Page 16

Rouge Wave

Zane

C alvin’s sitting next to me, and we’re pulling away from the beach. The WaveRunner’s almost floating and tied up to a tree. The tide will lift it off the sand in the next hour. When we swing back around, we’ll be able to grab it and tow it back to camp.

I glance over at Calvin. Sam and Easton are in the front of the tender. And damn, I know he wants to do this, but it’s getting later in the afternoon, three, maybe. And the sun will start to set in a few hours. Five, five-thirty. It’s light a little longer than it would be back home.

December. I’m trying not to think about it. My mom and sister are all alone for Christmas. It’s December tenth, if we haven’t lost track of any days. And I don’t think we have. It’s been a long time. But it feels longer.

And I get it. I get why Calvin wants to bury what’s left of the people over at the pomelo beach. But we need to get back home.

Fuck. Home. But that’s what it is.

“It’s like three,” I say.

“Three-thirty,” Calvin counters like he’s got some atomic clock in his back pocket.

I cock my head at him.

“It’s just a guess. But yeah, it’s getting late. Tides for this kind of trip will never be perfect.” His head bows.

And I’m feeling like a fucking asshole.

“We can do it some other time, another day, another year—I suppose it doesn’t matter.

” He looks out at the rocky shoreline that follows Chicken Beach, then back to the bin of clucking chickens.

“It’s not right to keep them from water and bugs either.

Plus, we’re going to need to build some kind of enclosure.

At least at first, until they just start hanging out near us. ”

“You sure?” My heart soars.

“Yeah, we should at least poke out around the end of the island and see what we can see.”

“Hell, yeah.” I shouldn’t, but I push the throttle down. It gives us a little more speed.

Sam’s head snaps back to me. “What’s that for?”

“We’re going up a bit and then turning back to camp,” I say.

“That’s a fucking good idea.” Sam gives a single nod and pivots back to the front of the boat.

The coast undulates in and out for a good clip. And when we edge out to the ocean, it’s just as rough as I expect.

“Hold on,” I shout. And fucking hell, we catch a rogue wave and bounce. Most of the things are tied down—everything but me.

My feet fly out of the boat, and my hand leaves the tiller. Calvin screams. I’m arching my body as far away from the motor as possible, and when the waves hit and it’s just water—not the searing pain of a blade chopping through my body—I’ve got to say I’m relieved.

I’m not wearing a life jacket. Because, well, complacency happens. That’s what flashes through my mind as I’m sinking down. Fuck, how easy it would be to not even try.

And then I see Haley’s blue eyes shining at me. Her smile, her calm demeanor.

I’m pulling at the water, rising up as I do.

It’s ten seconds, maybe less. When I gasp through the surface, the tender’s over a hundred feet away.

I raise my hand up like I’ve got a question.

I bob for a few seconds, sputtering out the saltwater from my lungs.

And then I head straight for the raft. Well, not that straight—my line is more of a crooked path.

But Calvin’s got the tender pointed at me.

I glance up every few strokes and make sure I’m not heading off in the wrong direction, but then the raft is there and Easton and Sam are yanking me from the water.

I’m searching for something light-hearted to say, but I’ve got nothing when Calvin smirks at me. “If you were getting too warm, you could have just spoken up.”

Sam’s glaring at me. “Damn, Zane, that scared the shit out of me.”

“Me too.” I sit in the middle row of seats and look over at the chick and hens.

Easton sits down next to me and leans over, too. “They’re fine. Maybe a little confused as to why the ground is shaking.”

“Chickens? They’re too fucking stupid to know that the ground isn’t supposed to shake,” Calvin says.

“Right, well, no more shaking.” My attention is caught by a flash to the side. The sun’s beating down on a long white sand beach around the corner.

Calvin slows the boat. “Damn, that’s pretty.” He glances over at Sam and then to me. “You want to take a look or head back to camp?”

“I think we’re pushing our luck,” Sam says.

But I counter with, “Sure, I’m good, and now we know the current around the edge of the island makes for some crazy waves.” It’s something I should already have thought of.

Is it weird I’m just as happy knowing that the little chicks didn’t die as myself? I’ll have to figure it out. But then no. That’s something I can do with Haley later. With my head in her lap, her fingers caressing my ear. A wave—no, no more waves—a sensation of calmness fills me.

“You sure?” Calvin holds my eyes. I know for certain he wants to check it out. He always wants to explore.

“Down a little and back?” I suggest. The sun’s hanging lower.

We all turn to Sam, and he shrugs and points to the beach. “Ten minutes and then we go back and get the WaveRunner.” Sam tosses me a life jacket.

I put it on without comment. The trip to the beach has the sun in our eyes but the wind at our backs.

“Damn.” Calvin’s voice trails out behind us. “I think that’s more orchard.”

“It’s the effing motherload.” Easton points.

We’re off the tender and have it tied up to a solid post of what must have been a dock a long time ago.

And it goes without saying that with so much food available and visible from the shoreline, the pirates must either have access to a port or an island rich enough in food that they don’t give a hoot about what’s here. Because bloody hell?

“Ten minutes. Let’s take as much as we can but no more than what can last.” Sam’s got the machete in his hand.

I grab the shovel. I’m going to play whack-a-mole with some low-hanging coconuts.

We end up with one huge bunch of bananas the size of Calvin’s torso, and the bottom of the tender is littered with coconuts. There’s a bunch of Pepper’s fruit here too and even a few mangos and papayas—we haven’t seen any papayas on the island before. I fill my shirt with them.

Easton’s approaching the boat with his arms loaded down with more mangos.

“That’s got to be it. Any more and we’re going to be overweight,” I say.

“Agreed,” Sam says. He holds the line, waiting for the rest of us to gingerly hop in.

Calvin takes it slow around the corner, and I’m not a fool—I hold on for my life this time. I’m not ready for another dunk.

It takes longer than any of us like getting the WaveRunner hooked to the back of the tender, and when we slowly pull into the home beach, the sun isn’t going down—it’s down. We pull in with twilight at our backs.

Penny’s the first to greet us, then Haley runs out onto the beach. Her arms are crossed over her breast, her stew face firmly in place. Dante’s behind her, and she drops her arms, her mask too. She runs toward the boat.

And when she comes closer, I can see it. Her face is puffy and her eyes are red. And my heart sinks. We did her wrong. So wrong. I don’t have anyone to blame. This morning was awkward, and I think we all wanted to run away. Run away with our excuses instead of facing the things we need to.

“Oh, Little Bird.” I hop out of the tender. Calvin’s still motoring it in, but I don’t give a fuck. I pick her up and hold her head to my chest. “We shouldn’t have gone and made you worry.”

“No, you shouldn’t have. And . . .”

I let her lean back. I can see it in her face—under all the worry is a good solid layer of mad. “You’re angry. You have every right to be.”

Her brows furrow and her lips purse for a second. “I?—”

“Have every right to be mad. I apologize too, Sugar.” Sam takes her hand and kisses it.

Her eyes float over to Easton.

“I went to keep them out of trouble,” he says. “But yeah, we shouldn’t have gone.”

“I’m the fucking idiot who almost got Zane killed,” Calvin growls.

“What?”

“He’s exaggerating. But damn, I’m bloody glad to see you.” I pull her in for another tight hug, as tight as the lifejacket will let me.

“Exaggeration or not, that’s not good,” Haley says. Penny jumps in the surf at the side of the tender, which is something she never does. “What’s she so excited about?”

“That’s our surprise. Let’s get the tender tied up.

” I take the rope from where Easton tosses it, and Sam, Easton, Haley, and I pull and yank the tender up onto the sand.

It’s a hell of a lot heavier with the WaveRunner and the load of fruit, and maybe Calvin being on it might have something to do with the weight too.

Dante’s showed up at some point. Pepper’s at his ankles. “Damn.” He peers into the tender. “Merry Christmas to us. What’s in the box?”

“It’s a surprise,” I say.

“Does it say cluck, cluck?” Dante grinds his hips in a poor imitation of my unforgettable lap dance.

“Yes, and no. Now don’t ruin the surprise for Haley.” I point my finger at him.

“Didn’t your mum tell you it’s not polite to point?” His head tilts back as he laughs.

“Don’t get too excited.” Easton stops at Haley’s side and kisses her cheek. “I really am sorry,” he whispers into her ear.

“It’s not a 55-million-dollar diamond. No, it’s better.

” I take her hand and lead her up to the beach.

“Sit here. I’ll bring it to you.” I jog back to the tender and take the bin out.

It’s not that heavy, more awkward. I set it down, and through an opening big enough for my fist, I pull out a baby chick and set it on her lap.

“Oh, it’s the cutest thing.”

“How many more are there?” Dante asks.

“You’re not killing it.”

“Haley, you’re not a vegetarian,” Dante laughs. “Where do you think chicken nuggets come from?”

“Not Violet.” Haley runs her finger over the fluffball’s head.

“Fine, but if there’s a Gus and Mike in there, when they grow up—” Dante stops at Haley’s stare. “We can talk about it later.” Dante throws his hands in the air and heads over to the tender to help the others unload the fruit.

“You got the WaveRunner too.” Haley’s looking more at the chick than the other guys or me.

“We did.”

“What happened? How did you almost . . .”

“Die? I didn’t. Or at least now I didn’t.

But if that had happened six months ago?

” I shrug. “Rogue wave when the current shifted around the side of the island. I was going too fast. Everyone else was hanging on, the supplies and chickens tied down. I flew off the back. But between you and Easton taking the time to show me how to swim, I was fine afterwards. There was a second when I thought I might not be when I was sinking, though. And all I could think of was you. I don’t want to live without you.

I know I’ve said I love you. But I need you to understand what you mean to me.

You calm my soul. You make things right.

” I pause because I’ve been saying when we get back before but now it’s a lot harder.

“When we get back, I don’t want there to be a time in my life when we’re not together. ”

She nods.

“No, Haley, I mean it. Fuck, at any other time this would be where a guy drops to his knees and begs the best most amazing girl on the planet to marry him. But it’s a little different for us.

For you. Whatever the equivalent of marriage is in this sort of situation.

That’s what I want. Picket fence. House full of little Haleys.

I want you. I want you always. I choose you. ”

She’s crying, and damn, my stomach twists because I’ve gone and overwhelmed her. I should have given it a minute. Let her have some space. She needs space.

“I want that too.” The tears are full-on coming down her cheeks.

“Fuck, yes!” I jump up and punch the sky.

But this isn’t some sort of alternate universe of a Brat Pack movie.

There’s no credits running with us huddled behind that white picket fence.

There’s a tender full of fruit and a WaveRunner that needs to be hauled onto the shore and hidden with brown palm fronds.

But I don’t care. I pick Haley up and twirl her around. Her shoes go flying, and her arms are scrunched below my life vest. I gaze down at her. My girl. She’s mine. And that’s how I always want it to be. This moment will live frozen in time for me. “I love you, Haley Brewster.”

“I love you too.”

A peep comes from between us, and I pull back. “Oh, shit.”

“Violet’s good.” She holds the chick up and then gently places it back with the others.

“Well, alright then. We should have a ‘welcome to the family’ party. When’s Thanksgiving, anyway?”