CHAPTER 16
I stepped into the Chicago Yacht Club, feeling a nervous exhilaration rippling through my body. I was here. I was finally, actually here. Robbie guided me gently inside, the two of us heading for the pre-race skippers' meeting. We were to go over the sailing instructions one last time, any potential weather hazards, and any clarifications needed on the rules and regulations of the Invitational. I usually hated these boring meetings, but because this was the Champion of Champions Invitational, I was actually excited to attend.
Robbie pulled out a chair in front of a prettily decorated table near the windows. The meeting wasn't supposed to start for a few minutes yet, so I stared out through the glass at the view. Chicago's skyline rose in the distance, the gray and metallic buildings looking over the undulating waters of Lake Michigan. Yachts of all sizes bobbed gently in the early morning waters, the sun had started its journey into the day and turned the sky into a brilliant scarlet. Thin, hair-like clouds hung from the dimming stars, the wind nipping at the bright red leaves on the trees.
Red skies at night, sailors delight. Red skies at morning, sailors take warning. The old nursery rhyme chanted in my head as Robbie and I sat waiting. The weather report on the news the night before had said a storm was moving in. Robbie had waved it away as nothing more than a windy day, but the red skies gave me pause. I knew it would certainly be discussed.
I glanced over at Robbie and he smiled. I still couldn't believe this was real. This was my dream race, the race that could make my career, and if I did well, get me more sponsors than I would know what to do with. If I did well at this race, then it wouldn't matter that I had missed a season. I would be set to race next summer, and the Olympic trials would be mine for the taking. Robbie was the best thing that could have happened to me. Not only had he gotten my beautiful boat to the lake; he was sailing with me.
I sipped gingerly at my hot coffee, relishing the flavor in my mouth. One of the perks to dating a billionaire was that not only did we fly in on a private jet the night before, we also stayed in the penthouse suite at one of the fanciest hotels in Chicago. I had never slept on a bed that nice, and the coffee in the morning tasted as if it had been picked in Columbia just hours before. Granted, I hadn't slept much, but that was more because I was too excited than because of the quality of the bed. Now that we were up and moving, I was glad for the coffee. I wasn't usually into the finer things in life, but good coffee was something I could definitely get used to.
The nanny just made breakfast. Real breakfast. I want to keep her forever. My phone chirped as the message from Grace came in. I stifled a giggle and showed the message to Robbie.
"I told you she was good," he said, a smug grin illuminating his face. I wanted to kiss him. He had hired a professional nanny to come and help Grace out while I was away. I had met the woman just before Robbie and I got on the plane, and she was the closest thing to a real-life Mary Poppins I had ever met, down to the British accent. Avery was absolutely in love with her from the moment they had met, and insisted on learning how to speak "princess" from her. I was almost sad that I wasn't there to witness it.
"If I could have everyone's attention," a deep voice said from a podium on the edge of the room. It looked as though a wedding had been held in the building the night before, and we were using the tables and chairs. Given how beautiful the building and the view were, it seemed a perfect place for a wedding. I shook my head, clearing out thoughts of weddings. I needed to pay attention.
"Excellent. First off, I'm so glad you are all here. As you know, this is the last race of the season and pits the best sailors of the summer against one another. Congratulations on making it to the elite competition." The man paused and glanced around the room. He was a large man with a wide barrel chest and a thick, black beard.
"First, the details of the race. You will all start here in Chicago and sail to Mackinac Island. The race course is approximately 333 miles and typically takes forty to sixty hours to complete. The record time is less than twenty-four hours." He continued on about how it was a double-handed mixed gender race, but I was more interested in the weather report.
"Now, some of you have already spoken to me this morning, but weather reports call for deteriorating conditions. High winds and an early winter storm are predicted to hit the lake sometime this afternoon. Despite this, it's tradition to race on this weekend, and we're not changing that." The black-bearded man looked around the room.
A sailing team from another table stood and left the room. They were obviously quitting the race due to the mention of weather. The speaker watched them go. "Weather conditions will be difficult for this race, but the committee has deemed it safe enough to race."
I looked over at Robbie, but he sat confidently in his chair, arms crossed as he took in the information. I didn't like storms. As a sailor, I had learned to deal with them, but that didn't mean that I enjoyed them. The most frightening storm I had ever been in was the one I had sailed single-handed into and gotten caught. It was the storm that killed my parents. There had been storms after that, but never one that frightened me as much.
The speaker continued at that point, going over the race course and the rules. These were all things that Robbie and I had gone over before and were, for the most part, fairly standard. I had followed this race every year, and because of that, I knew the course like the back of my hand. I felt like I could sail the entire thing blindfolded.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Thomas Grant and his sailing partner laughing at another table. Grant turned, making sure he had my attention, and winked. I felt a blush sear across my cheeks. I hated that man. When the speaker finished, two males sitting at the table next to us stood and greeted Robbie.
"Hello, Robbie," one of the men said. He was thin and lanky while his partner was short and stout.
"Hi, Jackson," Robbie greeted the tall man warmly, shaking his hand. "You going to be our competition?"
"Hell no! I saw that weather report. They're playing it down, but it looks like a real doozy of a storm. It's too late in the season to be taking risks like this." Jackson shook his head, and the stouter man frowned.
"You two are quitting already?" Robbie asked. "I guess Sam and I here will have the race in the bag. You were our only real competition."
The stouter man laughed. "You seriously crazy enough to try and race this storm, Robbie?"
"We aren't going to race this storm, Burt. We are going to beat it," Robbie replied confidently.
The tall man gave me an appreciative look. "Lady, you got yourself a crazy skipper. He's good as gold, but I think there might be a few screws loose if you know what I'm saying."
I laughed. "I think you're just scared of us. That storm's got nothing on us!"
Jackson grinned. "Robbie, I think you finally found a girl as crazy as you are." Everyone laughed.
"Good luck, you two. We've got to go move the boat from the starting area. We'll be cheering for you," Burt said, and the two men smiled politely and left as Robbie settled back into his chair.
A little apprehension started to worm its way into my head, so I made eye contact with Robbie. "You sure we're going to be all right with the storm?"
Robbie reached across the table and took my hand in his.
"Sam, we are going to knock the socks off this competition. You and me? We're a team. This storm isn't going to be as bad as they seem to think it is. We have this." His green eyes sparkled with certainty and I couldn't help but feel a little better. I knew Robbie liked to push boundaries, but if he thought we could sail through the storm, I believed him. We were a team and I knew we could do anything together.