Chapter 26

“Jibe ho!” called Paul.

“Jibe ho!” replied the twins, and they flattened to the deck although they were not near the boom of the smart little Bermuda rigged sloop. The boat turned downwind, and the mainsail filled with wind as the boat gently glided over the water. Andi lay on the foredeck below the jib looking up at the gulls wheeling overhead, the mast tracing a line back and forth across the sky like a sleepy metronome, the twins giggling and their feet slapping against the deck as they ran back and forth along the deck wearing nothing but their floaties. Andi herself was wearing just the bottom of her bikini and a lot of suntan lotion, lovingly applied by her husband.

Well, it’s not far back to sanity, at least it’s not for me And if the wind is right, you can sail away and find serenity Oh, the canvas can do miracles, just you wait and see. Believe me.

How many times did she think that the canvas in that song was on a painter’s easel? Now she knows what the songwriter was talking about. Sailing under canvas was the best therapy she could ever imagine. She still remembers every detail of that horrible dream, like it really happened, but relaxing with Paul and her friends, making gentle love on the beach, eating fresh caught crabs and lobsters, and now sailing around and around Nisi Arcadia, the agony of that dream was slowly fading. She was so grateful that while she had that horrible breakdown, Paul was out on the sea, learning to handle this beautiful boat so he could take her and their girls out like this, neither of them knowing how much she would eventually need this “canvas therapy.” Once again, she wondered if God had planned this outcome just for Andi.

“What ‘ya thinking of?” asked Paul as he leaned forward and called out to her.

“What makes you think I’m thinking of anything?” she boosted herself up on her elbows to look at her husband, who was manning the tiller, giving him a better view of her spectacular breasts.

“Just asking.”

She got up and walked aft to the cockpit where Paul sat, fully aware of the picture she presented to him, striding the length of the boat, barefoot and bare-breasted. His eyes devoured every inch of her body as she settled down next to him. “Just thinking that I want to stay here, relaxing, not working, not wearing clothes...”

“It’s tempting, but Don and Nicoletta will probably start to charge us rent.”

“It’s so cold back there,” said Andi, remembering the wet slushy day they left Buffalo.

“I could light a fire and make us some hot chocolate. We could snuggle and wrap up in a warm blanket and watch the snow fall.”

“I want to learn how to cross-country ski,” said Andi, leaning in close.

“There’s a doctor who could teach us in Springville,” said Paul as their lips met.

“Are you guys getting kissy again!” shrieked the twins in unison.

“Don’t forget, this was YOUR idea,” said Paul. “Remember the Missile Toads at the cabin?”