Deceived - Laura S. Wharton Page 0,9
of furnishings and décor. She, of course, had studied art history in college, she droned on, but when she and Chuck learned she was going to have twins, well, she just had to drop out of her art courses and focus quickly on business management courses before the babies came. She didn’t regret taking the courses, but she wished she had stayed with her art. This gallery was a way she could be near the things she loved but could never afford, she said. Now that their sons were away in college, she was able to turn her attention to the gallery’s collection, and she was eager to develop more of a following.
As Sam stepped out of the car, he saw Lisa waving vigorously as if she had found a new customer and lifelong friend. He imagined Chuck smirking at the idea of priceless works of art aboard Sam’s boat.
Sam entered the station, signed the requisite paperwork, and walked out with a set of keys to the dark green Nissan Altima. Not exactly his style, but at least he had wheels. Sam drove to the marina and slid out of his uniform as soon as he entered the aft cabin.
He popped open the overhead hatches for some fresh air, feeling immediate relief in the stuffy cabin. Fishing for some shorts in one of the drawers, Sam took pleasure in the array of cabinets that banked both sides of the small space. He had gone to great lengths in tearing out the bunk that ran the width of the boat and designing a center-line bunk with cabinets, shelves, and drawers on either side of it. It took months to measure, cut, and install, but once it was done, Sam was pleased at his progress of making the old boat more functional and livable. He even crafted the bunk’s base so that a section of it could be raised to access the rudder unit and stuffing box beneath it. And rather than the typical four-inch closed cell foam found on most boats’ bunks, he added a custom-fitted, watertight full spring mattress found on larger, far more expensive yachts.
My carpentry skills aren’t great, Sam thought as he pulled a green T-shirt from a drawer, but they are certainly better than average. Besides, it’s been a good project to focus on so I don’t think about the divorce.
The 1973 thirty-six-foot Morgan Out Island ketch had been beat up when Sam and Angel had bought it, but after three years of upgrading and renovating, the boat looked really good.
That’s when Sam started messing around with a pretty young thing he met at the marina one afternoon while he was sanding his teak cockpit grates. He was only interested in flirting and a short break from his work, but the little brunette with a smaller bikini made it hard to stay focused on his task. At the time, Sam was fighting off the dread of turning forty. The lithe nymph thought nothing of stepping aboard uninvited. She made him feel like he was sixteen again, young and agile, eager to impress. After a full day of sailing and an unexplainable night anchored in a quiet stretch of the waterway behind Figure Eight Island, Sam knew Angel would not forgive him this time, no matter how much he begged.
“Last time I forgave you, Sam,” Angel had said quietly as she packed a duffle bag for him. “This time, I can’t. You will just do it again and again. Just because you still look like you’re twenty doesn’t mean you have to act that way whenever some little chickie winks at you. You have a problem, Sam. You need to deal with it. I don’t.”
She was right. And she was gone.
Not long after Sam moved aboard their boat, Angel sold their small house near Monkey Junction and moved to California to be closer to their only son Frank who was stationed in San Francisco.
Four years passed before Sam could get motivated to go sailing or even haul the boat for a much-needed bottom job. Now Angel was finally close to shipshape again. He’d meant to change the name on the stern, but he had never got around to it. “Maybe this year,” he had told Lee.
Sam dug deep into his uniform’s pants pocket and pulled out the carefully folded note. The loopy handwriting matched that of the note scribbled in the back of Lee’s notepad.
It read, “Lee found out what was going on. He tried to help, and