Baby on Board by Lisa Ruff Page B

gusted and the sailboat heeled over a bit farther. Patrick felt more tears soak his shirt.
    “Make it stop!” she moaned.
    “Katie, I—”
    “I’ll drown if we tip over, Patrick.” Kate finally lifted her head so he could see her face. Her brown eyes shone nearly black with panic. “Please don’t let my baby die.”
    “We’re not tipping over and you’re not going to drown, I promise you.” He kissed her mouth and cheek. “Trust me. You and the baby are safe.”
    The boat shivered in the wind and she dove into the shelter of his arms again. “I can’t swim,” she wailed.
    Patrick realized there was nothing he could say that would calm her. She was too frightened to understand that the boat was designed to sail on a heel. He looked over at Evan, still kneeling next to them.
    “Drop the sails.”
    “What? We just got out here. The wind’s—”
    “Drop them,” Patrick ordered. “We’re going back.”
    “But—”
    “Bring her up into the wind,” Patrick called out to his brother. “We’re going to drop the sails, turn on the engine and go back.”
    “Is Kate okay?” Ian asked.
    “She’s scared when the boat tips. She’s afraid of the water. If we head back under power, she’ll be fine.”
    Ian immediately turned the boat and brought it dead into the wind. Evan pulled on the furler lines for the jib and it rolled up into a neat cylinder on the head-stay. Minutes later, he had the mains’l rolled into the boom and stowed. Patrick held Kate in his arms, stroking her back and murmuring soothing things into her ear. As soon as the boat leveled out, he felt a slight easing in her grip. The tremors that shook her subsided to random shivers.
    He ignored Ian and Evan at first, concentrating on Kate. Then his brother caught his attention. Ian worked the throttle lever with one hand while pushing the start button with the other. From the look on his face, Patrick knew there was trouble.
    What’s wrong? He mouthed the question.
    Ian shrugged. “Engine turns over fine, but won’t start.”
    Kate raised her head. “We’re stuck out here?” Her voice carried a note of renewed panic.
    Patrick swore to himself, then forced a smile to his face as he looked down at her. He dropped a kiss to her cheek and smoothed a hand over her hair again. “It’s all right, sweetheart. Don’t worry, we’ll get it fixed.” He turned to Ian. “Stub said there was an air bubble in the fuel line the other day that he had to bleed. He said he fixed it when they changed the filters, but maybe there’s a leak somewhere.”
    Ian nodded and went below. Patrick turned to Evan. “Can you take the helm?”
    “Sure, for all the good it will do.” Evan looked over the side. “We’re pretty much dead in the water.”
    “Dead!” Kate’s voice rose in alarm.
    “Don’t worry, Kate.” Patrick glared at Evan. “We’re safe. We’ll get this fixed and get underway.”
    Evan sat behind the wheel and acted like he was steering the boat. They both knew there was nothing much he could do without propulsion. They were adrift, but Patrick didn’t want Kate to know it. She needed all the illusion of safety they could give her.
    He turned to the woman he held in his arms. She was still pale, but she wasn’t crying anymore. “How are you doing?” He kept his voice soft as he captured her eyes with his own, trying to convey confident, calm serenity. Anything to ease her fear.
    Kate swallowed and looked away. “Not so good. I can’t help—”
    “I know you can’t.” Patrick stopped her words with a kiss. “I wouldn’t have brought you out here if I’d known you would be so frightened. Why didn’t you tell me?”
    “When did I have the chance?” she snapped.
    Patrick almost smiled at that. That was more like the Kate he knew. “Well, any time over the past hour.” He thought for a second. “Or back in February when we first met?”
    “We were away from the dock before I could say anything,” Kate answered. “You