Chapter Fourteen
The plane startsto move and I grip my seatbelt, squeezing my eyes shut as it lifts into the air. I bring my hand to my mouth, hoping my food stays down like it did on my flight yesterday. A few minutes later, I hear a voice come through the speakers of my headphones. “Molly? You can open your eyes. We are in the air now.” I peel my eyes open to the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in all of my life.
“Wow” is the only word I can get out as I sit up straight in my seat, taking it all in as I stare out into the vastness of the ocean in front of me.
“Yeah,” he agrees in quiet reverence. I glance over at Coop, and he has his eyes trained on me instead of the air in front of him. A half-smile on his face as he continues to stare.
“Don’t look at me. Aren’t you supposed to be flying or something? Look at the… uh… air, or something.” I motion at the window in front of me. I forget for a moment as I glance out the window again, letting my hand fall to my lap as I focus on all of the details below.
The ocean is so clear. I can see the coral, rocks, and little islands jutting out of the turquoise water below. The sun is just meeting the ocean, saying their morning”s greeting, their colors spreading out across the sky in picture perfect, oranges, pinks, purples, and blues merging together to paint the sky and the ocean in a masterful piece of art.
I pull out my camera from my backpack and take some pictures of the sunrise. “I can’t believe all of these colors. It’s almost like it isn’t real.” I’m sitting on the edge of my seat, the seatbelt restricting me from seeing more as I press my face closer to the window.
Once I have taken about a hundred pictures of the beauty around me, I swivel to get in a few pictures of the plane, holding it up to take a selfie with an unsuspecting Coop in the background of the photo. I stick my camera back into my bag and scoot myself back into my seat.
“If you look waaay out there, you can see the shadows of an island taking shape. That is Cocoa Island, one of our most touristy islands in the area. I fly most of my customers to that island. If you have time, you might want to check it out. It doesn’t have turtles, but it has some pretty cool sights.” He motions out the window, talking more about the nearby islands as my mind drowns out his words with thoughts of my own, watching his movements as he talks about some of his favorite places.
Why is it so hard for me to stay mad at this man? He has continually done and said things to make me never want to be in his presence ever again. But for some reason, I can’t help but feel drawn to him. One day. I have known him for a single day, and I want to push him out of the airplane and into the ocean below, but I also just want to hear him talk about the things he is passionate about. When he spoke about the driftwood table in his boat earlier, I could see the fire in his eyes, and it was not only invigorating, but it was strikingly attractive.
“Hello… earth to Molly. Molly, are you in there?” Coop is waving his hand at me from across the plane, and I shake my head, clearing the previous thoughts from my brain.
“Yeah, sorry... Sometimes I zone out like that when I’m thinking about things.” I smile over at him, folding my legs up onto the seat in a criss-cross applesauce position.
“Wow. You go deep.” He chuckles to himself. “I thought I was going to have to put this thing on autopilot and shake you out of whatever that was.”
“Wait, you can do that? You can put this on autopilot?” I point down at the plane underneath me and look over at his controls as he flips a switch and lets go of the steering thingy, raising his hands in the air. The plane’s system takes over, and the stick moves on its own. I grip my seat, and panic takes over. “Oh my gosh, no. Put your hands back on the thingamajig.” My voice sounds whiny, but when he doesn’t grab the steering stick, I feel the anger and panic welling inside of me. “Coop, put your hands back on that stick thing right now!” I’m huffing and puffing now, and my breaths are coming out faster and faster.
“Are you sure you don’t want to try your hand at flying, Molly,” Coop teases. I can feel my head getting dizzy and my stomach feels woozy.
“I think… Coop… I think…,” I’m starting to see stars in my peripheral vision, and before the darkness creeps in all the way, I can feel something squeezing my hand. Something warm and strong. My seatbelt is unbuckled, and I am being moved. The smell of the sea mixed with the pine trees of the forest overwhelms my senses as I am carried off somewhere else. Something soft is placed behind my head, and something cool is on my forehead, before I open my eyes to see Coop kneeling before me.
“There she is. You okay?” He runs the cool cloth over my forehead and has me sit up slowly, placing a bottle of cold water to my mouth.
“I… um… that’s never happened before.” I shakily take a sip of the water, just as I realize that no one is in the cockpit, flying the plane that we are in. Floating in the sky.
I start to panic again, grabbing Coop’s shirt with my fist as I pull him in front of my face. “Go. Fly. The. Plane. Right. Now. Before. I. Kill. You.” My words are punctuated and jittery sounding, even to myself, as he grabs my hand from his shirt, prying my fingers from their death grip.
“It’s okay. Chill out woman. Nothing is going to happen. I have taken this trip a million times.” My hand is still in his, and he is rubbing my palm with his thumb, making my hand relax, but causing my heart to beat faster. I pull my hand away and stand up from my seat. The plane starts to spin, a dizziness coming over me from standing up too quickly.
“Woah there. Slowly, Molly.” He helps me back to my seat, and I buckle myself in, replacing my headphones, before looking out the window again.
“And there she is. Welcome to Emerald Isle. Your sea turtles await.” I can’t help but grin over at him as I look at the island before me.
“She’s beautiful, Coop.”
“Yes, she is.” I glance over and he isn’t looking at the island. He’s looking at me.
The land comes closer,and I squeeze my eyes shut as he touches down on the water. That wasn’t so bad. He flips on another switch and starts using the pedals near his feet to direct the plane toward the dock on the shore. It’s not very large, and I am wondering how he is going to navigate it without crashing the plane into it.
I watch him wearily as he pushes the pedals with his feet, and we lightly bump into the dock as he switches off the engine. Unbuckling his seatbelt, he motions for me to stay.
He comes back into the cockpit and looks at me again. “You’re going to stay, right? I’m telling you to stay for your safety.” He taps his foot as he waits for my answer, keeping an eye outside at the dock.
“Yes. I will stay where I am.” I cross my arms over my chest, and he nods his head before disappearing out the door. I drum my fingers on my arm, impatiently waiting for him to return.
“Alright, Molly. You can unbuckle your seatbelt. Come on out.” I unbuckle my belt and sling my backpack over my shoulders as I head for the door. He has his hand out, waiting to help me from the plane, and I take it, afraid that the waves will throw me off balance as I step onto the rickety dock.
“Thanks,” I say, my face heating up as he helps me from the plane. He drops my hand, and I stumble into him as a wave crashes against the small dock, throwing me off balance. His arms come around me to stabilize us both.
“Thanks again,” I say, looking up at him, his arms still around my waist. That same beachy/forest smell fills my senses again, making me feel heady and lightheaded.
“No problem.” He releases me from his hold and grabs my hand while pulling me toward the beach. I look down at my hand in his and back up at him, my eyebrows raised in question. “Uh… oh… Right. Just so you don’t fall in. This dock is old.” He releases my hand as our feet hit the sand, and I start to move toward the nesting side of the island. Only, Coop isn’t following behind me.
“Aren’t you coming?” I motion with my head toward the side of the island I am walking toward.
“Yup, but that’s not the right way.” Coop crosses his arms over his chest, the muscles in his arms flexing as he moves. I tear my eyes away from his toned arms, remembering how he carried me earlier, and glare at him.
“This is the right way. You know how I know, Coop? Because I studied maps of these islands for weeks before coming on this excursion.” I move closer to him, thumbing behind me toward the side of the island I am on.
“Okay, but don’t say I didn’t try to warn you.” He sing-songs his words as he follows close behind, a smug look on his face when I glance back at him.
I hear a crashing sound as we approach the rocky cliffs ahead, and I stop walking, knowing that a sheer drop is on the other side of these rocks, according to the maps I studied at home. I try to look casual as I spin around and start walking in the opposite direction, avoiding Coop”s eyes as I continue to walk, and dreading the words that are sure to come.