Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
I took a sip of water and continued, “Let’s see, what else? Your favorite dressing is ranch, you think cilantro tastes like soap, and you’re always a little disappointed if a meal doesn’t end with dessert. Am I wrong about any of that?”
He looked shocked. “No, that was dead-on. I can’t believe you knew all of that.”
“I really do pay attention—not just to what you’re eating, but to everything.”
“That sounds ominous.”
“Does it?”
Daniel nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. “It reminds me of that creepy Christmas song about Santa watching you sleep, and knowing if you’ve been good or bad. I can only imagine what kinds of observations you must have about all my quirks, bad habits, and personality defects.”
It felt like he was using this as an excuse to bring his defenses back up. He’d been letting his guard down all day, so no wonder—he could only do that for so long before he started to feel vulnerable and retreated into his shell.
Of course, I didn’t share that observation. That was exactly what he’d been talking about, looking too closely and making him feel exposed. Instead, I told him, “I like what I see,” and left it at that. I wished I could tell him his vulnerability was beautiful, and that he didn’t have to hide it from me. But he wouldn’t want to hear that.
After lunch, we spent a little more time exploring Gastown, which concluded with Daniel going nuts in a souvenir shop. When we returned to the car, he pulled a baseball cap out of his shopping bag and plunked it onto my head. Like most of the things he’d bought, it was red and emblazoned with the Canadian flag. “Thank you,” I said, as I pulled off the tags and repositioned the cap.
“You’re welcome. How much time do we have left?”
“About two hours. I was thinking you might enjoy the aquarium, or the—”
“Yes! That.”
“You didn’t hear the rest of your options.”
“I love aquariums, so that, please.”
I was enchanted by the side of Daniel that the aquarium brought out. He was full of joy and wonder, and all his self-consciousness fell away as he dashed from one exhibit to another. Once again, I ended up watching him more than what was happening around us. He was the most interesting thing happening, by far.
After we left the aquarium, we decided to wrap up our Vancouver visit with a walk in Stanley Park. The day had started out overcast, but now the sky had cleared to the most beautiful shade of blue, and all around us, the fall foliage was lush and vibrant. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. It had been a long time since I’d felt this good—relaxed and happy and present in the moment.
Daniel surprised me by catching my hand and pulling me into a little nook formed by a half-circle of trees. He kissed me deeply before saying, “Today was amazing, and I’m never going to forget it.”
I grinned and reminded him, “Actually, the day’s just getting started.”
11
Daniel
Malcolm hadn’t been kidding when he said our day was just beginning. After we left that beautiful park, where the leaves were turning red and gold and orange, our driver took us to a marina. I’d assumed we’d be taking some kind of ferry to our destination, but it turned out Malcolm had rented a giant ship and intended to pilot us there himself. It had a long front end, an enclosed cabin, and it seemed like entirely too much boat for the job.
I stood on the dock with my arms crossed while he did a walk-through with the man who’d met us at the marina. Meanwhile, two more guys brought our luggage onboard and made it disappear below deck.
Once they left, Malcolm came over to the railing and asked me, “Are you planning to come aboard?”
“I haven’t decided yet. Are you actually qualified to drive this thing? Or pilot it, or whatever?”
“Yes.”
“Really? Because this feels an awful lot like me walking up to the owner of an eighteen-wheeler, handing over my credit card, and saying, ‘hi, I’m not a trucker but I have a lot of money, so I’m going to go ahead and take this for a spin.’ Just because someone allowed you to rent this doesn’t make it a good idea.”
“It’s nothing like driving a truck.”
“It has to require a special skill set, though.”
“Fortunately, I have those skills. Get onboard, Daniel. We’re burning daylight.”
“I’m not convinced this is a good idea.”
Malcolm asked, “What do you think could possibly go wrong?”
“We could crash into some rocks, sink, and get eaten by orcas. Or crash and catch fire before sinking. Or just catch fire, so we have to jump into the frigid, orca-infested waters.”
“Do you have some sort of orca phobia you failed to mention?”