Free Sea (A Stranded Novel) by Theresa Shaver Page B

especially not knowing if her family and friends were ok ay.
    “It is nice, Mason but this isn’t a vacation. Aren’t you worried about your family?”
    He laughed. “Oh, I’m sure they’re fine. My dad will just bull his way through anything. You know what he’s like. He probably bullied someone to get the house stocked on the first day. He’s got his hunting rifles and I’m sure Brett’s made it home by now. Besides, there’s nothing to worry about in central Alberta, lots of farms and cattle to feed everyone. Don’t worry so much. Just relax and get a tan.” He bent down to kiss her head and made a face. “You should get cleaned up, wash your hair. You’ve been sick for days and you would feel much better if you did.” He let go of her and put his hand back on the wheel.
    Emily stepped away from him in embarrassment. She knew she wasn’t looking or smelling her best but that wasn’t exactly her fault. Maybe she should ask Tim to stop the boat so she could take a dip in the ocean and scrub off. The salt water would be better than being stinky. Tim noticed Emily’s embarrassment and intervened.
    “Hey Emily, we’re looking pretty good for water in the tank. You can have a fast shower if you want. Just get in and get wet, turn the water off and soap up and then rinse. If you do it that way, it doesn’t actually use that much water.”
    Emily looked at Tim with excitement, “Really? Oh , wow, that would be great! I was contemplating going for a swim to clean off.”
    He laughed “We might have to resort to that but not yet. I know you’ll be conservative with the water so go ahead.”
    Lisa was just as excited about the prospects of a shower and she started to follow Emily down into the cabin until Tim called her back. “Lisa, we need to go over some shower rules first, please.”
    Emily heard her groan as she left her there on deck. She quickly gathered up her cleanest clothes and a towel and headed to the tiny bathroom. Mason had followed her down and intercepted her at the door.
    “Hey, why don’t we really conserve water and I’ll join you in there. I could scrub your back,” he offered.
    Emily just stared at him with a bland expression until he backed away. “Ok ay, okay, just thought we could have some fun,” he muttered.
    She watched him sit at the table and grab some food before closing herself into the bathroom. Emily shook her head at her reflection. She wasn’t sure if she even wanted to be Mason’s girlfriend anymore let alone have some “fun” with him. She turned away from her hollow -looking eyes and stripped off her clothes.
    Mason was eating moodily. He thought about how distant Emily had been with him and tried to think of how he could bring her around. Mark snorted in laughter bringing Mason’s head up to meet his friend ’s eyes.
    “You’re never going to crack that safe , man. You’re going to have to tap the reserves,” he said with a smirk. Mason looked around quickly to make sure no one was around.
    “Give it time. We’re going to be out here for a couple more weeks. It’ll happen ,” he said confidently. Looking his friend over, Mason made a face. “Man, you’re rank. Tim says we can have showers if we do the stop and start method. You could really use one. I could smell you up on deck.”
    Mark laughed “It’s seasoning , man, but yeah, I’ll get cleaned up. So how have things been while I was in pukeland? How’s the Boy Scout?”
    Mason shook his head, “David’s not bad. He’s actually a pretty good guy. He’s always up for helping out. He doesn’t talk much but he’s ok ay. Tim’s been teaching me a lot. The more I learn the better. I’m thinking after we land in Washington, we stick around until he’s gone and “borrow” the boat to take us up into B.C. It will save us weeks of walking,” he told Mark quietly.
    Mark nodded thoughtfully, “Let’s keep that on the down low for now. We don’t need the Boy Scout knowing our