Chapter 43: Goodbyes

“I found him passed out on the sofa. The lights were flickering but nothing was exploding,” Charlotte was explaining to Carina.

“He seemed so stressed, and then he screamed your name. I thought every instrument on the bridge console was going to explode. When I looked back at him, he was passed out,” Captain Alfred added.

Carina was seated on one end of the sofa, rocking her body back and forth as she cradled my head in her lap. Someone had elevated my feet on the arm at the other end.

“He’s waking up,” Charlotte announced.

“You’ve been calling my parents?” were the first words out of my mouth.

“Of course I have, silly,” she replied. “I am a mother too. I had some idea of what she was going through and wanted her not to worry too much.”

“Thank you,” I whispered softly.

A few minutes later she jerked. “Stop that!” she barked.

“Why? You normally like it when I suck on your nipples,” I said with a grin.

“But not when I am feeling all motherly,” she said. “Maybe you should come to my cabin later and we can discuss it some more.”

“I will, if you’ll tell me why my dad is going to caddy for me?” I asked.

“I had planned to talk to you about all this when we both had a minute, Daniel. But mom keeps changing and adding things,” Roland said.

“Well, why don’t you start at the beginning?” I suggested.

Roland looked over a pad full of notes and said, “If my mother doesn’t change things too much, then you are entered in a Korn Ferry golf tournament at Paradise Island Golf Course next Thursday through Sunday. She has you playing on a sponsor’s exemption. Since you do not have a PGA membership, you’ll be playing with amateur status only. Oh. And it will be televised on the Golf Channel.”

“Amateur status?” I asked.

“It means you cannot win any money,” Isabella chimed in.

Roland looked at his half-sister and then continued.

“On Monday, when we arrive, Isabella will take you shopping for enough golf clothes for the week. We will meet your family for lunch at the country club, then back to the house for our meeting with the customs people.

“You’ll have some time Monday afternoon and Tuesday to go to the range and practice, and you have a practice round scheduled for 2:20 Tuesday with a couple of KF Tour players and a celebrity. Wednesday, it’s back to the practice range and a series of interviews.

“Now for the big question, WHY am I playing golf?” I asked.

“You’ll have to talk to your attorney and your publicist for a full accounting, but in a nutshell, they’re going to use the golf tournament to tell your story. As long as you are an active participant, you’ll be newsworthy. And as long as you’re in the public’s eye, the government cannot move against you. I think she hopes that you’ll luck up and not finish in last place,” Roland said.

“This is all so ... surreal. I haven’t picked up a golf club since the day I was hit by lightning. And she expects me to play with the pros?”

For the rest of the morning, we dissected Cynthiana’s plan every way we could. But when it came down to it, it was genius. All I had to do was play at least two rounds of respectable golf without having practiced once in the last nine months. No problem, right?

Carina came for me while I was having a sandwich in the galley for lunch.

“I think we have something to discuss,” she told me as she led me to their cabin. There she wrapped me in her arms and wept on my shoulder. I stood there, unsure what was going on, but feeling her tears.

“Oh, Daniel,” she sighed. “I am losing you and I feel like I just found you. You have somehow wormed your way into my heart as a young man, a friend, and a lover. And now, I fear this is almost the end.”

I just stood there holding her, unsure what to say, or if I even could say anything.

Finally, she leaned back and looked up at me. I leaned down and allowed my lips to gently touch hers. Then we kissed. One of the things I had learned in the last two weeks was that kissing was not a substitute for speaking but was a whole different language unto itself.

“Carina, in the last nine months you have been like a mother, a sister, and a friend to me. And in each of those persona’s you have shared some of your love with me. But the Carina I treasure most is the one I hold in my arms as she gives her heart to me.”

She kissed me. Through the tears I could see the love in her eyes. That’s when I realized that we were saying goodbye. Even if our families were together in the future, we would not be in the same unique situation that we had found ourselves these last two glorious weeks. My mind began sifting through the memories. Carina had been my first. My first love, my first kiss, my first naked breasts, my first naked woman, my first-time having sex. She was an important part of my recovery from being struck by lightning. And she was an especially important part of my becoming a man.

I picked her up and placed her on the bed, then I began to worship this wonderful creature’s body with my lips, my tongue, my fingertips and finally with my own body. After we were both sated, I fell asleep in her arms.

I got up at 3:30am Friday morning as had become my custom over the last two weeks, showered, grabbed some coffee and a sweet roll from the galley and headed for the bridge. I let Maggie out to do her business and checked the early morning weather. Later today, I knew we would pass close by the island of Bermuda. Already, I thought I could smell a scent of the tropics in the air.