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“Okay. No more PB&J for you. Got it,” he said. “How about...”
I raised my hand. “How about I do the cooking from now on,” I suggested.
“That sounds like a great idea.”
The wind was picking up, and I noticed Declan looking for the ship that was supposedly heading our way. If a storm arrived now, it was only going to cause more problems than we were already having.Trust him. We’re going to be okay.I wanted to ask him what he was thinking, but I could see he was in deep thought. After a moment, he turned his attention back to me.
“Declan, how are they going to know how to find us?” I asked.
“They are tracking our emergency beacon. And when I see them in the distance, I’ll set off a flare gun.”
I looked but didn’t spot any boat. My heart began to race again, and I realized that our chatting had been enough of a distraction that I wasn’t overrun with fear.Let’s keep talking.Changing the subject again, I said, “I’m holding you to your promise.”
Declan looked at me, arched a brow, and asked, “Which one?”
“When we are back on land, I want that ice cream,” I reminded him. “And I want whip cream and a cherry too. Maybe even chopped walnuts.”
“Hot fudge?” he asked. I licked my lips and nodded. He laughed. “You’ll get so much ice cream that you might not ever want to eat it again.”
“I don’t think you understand just how much I love ice cream,” I sighed. Joking normally made me feel better. It wasn’t working. My insides were a knot and I felt as though I could hurl. I didn’t want him to know. He might think it was because I didn’t trust him, when in fact, I trusted him with my life.And my heart.
Did it take a stupid orca to get me to realize I was falling for him? It wasn’t like we really had a lot of time to talk. All I learned was that he couldn’t cook.
That wasn’t really true. He’d proven again that I meant so much to him. What else can anyone ask for than to be cared for? To be put first. And if it weren’t for that whale, who knew where our kissing could’ve led us? Maybe I wouldn’t have been sleeping alone in the cabin tonight. Maybe we would’ve taken our relationship to another level. I would’ve been okay with that.
And now I’ll never know, and I'll always wonder what if.
Declan broke the silence and pointed out to the ocean. “Do you see that? That's our ride back to land. And to ice cream.”
I rested my head on his shoulder. A weight lifted. We were going to be okay. Not sure what this meant for us besides that, but at least we weren’t going to become shark bait.
“Declan, thank you,” I said.
“For calling for help?” He asked.
“That too. But I was talking about you bringing me here. It might not have been long, but I’ll treasure it always,” I said.
He kissed me briefly. “Our adventure isn’t over. We’re just changing it up a bit.”
I couldn’t allow myself to think past being rescued. Maybe tomorrow I'd feel differently, but for now, all I wanted was for us to get through today.
Declan said, “I have to send up the flare.”
The moment he left my side, I wanted him back. It was so weird. I’d spent most of my life alone and had no issue. I had proven that I had been capable of doing everything for myself and my daughter without help. But I’d be around Declan for a few hours and I no longer wanted to be alone. I no longer wanted tohaveto do it on my own.Why would I when we could do it together?
I watched Declan shoot off the flare, and then go below deck. I was sure he was communicating with the ship’s captain again. It now dawned on me that he could’ve stayed below deck this entire time, but instead sitting up here with me.
My eyes welled up.He did that for me. He knew what I needed. He’s always known. How?
I didn’t know if there really was something like a soulmate, but if there was, he was mine. There had been a connection from the beginning. Not a sexual one, but one that went even deeper, right to the core of my soul. It was as though the universe had sent him to me all those years ago and brought him back to me now when I was free of my haunting past.
He came back on deck as the ship approached. It wasn’t what I had expected to see. Not that I was expecting a luxury cruise ship or a fancy yacht. Nope. As it approached, I knew it was going to be a rough ride back to land because it was a fishing trawler. If I thought my stomach was churning now, it was about to get a lot worse.
It wasn’t long before they sent a small boat to retrieve us and our luggage from the sailboat. They also tied a line to the sailboat to tow it back to the dock. I was grateful for them coming to our rescue, but I was going to miss the sailboat. It provided us with a space where we could just be ourselves. Not sure if that was going to change once we planted our feet on land again.
As the fishing trawler started to tow the sailboat, it became evident that it wasn’t going to survive the journey. It had to be taking on water, and maybe Declan had known about it and hadn’t told me because he didn’t want me to worry. Either way, I saw him walk over to the rope and cut the sailboat free. We stood there and watched it slowly disappear beneath the water.
I hope our relationship doesn’t sink with the boat.
