Something in his voice made her look at him again. She had to be dreaming. Nobody would
ever promise her, what his eyes did. She swallowed hard, fighting back the tears that started to
well up in her eyes. What did he do to her? She had to leave her feelings locked up deep
inside of her to remain safe. She wanted to pull her hand out from under his, but she couldn't
move. She was relieved when he took his away.
"Give your self time", he said with a soothing voice, "I know I can't force you to trust me –
this is just an invitation."
He sat silent for a while to give her the chance to recollect her self. He was sorry he made her
feel uneasy again, but then, he also felt he had to push the limits.
He started to pack up the game and Erin, glad he had obviously closed the subject helped him.
She followed him down the hatchway. Stowing the chessboard away he turned to her.
"Erin, I didn't mean to confuse you. And I don't want to push you, for sure. I'm just trying to
find a way to help you."
She wanted to ask him why, but didn't dare to, so she headed for her cabin.
"I'll be with you in a moment", he said.
As he had the night before, he talked her through the procedure. Erin laid motionless, holding
on to his voice.
He wondered if she'd ever experienced being touched as pleasant. He suspected that he did
more then just to treat her back. He might as well be introducing her to a whole new world.
He hoped he did. He wanted to tell her that she was not alone anymore, that he would do
anything he could to help her get over her past life. That he wanted to hug her and hold her
and tell her that he loved her. Again he was caught by surprise about the clarity of his
feelings. Telling her was not an option right now though, of course.
So he tried to talk to her with his hands, caressing her rather than giving a massage.
Erin had tried to separate her mind from her body. But obviously she hadn't been able to do
so completely. She could feel his hands on her back, and was surprised by the absence of
pain. Long after he had already left her cabin, she still tried to figure out, what it had felt like.
At least she could answer that question he had asked before now: No, it hadn't been as hard
for her as it had been yesterday.
She took two of her one-hour-naps and after that, afraid to drift too far into sleep, sat up to
meditate. She wasn't able to empty her mind though, had too much to think about - Gibbs
above all. She didn't really know what to think about him. He was friendly, patient,
considerate and easy-going. He was too good to be true. But he'd make a good character in
her daydreams. She wondered why he didn't work. Well, maybe he did – maybe he was
undercover. But then he had said something about getting back in shape. Maybe he was on a
leave for some reason.
She felt restless and in need of fresh air. She put on a pair of jeans and a sweater. Not
wanting to wake Gibbs, she opened the hatch above her and climbed out.
She sat down on the deck, leaned on to the railing and let her feet hang over the ship's side.
She savoured the smell of the ocean and listened to the seagull's raspy greeting the first
indication of the new day.
The other boats were only faint shadows and the sound of the shrouds and halyards clapping
against wooden or metal masts promised a nice breeze for a perfect sailing day.
Before long she could hear the unique sound of the fishing cutter's one-cylinder diesel
engines.
As she had many times before, she felt that a morning like this one was making up for so
much. She was completely at one with herself. If life would be like this all the time, she'd
love it.
She heard a noise from the cockpit. Gibbs was up early too. He stood and stretched. Taking
his first look around he saw Erin sit at the bow. Erin couldn't help but look at him when he
approached her. He was barefooted, dressed in jeans and a loose fitting white t-shirt, his hair
still ruffled and Erin caught herself thinking he looked really good.
He sat down beside her, letting his feet hang over the side too.
She noticed something had changed about her feelings on him being so close. She still felt
uneasy and intimidated, but there was something new underneath it, tingling and causing a
strange sensation in her tummy.
"Good morning, you're up early", he said with a smile.
"I needed some air. And I love to see the day awake."
"One more thing we have in common", he thought.
"Yeah, me too."
They sat in silence until the sun had come up over the Chesapeake Bay.
He touched her right foot with his left. Before she could even think about it, he turned to her
with a broad smile.
"Wanna go sailing?"
"Can we really?"
He saw her smile at him for the first time, and knew he would do anything to make that
happen again as often as possible.
"You bet we can. Let's go, get ready."
They went to the bathrooms in the club-house and then picked up sandwiches, a thermos flask
full of coffee and a six-pack of coke to provide them for the day.
Back on the boat, Gibbs went inside to securely stow away everything that could fall around.
Erin unleashed the tarpaulin covering the mainsail, took it of and neatly folded it into a small
square. Since she didn't know where it had to be stowed, she put it on a bench in the cockpit.
Then she readied the mainsheet.
Gibbs stepping out again put the canvas away and looked at Erin.
"Can you cast us off?"
She stepped onto the footbridge and went to the dock line aft. Gibbs couldn't deny himself a
satisfied smile. She was a sailor, no doubt about it. She knew the line at the stern had to be
released first, so he could back the vessel out of the berth. He started the engines and
motioned to Erin to untack the line. Erin did and threw the end of it on board. Then she went
to the bow, waiting for Gibbs' command.
"Cast off!"
She did and climbed aboard, pushing the bow away from the bridge with her foot.
While Gibbs manoeuvred the boat out of the harbour, Erin coiled up the bow- and spring line
and took in the fenders that were hanging outside the boat to protect it from any damage
caused by contact with the bridge.
Once the deck was cleared and they were well out of the harbour Erin went to the main mast.
As Gibbs nodded his "ok" she hoisted the sail, using the winch for the last part. She tied the
halyard to the cleat and neatly coiled up the remaining rope.
When Gibbs was sailing alone he didn't use all sails. It would be too difficult to handle a boat
this size under full sail alone.
But today they would let her fly!
He turned off the engine. This always was special. The moment a sailboat came to live. No
sound but the wind caught in the sails and the waves caressing the hull.
Erin gave him a questioning look.
"Foresails are under the second hatch. Will you manage?"
"Yes".
She pulled out two sails and hitched the staysail and jib to their stays. Then she fastened the
halyards and went back to the cockpit to get the sheets.
Gibbs had tied the tiller so he could hoist the mizzen. He had already taken out two sheets that
Erin laid out and tied to the foresails. Gibbs steered the boats' nose into the wind to make it
easier to hoist them. Erin did and Gibbs took the slack out of the sheets, properly positioning
the sails. The "Morning Glory" picked up speed fast.
Erin came back to the cockpit.
Gibbs gave her a warm, satisfied smile.
"Good job, sailor", he said.
"Thanks skipper", she returned.
Gibbs couldn't remember when he had felt this good the last time.
"I like that."
Erin didn't understand what he was talking about.
"I like you calling me 'skipper'", he stated, "I like the way you handle the sails, I like to see
you enjoy this as much as I do."
Erin gave him a shy smile.
She stood up and went to the hatchway to get a coke. She turned back to Gibbs.
"Want some coffee?"
"Yes please."
When Erin was back, they sat silently, enjoying the ride. Erin kept an eye on the sails,
adjusting them every now and then for best performance. She observed the ocean and, warned
by the change in the wave-pattern on the surface, was already prepared when ever a squall hit
them.
"Where did you learn to sail so well" Gibbs asked, hoping this was a part of her past she
wouldn't mind talking about.
He was right.
"I work on boats a lot. It's my absolute favourite job."
"Yeah, I think sailing is one of those things: Either you love it or you hate it."
When they had returned to the marina after a thoroughly enjoyable day at sea, they packed up
the sails. Erin took the foresails over to a stretch of fresh mowed lawn to fold them. Gibbs
watched her from the boat. He knew it was not easy to handle sails this size alone, so he went
to help her. While they were working together, he again thought what a perfect team they
were. No communication needed, each of them knowing what had to be done.
It was already late, when they came back from the clubhouse. Gibbs took care of the dressings
on Erin's arm and when he was finished looked at her from close distance. Once again Erin
was stunned by the way he talked to her with his eyes.
She looked down.
"I'm ok, Skipper. Don't let his bother you more than it bothers me."
"So you're not that scared anymore?"
"No."
"That's good."