“When I phoned your aunt, she was very encouraging, enthusiastic. She told me you weren’t seeing anyone. I thought, maybe if she approves again, my father would come around, but none of it would matter if you didn’t want to be with me.
“So,” he continued, “this was a way to find out. That’s it, as honestly as I can tell it.”
“Gracias,” I said.
“Let’s just go for a nice boat ride, have a wonderful lunch, swim, and enjoy the day. If it makes you happy, good. If not, I’ll bring you home and wish you good luck. Okay?”
“Okay,” I said.
The man who looked after the boat appeared on the dock, looking our way and wondering, I felt sure, why we were taking so long. When he saw us get out of the car, he headed our way.
“Might be a little rough out there today, Adan,” he said. “Winds are up. The front is very unpredictable.”
“Maybe we’ll just go south, then, to Coronado. It’s not far,” he told me. “Good places for lunch.”
“Everything’s set.”
“Thank you, Bill,” Adan told him. He nodded at me and walked off.
Adan helped me onto the boat. Nothing much had changed on it. I went up onto the bridge with him and sat while he got us under way. As soon as we left the dock, we felt the swell and the wind. The boat bounced. Adan kept the speed down to keep us from bouncing too hard, but it was obviously not going to be as soft and gentle a trip as it had been the first time.
“I’m sorry,” Adan said, as if the changes in weather were his fault. “Are you all right with this? We could go back.”
“I don’t mind, as long as it’s safe,” I said.
He nodded, but I could see he was unhappy about having to pay so much more attention to navigating. At one point, there was a small inlet, and he headed us into it just to get some rest. It wasn’t as bad, and he was able to shut the engine and drop anchor. We had some cold plain soda and then sprawled out on the cushioned matting on the deck. I stripped down to my bathing suit, and he did the same.
“My father’s campaign got off to a great start,” he said after we had both put on some sunscreen. “But the polling statewide is not promising. We’ve actually lost some ground. It’s made him more irritable.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Which is another reason I didn’
t bring you up in a conversation,” he admitted. “Everything in this world is timing. Something good today will sound bad tomorrow or did earlier. I’ll tell you what I have learned these months without seeing you, Delia. I’ve learned to go slower, think longer before acting. Maybe I’m getting older,” he concluded, and turned on his back again. “I sound like a man who wants to be settled down.”
“Is that bad?”
“Part of me says no, but sometimes I think I’m not willing to give up being young and foolish just yet. Like most people my age, I’m more afraid of missing something than I am about anything else. Stupid, I know.”
We were both quiet. The boat bobbed and swung, and the sun found cover behind a stream of clouds that looked like spilled milk. Birds circling seemed curious enough about us to draw closer and a seagull did land on the railing and strut for a few seconds before lifting back into the wind, perhaps to report to his brothers and sisters that we were boring. There was no food set out. The clouds looked as if they were racing across the sky, some appearing like soft but smeared marshmallow.
“What are you looking for now, Delia? Surely, all that’s happened has had an effect on you.”
“I want to graduate from high school, of course.”
“And then?”
“I’ve decided I might go to nursing school,” I said.
“Really? Nursing?”
“Yes. I’m doing well in science classes, and medicine has always been intriguing to me. I think I’d like to care for other people and help them get well. Back in my village, there were no sophisticated medical facilities. Every family used old remedies for minor ailments, and they often worked. I know real doctors here would laugh, but sometimes the cure is right in front of us. I suppose you have to have some faith. Or maybe, as you said, it’s all just the right timing.”
Adan turned on his side and looked at me with a deeply quiet, studious expression.
“I know I’ve said this before, Delia, but I like being with you because you’re so much older than the girls your age here. That is why I have no difficulty thinking of you in more serious terms.”
“Serious terms? What does that mean, Adan?” I asked, turning toward him.