Sophie stepped in the boat first then held up a hand. At Ephraim’s disgusted look she arched her brow. “You can let me help or you can end up in the water. Your choice.”
He grunted then put his large hand in her smaller one then stepped into the boat. Or stomped, rather. Once in the craft, he fell onto the bench facing the motor and groaned. “That’s gonna leave a mark,” he said and rubbed his hip.
“At least you’re not all wet,” she couldn’t help reminding him then turned to start the motor. She untied the boat and pushed on the dock then took her seat and steered the control homeward. She couldn’t help but ask, “Did you have any bruising?”
“Now, yeah, probably. I think I hit the edge of the seat,” he said in a tight voice and she noticed his color was pale.
“If you have to lean over the side, be sure to hold on. I don’t think I could heft you back in the boat.”
“Thanks for the sympathy,” he half barked half laughed and she grinned at him.
“Just stating the obvious. And I was asking about bruising from when I found you on the beach.”
“Not bad. I think I was drug or rolled, though, which may explain how I ended up there instead closer to the shore.” He sat up straighter, “I didn’t check out the shoreline, look for any boats or evidence.”
She looked down at her hand on the controls then back up at him. “I went out while you were in the shower. No boat, no debris of any kind. And no evidence of dragging.”
He stared at her, “You couldn’t know what to look for.”
Her mouth thinned. “I know what a boat broken apart on a reef looks like. What a boat blasted by a propane leak leaves on the beach. Living near the beach all my life has taught me to look for destruction, Ephraim and there wasn’t anything there.”
CHAPTER 3
They argued about the island,with Ephraim insisting they return so he could examine the shoreline and Sophie flat out refusing. “I’m taking you to the clinic and that’s it.”
She didn’t head for the main dock but one along the northern part of town, in the old oyster processing region. Docks had once abounded here, with the major processing plants in the region. Now, there were homes and businesses dotted along the coastline, along with some small docks. She found one she knew wouldn’t report her boat and moored there then turned to Ephraim. “We have about a five-minute walk to the clinic. Think you can make it?”
“I’m not going to a clinic.”
She glared at him, “Okay. Sit there,” and she cut off the motor, took the key from the ignition to prevent him from stealing the thing and then climbed out of the dingy and started walking up the dock and toward the boardwalk along the harbor. A minute passed and she began to doubt her resolve then she heard him curse and yell her name. Hiding a smile, she turned and cocked her head to one side. “Yes?”
“I’ll go, now help me out of this thing before I throw up.”
She didn’t laugh, didn’t gloat, but she did give herself a mental attagirl as she held out her hand and he climbed up on to the dock. He growled at her. “You could have left the motor key.”
“Nope,” she said and headed to the steps leading to the boardwalk and alley beyond.
The clinic staff greeted her with smiles and then with commiseration as she told them that Ephraim had gotten a nasty cut on his head and might need stitches. She’d leave it up to him whether he told them of the circumstances of the injury. When she asked him if he wanted her to stay, he said no and she headed toward her car, parked several blocks away.
She sighed at the parking ticket flapping against the windshield wiper. Another expense she didn’t want to add to her monthly tab. She’d set an amount to save each month and rarely made it, with increased costs for gas and supplies. With her schedule full of rentals to clean, even in the winter she worked a full week but maybe she needed to take on weekend work, she mused as she stuffed the ticket in her back pocket and unlocked her twenty-year-old car. She tossed the backpack into the passenger seat and started the car then headed for the one place she could relax, her cabin.
No, she couldn’t take on more work. Her weekends were short enough. With cleaning her own house, taking care of the exterior of the property, and making time for church services on Sunday, she barely had enough time to recharge before heading back to clean other people’s ideas of vacation paradise. And she wanted to make a career out of this?
After she’d turned off the main road and onto the national park road, she noticed a dark car following along. Passing the secondary road that she’d normally take to her cabin, she kept an eye on the rearview mirror and made two or three more turns before the car dropped off and into a camping area in the park. Chiding herself, she made a few more turns before getting backon the main road and headed to the cabin. Ephraim had rubbed off on her, bringing back old habits. She’d have to mentally cleanse herself before she went to work the next day or she’d be looking in closets for skeletons.
She’d been home for less than fifteen minutes when her cell rang. Noticing the clinic’s number, Sophie tamped down a surge of panicked concern and answered. “Hello.”
“Sophie? This is Clare, from the clinic.”
“Hi, Clare. Is something wrong with Ephraim?”
“We don’t know, he left the treatment room before the doctor got to see him.”
“What?”
“We’d just finished checking him in, which was a pain in the rear, to be honest. He kept saying he didn’t remember stuff and the medical assistant finally just told him the doctor would check his blood pressure and heart rate, she was so flustered. Anyway, when the doc went into the room, he was gone.”
Sophie huffed an exasperated breath. “Drat that man. He acted like he had some issues with balance and I think he had some vision issues too. He’d gotten a pretty deep cut on his head and I think maybe a concussion. He had a raging headache yesterday, too.”
