Leaving Ketchikan, we had a steady drizzle of rain. We made our way north, pretty much cruising slowly and taking in the sights. Coming around the Cleveland Peninsula we saw a black bear on the beach near a stream.
Farther up were three Eagles diving on the water. They were after salmon and one came up with a large one in its claws. It flew a very laborious serpentine route trying to gain altitude with what had to be a thirty-pound king salmon. Soon it disappeared over the hill.
Carl came up from below and took me aside.
"We need to put in for sure at Juneau. I am having a problem with one of the bilge pumps. I think it would be best to get it repaired in dock there."
"Don't we have several of those pumps?"
"Yes sir, but this is one of the main one's. I would feel a quite a bit better crossing the Gulf with it operational. It can get pretty nasty out there on the open waters."
"How long do you think it will take to repair?"
"I will call ahead and see if the parts are available and let you know from there Sir."
"Carl, call me Bill. Sir was my father."
"Yes sir...I mean Bill."
I wasn't too concerned about time. I don't think any of my crew was either. I had been thinking pretty hard about Julie and I. What was my next step? How would we continue our relationship? Would there be any relationship at all?
In the short time I had known her I had grown to like her far more than a friend. I was trying to separate our sexual intimacies from matters of the heart. Difficult was not the best word to describe my feelings and thoughts.
I had changed. Just in the few days on board my boat, I had changed. I think all of us had changed quite a bit. I thought also of Anne and May. They were both special women and Julie had started me to thinking of them in more serious ways.
As I was pondering May came up behind me and interrupted my thoughts. I was standing near the bridge, outside near the rail. I was getting a bit wet from the mist of rain that softly fell.
"Bill, did Carl talk to you about the bilge pump?"
"Yes he did."
"You seem...preoccupied. Care to talk to someone about it?"
May was standing close enough to me that I could smell her particular freshness. Just being near her like this caused me to lose concentration and become tongue-tied. Yes, we had been having sex and all that, but there was more to it than that too.
"Uh...well...I was just thinking about things. Things in general, things in focus. Worried about my relationship with Julie to begin with. Not exactly what I would call a healthy one by any means."
"Are you still bothered with the father daughter thing? It isn't like you plan on marrying her. Your not are you?"
"Good God no."
"Then treat it as a very enlightening experience with someone very special. Quit beating yourself up over it. Julie came on to you with her crazy plan in her head and then everything backfired on her."
"Yeah? How so?"
"She came here with a plan of revenge on a father who she felt had abandoned her. She found out that you were not the jerk she thought you were. By the time she realized it was too late. Your having sex with her...just take it like she was a sweet young thing you didn't know and leave it at that."
"Easily said, hard to do. I feel like a dirty old man. Although after yesterday...not quite so. I just couldn't stand it if it were known around that Julie and I had been having sex. It is still not a socially acceptable practice."
"Bill, I don't think you have any worries about that. I have noticed that Anne seems to think a lot of you by the way. If I were to hazard a guess, I think she has fallen in love with you."
"Anne? Young enough to be my daughter."
"Old enough to have sex with. Old enough to drink. Old enough to marry. What difference does age make anyway?"
"Yeah? Well, what about you? What do you think? How do you feel?"
"How I feel has nothing to do with that. What I think...well I work for you. You are the boss."
"Well, the 'boss' wants to know one thing from you Captain May. That one thing is...do you have any feelings for me other than...professional?"
"Me? I just work for you Bill. We have had some great sex together...besides...Anne is quite beautiful, young, well built..."
"I was not asking about Anne. I was asking you if you had feelings for me beyond boss and employee. Do you?"
"I can't...uh...I have to go check on the auto-navigator. Excuse me please."
May tried to cut by me but I took her arm in hand. I pulled her around gently and stepped in closer to her. She shrank back a bit. I think she did not want to tell me how she felt about me.
"May...please. I need to know. Do you have...do you think...damnit...are you falling in love with me?"
"Falling in love with you Bill? No. I'm not falling in love with you. I...I...fell in love with you already. I...need to...I have a ship to..."
"You love me? You have fallen in love with me?"
"I just said so."
"Then why are you being so...afraid?"
"Why? I am just a woman who captains yachts for the wealthy. You are one of the wealthy. What I can make in one-year...hell...ten years you could pull out of your pocket in an instant. If I had told you earlier...even now...well some would think I was just a gold digger. If it didn't work out...I would never be able to Captain yachts again. The 'rich' would be afraid I was trying to get my hooks into them. Can't you see?"
May broke away and ran into the bridge. I let her go. Her tears towards the end had caught me off guard. She loved me and had said nothing about it. How long I still was not sure. Her statement of love for me I had half expected. Not her reasons why she hadn't told me of her feelings before this.