Read Online Undeceived by Karen M. Cox - Free Book Online

You know how that goes. I’m sure those things happen in Hungary too.”
    Johanna shrugged. “I know nothing about it. I am a sheltered girl. My father made it so.”
    Charles approached them. “Are you ready for an adventure?”
    “Yes, definitely!” Popping up from her bench, Johanna took a step toward him and tripped over a tree root.
    “Easy there.” Charles caught her arm and steadied her, and they shared a moment intimate enough to compel Liz to look away. She bit her lip to hide a smile, one that truly disappeared when she saw Darby frowning at them.
    “Stick in the mud. Hypocrite,” she muttered under her breath.
    ***
    “I wish I spent more time on the lake when I was a child,” Johanna commented. “See, my mother died. I was four, and after, Apa and I spend most of our time in Budapest. I think it is lonely for him to be here without her. My mother was from the Balaton, but we never come back—not even for holidays.”
    “It must have been rough.” Charles put a guiding hand on hers. She was standing next to him in the stern pulpit, her hands on the wheel. He called out, “Ready, Liz?”
    Liz looked back from her station by the winch. “Aye, aye, Captain.”
    “Hoist the main sail.”
    She began turning the crank, raising the sail. At first, it went quickly, but as the sail rose and caught the wind, the crank became harder and harder to turn.
    “Give her a hand, Darby.”
    Darby appeared right behind her, his eyes unreadable behind sunglasses, a small smile playing about his lips. “Aye, aye, Captain.”
    “I can do it.”
    “Not before we get blown off course. I don’t mind helping. It’s the first time you’ve been sailing, and the fact that men have better upper body strength is just a result of biomechanics, not an evil plot to disempower you.”
    “I have plenty of upper body strength. I swim, and I’ve trained in self-defense techniques. I’ve even been known to lift weights when I was back home.”
    “A woman of many accomplishments.” Darby’s eyes raked over her, his chin tilting up and down to draw attention to his notice of her. “Nothing wanting in your upper body, Liz.”
    “Say any kind of stupid misogynistic remark you like. My courage rises with every attempt to intimidate me.”
    “No doubt.” He nudged her aside and cranked the sail up the last couple of feet. “You did a fine job—for a girl.” He tossed a grin back at Charles while Liz bumped him with her hip and took her station back.
    “Women today are so much more accomplished than they were even just a few years ago.”
    “What on earth are you talking about, Charles?” Darby moved over to the winch and began to hoist the jib.
    “They’ve entered the workforce in droves since the Sixties, become more interested in politics, more involved in athletics, and yet…” He glanced at Johanna. “They retain their goodness in a way men don’t.”
    “You have a distorted definition of ‘accomplishment.’ Accomplished women should be intelligent and capable, no doubt. In addition, I personally appreciate it when they’re pleasing to look at…” His eyes darted to Liz, staring at the horizon with her hand shielding her eyes from the sun.
    Darby continued. “But a bigger accomplishment is the development of intellect through education and lifelong learning. And still, adding to all of that, an accomplished woman has to have a strong character. In other words, she has to have guts. In their recent attempts to grab the spotlight, I think many modern women have lost sight of those qualities.”
    “Your ideal woman is a fantasy,” Liz replied. “She doesn’t exist.”
    “Then, it’s a good thing I can still enjoy less than ideal.”
    Liz pursed her lips in annoyance. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. Grab the spotlight? What does that even mean? A woman isn’t grabbing the spotlight if she’s naturally gifted at her job and receives her due for it. The way things are, even now in the