It was quiet for a few moments. Then he heard her say, “Please don’t apologize. I’m glad you did it.”
He turned and looked at her.
“Yes,” she said. “I know I deserved it. I shouldn’t have come out there on the pier, and I certainly had no right to snap your picture.”
“Why did you do it?”
She opened her mouth to answer. Then she changed her mind and her lips shut tightly. He saw her face go red. She blinked a few times, then looked past him and said, “Whatever my reasons were, it was inexcusable, and I’m very much ashamed of myself.” With an effort she gazed directly at his face. “I hope you’ll forgive me.”
For some strange reason he wasn’t able to meet her eyes. He looked at the floor and swallowed hard. “It’s all right,” he said gruffly. “Let’s forget it.”
“I can’t. I want you to know how badly I feel about this. I’ve caused you a lot of trouble. You took a bad beating out there on the dock. And now they tell me you’ve been fired.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, that’s the way it goes. I was looking for grief, so they gave it to me.”
“But it’s all my fault,” she said. And then, in a lower tone, “Won’t you let me make it up to you?”
He looked at her. “How?”