Lighthouse

Chapter 7

It is now three days later

Kate was hiding out in her room as Rick had told her to since he'd seen a boat approaching. She had spent the last three days telling him about her daily life. For the most part he hadn't said anything. He only asked one or two questions. He had also had her write down her complete address and phone number.

The idea that he was going to come anywhere near her husband scared her to death. However she gave him the information. After all, she'd promised and her life was now in his hands.

She had also noticed that he was now cold to her. He used to be more fun, smile more often, and even tease her from time to time. Now he was direct and brusque. He was starting to remind her of her husband.

The second her door opened she almost jumped out of her skin. But it was just Rick. "They're gone. They left me a walkie talkie that they want me to try and use. Neither of us are sure it has the power or range. They're also trying to come up with a much smaller antenna that can be erected easier and faster. A replacement for the one I lost has been put out to bid. They don't expect anything for at least a month if not longer and then longer still to get them out here to install it."

"And me?" Everything else was well and good, but what about her?

"I didn't tell them a thing about you. For now you still don't exist outside of this island. Well, save for your husband, of course. I also gave them sealed envelopes to be sent to some people I know. They're going to start some research on your husband and get back to me." He had warned her that he was going to do just that.

"Will you stop calling him my husband, please? Just call him Josh or Davidson. I'm tired of being reminded that I married him." She should have listened to her friend who didn't even know how much trouble she was in. She'd been in such a hurry that neither she nor Sylvia had even thought about contacting her for help. Her fear of her husband had been all consuming.

"Sorry." Rick hadn't thought about it hurting her. "You can go back to doing what you want." He turned to leave.

"Rick." Kate wanted to talk about how he was treating her. She wanted the other Rick back. The one that teased her, laughed with her. The one that liked her. "Can you go back to liking me, please. It's just you and me and I'm sorry I lied, but you don't know my life was like." He didn't know all of it but if they talked daily about it like he had asked of her, he was going to learn fast.

"Please, I liked the happy Rick better." She didn't want this island to become yet another hell.

That had Rick thinking about it. How he was treating her. It wasn't just that she had lied. It was also because she was married and if they got too close he feared he was going to fall in love with her. In love with a married woman. That was a very bad idea. "I'll try, that's all I can promise." He would consciously try and treat her like he used to.

"Thank you!" She couldn't hope for more.

"How's your dress coming?" She had been working on it for days.

"I'm almost done, actually. Just a little touch up. I don't have a dummy to hang it on which makes it harder. Unless you want to be my dummy?" Kate teased him by putting her dress on him. He was obviously far too big for this, but that wasn't the point.

"I think I'll pass, thanks. I am looking forward to what you have made using the cloth that you had to work with, though." He had seen her drawing but what she had colored didn't match the cloth she had to work with.

"Just don't laugh." She had done her best with what she had to work with, but it didn't look anything like what she had drawn. Color-wise that was.

Rick raised a hand. "I promise. Come find me when you're ready. I have to mow the grass and police the grounds today. Then do some maintenance on all of the buildings." He left her to it.

Kate went back to breathing. He hadn't fought back about being nice to her again. He'd even let her tease him a little. She glanced around to see if she needed anything then went into the dining room which was now her sewing room. He had at least not taken that from her. Something Josh would have done in a heartbeat.

She was done and was happy with it. It wasn't going to win her any awards but that wasn't the point. The point was that she enjoyed doing it and it was something she thought she was good at. She did her best to ignore the color combination.

Now she was outside with a cold drink for Rick and walking around looking for him. She found him on an extension ladder doing something to one of their windows.

"Thirsty? It's cold." She held up the glass for him to see.

"Give me a minute," Rick called down. He finished what he had started and then climbed down.

Kate saw a sweaty and tired-looking Rick who took the glass and drank most of it down. "Thanks, I needed that." He hadn't being paying attention to his hydration.

"My pleasure. You should probably take a break and get out of the sun and this heat." Kate was trying to look out for him. Rick began shaking his head.

"I've got a few more windows to check. If there's a leak the rain will start to rot the wood and possibly make it inside, causing still more damage. Tomorrow I need to check the roofs before it rains again." That had both of them looking around and they both saw some dark clouds in the distance.

"I'll get you another drink then." Kate took the glass back after Rick drained it and went back inside to fill it again. She was back at the bottom of his ladder waiting for him to come down.

Satisfied that he wasn't going to drop from thirst she went back inside and adjusted the fans that were all they had to keep the place cool. They had heat but to keep cool they used fans.

She desperately wished she had something cooler to wear. What little she had to wear was a little warm save for the lone t-shirt Rick had given her and she was sweating from the heat. She went back outside to find him. This time she found him on the roof of the maintenance building.

"Rick." She waited until she had his attention. "May I borrow another of your t-shirts? It's rather hot inside." The wind made being outside cooler than inside.

"Sure." Rick didn't care. "In fact if you'll give me a minute and find the sun cream we can go down to the beach. The water is kind of cold but it might be refreshing." Rick had been working, he was tired and hot so being on the beach or even in the lake might be nice.

"Okay." Kate was in and started to turn away. "Thank you." He was being nice to her again and she liked that.

Kate was wearing just her panties and one of his t-shirts. With towel in hand and the bottle of sun cream she headed for the beach wearing the only pair of shoes she had.

She put out her towel and sat down and started spreading around the sun cream when Rick showed up showing more skin than he ever had. All he had on was his swim shorts and had a towel in his hand.

Kate held out the sun cream for him to take and put to use. She waited until he had used it everywhere save his back. "Give that to me and turn around." She wanted him to get an even tan so she was going to apply the sun cream to his back.

She had actually started out with helping him in mind. However as she applied more and more sun cream she found she liked running her hands over his back. He was even flexing his muscles a little. Kate fought hard not to lean in and kiss his shoulder. Being this close and doing this was getting to her. "All done." She took her hands back before she did something.

"Thanks." Then he did something that shocked her. He kissed her cheek and then laid down on his towel stomach first. It left her sitting there looking down at him. He had kissed her again. She gently touched the spot and smiled bemusedly.

She really wished she wasn't married or had found him before she met Josh. Her life would have been so different. Finally she laid down on her towel next to him and turned her head to watch him even though he wasn't watching her.

She was still watching him when he turned his head and looked her direction. Then she saw his eyes look her over. She knew the only part of her that was exposed was her legs.

"Ready to test the water?" Rick asked her.

Kate didn't blink an eye. "Sure." She got up and saw Rick following her. Side by side they headed for the water. It was there that they both stopped. He had warned her that the water would be cold.

"You first," Kate said with a smile.

"No, no, ladies first. …Always," Rick insisted and motioned for her to go first.

"Coward," Kate teased and began walking into the water. She was in deep enough that one of these waves was going to reach her mid-calf and maybe even her knees. The second it did she felt the cold of the water. Undaunted she kept walking and turned back to look at Rick who hadn't moved an inch. "Come on, chicken. This was your idea." Kate started clucking like a chicken at him to get him moving.

Kate turned back to view the waves coming at her. She was soon smiling when she heard Rick react to the cold of the water. It was now up to her waist and the water was indeed cold.

She wasn't going to last long in this water but at least she wasn't baking in the heat any longer.

Suddenly she found Rick standing next to her. Then he took her by her arm and walked them farther out into the water. Soon a wave hit them and Kate's t-shirt was now soaking wet. She was also cold instead of hot. "Rick." She was ready to go back and get some more sun and get warm again.

Rick turned to face her and stopped dead in his tracks. Kate was standing there, her t-shirt was soaking wet and plastered to her chest. Her breasts and especially her hard nipples were front and center.

Kate saw him looking at her then she looked down. Her shirt was showing him damn near everything. Granted he had already seen literally everything, but this was different.

He didn't reach for her breasts but he did start to lean down toward her. He was actually going to kiss her. Not kiss her forehead or her cheek but actually kiss her.

Kate met him halfway and kissed him back. She felt his arms wrap around her as the kiss got deeper. She couldn't stop from putting her arms around his neck and she slipped her tongue into his mouth to search it and taste him.

Finally Rick needed air so he broke from the kiss. "We should probably get out of the water before we freeze to death." She heard his words but she didn't let go of him and his arms were still around her. Then he was gone and walking back to the beach.

She hurried to catch up. Neither of them said a word as they sat down on their towels and looked out onto the lake. Then both of them saw a ship in the distance. It was a big one. Easily at least as large as the one she had been on.

Rick pointed at it. "Probably filled with iron ore for the war." He knew Philadelphia needed all they could get to make war material. Then he laid down on his back and stared up at the sky.

Kate wasn't ready to talk about the kiss either so she did the same. Though she did shift her eyes from time to time to look at him. However each time she did, he was looking up at the sky.

Kate looked up to see what was so interesting. "What does that cloud look like?" Kate pointed at one. It was childish she knew, but she wasn't ready to talk about the kiss. She was married but really wished she wasn't. Rick had been nothing but nice to her and now he was finally back to talking to her and liking her.

"A flying saucer," Rick finally told her.

Kate studied her cloud again. "Are we looking at the same cloud?" Hers didn't look anything like a flying saucer.

Rick pointed at another one. "That one looks like King Kong."

This time Kate started searching the clouds looking for either a flying saucer or King Kong. "What are you looking at?" She didn't see either one.

"That one is a B-17." He pointed. "And the little clouds around it are ME-109s trying to shoot it down." Rick bit his lip to keep from grinning and giving himself away.

Kate squinted and kept looking. She didn't see any of those three. "Just what are you looking at?" This time she turned to look at him to see what he was pointing at. That was when she saw his face.

"OH, YOU!" He was having fun with her and teasing her. She got up on her knees and climbed on top of him. "You don't see any of those things. Admit it." She stared at him waiting for him to admit it.

"It's not my fault you can't see them." Rick wasn't willing to back down even if she did have him on his back.

"You're mean." Kate decided to pout at him to get her way.

"I kissed you, didn't I?" Rick said.

"Yes, you did." She had kissed him back, too. "Why did you kiss me?" It looked like they were going to talk about it.

"Because." Kate suddenly found herself sitting on the sand and didn't know how she'd gotten there. "Because," Rick told her again as he got up, grabbed his towel, and went toward the house. He left Kate sitting on the sand wondering what Because meant. She wasn't even sure why she had kissed him back.

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"You can come out already. I promised not to laugh." Rick was ready to see her in a dress even though he had liked her in that wet t-shirt. He was actually mad at himself for kissing her. He had given in and kissed her and that had been stupid. For all he knew she was still lying to him.

Kate actually liked her dress. For once she was wearing something that actually fit her even if the colors clashed horribly. Naturally there was only one person who was going to see her in it.

Taking in a deep breath she stepped out of the dining room where she had been allowed to change in peace. She found Rick sitting on the sofa waiting for her. She saw him looking her over though he didn't say a thing. At first that was a good thing, however, he was too silent.

"What do you think?" Kate spun in place to show him everything.

Though the dress was exactly what she'd designed it looked very different than the sketch. The colors were all off because it was made of a half dozen different types and colors of fabric. There hadn't been enough of any one kind to make the dress. The skirt was half red and half orange, a gauzy fabric and a broadcloth. While the shoulders and collar were a dark purple brown gingham, the cap sleeves were pea green with purple teddy bears. Half of the bodice was a lilac calico with blue polka dots and the other half was sunshine yellow dotted Swiss. She'd been able to piece together an old sheet of Rick's to make a slip. Sadly there was no lace for the collar for all the good it would have done.

But even with the cacophony of colors and fabrics he could see the craftsmanship in the dress. It fitted her perfectly.

"You look amazing. You've never looked better." She actually looked like a real woman now and she'd made this all by herself. He knew nothing about sewing and didn't even know how the sewing machine had gotten here. Since he couldn't use it he had left it right where it was.

"I can't wait to see what you can do when you have what you need." Now he was looking forward to the next supply ship with a new interest.

"You don't think it's too much?" It was a real hodgepodge of fabrics and colors. But the style and fit was just what she wanted even if everything else was nowhere even close.

"I can honestly say I've never seen anything like it. You have skill. Your husband…" Rick could have kicked himself because she'd asked him not to call him that. "Josh is a fool. With a little work you might be able to sell what you make. We get you to Paris you might even end up famous. Put your dresses on that runway I saw one time on TV."

"You're nuts." She was good or at least she thought she was, but she wasn't anywhere near that good.

"Fine, don't listen to me, but you are shortchanging yourself if you don't at least try." He challenged her for her next dress. "Next time after you get your cloth I want you to try and make my eyes pop out of my head."

"You just want to see me naked again." Kate was sure he was leading her on. She could wish she was that good but didn't think she was.

"You're a married woman so, no, I don't want to see you naked." If she was standing naked right in front of her they would end up in bed. He was sure of it. She was pretty, even if her hair color wasn't her. Her legs were incredibly long and he liked her breasts. Especially in a wet t-shirt.

Kate was ready to collapse. He would have to remind her that she was married. Josh was never going to give her a divorce. Never! Her biggest mistake of her life was still hurting her. "I should never have married him."

Kate watched as Rick got up and she found herself in his arms. It allowed her to melt into him and let him hold her. Let him work at holding her up.

"Maybe he doesn't actually have to sign the divorce papers. Maybe if you just send them to him and wait the required time it'll happen automatically. I'm no lawyer, but maybe," Rick suggested quietly.

Kate knew she shouldn't but suddenly he had given her hope. "I suppose you have another friend."

That had Rick chuckling. "I've gotten around a little. You'd be surprised." He had a few friends and they were all over the place in what they could do.

"So I'm learning." Kate was in no hurry to escape his arms. She was comfortable right where she was. "What are we going to do?"

"You're going to keep telling me everything. Pick up where you left off last time and tell me what happened next." Rick heard her moan. Talking about her shitty life was the last thing she wanted to do. "That was part of our deal."

"I know." She still didn't like it. "Fine, where was I?" She might as well talk while she was in his arms. It made her feel better.