chapter 1: come sail away

“All Aboard!” Donna roared for the umpteenth time since they had set out. Natalie sighed and rolled her eyes. There was no one else aboard. Just the two of them on this overpriced and under furbished “luxury sailboat” that Donna had spontaneously bought on a mid-life crisis whim. And here Nat was, sacrificing her first two weeks as a free woman indulging her mother’s crazy fantasies.

Yes, Natalie was fresh out of prison. Or her English graduate program. Same thing as far as she was concerned. Grueling hours spent pouring over everything from Shakespeare to Poe, Machiavelli to Suess, day in and day out had left her absolutely sick of of the written word. Although she had only graduated all of five days ago, Natalie was already certain that she never wanted to pick up a book without pictures again as long as she lived.

Worse, still, was the family situation that she was coming home to. Natalie had left university with her graduate degree in tow, expecting to feel wholesome and complete after finally having accomplished her life’s dream, but instead found herself empty and aimless as she realized she had no idea what to do next. She had come to her parents at a loss for direction only to find that her home life was far from wholesome and complete as well: Mom and Dad were getting a divorce.

Present day Natalie sighed as she leaned over the railing on the port bow of the medium-sized boat. She brushed her pale, flaxen blonde hair out of her face and tried to take in what exactly had transpired to end up with her being there on that day.

Her mother had the same long blonde hair that she did. In fact, the two were strikingly similar in appearance; it was clear that they were mother and daughter. If there was any one thing that Natalie should have been grateful to Donna for, it was Donna’s genes.

Natalie was the spitting image of her mother when Donna was twenty-five. Her soft, luscious blonde hair fell down to her slender shoulders and framed a round, rosy face with deep blue eyes, eyes that sparkled with the same tranquil serenity as the ocean waves she gazed into absentmindedly. Not to mention her killer body. Natalie might have had a slim waist but she was still curvy in all the right places, she thought, with a perky enough chest to turn male heads in her bikini top and broader hips that sloped gently into her trim torso. Yes, Natalie was a stunner in the looks department and one look at her mother made it more than clear that the bombshell looks clearly ran in the family.

Which was why it was so frustrating for Natalie that she was still single… and so confusing for her when she had found out that Dad had cheated.

That was the reason for the divorce. Donna had caught her husband having not one but multiple affairs and, just like that, twenty-eight years of marriage ground to a halt. She had, of course, gotten quite the hefty settlement out of the divorce hearing. Donna had married young but she had also married into considerable wealth, wealth that she was more than happy to take with her when she parted ways from her cheating husband.

Natalie had been devastated to hear the news and immediately took her mom’s side, not caring for her father’s explanation for his misdeeds. Donna had been devastated. Nat was there for her, doing the best she could to be supportive and understanding in her mother’s hour of devastation.

But the woman was really beginning to go overboard. The past few days had been wrought with lavish spending and “spontaneous” decisions that ranged from inconsequential things like getting a streak of pink died into her hair or booking reservations at expensive restaurants and spas to things that were downright dangerous, like buying a motorcycle or going skydiving. But Natalie had been with her mother every step of the way, being the best friend she could while trying to steer Donna away from her more outlandish impulses. Of course, Natalie was having no such luck. She had gone with her mother to all of the fancy restaurants, had accompanied her when Donna went to the Harley-Davidson dealership against her daughter’s wishes, had even jumped out of a freaking plane.

And when Donna had said that she wanted to sail the Ardives, just mother and daughter, Natalie had no choice but to say yes to that also. As a twenty-five year old single graduate with an English degree, she had no future job prospects, no relationships to prioritize, no excuse to get her out of getting wrapped up in her mother’s mid-life shenanigans. Natalie was Donna’s partner through and through, whether she liked it or not. And, to be honest, Natalie didn’t particularly like it.