished.
I walked over to the kitchen, filled the kettle, and put it on the stove.
"Coffee?"
"Maybe tea?" Kate countered.
"Sure." I pulled together the fixings for a pot of strong English tea, and then stood silently at the stove, staring vacantly at the kettle, waiting for it to whistle.
"It won't boil while you watch it, you know," Kate said quietly from right behind me.
I turned to find her standing only two feet away, looking at me almost anxiously. I hated seeing her this way. My heart cracked, and then I rallied, pushing back. "If
only
..." I said, a sliver of anger creeping into my voice.
"Mmmm," Kate said, looking up at me, more distant now. "Okay..."
I flushed, caught up in my own confusion. Not wanting to take the conversation any further, I turned away to make the tea.
This is not going well,
I mused.
__________________________
Two hours later, we were back on the highway, heading north in the mist. We stopped briefly in Fort Bragg to grab two espressos and some croissants, and then booted on up the coast towards Rockport.
The weather was almost a complete reversal from yesterday. Now foggy and grey, the ocean and hills were nearly invisible. We drove wordlessly, the top up, no music playing. Kate sat silently in the passenger seat, gazing off into the distance with a defeated look on her face.
After what seemed like an eternity, she reached out her hand, and placed it gently on my right leg. She left it there until we passed Rockport and turned inland towards Leggett.
She pulled her hand away. "Let's just go home," she said suddenly. "
Please...
I want to go home now."
I looked over at her, nodded, and silently recalibrated our route back to Vancouver. We wouldn't be taking the coast road after all.
_________________________
Around 6 p.m., after speeding up Interstate 5, we arrived in Portland. Our plan was to stay there for the night, and then head directly on to Vancouver the next day.
We'd said very little during the nine-hour drive. Both of us had remained lost in thought, deeply unsure about what to say next.
We rented a room in a pricey boutique hotel in downtown Portland. Given the untethered state of things, the place seemed way over the top.
The trip wasn't supposed to end
this
way
, I sighed to myself.