Fearless

"So, what?" I replied.

He just laughed, and to his credit, said nothing further. After thanking John for his hospitality, I went home and took a nap.

~~~~~~

Chapter Two

After fighting my way through some very disturbing dreams, I woke up covered in sweat. I looked at my watch and it was 8: 40 in the evening. I got up and walked around the house, and after deciding that I hadn't been out and about in ages, I took a shower, then put on some fresh clothes and headed to town. Key West is only eight square miles in size and it wouldn't take me very long to get anywhere. I had seen the marquee at Sloppy Joe's on my way to eat earlier that said there was live music tonight so; I decided that was where I was going to go.

When I arrived, and once I was parked, I walked in and headed straight to the bar. As soon as I was seated, a cute blonde girl who was tending bar appeared in front of me and said, "What'll it be, handsome?"

"Do you have any bourbon?" I asked.

She smiled, and with a sultry look in her eyes, said, "For you, we do."

I grinned and said, "In that case, let me have some Jim Beam on the rocks."

"Coming right up, cutie," she replied, and then glided away to fill my order. She returned shortly with a coaster and my drink. I gave her a credit card in order to open a tab and turned around to enjoy the music as the band had just begun to play shortly after my arrival.

The music was good and the band had played several of my favorite songs already when suddenly; they slowed the tempo of the music down and began to play an old love song of the 70's, 'Easy' by the Commodores. The dance floor began to fill up, and much to my surprise; Sara walked onto the floor followed by a guy that was dressed very nicely, but I somehow sensed something about him that made me feel like something wasn't quite right.

Sara looked very beautiful, no more than 22 or 23 years old, I'd say. She stood 5'7" and weighed about 130 pounds with her measurements proportionate to her height. Her legs flowed smoothly from beneath the black leather mini skirt she wore, topped off by a white blouse that enhanced her waist length shining dark brown hair and her beautiful piercing blue eyes. She hadn't seen me yet, and I quickly changed seats to ensure she wouldn't either.

As they began to dance; Sara was laughing and shaking her head wildly. All at once she began to squirm and had a frightened look on her face, and after a few moments; I could see that this guy was attempting to put his hands under her skirt. It was clear that she was trying to fight off his advances, but to no avail. I rose from my seat, and as I began to approach them, I could hear her telling him, "Stop it Eddie, I told you that I was not that kind of girl."

He just snickered, and in a most sinister tone of voice, hissed, "After all the money I've spent on you tonight baby, I think you will be."

She pushed him away and said, "Get away from me, you asshole!"

"Get back here, Bitch," he spat.

With that, she reached across the short distance between them and slapped him in the face, and then said, "You will not talk to me that way ever again."

Neither of them saw me approaching, and just as he went to grab her, I stepped in between them and said, "I believe you heard what the lady said."

"Tom, thank God you're here," Sara breathed, relieved.

I winked at her while her date said, "You need to step off before I beat your ass, dude."

"That would be a very deadly mistake on your part, boy," I seethed, with an evil stare. Even through the volume of the band's music, I heard the click of a switchblade knife and as he raised his hand; it flashed, the blade reflecting the stage lights.

Like an idiot, he lunged towards me. I swiftly pushed Sara behind me and grabbed his hand to disarm him. Twisting his wrist and arm over, I bent him forward to a ninety degree angle making him drop the knife and wince in pain. Then I kicked him in the face as hard as I could while letting go of his wrist at the same time. This caused his body to spring up into the air and fly backwards 5 feet, where he landed on his back, out cold. It all happened very quickly and by the time it was over; the band had stopped playing and everyone was staring silently, when the manager came out onto the dance floor demanding an explanation.

As it turned out, Sara was friends with the manager, and she explained the situation, saying that I had saved her from a vicious attack, and that she wanted to press charges on the still unconscious man lying on the floor. By this time, the bar's security staff came and stood over the man until the police arrived.

~~~~~~

I gave the police a statement, as did Sara, and by this time her date was alert again and as the police were restraining him; he looked at Sara and said, "Remember, I know where you live, bitch," and then they took him away. As I went to pay my bar tab, Sara grabbed me by the hand. I turned around, and before I could say or do anything; she pressed herself into my arms and her face into my chest, and with a shaky voice, said, "Thank you Tom. I owe you my life."

When I pulled her away to get a look at her, I could see the fear in her face, as well as the tears in her eyes. I patted her on the arm and said, "You don't owe me anything, sweetie."

I reached into my pocket and retrieved my handkerchief, and as I handed it to her, she smiled and said, "Thanks, Tom."

"You're welcome," I smiled reassuringly, "Are you ok?"

"I'm alright, but I could use a ride home," she replied shyly.

"Well come on then," I said. I paid my bar tab, and as we walked outside; she took my arm and held me closely to her until we got to my Jeep.

~~~~~~

I drove her home, and as soon as we pulled up in front of her house; she turned in her seat and asked, "Would you like to come in for a while?" I could tell that she was still a little shaken up so, I agreed.

She led me into her home, which was a Victorian style house that, as it turned out, was only a few blocks from mine. As I sat down on the sofa, she looked at me and smiled. "What is it?" I asked.

She sat down next to me, took my hand, and then said, "I'm just glad you happened to be there tonight,"

"Aw hell, I did what anyone else would've done," I replied nervously.

"I doubt that" she said, then asked, "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"It was just a little something I picked up here and there while I was in the Navy," I said.

She leaned down and took off her shoes, and then while curling her legs beneath herself while still remaining in a lady like posture; said, "Tell me what you did in the Navy."

"I was a Hospital Corpsman," I replied, not wanting to really open up to someone I barely knew.

"Hey, I know what that is," she said excitedly, "You guys are kinda like Doctors, huh?"

"Yeah, something like that," I said, smiling.

Then Sara looked at me very seriously and said, "I want to thank you again for what you did back there, Tom. I don't know what I would've done, I really don't. Like I said before, I owe you my life."

"No! You don't owe me anything, I mean it," I replied. I could see tears beginning to form in her eyes so, to help calm her down, I gently patted her on the shoulder and softly added, "It's going to be okay now, Sara, I promise." She smiled and then just as quickly as the tears appeared; they were gone.

Her smile turned into a frown, and then she said, "I should've known better than to go out with Eddie Parker to start with."

"Oh, yeah, and how is that?" I asked.

"I know a couple of girls that went out with him and they said that he treated them the same way."

"Well then, why did you do it?" I asked.

She shook her head and said, "He just seemed so nice, and the girls I was talking about, while they're both friends of mine, are kind of sluttish to begin with. But because his parents own almost every major dive shop in the keys, I guess he thinks it gives him the right to treat people any way he wants." Then, almost defiantly, she added, "Well, that prick will never have the opportunity to treat me like that ever again."

"Thadda girl," I said, "Besides; you're too good for the likes of him anyway."

Her face softened, and tilting her head slightly; she smiled and said, "Do you really think so?"

"I sure do," then she leaned over and softly kissed me on the cheek. "What was that for?" I asked.

"What kind of damsel in distress would I be for not giving my knight in shining armor a kiss for rescuing me from the mean ogre?" she replied smiling.

"Knight in shining armor, huh?" I said, making her nod her head and let out the cutest giggle. "Cutest giggle, jeez, where did that come from?" I asked myself silently. Suddenly, and for reasons not yet known to me, I began to feel a little uncomfortable. I looked at my watch, and to my relief, saw that it was almost 10:00 pm. I smiled sheepishly and stood saying, "Well, it's getting late and I really need to get going."

"Do you have to go Tom? It's still fairly early," she asked, with pleading eyes.

"Yeah, I've got a lot to do tomorrow. Besides; I still need to unpack," I said. She smiled and then stood to walk me to the door.

As she opened the door, she leaned over and hugged me and said, "Thanks again, Tom."

I winked at her, then grinned and said, "No sweat," and then I was gone.

~~~~~~

I woke up around 8:30 the next morning feeling more refreshed than I had in several years, although, I still was not sleeping the whole night through. When I say the whole night through; it means that I wake up at two or three hour intervals before I lay back down to sleep again. For some reason though, I couldn't remember any of the nightmares that I'm prone to have. Regardless; I felt like I did when I was eighteen or nineteen in that, I felt charged and alive.

The soreness of my wounds had all but gone, and as I began to unpack and open up the house to let the wind blow through it; I felt like my life had been renewed.

It was almost 11:00 am when I finished with everything, and then I got cleaned up and headed to the grocery store to get some food in my 'new house'. I also had to stop off at the bank and deposit the check my parents had given me, as well as go to the grocery store.

~~~~~

Once I finished at the grocery store, I passed a K-Mart on the way home. I suddenly had an idea so I pulled into the parking lot there. I went in, and it didn't take me long to find a gas grill for a reasonable price. So, when I got home, I couldn't wait to set it up and use it. After all, I had purchased several different cuts of meat while I was in the grocery store.

~~~~~~

I had just finished putting the food in the cupboard and all the perishables into the refrigerator when I heard a car pulling into my driveway. As soon as I opened my front door to see who it was, Sara was standing there holding a bottle of wine, and the sight of her almost took my breath away. She was wearing a pair of tight cut off denim shorts and a bright blue bikini top, that made it not only difficult to keep from staring at her breasts, but produced a stirring deep within me that I'd not felt in a very long time. Her sun glasses were perched on top of her head and her hair was in a pony tail, flowing gracefully down her back.

Handing the bottle to me she said, "Hi handsome, how are you today?"

"I uh...I'm good," I replied, fumbling, trying to find my voice.

She giggled at my obvious discomfort and asked, "Well, aren't you gonna invite me in?"

"Oh....uh....yeah, sure, come on in," I answered, then opened the door wider as to extend an invitation.

"So, this is the castle of the White Knight, huh?" she said, giggling girlishly.

"Aw come on now," I laughed, "Don't start that again,".

For reasons unknown to me, or more than likely due to my lack of experience with women, she leaned over and lightly hugged me, and then after releasing me, smiled and said, "I wanted to see where you live. I hope you don't mind."

"Of course I don't mind," I replied smiling, "Come on in and make yourself at home."

"This is a nice house," she said smirking, "But I can tell you just moved in."

"What do you mean?" I asked curiously."

She grinned from ear to ear and replied, "Oh nothing, it's just that I can tell a man lives here." And noticing my bewilderment at her last statement; she added, "What I mean is, there are no pictures on the wall or anything like that."

"Oh, yeah, well I haven't really had time to get settled in yet. I only got here yesterday," I said, "I was just about to fix some lunch. Are you hungry?"

Her face lit up like a Christmas tree, making her eyes dance and flicker like candles in a light breeze as she excitedly replied, "Gosh! Yes! I would love to have lunch with you."

"Good, it'll give me a chance to fire up the new gas grill I just bought this morning. How do you like your steak?" I said winking at her.

"Well, I like mine medium rare if that's okay." she replied shyly. I could tell that, although she was trying to put on an air of confidence, she was a little uneasy, and at the time, I didn't quite know why.

"I think that's just fine. I'll have to get everything else ready first before I put the steaks on the fire, though" I said, getting a smile from her.

Then she stood and said "Well, if you're gonna go to all that trouble then the least I can do is pitch in and help!"

As soon as the food was ready and the table had been set; Sara and I sat down to eat. After the blessing had been asked, Sara poured each of us a glass from the bottle of wine that she had brought. When both glasses were filled, I raised my glass in a toast and said "To new friends and good food."

She smiled, and raising her glass, replied, "Here, here!" While we were eating; Sara looked at me oddly and said, "You told me what brought you here but you still haven't told me why you're here."

And once again, not wanting to reveal too much to someone I barely knew, I simply grinned and replied "I'm here to enjoy my retirement from the Navy!"

"But you don't look old enough to be retired," she said grinning.

I simply raised my eyebrows, and in my best John Wayne impersonation, said, "Well little lady, ya can't judge a book by its cover."

She just giggled and replied, "You're not going to get out of it that easily, mister. Not that it matters, but if you don't mind my asking; how old are you Tom?"

I shifted uneasily in my seat and said, "I'll be thirty eight this coming April."

She looked at me in astonishment and asked, "How does someone get to retire from the Navy when they're that young?"

Again, not wanting to reveal too much to someone I barely knew and thinking quickly; I replied, "Well, my Commanding Officer was friends with my Dad. And because I joined the Navy when I was seventeen, I was able to retire a few years earlier than most, that's all."

"Oh, okay," she said, seemingly satisfied with the answer I'd given her.

"Now I know it's impolite to ask a woman her age, but you asked me how old I am so, if you don't mind my asking; how old are you?"

She grinned and asked, "How old do you think I am?"

I leaned back in my seat, and looking her over as if I was trying to surmise the answer to her question, I replied, "Oh, I'd say you were about twenty three or twenty four, maybe twenty five at the very most." She was in the middle of taking a bite of her lunch, when she set her fork down in her plate and began to laugh so loudly she almost howled. "What's so funny?" I asked, perplexed.

"That's what everyone else says too." she replied.

"Well you still haven't answered my question," I said.

Once she settled down, she simply smiled and said, "I just turned thirty last month, Tom."

Now it was my turn to be astonished and I said, "Well you sure as hell don't look it!"

"I'll take that as a compliment then," she replied smiling, with eyes shining brightly. We finished eating, and at Sara's insistence that I let her help, cleaned the kitchen. We ended up talking well into the afternoon. We were thoroughly enjoying one another's company when she looked at her watch, and standing up to leave, said, "I've really had a great time. Thank you for lunch Tom!"

"Are you leaving so soon?" I asked, again not knowing what possessed me to ask such a thing.

She sighed and replied, "As much I'd like to stay; I have to be at work in a little while so, I need to go home and get ready."

I understood, and as I walked her to the front door, I smiled and said, "I hope we can do this again sometime soon, Sara."

She leaned over, and hugging me, replied, "You can count on it!" Then, right before walking out the door, she quickly but gently kissed me on the lips and said, "See ya later, handsome," and then she was gone. I floated on air the rest of the day. There was something special about her, but because of my lack of experience with women, I couldn't see just how special she was, nor did I realize that I was beginning to like her more than I wanted to. I spent the rest of the afternoon and much of the evening trying to get my house in order. I was going to be here for the rest of my life so, it was imperative that I get comfortably settled in as soon as possible. That night, I sat out on my back deck and just watched the stars as they rose over the Atlantic Ocean, and listened to the sea as she spoke of a past long gone, and a future that was yet to unfold. All I needed to do, as the saying goes, was free my heart and my soul would follow. But after the terrible things I'd seen while in the Navy, it was going to take some-thing or some-one very special to lead me through it.

~~~~~~

Chapter Three

Over the next few days, I took care of all the necessities concerning the house. I made it a point to meet with Phillip Hogue of the Key West Bank. When I walked into his office, he rose from behind his desk with a huge smile and extended his hand saying, "Hello Tom, it's very nice to meet you. Your father has told me all about you and let me be the first one to welcome a fellow conch (The name given to persons born in Key West) back home. I understand you were born and raised here."

"Yeah, but that was like a hundred years ago Mister Hogue," I joked.

"Please, call me Phillip or just plain old Phil. We're all like one big family here at Key West Bank," he said as we shook hands. He ushered me to a seat directly across from his desk and I sat down. Once I was settled in, he offered me something to drink, and after I declined, he said "What can I do for you today, Tom?"

"I want to build a dock behind the house, Phil," I said.

"A dock huh, well, how big is the boat you're going to port?" he asked.

"Well, you see, that's the other thing," I replied sheepishly, "I don't own one yet, and I was kinda hoping that you could help me there as well."

Phil smiled and asked, "Okay then, how big of a boat are we talking about here?"

"Well, I want to be able to not only dive from it," I replied, "But I also want to be able sleep on it overnight or however long I choose to stay out on the water."

"What kind of budget do you have?" he asked.

I handed him my bankbook and said, "I want something that's going to last a very long time, but I don't want to exhaust all of my funds doing it".

After looking at my bankbook, he turned to his computer and brought my account up on the screen. He studied it for a few moments and then turned to me and said, "The dock is going to be the easy part, and it won't cost you any more than two to three thousand dollars. As far as the boat is concerned, I've got a forty-eight footer that we had to foreclose on for lack of payment. She has two Cummings engines and four generators, two of them being back ups, as well as four three hundred gallon fuel tanks, and her electronics are state-of-the-art, not to mention she can sleep four couples very comfortably. She also has a full bathroom forward and a half-bath aft, with a fairly large hot tub mounted forward on the top deck."