Page 24

But what if there was no help to be found?

October 18 th

7:14 A.M.

Watching Jake walk away and not calling out to him to tell him to come back had to be one of the hardest things Alannah had ever done in her life.

Safe was with Jake.

Without him …

It felt like anything could happen.

That was probably a silly way of looking at it since he’d been with her for three of the four fires, and on the boat with her when it exploded, but she’d survived those fires because of him.

Jake might have brought this danger to her, but he had also kept her alive at every step.

What would she do without him?

Not just in terms of her physical safety, because he brought so much more to her life than that.

Something ran much deeper. He brought with him a sense of psychological and emotional safety.

One her parents had never provided for her.

Jake thought he’d failed because her family continued to hurt her and there was nothing he could do to stop that from happening, but the reality was, she lived only because of him.

He was her grumpy, but he was also her sunshine as much as she was his.

Because he reminded her that not all people were like her parents. There were good and honorable people in the world, people who took on responsibilities that weren't theirs simply because they cared and they wanted to.

That was the only reason her parents’ and sister’s mistreatment hadn't destroyed her. It was why she was able to search for the love she’d been deprived of, and why she never gave up hope that one day she’d have a family of her very own who loved her more than words could explain.

What if …

What if what she’d been searching for had been in front of her all along?

It was wrong to have these thoughts about her best friend only she couldn’t seem to stop herself.

As Alannah lay there on the hard ground, curled up in a ball before the fire Jake had built, wearing nothing but her bra and panties, she wasn't even sure she wanted to stop herself from thinking those thoughts.

Surely, they were only wrong if Jake didn't feel the same way in return.

And there lay her biggest fear.

It wasn't that she doubted Jake loved her as a friend, that he cared about her deeply, and he would always see himself as her protector, all those things were true. But could he love her as more than a friend? Could he ever see himself as her partner and not just her self-appointed protector?

If he couldn’t and she let slip that something had changed for her, she would lose him forever. Things would become weird and awkward, and then they’d just stop spending time around one another, and sooner or later, the friendship would disappear.

That wasn't something she could let happen.

So she had to keep those feelings to herself.

Had to.

Seconds ticked by into minutes.

Minutes ticked by into hours.

The sun rose, its light shining through the thick clouds that still covered the sky.

Still Jake didn't return.

How long would it take him to find help?

Surely he must have found someone by now. A house, a road, or some shops. The shoreline was beautiful, and there had to be at least some restaurants close by to take in the stunning views. Houses too. People loved to live on the coast. And more often than not, there were roads close as well.

So why didn't Jake come back with help?

Had something happened to him?

Fear for him clogged her mind, filling her with terror. Losing him would kill a part of her she was sure she would never be able to get back.

Maybe she should go and look for him.

While he’d checked her over for injuries, he hadn't taken the time to pause and take stock of his own body.

Determination to get her somewhere warm and out of the weather where they could eat and sleep had clouded his mind, and there was a very real possibility he had some sort of serious injury that adrenalin had been masking.

Or he could have slipped and fallen, hurt himself too badly to keep going.

If he needed her, she couldn’t just lie there in a ball and do nothing. That’s not what he would do if their positions were reversed.

Before he left, Jake had laid out her soaked clothes before the fire, and now she pushed wearily to her feet to retrieve them.

They were still damp but a whole lot drier than they’d been before.

The salt from the water and the sand and dirt from the ground they’d been laying on made them stiff and scratchy, and putting them back on wasn't pleasant.

But she did it.

If Jake needed her, there wasn't anything she wouldn't do.

The wound on her back from where the life jacket had been damaged in the explosion stung as her shirt brushed against it, and she had to leave her leggings resting low on her hips because the bruise on her side, which was continuing to darken to a horrible bluish black, hurt too much to have anything on it.

Somewhere along the way she must have lost her shoes, but that didn't matter. She was walking with or without them.

Adding a few more sticks to the fire to keep it going, she would need a reminder of their location in case she couldn’t find Jake and had to try to come back.

It would also help him to find the spot where they’d been in case he was okay, and it had just taken longer to find help than either of them had anticipated.

Then with a deep sense of trepidation, Alannah headed further down onto the sand and started walking.

Within the first minute, she heard someone call her name.

Hope and relief flooded her system.

He’d done it. Jake had found help.

Turning around, she saw him sprinting across the sand from behind her.

Alone.

If he was back, where was the help he’d found?

Then it hit her.

He was coming from behind her, the opposite direction from which he’d left. That meant he’d completed a circle. Surely …

Surely that circle couldn’t have been the entire island.

If she had to guess, she would have thought he’d been gone maybe two hours, if he really had circled the entire island, that would make it pretty small.

Maybe she was wrong.

Maybe he’d just gone along a bit, headed inland, and then circled back in the other direction before turning again to hit the spot where he’d left her waiting.

That idea was dashed when Jake reached her side.

“Where were you going?” he demanded, in the hard tone she knew was only used when he was afraid. Jake afraid was never a good thing.

“I was worried you were hurt and was going to go looking for you. Are you okay? Did you find help?” The question was stupid because if he had it would be here with him, but she couldn’t let go of that last tiny sliver of hope just yet.

His gaze softened, but the fear hidden in his eyes was far too visible for her liking. “Alannah, I don’t know … I don’t know how to say this, but … there is no help here. We’re alone on this island.”

The words seemed to hover between them for a moment.

Sparing her their impact for a few more seconds.

But when it hit, it hit hard.

They’d fought their way through the ocean all for nothing. They had no food, no means to call for help, no means to get off the island other than to head back into the ocean, no shelter, and no warm clothes.

They had nothing.

That first sob caught her by surprise. She was no more ready for the second or the third. Nor was she prepared for Jake to snatch her into his arms and crush her against his chest, holding her tightly while she wept, every bit of fear and exhaustion seeping out of her in those tears.

Eventually, logic began to edge out the fear. Falling apart wasn't going to help them. In fact, it was going to hurt them because it gave poor Jake another problem he had to solve. They couldn’t survive this if she made herself a hysterical burden Jake would have to carry.

Their only hope of surviving was if they worked together.

Somehow, Alannah managed to find the strength she hadn't known she possessed, one born of a deep-seated desire to live, and lifted her wet face to meet Jake’s steady gaze. A gaze that gave her strength and confidence.

“We need to come up with a plan because we’re not dying on this island.” She said the words and meant them, somehow believing that together there was nothing they couldn’t do.

Even survive this.