Bullard was still in the village with Leia, which made sense, depending on how the birth was going. Katie hoped everything was okay and that any complications were minor. That was the negative side of being here on the island because just no medical service was otherwise available. Even now, with Leia, Bullard, and Dave here, they all had tons of surgical experience but no equipment to speak of. They didn’t have any testing equipment either and had only basic medical supplies. A lot of that could be taken care of perhaps, but was it worth it to provide medical supplies for a small village like that, with its lack of medical providers? She didn’t know.
As Katie worked away, setting up dinner for everybody, and half expecting a head count much higher than originally planned, she turned and jumped, seeing Dave standing right behind her. “Oh my gosh,” she said, patting her hand above her heart. “I didn’t hear you.”
“And here I was, trying to call you gently, so as not to scare you,” he explained, with a smile.
“Oh, I don’t think you succeeded.” She laughed. “Come on with me back to the yacht and update me. So, where are we at?”
“We’ve got a ton unloaded, and we’ve got it organized. The entire crew is here, and several of their partners will be coming in later today,” he noted. “So, there will be a few more trips back and forth to the mainland, and, by tomorrow, it looks like everybody will be here.”
“I might need more food supplies then,” she warned, getting into her boat and taking them back to the yacht.
He nodded. “Yeah, I wondered. That’s one of the reasons I’m here, to check on what else you might need.”
She did a rapid head count, as she thought about the number she would be feeding, and frowned. “Have we got barbecue grills yet?”
“Two large ones came off already,” he replied, “and they’ll be set up down on the extension of the beach deck.”
She frowned at him. “Beach deck? Have you already got something like that set up? I so wanted to watch what all the guys were doing, but I needed to stay focused on my job here.”
“It’s a temporary setup for this visit,” he said. “It will give us a good chance to test it out, as we work toward figuring out what we want for the future and getting that all in.”
She smiled and nodded. “Well, I was just getting everything ready for dinner here,” she said. “I wasn’t exactly sure, with all the people coming and going, how many we are feeding tonight, but I’ve made sure there is a lot.”
They reached the yacht, and she took him to her kitchen, to show him her progress so far.
He looked around, and his eyebrows shot up. “It doesn’t look like that much,” he noted cautiously.
She smiled. “Don’t worry. The fridges are full. But I could certainly use more of that kind of equipment too.”
“Yeah, I know. Refrigeration is an issue here,” he said, “but we will be running fresh food daily from the mainland.”
“That will help,” she said cheerfully. “If I don’t have to store that kind of thing, it will be a godsend.”
“Exactly. Is there something I can help you with now?”
“All of this.” She opened up a refrigerator to show him trays upon trays. “It all needs to go to the island, but we need a place for it first.”
“Not a problem. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
He went up on deck. Moments later, she heard the engine start up, and the yacht headed toward the new floating dock they had out. When she stepped outside, she stared, surprised. Actually maybe stunned was a better word, to see how much was now sitting at beach level and up at the area where Bullard’s little shelter and bunk had been. There was also a massive stack of building materials off to the side. She imagined that the entire island would be thrumming with news over this. But it’s kind of the way Bullard did things, … always in a big way, always with everything he needed. He didn’t like to do without when it came to his people.
Just then Katie got a phone call from Ice.
“How’s the island?” Ice asked her.
“It’s gorgeous,” she said. “Bullard and Leia are helping somebody deliver a baby right now. Plus, the old medicine woman took a bad blow to the head from one of the locals who was looking for medical attention—courtesy of Dave—but thankfully the medicine woman woke up and seems to be better.” She then quickly explained everything that had gone on to date.
“Wow. So even in paradise he’s finding plenty to keep him busy,” Ice replied, but there was a note of anxiety in her voice. “Is it safe there?”
“I think so,” Katie said. “I know the guys are certainly on full alert, just in case that gunman turns up again. It seems like he’s been the source of all the trouble this trip.”
“Right,” she said.
“Are you coming?”
“Yes, we’re leaving today. I’m actually calling from the airport,” Ice stated. “We’ll be in tomorrow.”
“I’m so glad you’re coming,” Katie said warmly.
“Yeah, we’re coming with the minister. We’ve got other plans we’re kind of involved in too, so we’ll see how this all works out.” But a note of laughter was in her voice.
“Okay, I’ll see you soon.”
“Can’t wait.” And, with that, Ice hung up.
Katie turned to see Dave standing there, frowning.
“Was that Ice?”
“Yes.” Not sure what she should tell him, she decided to not tell him anything. She immediately started taking trays out of the fridge. “Can you take these out?”
“Sure, but I wanted to show you how we’ve got it set up to make sure it’s okay.”
“You can show me as we carry these all out there.” Katie grabbed two big trays herself.
Just then the captain joined them, but the confines in the galley were fairly small, so they passed the trays over, like a fire brigade, so everybody had two, and she grabbed two more.
“Okay, let’s go,” Katie said. “We’ll have to come back for another round.” They went up to the main deck, and then she walked down the new gangplank, so she could go from the yacht to the floating dock. She smiled. “Oh my gosh, this is exactly what we needed.” Katie marveled at how fast the men had pulled it all together. “Is this like military equipment or something?”
“That’s exactly what it is,” Dave said, with a smile.
“It’s perfect. And then what? Down the road you’ll just build something more permanent?”
“Correct.” He chuckled.
As they got down a little farther, she could see that the flat decking area had been quadrupled in size. Some of it even went out over the water, obviously with some steel supports underneath—exposed as the tide shifted it.
“Is all that stable?” she asked in awe.
“Most definitely.” Dave nodded. “Those over the water float.”
She shook her head. “I’ve never seen anything go up so fast in my life.”
“It’s kind of what we do.”
“Oh, I get that, but it never occurred to me that so few of you could do something like this so fast.”