more. But it dipped in right here, so this was more or less a protected cove, sheltered by land on three sides, because it broadened out again on the other.”
“That’s not hard to imagine. It’s still something of an inlet, and the land fans out on both sides, at least a little. You can see it from the water.”
“You’ve been out this way in a boat?”
“A couple of times.”
“Then imagine being on a ship trying to sail to the harbor in Palmetto Grove. There used to be a real one there, you know, before it silted up and was no longer commercially viable.”
“What kind of ship?”
“That I don’t know. Maybe only a fishing boat, but a terrible gale whipped up while they were far out in the gulf, so they tried to make for land. First they lost their sails, then they lost their main mast, and finally, the ship began to break up out there somewhere.” She pointed. “Much too far from Palmetto Grove Harbor to make it. Some of the ship’s crew jumped overboard and tried to swim to shore in the high winds, which wasn’t easy, because the waves were fierce and the key was wild, with no bridge to the mainland, and few people lived out this way to rescue them.”
“I can imagine this.”
“There was a woman on board, maybe the captain’s daughter, I’m not sure. The captain was swept overboard trying to save the mast, but the first mate took over and tried to see his daughter to safety. He was young and handsome, and I think she’d had her eye on him.”
“Are you making this part up?”
“Are you going to let me finish?”
He put his arm around her. “Go on, then.”
“By the time they got around the end of the point and into the bay, most of the crew had abandoned ship, and they were listing badly, swept wherever the waves wanted the ship to go, and taking on water quickly. The first mate tried to get the woman to swim with him, but she had never learned, and he knew she would drown immediately. The lifeboat was useless. One of the masts had fallen on it. And he knew he couldn’t tow her all the way. They would both drown.
The first mate wasn’t willing to leave her to die alone. So he told her he would stay with her, no matter what. And they clung together expecting to die. Except that before the ship could break up entirely, the waves swept what remained of it here, into this very cove, which was protected a little. And by the time what was left began to sink, they were close enough to shore that, by clinging to some of the wreckage, they were able to ride out the worst of the waves until he could help her to land.”
“And so this was actually a very fortunate harbor for two young people who might have died,” Pete finished.
“Fortunate in many ways, the old man told me. Because the couple went on to marry, then settle here on the key and raise their family. And every year, on the date of the shipwreck, they came to this cove and spread flowers in the water. In fact he told me, when he was a boy, their descendants still came and continued the tradition. But I guess there’s no one left to do it anymore.”
“I never guessed you would be such a romantic.”
“Did you like my story?”
“I liked it a lot. Two people clinging together in the face of disaster. Then fortune gives them a chance at a new life.”
“It’s as bad as a fairy tale, I guess. Life’s not like that.”
“Don’t give up on it, Dana.”
She turned, her breasts pressing against the side of his chest, her hip and thigh resting between his legs. “Do you believe we can be a harbor for each other in times of storm? People, I mean? All people, if we care enough?”
He pushed her hair back from her cheek, as if he wanted to make sure she could see his face. “I’d like to be your harbor. At least while I can.”
“I would be fortunate to have you.”
He pulled her into his arms, but he didn’t kiss her. He just held her close, her head resting against his shoulder, her body full against his. She could feel the inevitable changes in him and feel her own body responding. The passion would come later. She could feel it tightly leashed inside him. But