Chapter 9

Paul was waiting nervously for Bella and her friends to show up. He and Sam had prepared the boat, so they were ready to take off as soon as the girls arrived. He had checked the weather and swell info, and although it was overcast, there was no rain in the forecast, and the ocean was calm. Conditions were almost as good as they came for a boat trip.

James had had plans to use the boat himself, but Paul said he would own him big time and many times over if he let him use the boat today. James asked if he would be ready to cook for him and his navy buddies, and Paul was ok with that. So, it was settled; Paul would plan a menu and prepare it on Saturday night. It would cover his lending the boat James had promised Paul. Paul was pleased with that.

The cooking wasn't a big deal for Paul; he had already made plans about what to serve those fuckers. But what did bug him a bit, well bugged the hell out of him, was that James's wife was a flirty bitch who often tried to get into his pants. There had been a few awkward situations in the past where Libby had been all over him, and James had walked in, and James hadn't said anything not to his wife, not to him. It had been fucking weird.

Paul had fucked many wives, but never anyone's he knew and tried to get along for one reason or the other. Paul wasn't quite sure why he had kept things civil with James, not that he wasn't happy right now that he had, but in recent years he had started to dislike him. His wife is one reason. He hated that bitch. Once, it had been gratitude towards him; he had saved mommy Holly from drowning when she had gone for one of her morning swims and had got some sort of a seizure. But the gratitude had started to wear thin; he could hardly stand the fucker these days.

Paul snapped from his thoughts back to the present and checked again that he had packed all the food he had made. There were three different kinds of sandwiches, some of them vegan; he knew many chicks were vegetarian these days. He had also packed some mixed vegetable cuttings and apple slices, freshly baked chocolate muffins, also vegan and cinnamon rolls, two bags of chips, and homemade lemonade to drink.

He knew he overdid it, but he was set to impress. He hadn't yet come across a woman who hadn't been impressed by his cooking skills. Very impressed, he might add. And Paul needed to use all his assets today. There was no way that Bella would wiggle herself out of Paul's net after today. Paul chuckled to himself. He was feeling quite smug.

Finally, Bella pulled her truck into the parking lot, and Paul and Sam went to help them carry their stuff. They had taken seriously Paul's suggestion to wear something warm, all girls had oversized winter coats on their arms, and they were wearing beanies. It wasn't cold on the shore, but it would get pretty chilly out on the water.

Bella looked adorable in her dark green beanie. Paul had to stop his urge to brush the strand of hair over her eye behind her ear. Her big doe eyes shone, and she was excited like a small kid.

"Umm, so what kind of whales you've seen around here?" she asked.

"Once, I saw orcas like you did yesterday. Few times there been others, but I don't know what whales they were," Paul confessed. "Maybe you could teach us if we spot any. And I've seen sea otters many times. They are cute little buggers."

"Oh, sea otters, I hope we'll see them today," Ailani squeaked.

"We most likely will. There are lots of those in these waters, especially close to the river mouth," Sam told the girls.

"Luckily, I took my binoculars with me," Bella grinned.

Fuck, she is adorable, Paul kept thinking.

"Ok, ladies, let's go."

James's boat was very comfortable, and girls admired James Island and Little James Island when they headed towards the open sea. Sun was making an appearance too.

Paul sighed contently; things were going well.

After very successful whale spotting, one pool of orcas and other whales Bella knew to be humpbacks; Paul was ready to serve the lunch. Paul thought that whatever deity was looking after him today was being very generous. The day was going much better than he had hoped it would.

"Are you ladies hungry?" Paul asked. "There are some sandwiches, vegetables, and baked goodies and nibbles and water and lemonade to drink."

"Oh, wow, this is first-class service," Sarah said when they entered the little cabin where the table was set. "You should set up a business. Ask five hundred for a three-hour trip."

"Well, there's a thought," Paul chuckled.

Girls were very impressed that there was a vegan option; they all chose to eat them.

"I'm not an absolutist, but I'll try to eat as few animal products as possible or at least ethically produced ones," Bella explained her choice.

"Oh God, this is so good!" she moaned in a sinful sound that added to Paul's appetite for other things. "Where have you gotten these? From the diner by the marina?"

"No, I've made them," Paul said, trying not to seem too self-satisfied.

"You're shitting me, right?! No way you've made these all by yourself. What about these muffins? You made them too?"

Paul nodded smugly.

The girls glanced at each other with strange expressions on their faces. Paul was very curious to know what the glance was all about. He might ask about it someday.

"Hey, there are some otters!" Sam shouted from outside.

Girls shrieked and rushed out to the deck.

Paul followed the girls and gave Sam a ham sandwich.

"Oh my god!" Ailani opened her camera and started shooting. "Oh wow!" She took tens of photos and kept sighing and shooting.

Paul went to Bella and asked if he could lend her binoculars. Bella stuffed the rest of her sandwich into her mouth, took the binoculars off her round neck, and gave them to him.

Paul peered through the lenses and, after a while, gave them back to Bella.

"Where did you learn to make such delicious sandwiches. And these muffins are to die for," Bella asked and took a big bite of the muffin. She seemed to have a healthy appetite.

"I could eat a horse. Being outside makes me so hungry," she giggled. She took another bite.

"My mommy Holly taught me to cook," Paul told her. He cringed, thinking about mommy Holly. It had been two years since she was murdered. Paul would never forget that day. Paul mentally shook the memory out of his head and concentrated again on Bella.

"Was your mother a chef?" Bella asked.

"Mommy Holly wasn't my mum. My mum left my father and me when I was 8," Paul told Bella before thinking better of it. He didn't know why he told Bella that. He wasn't collecting any pity points; he just felt he wanted to be honest and not keep anything from Bella. He wanted her to know everything and get to know him, like really know him.

"Oh, I'm sorry. That must have been awful," Bella gasped. "Oh, shit, that was so badly said. There aren't any words, but I'm so sorry it happened to you."

"Thanks. But I had mommy Holly; she was my mom."

Suddenly Paul was telling Bella things he had never told anybody except mommy Holly and Kai, his martial arts instructor.

"My dad wasn't much of a father either. Poor excuse of a parent, drunken son of a bitch who liked to keep me as his punching bag. Mommy Holly saw me many times with bruises and starving having nothing to eat, and finally, she butted in and took me living with her. I was almost ten. It wasn't long after that that my father died. I guess me leaving made him care even less, and he got involved with some crackheads, and one of them shot him."

It all came out just like that.

"That is terrible," Bella said, looking at him with the concern in her eyes that would have pissed him off if he'd seen it in anybody else's.

"Yeah, well, there were good things too. You know I went fishing with your father when I was a kid. Mommy Holly took me with them on their trips. Your dad was a very good friend of Holly's Holly Clearwater."

"Oh, how cool is that," Bella said smiling. "I think I met Holly once or twice. She was a very nice lady. I remember that she was murdered about two years ago. My dad was heartbroken. And so were you, I suppose. I'm so sorry."

Bella leaned to Paul and patted his arm, keeping her hand on his arm for a while longer before she turned to look at the ocean. Paul felt a lump in his throat. It wasn't easy to talk about mommy Holly.

"Yeah. Sorry, I brought these things up. Don't know why I told you, but thanks for listening."

"Don't you worry about that. I'm glad to lend you an ear if it helps."

Paul's heart skipped a beat.

The next day after work, Paul was ready to make his next move. Before leaving for James's, he had little time, so he called Bella to ask if she would like to meet over a coffee tomorrow. Her friends would be leaving in the morning, so she would have more time to spare. He was going to snatch as much of it to himself as possible. Weeks were passing by too fast. He had around two to three months before she would leave for Seattle, and in that time, he needed to make her want him as badly as he wanted her.

Bella answered the phone giggling and out of breath. Paul could hear Dancing Queen in the background.

"Hi, Paul, what's up?"

Paul chuckled, "Mamma Mia is going strong, I hear."

"Yeah, we just cannot spend two weeks together and not have Mamma Mia sing-along at some point. The last two hours have been pretty intense, don't have to worry about working out for the next few days."

Oh, how I would love to work out with you. Paul's mind started to wander.

"Are you watching the movie too?"

"Both are crucial for getting into the right mood," Bella laughed.

"I'm sure it is," Paul chuckled.

"I wondered if you would be up for some coffee or lunch tomorrow? I would like to see you again," Paul asked after Bella had finished shouting Sarah to shut up. Paul hadn't heard what Sarah had said; he would love to know what was said though.

"Sure. That would be great. Do you know Armchair Books in Forks? The bookshop with a nice café? Would that be ok place for you to meet up?" Bella asked. "I'm planning to go there to do some work and buy some books. Maybe at 3 pm?"

Paul was more than happy to meet Bella there; it didn't matter where he would see her. Just that he did.

"Yeah, see you there tomorrow."

6.6.2021