Page 55 of Exiled

I opt for the two-piece. I feel naked, but when I try it on and look in the mirror, even I must admit I look rather stunning. And Logan can’t keep his eyes—or his hands—off me. Thus, the two-piece.

Now we’re standing on the side of the road, waiting to cross. There is a fence between the road and the back of the condominiums, with gates here and there to allow residents and guests to come and go from the beach. A couple of cars pass, and then we cross, dancing through the dune grass and down to the shore. The sand is hot until we reach the water’s edge, and that’s where I stop.

Water lapping at my toes, up to my ankles. Wet sand pulling at my feet, sliding and shifting with the receding waves. The sun is low, sending a path of reddish-gold light on the ocean.

Logan is quiet, holding my hand. Watching me.

I wade slowly deeper, and Logan comes with me.

The memory from earlier is vivid in my mind. It is all I can see, all I can feel. I almost expect to be able to turn and see Mama and Papa on the sand, on Abuela’s blanket, kissing. I turn,in fact. But the beach is empty, except for a few singles and couples drifting along the shore in the distance.

I wade in deeper. To my thighs, to my hips. The water is cool at my waist.

“I always used to stop here. This deep. I had to work up the courage to jump in.” I blink; salt stings my eyes. “Papa would sometimes push me in, if I was taking too long.”

“Like this?” Logan says.

And then wraps his arm around my waist and throws us into the water. I come up spluttering, but laughing.

“Yes, Logan. Exactly like that.”

And now that I’m in the water, I’m home. More than anywhere I’ve ever been since waking up from the coma, I’m home. I dive back under, down to the sea floor, trailing my fingers along the rippled sand. Kick hard, draw at the water with cupped palms, swim long and hard until my lungs burn, and then I plant my heels in the sand and kick off. I break the surface, roll to my back, and drift on the waves. The sea is calm, gently rolling. I feel Logan beside me. Just watching. There, but silent. Giving me this moment.

I float for a while, eyes closed, remnants of the sun’s heat bathing my face.

I drop my feet to the sea floor and turn to face Logan. “Thank you, Logan.”

He’s left his eyepatch in the condo, but, in this moment at least, I can look at him without feeling the squirm of guilt.

“For what, babe?” he asks.

I push up against him. Kiss him. “This.” I gesture around us. “For bringing me here. I feel... at home. At peace.”

“Good. That’s what I wanted.”

“How can I ever thank you? It seems impossible.” I run my hands over his wet hair. “You’ve given me so much. Done so much.”

“That’s love, honey. It’s life. It’s...” He shrugs, at a loss for words. “All you have to do is love me back.”

“I do. Very much. I never thought to even wonder what that was, that it even existed, until I met you. I knew only one thing, and that seemed to be all there was in life. And you’ve shown me so much in such a short span of time.” I kiss him, taste brine on his lips. “I remember... from earlier, my memory of being on the beach with Mama and Papa, I remember how they couldn’t seem to stop touching each other, kissing each other. They kissed like they never wanted to stop. And I remember this thought, wondering what it would be like, kissing someone and wanting to never stop.”

Logan cups the back of my head and kisses me senseless. Tongues tangling, our lips and teeth colliding, his hand pulling me closer, stealing my breath. A moment of surprise, and then I kiss him back, and it lasts for an eternity. We stand in the water, in the path of light spread by the crimson sunset, kissing as my parents once kissed, as if there were nothing else in all the world but the kiss. As if the kiss were all.

“Never stop, Isabel.” Logan’s whisper is soft and sweet. “Please, never stop.”

“I couldn’t, not even if I wanted to.” I plaster myself against his body, cling to him, breathe him, taste the sea on his skin, the sun on his lips, the love from his fingers, the adoration on his tongue. “I don’t want to ever stop.”

Chapter

Ten

We spend a week in Barcelona. We swim, we make love, we sleep tangled around each other. We live free, soaking up the sun, bathing in love.

It is the happiest I have ever been.

The happiest I will ever be, I think.

Chapter