Belle paused in front of the full-length mirror on the closet door in the girls’ room at the cabin. Even though she’d brought her swimsuit, she hadn’t planned to wear it. However, it seemed that everyone was going out on the water, so it would be kind of awkward if she stayed at the cabin by herself.
The last time she’d worn a swimsuit for any purpose other than exercise, had garnered criticism of her body. The suit she wore that day was very modest, by most definitions. The top had a variety of geometric shapes in jewel tone colors against a black background and had a straight cut neckline with thick straps to tie behind her neck. The back was also straight cut, continuing the line from the front. Below the bodice, it flared out slightly to the top of her thighs. Beneath the top, she wore a pair of black boy shorts that hid her hips and the very tops of her thighs.
The suit covered what had once been pointed out as her problem areas. Well, except for her upper arms, but there was no way to hide those short of wearing a T-shirt…which maybe she would.
“Let me put sunscreen on you,” Jasmine said, approaching with a tube of cream in her hand. “None of us want to leave here with a burn.”
Once they had helped each other with the sunscreen, Belle pulled on a T-shirt and a pair of shorts. She might end up wearing just her swimsuit eventually, but there was no way she was going to parade around in it until that was absolutely necessary.
Rory drove them down to the marina, following a couple of other carloads of people from the cabin. She parked in the lot, then together, the sisters headed toward the dock.
“Ready to go?” Gabe said as they joined a small group of people at the end of the dock. “We’re going to use this boat to ferry you all to the houseboat. Then you can hang out there or head out on a jet ski or do some water skiing.”
It wasn’t long before they were in the boat heading out across the water to where a large houseboat was anchored. Belle followed Rory onto the boat, gripping the bag she’d brought with a towel and a change of clothes along with more sunscreen. She quickly found a seat out of the way as others came aboard. Jasmine dropped down beside her with a broad smile on her face.
“This is fantastic,” she said as she swiveled around to look at their surroundings.
The section of the boat where they sat had a long bench seat that ran in front of the metal railings. The houseboat had open sides, so the breeze kept them cool even though it was a hot day.
As they floated there, another boat approached, this one with Bennett at the helm. It slowed, its nose dropping low as it approached the houseboat. It came to a stop at the back of the boat. The teens had donned life jackets, and they eagerly climbed aboard it.
The next boat that approached was driven by James, the man Rory worked with, and several of the adults on the houseboat joined him. The invitation had been extended to Belle, Jasmine, and Rory, but they waved them off. Belle wasn’t sure she would ever get in one of the boats, but she was pretty sure that Rory and Jasmine would.
They watched as Bennett’s boat whizzed by in the distance pulling a large inner tube behind it filled with laughing teenagers. The wake from the boat reached them, rocking the houseboat gently. Music was now playing just loud enough to be noticed, but not so loud so as to overwhelm the conversations taking place.
“That was a blast,” Denise said after she got back from a ride on the jet ski with Mitch. Her hair was damp, and her cheeks flushed. “Are you going to go for a ride?”
Belle shook her head. “I’m not sure—”
Denise laid a hand on her arm. “You really should. It’s a ton of fun.” The woman turned to watch as one of the boats again passed by them at a distance. “I’m hoping to try skiing next.”
Though Belle could see that the others were having fun, there was no way she was going to get on skis or an innertube. She had never been that brave even when she’d been younger and more willing to try fun things. Still, she had to admit she was enjoying herself more than she’d thought she would.
At the encouragement of Maya, Jasmine got on the jet ski behind Tristan. Belle turned to watch as Tristan guided the jet ski away from the houseboat before opening it up. Jasmine’s scream of delight drifted across the water, making Belle smile.
“You gonna go out on the water, sis?” Rory asked as she took the seat Jasmine had abandoned.
“I was just telling her she should,” Denise said. “It’s a lot of fun.”
“Are you going to, Rory?”
“Yep. I’m up with the next group going on the boats. I want to try the inner tube.”
“Me, too!” Denise said, excitement clear in her voice. “We should go together.”
The sound of a jet ski drowned out their conversation, and Belle looked over the edge of the houseboat to see it had pulled up beside them. The motor cut out as Mitch stood, grabbing onto the lower metal rail as he pushed his sunglasses to the top of his head.
“Wanna come for a ride, Belle?” he asked.
“Um…I’m not sure.”
“You should go with him,” Denise said, apparently totally fine with her boyfriend giving another woman a ride.
Belle stared at Mitch, surprised to find herself wanting to say yes. “It’s not really my thing.”
She glanced over her shoulder when she felt Rory poke her in the side.
“Go. You know you want to.”
Belle looked back at Mitch. He leaned closer to the boat as he stared up at her. “Do you trust me?”
And wasn’t that the million-dollar question? Belle trusted him with her business, but could she trust him with her safety? She already knew she wasn’t prepared to trust him—or anyone, for that matter—with her heart. If he had even wanted that.
“Belle,” he said again. “Do you trust me?”
“Oooh…” Belle heard Denise say softly beside her as if she’d just realized something.
Heart pounding, Belle nodded, hoping that Mitch realized that she was just trusting him about the ride, not anything else. “Yes, I do.”
A smile immediately spread across his face, crinkling the tanned skin at the corners of his eyes. “Excellent. Get a life jacket on, and I’ll circle around and come to the back of the boat to get you.”
When she nodded, he settled back down on the jet ski, lowering his sunglasses over his eyes. Slowly, he accelerated away from the boat.
“C’mon,” Denise said, getting to her feet and pulling Belle with her. “Let’s get you a life jacket.”
Casting a glance at Rory—who gave her a grin and two thumbs up—Belle allowed herself to be pulled to the back of the houseboat.
“Do you have a swimsuit on under your clothes?” Denise asked. “You’d probably be more comfortable in just that, if you do.”
“Yeah. I do.”
“Perfect,” Denise said. “Take those off, and I’ll put them with your stuff.”
Belle hesitated for a moment before quickly pulling off the over-size T-shirt and the shorts she wore. Once she was just in her swimsuit, Denise handed her a life jacket. After Belle had slipped it on, Denise helped fasten it at the front.
“There you are. You’re all ready to go.” Denise gave her an encouraging smile. “And don’t worry. Mitch is a good driver. Out of all of them, I’d trust him or Tristan the most.”
Belle was still curious about the relationship between Denise and Mitch, but she was starting to think that it wasn’t what she’d assumed it was. Together they watched as Mitch approached the back of the houseboat and cut the engine again.
“Just step down onto that landing part,” Denise said. “Then Mitch will help you onto the machine.”
“Ready to go?” Mitch asked as she approached him.
“I guess so,” Belle said. “Denise said you’re a good driver.”
“The best,” he said with a wink. Mitch held his hand out to her, waiting through her hesitation until she reached out and took it.
He helped her get settled on the back of the jet ski then looked at her over his shoulder. “Grip the sides of my life jacket. You’ll feel more secure if you have something to hold on to.”
Belle had kind of expected him to tell her to wrap her arms around him, so was thankful she didn’t have to do that. It was enough that her knees were pressed against his hips. Lifting her hands, she grabbed hold of the jacket as he started the machine up.
Though she had anticipated a more rapid departure from the boat, Mitch made it a gradual thing. Once they were further away, he slowly increased their speed and made a gentle arc away from the houseboat.
As they picked up speed, Belle tightened her grip on Mitch’s life jacket. They headed for the end of the island and then Mitch guided the jet ski around the tip where there was a lighthouse. A short time later, Mitch slowed the machine down, guiding it to a stop.
“That’s the cabin up there,” Mitch said, pointing at a small cliff.
Belle looked up and saw the sun glinting off the large windows facing them. “You realize cabin is a little misleading.”
Mitch chuckled. “Yeah. I guess it’s more like a lodge or something.”
“Having seen the size of your family, I guess you couldn’t do with a smaller one.”
“No, not really, though the configuration of the cabin doesn’t really work well for us anymore. It worked better when we were all single. Girls in one room. Boys in another. Now, however, the married ones seem to want to sleep together for some reason,” Mitch said with a chuckle.
“Where are they this weekend? At the hotel?”
“No. They’re in RVs at the campground. It was just easier with the babies.”
“Well, it was nice of your family to offer beds to us. I had kind of thought we’d be at the hotel.”
He glanced over his shoulder, shifting a bit. “I hope it wasn’t too much of a disappointment to be at the cabin.”
Belle hesitated then said, “I’ll be honest. I’m not really used to sharing a room with anyone.”
“Well, hopefully the girls don’t snore as badly as some of the guys I’m sharing with do.” Mitch paused. “If you find you can’t sleep, you’re more than welcome to hang out downstairs. Grab a drink or a snack too. We’ve all had moments like that.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Belle said, though she wasn’t sure she would feel comfortable wandering around someone else’s home in the middle of the night.
Instead of saying anything more, Mitch started up the jet ski and turned them back toward the tip of the island. He didn’t go right back to the houseboat though, choosing instead to go around another smaller island.
Belle took it all in, enjoying the feel of the sun on her skin. The wind through her hair. The spray of water soaking into her swimsuit. It wasn’t something she often experienced—or at all, really—but it was exhilarating. And she knew that she was enjoying it much more because she was with Mitch.
He guided the jet ski at a slow pace that allowed her to enjoy the experience and the view. This was a part of Hecla she hadn’t seen on her previous visits to the island. Granted, she hadn’t seen much beyond the hotel those times. All in all, she was coming to enjoy this visit more than any previous ones.
Disappointment began to spiral through Belle as Mitch turned the jet ski back toward the houseboat. She wasn’t sure that she wanted to go back just yet.
“Do we have…” She gave up saying anything more as the words seem to be swept away by the wind and the noise of the jet ski.
The machine slowed then Mitch cut the engine, allowing the jet ski to settle back into the water. Turning slightly, he looked at her. “Did you say something?”
She started to shake her head, then said, “Do we have to go back already?”
His brows rose a bit, but then he shook his head as he smiled at her. “Nope. We can stay out a bit longer.”
Keeping her grip on his life jacket, Belle held on tightly as they continued their journey around the lake. Belle still felt a bit disappointed when they eventually headed back to the houseboat, but it wasn’t as bad. For a few minutes, she’d been able to forget all about the stresses of her life. Out on the water, it had been just her and Mitch and the nature surrounding them.
She had been able to be close to Mitch without having to hold a conversation with him. It was more than she’d allowed herself in the past.
Back at the houseboat awhile later, Mitch brought the jet ski to a stop. Gabe was there to help her step back onto the deck.
Turning to Mitch, Belle said, “Thanks for the ride. That was a lot of fun.”
“Glad you enjoyed it.” His dimples deepened as he smiled at her.
“You better pull away, bro,” Gabe said. “The boat’s coming in.”
Mitch glanced out across the water then lowered his sunglasses back into place before accelerating, moving much faster than he had when Belle had been with him. After Mitch pulled away, Belle headed back to the main part of the houseboat.
She found that Jasmine and Denise were gone, but Rory was sitting there talking to a blonde woman who she introduced to Belle as Erin, James Dawson’s wife. Belle smiled at her as she pulled out the towel she’d brought and quickly wrapped it around her waist before taking a seat beside Rory. As usual, her older sister was happy to keep up the conversation, allowing Belle to just sit and watch all the activity taking place around them.
People continued to climb off and back onto the houseboat as the afternoon progressed. There were plenty of snacks and drinks sitting on a table in the middle of the area where people had tended to congregate. It was a gathering made up of all ages and types of people. She’d been surprised to see a player from the Blue Bombers football team, and it had been a bit of a surprise to also see a professional hockey player there. Mitch had never mentioned that he was related to a player in the NHL. It was a bit funny to listen to the professional football player and the professional hockey player rib each other throughout the afternoon about which sport was better.
Though Belle had gotten wet, she wasn’t soaked, so it didn’t take long for her swimsuit to dry. Having no plans to go back out on the water, Belle slipped back into her shorts and T-shirt. The day was going better than she had anticipated, given her earlier anxiety.
Denise and Jasmine showed up a short time later, both wet from their time spent on the inner tube pulled by one of the boats. Seeing Jasmine’s happiness, Belle was glad they’d come. Like her, Jasmine’s life tended to be wrapped up in the business though her little sister was a bit better at having an outside social life, and she definitely had more girlfriends than Belle did. However, neither of them had anything like this.
Maybe she needed to encourage Jasmine to spend a little less time at the boutique so that her younger sister could have the chance to enjoy a broader social life—even in the summer during their busiest months. While Belle was enjoying this adventure more than she’d thought she would, it wasn’t something she needed the way she knew Jasmine did. She’d been so tied up in her own issues with work and the move that she hadn’t even thought about what the increase in business was demanding of Jasmine. That was something she needed to change.
Mitch came onto the houseboat mid-afternoon. He took off his life jacket then tugged on a T-shirt before heading over to where they sat after making a quick detour to grab a small bag of chips and a can of soda.
“Enjoying the afternoon?” he asked as he sat down on a chair across from them.