Free Gina Cresse - Devonie Lace 01 - A Deadly Change of Course--Plan B by Gina Cresse Page A

bearings.  I checked my watch.  I had been sailing aimlessly for several hours.  I had no idea where I was.  Checking my compass, I realized I was headed southwest.  The Santa Ana winds were blowing, which were predominantly from the northeast.  For all I knew, I could have been sailing in circles for the last four hours.  I checked my fuel level and estimated about ten minutes of fuel left.  After I got myself turned around, I set my sails and headed northeast.  Eventually, I would come to land.  The only question, would it be Long Beach, or Baja?
    When I finally got close enough, I looked through my binoculars toward the land and scanned the coast.  I spotted a restaurant with its own dock a little to the north.  I could barely make out the name on the sign.  It looked like “Swordfish Café.”
    I dropped sails again then made a call on my cell phone.  “Hello.  Aunt Arlene?”
    “Yes.  Is this Devonie or Monica?” she asked.
    “It’s Devonie .  Are you and Uncle Doug going to be home for a little while?”
    “Yes.  We don’t have any plans to go out.  Are you coming over?”
    “Well, I hope so.  I’m on my boat right now, hopefully headed in your direction.  Remember that restaurant you and Uncle Doug took me to last year when I bought the Plan B?   I think it was called the Swordfish Café?”
    “Oh, yes.  Wasn’t that the best dinner you ever had?  I just love that restaurant.  We go there at least once a month.”
    “Well, I’m directly west of that place.  I need to know how to get to your house from here.”
    “Oh, honey.  Let me get Doug to direct you.  Hang on just a minute,” she said.
    Uncle Doug wanted to fax me a map.  I had to explain I didn’t have a fax machine on the boat.  He communicated the directions to me, and then I wrote them on a piece of scratch paper I found in the galley.
    “Thanks, Uncle Doug.  I’ll see you in a little while,” I said then hung up the phone.
    My head ached and at times, I saw two of everything — making it difficult to head toward landmarks.  I finally cruised into the small private harbor that belonged to my aunt and uncle.  I dropped the sails and powered up the engine so I could maneuver to the dock.  Doug and Arlene were waiting for me on the small pier.  I threw them my lines and they tied up my boat while I set the fenders. 
    Uncle Doug owned a yacht brokerage in Del Mar.  It was quite a lucrative business for him.  He helped me find the Plan B in a small marina up in San Francisco.  He told me that if I didn’t buy her, he was going to snatch her up himself.  She was such a sweet deal. 
    “I’ve made lunch reservations for us at the Turf Club.  We’re going to the horse races,” Uncle Doug announced as I shut down the engine and stepped off the boat.
    “How fun,” I said, “but I don’t feel too good right now.”
    “What’s that bump on your head?” Uncle Doug asked.
    “Just call me Devonie ‘ B oom- B oom’ Lace, master sailor.”
    “No.  You didn’t get hit with the boom.  Did you?”
    “Afraid so .   And I think I might have a concussion.  I’m seeing double and I feel like I have to throw… well… you know the feeling.  On top of that, I fell and cut my hand on some broken glass.  I think I might need some stitches,” I said, holding up my throbbing, bandaged hand.
    Aunt Arlene took me by the arm.  “Oh, honey.  We better get you inside to lie down.  Our next-door neighbor is a doctor.  Doug, call Craig and see if he’ll come over to look at this.”
    Uncle Doug grinned at Arlene.  “Oh sure, Arlene.   Or, we could take her to the emergency room, but there might not be any nice, single young doctors like Craig there.”
    “Now you just hush.  Craig is a fine doctor and he can probably be here in five minutes.  I’m only thinking of Devonie .”
    “I’m sure you are.  I’ll call Craig right now.”
    Aunt Arlene led me into a living room so exquisite you would