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“Hopefully Shawn can take care of it.”
“I don’t like the guy, but I think he’ll do whatever he needs to make Mercedes’ show goes well. Not to mention the liability if something happens to us.”
“For sure.”
She stared into his eyes for a few seconds, the moisture on her lashes making them even more dark. Those sapphire jewels beckoned to him. Cash started to lean in.
A small animal scurried through the brush next to them. Brylee jumped and then laughed.
Cash smiled and stood, offering a hand. “Guess we’d better get a move on.”
They set off again.
Cash’s hand was slick on the machete. He kept having to lift his raincoat and wipe his hand clean on his T-shirt. It was a mess. He was a mess. Visibility was poor so they might walk right past a flag and not see it, but if his theory was correct, he should be able to get really close to where he thought the treasure would be.
They reached the stream where they’d had that beautiful kissing session. Had that been two days ago? Three? He was exhausted. In every which way. Fighting himself, fighting his feelings for Brylee, fighting to find her treasure.
“Ah, our stream.” Brylee clapped her hands together.
It was all Cash could do to not kiss her. The rain would be like kissing in the waterfall. Even better and more romantic. He hadn’t liked the rain today, but with the vision of kissing Brylee in it, suddenly it seemed like a beautiful thing.
He focused on the stream. It was flowing higher than the last time they’d seen it.
Instead of kissing her, he said, “So my theory is that each of the flags are lined up to make an X across the island. If it’s true, then …”
“X marks the spot?” Her eyes widened.
“Yes. If we walk to the spring and explore north and west of it, I think that will be the middle of the X.”
“Let’s do it.” She beamed at him as if he were brilliant.
Cash smiled and then led the way up the stream. He kept clearing a path on the other side of it.
Of course he wanted to find her treasure, but the truth of his dismal future wanted to burst out of him. Was he being smart, safeguarding her heart, and preventing pain down the road for both of them?
Who was he kidding? He was already invested deeper than the Grand Canyon, and the pain of walking away from her might kill him before the cancer could. Yet Brylee’s reaction to a coupleof thugs not even getting close to killing him and her tragic Romeo and Juliet line made him unsure how to proceed. Any path wounded her. He hated that.
They reached the spring, and he directed her north and west of it. Almost immediately, he had to start chopping a path. The rain made it hard to see, and he was afraid he would miss a flag by a few feet with low visibility. Not to mention the foliage felt thicker than ever right here.
He pushed a large fern out of the way and in front of him was a small clearing. A pink and white striped flag drooped in the rain. The ground underneath had definitely been dug up in the past two weeks.
“Bry?” He stopped, sheathed his machete, and turned to her.
She pressed in against his arm and shoulder, and Cash’s heart predictably went insane.
“This is it,” she whispered.
He glanced back at her, and her beautiful face and enticing lips were right there. The rain and jungle surrounding them was a misty beauty that only complimented her. He lifted a hand to cup her cheek and tilt her lips to fuse with his.
But she stepped away and slid her backpack off. “Can I have the shovel?”
Oh. Yeah. That was good. Smart. Not what he wanted. “I can dig,” he managed to say in a somewhat level tone. If she wanted to dig, he would let her, but he wouldn’t mind the physical exertion right now.
She nodded. “Thank you.”
There was none of the excitement of the last time they had dug. Was this really it, or another trick? He didn’t know. He was ninety percent certain this was the middle of the X he had envisioned in his mind. This might be the end for them. The way things felt right now, it was probably a good time to move on, not worry about some hard, long goodbye. Then neither ofthem would get more invested and more injured by their tragic romance.
Cash slipped off his backpack, pulled out the shovel, flipped it open, and started digging.
