Excerpt
Ty shifted to the other side of the cockpit. I decided to follow him just as Doc turned the boat into the wind. The boom came swinging around to the lee side of the boat, and this time I ducked before Ty grabbed me. My hat went flying, and as I watched it bob away on the waves, I muttered, “I’ll get the hang of this yet.”
J retired to the cabin, and Doc busied himself with the task of adjusting the sails.
“I’ve seen her,” Ty said quietly, “and I know someone on the island who’s seen her also.”
At first, I thought, Who? Seen who? As the light dawned, I looked up at him, feeling a thrill of excitement.
“You’re kidding. This is a joke, right?”
I could see by his face that it wasn’t a joke.
“No joke. But, if you don’t believe me, we’ll just skip it, okay? I don’t talk about it with Doc. He thinks it’s crazy stuff.”
“Could I see the ghost?” I felt silly asking, but when I looked up at Ty again, the thrill of excitement quivered once more.
“Tomorrow night.” He looked at me with a gleam of excitement in his eyes. “The next couple of nights might be the time to watch for her. There’s no moon.”
“Tomorrow night, then.” I felt a chill as a cottony cloud passed in front of the sun.
The sky brightened as it had dimmed. Our plans to find the Madonna Ghost tomorrow night gave me a sense of closeness with Ty. I liked the feeling. I wanted to touch him in some way, to hold his hand or lean on his muscular brown arm. The feeling was so intense that I looked around to see if anyone else in the boat could see the waves of energy pulsating from me to Ty.
At that moment Ty turned to me, not smiling, just looking at me. I didn’t know what the look said exactly, but I felt even more drawn to him.
“Time to drop the sails, Ty,” called Doc.
The mood shattered like ice in a windstorm. Ty was up on deck in a jiffy. Soon, the sails were down and stowed.