Chapter 10
Winchester Bay Harbor
Nathan paced himself as he half ran and half
walked down the pier toward his Marc Eagle II. There was a determined if not
angry look plastered on his face, one that matched the angry sky that circled
overhead. The winds added a brisk chill to the air which indicated the weather
was about to change for the worse again. The permanent aroma of low tide was scarcely
noticed by him as he approached the end of the dock where in one adroit hop
boarded his vessel and bolted up the ramp into the wheelhouse. Not finding what
he wanted, he made a quick step toward the rear hold area where most of the
gear was stowed. He shouted down into it.
“Hoke…get up here.” There was a pause with no
response from Hoke. He bent lower and shouted again. “Hoke, I said get up
here.”
A moment later Hoke clambered up
the ladder wearing rubberized leggings held on with suspenders. Wiping his
dirty hands with a rag, he used his forearm to wipe his bruised and smudged
face. There was a small cut across his forehead. Nate took one look at him.
“You’re fired…get your gear and get off.”
“What do mean I’m fired.”
“Don’t even go there. I swear, if
you ever so much as look at my sister again, so help me Hoke. I’ll…I’ll.
“You’ll what.”
“Get off my boat and don’t come
back.”
Hoke stood his ground, his
mordant eyes narrowed as he raised his wide jaw. He stared threw Nathan, threw the
shop rag to the deck, and stepped over to where his work gear bag was placed. With
one angry swipe he lifted the bag across his shoulder and stepped off the ME II
and walked away.
“You just made the biggest
mistake of your life.”
“Get out of here before I call
the sheriff.”
As Hoke lumbered down the pier, Nathan kicked
some lose gear sending it flying across the deck. He spun around and stumbled to
land on a pile of gear stacked across the stern. Silent but with heavy
breathing, his anger flooded from within.
Two, then three sharp breaths later he
slammed his fist against a wooden box and at that instant a frightening realization
overwhelmed him. He knew in his heart he wanted to kill Hoke for what he had
done. Next to him lay a bottle of cleaning fluid which he slung toward the bow
smashing it against the wheelhouse. He waited a few more minutes until his
breathing slowed to a near normal pace before leaving.
A few moments later, Nathan
stood at the end of the old fishing dock that extended about two hundred feet
along the edge of the channel. With arms folded, he faced a stiff wind blowing
in from over the sand dunes that arched across the western side of the same
channel. The cold cut through his open jacket and stung his face, yet too much
anger blocked his ability to feel such things. An ashen hue filled his
expression as he tried to comprehend recent events. His faith was not something
he boasted about, nor was it something he hid behind or pretended how it
sustained him. He had always tried to demonstrate it through his life, but
there were times he knew his anger got the better of him and through that anger
he allowed his emotions to take control.
That anger tore at his soul and harbored
inside his gut clouding his ability to let go. His thoughts drifted, back and
forth, between the loss of his dad and what had nearly happened to Sharon. The wrath,
the uncertainty, the emptiness from feeling helpless forced him to cry out, to
find a release before his insides exploded.
After letting loose with an
anguished scream, he lifted his eyes toward the ominous gray sky searching for
an answer only to feel a blankness of spirit griping at his heart. “God…I feel
so low, so empty right now. I don’t understand why this had to happen.”
He silently waited, half
expecting to hear some kind of revealing answer. None came, just a silence
carried on the wind. From behind him he heard a voice.
“Nate.”
He spun half around glancing
over his broad left shoulder to discover Sharon standing a few feet away. He
closed his eyes and turned away.
“I was
worried about you,” she said.
“I fired Hoke.”
“I knew you would. I’m sorry you
had to do that.”
Sharon stepped closer to him and
held his arm in hers. “Nate, I’m okay. Matt was there and he protected me. He
got beat up doing so, but he’s okay, we’re okay.”
“Don’t get started about Matt. First dad and
now what almost happened to you.”
“It wasn’t Matt’s fault. None of
it was. He feels broken by the whole thing. He’s endured more than anyone, even
taken a lot ridicule from others in the community. If you would only talk to
him.”
Nathan turned away from Sharon
and shook his head. With a clinched jaw his neck and face bulged.
“I can’t…I just can’t and I wish
you would stop seeing him.”
Sharon closed her eyes to fight
back the tears that were blurring her vision. One, then two drops emerged and
flowed down the contours of her face to drip and be carried away by the stiff
breeze. She swallowed the lump in her throat and spoke with a soft but broken
voice.
“Dad would not want you to be
like this.”
Nathan did not respond, he continued
to stare across the open water.
“Nate, we have something we need to talk
about. Something I cannot hide any longer.”
“What is it?”
“Something it’s time you knew about,
something I have hidden from you and everyone else I care about.”
His demeanor subsided as he turned to look
into her face. There he saw not just his sister, but a woman who needed to find
peace with herself and somehow, someway, he was a part of that process.
“Alright then. You want to go someplace
drier?”
“No. I might change my mind if I
wait much longer. Nate, you have to know something.” She hesitated and held her
voice searching her heart for the right words. Finding no other way to say it,
she spoke her heart.
“Nate…I have a child, a daughter. Her name is
Nickie. She is almost five years old.
Nathan rolled his head to one side not sure
he heard correctly. “You have…a daughter…what…when, how…I mean why, I don’t
understand.”
Sharon closed her eyes and
lowered her head feeling embarrassed and uncertain. “Nate, she is Matt’s child.
I didn’t know I was pregnant until after I left for overseas. She was born in
New Guinea at the camp where I was staying. I
kept her a secret because I was ashamed…not of her, I love her more than
anything. I was ashamed because of what I had allowed to happen, something that
should have never happened, but it did. I came home to finally face my family,
to tell you and dad…and Matt, so everyone could see just how beautiful she is.
But all this other stuff happened and I never had, never made time…it just didn’t
seem like the time was right.”
“Where is she?”
“She is staying with my friend
Sandy down at Eureka. I call her every day and I have made a few weekend trips
down there when I can, to see them. She will come to stay with me soon, when I
can get my own place.”
“Does Matt know?”
“No, no he does not know yet and,
please do not get mad at him. I am just as much at fault as he is about what
happened.”
“He really is an arrogant jerk
and now, I find out he’s hurt you again.”
Sharon turned her face away to hide
the tears welling up inside her eyes. “Don’t talk like that Nate, please. He
didn’t hurt me! If you are going to blame anyone, blame me! I love Matt with
all of my heart, I always have. I feel like I deceived him and I am scared how
he will react when he finds out!”
Nate sat with a stiff posture
and clinched jaw looking away shaking his head in disbelief. “You better tell
him soon, because next time I see him I can promise you two things will happen
and they are both bad.”
“Stop it…stop it! You and Nickie
are the only family I have left. Saying things like that breaks my heart. Nate,
when you see Nickie you will understand why it is so important to let me handle
this with Matt. She is a beautiful child and I know with all of my heart she
was meant to be born. Please, Nate. All I am asking is for you to trust me, as
your sister…if you love me.”
He stood and ran his hands through
his hair then placed them on his hips nervously shifting one way then another
as he walked a few steps away then turned around. “Sis, okay, you have my word,
for now, I won’t say or do anything, but I can’t promise that someday, I won’t.”
Sharon hugged him sobbing uncontrollably,
and he ineptly placed his arms around her shoulders. “It will be okay…it’ll be
okay,” he tried to comfort her, but you need to tell Matt soon, or I will.”
“Thank you, brother,” she
mumbled behind broken sobs. “You must talk to him soon yourself, but let me
tell him about Nicki.”
He unwillingly grinned and whispered, “I give
you my word. I love you sis…I just don’t want you to be hurt again.”
At those words they turned away
from the wind and strolled together and left the pier.
“Hoke…get up here.”