"Do I look querulous to you?"
"To me, Madame, to me you are a vision. But if we go inside, you will anger quickly over the stopped-up kitchen sink, the broken washing machine and the fact Jonathan has another F on a Math test. Then I, quite unintentionally, might be forced to render a less-than-endearing although entirely accurate opinion of your inappropriate female response –"
"Well, now I am!" Carolyn gripped the steering wheel, staring straight ahead. "Very querulous, indeed. In fact -- "
"M'dear," the Captain continued suavely, resting his arm behind her seat. "I think we both might benefit from a brief interlude from the chaos imposed by the attitude of your contrarian housekeeper and the needs of your charmingly devious children. If I might suggest, did you know you can steer a straight course straight from here down a little-known back road and onto the little strand of pines directly behind the beach just to our south?"
She shifted slightly in her seat, acutely aware of what appeared to be a flesh-and-blood hand just to the left of her shoulder.
He cocked his chin a notch and the engine sprang , unbidden to life. Carolyn glanced at him. She shifted into gear and gently eased the station wagon down the pothole-ridden path that officially ended Cliff Road. The Captain pointed to a turn barely visible through the pine needles. Seconds later, he cut the engine.
Silence, except for the faint howling sound the wind made as it challenged the puny trees to match the thundering of the stormy gray Atlantic. There wasn't much beach at this point along the shoreline. It's more like a rocky promontory, Carolyn thought. She blushed, as Captain Gregg stared at her intently. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
There, just behind the treeline, stood a small cottage that might have appeared forlorn, were it not for the candlelight shining from within.
"Claymore's, I presume?"
"Ours, Madame, for those rare occasions when even the Wheelhouse seems too small."
Or not intimate enough, Carolyn thought, wondering what might happen if she spent too much time alone with the Captain. The idea intrigued her as she removed her shoes to walk through sand and pebbles, shivering in the cold sea air.
Ours, not yours.