The yacht had a bathroom and a small kitchen which held drinks and snacks. Timothy wanted to know about the safety equipment and made us all put on bright orange life jackets, which Bob named our straight jackets. Timothy was practically growling by then. “Lighten up,” I whispered into his ear while giving him a kiss.
Ignoring the mumbling and the kiss, Captain Joe explained that the yacht also held radar, sonar, a depth finder, a VHF radio, and GPS. That (and my whisper) seemed to relax Timothy. Or, maybe it was the kiss?
Captain Joe’s chief mate, Kyle, was much younger than the captain, whose gray hair and weathered face made him look to be in his late sixties. Kyle was maybe twenty-five, only slightly older than me, I guessed. He had a nice smile, but was too busy to engage with us. He was scurrying about the vessel, checking on things. He merely waved when introduced and continued working with the rope he was winding in a loop.
We pushed off soon after, although none of us actually pushed, but we were told that was boat speech. Terry said another term was “shoving off,” which probably risked a Timothy growl, but my new fiancé only glanced at me, nodded, then looked out to sea. I rewarded him with a squeeze to his hand for being so calm.
Timothy had rented the entire yacht. It was possible for twelve passengers to enjoy the cruise, but there would only be the four of us, plus the captain and his first officer. I wondered if the captain resented that, because otherwise he’d have had more people to “brag” to about his yacht, but I suppose it didn’t really matter to the man. He got paid as if we were a big crowd, and for a businessman that was the key thing.
Timothy was always generous with everyone he hired, including his employee guards. I was super happy that he treated them so well. Providing the two men with cameras and binoculars went above and beyond, but, in my opinion, Timothy often had a problem with employees who slightly stepped out of their role. According to Timothy, Terry and Bob were supposed to be forever watchful and ready to defend us, not engaging with me or with others in needless conversation. But really, who was going to attack us out in the ocean. Whales and sea lions?