Chapter 40
Archer
“Where are you going?” Jason asked once he’d caught up with Archer.
“Luke’s old room. There’s bound to be clothes left in the drawers.”
“Luke has stayed with Gregg, so he doesn’t move, and Daisy went inside with Erica.”
“This is all so fucked up. What the hell is that man here for?”
“I don’t know, but Erica looked as pleased as you were to see him. What happened before we arrived?”
“I was having a cuppa with Maggie and Bailey when Daisy called. She was whispering, and I couldn’t hear her, so she hung up and sent me a text and a video of Gregg hammering on the front door. I ran like the wind. By the time I got there, Gregg had come around the back, standing on the lawns calling out Erica’s name.”
“How did he know which cottage was hers?”
“I’ve no idea. You know how helpful the townspeople are. They must have known the guest was living in the first cottage, or else he tried the others, and Erica’s was the only one that looked lived in. I was grateful Daisy had locked the doors when she went to bed. The banging woke her up.”
“What was his reason for coming to the island?”
“I didn’t get that far, didn’t know who he was until he said after you all arrived. I was yelling at him for scaring Daisy. For coming onto Turner land without permission. Whoever told him where Erica was staying obviously didn’t know about the rule of no trespassing without permission.”
“We can find out who that was later. Gregg is still in love with her. You can tell in a blink.”
“That’s what I’m worried about.”
“You didn’t exactly greet her warmly.”
“I was too busy trying not to punch him.”
They’d reached Luke’s room, and Archer went straight to the chest of drawers in the far corner. He pulled out sweat pants and a t-shirt. Gregg could go commando for all he cared. Archer was not rooting around for underwear for the arsehole.
“What about shoes?” Jason asked, going to the closet and opening the door.
“Fuck’s sake, dude.”
Jason held up a pair of shiny black brogues. “Look, if they go for a walk to stop you from eavesdropping, he will need shoes. Erica will not take him seriously with dress shoes and shorts.”
“How the fuck would you know?” Archer asked, flopping down on the bed. Archer bounced twice, thinking Luke had a better bed than him.
“We had lunch a couple of days ago when I was in London. And we may have talked a while ago. ”
“How long ago?” Archer narrowed his eyes at his brother.
“Before the call where you told us she was a megastar with a megawatt smile,” Jason said, closing the door and coming to stand in front of Archer.
“I distinctly remember not telling you she had a megawatt smile.”
“Okay, that was just me, but yeah. I checked Erica out, chatted to her, and we became instant friends.”
“Talking twice is not instant friends.”
“You jealous?”
“Insanely, let’s get going.”
Jason chuckled as he slapped his brother on his back and took the clothes from Archer’s arms. Looking at his brother, Archer relaxed now that he was there.
“Thanks, brother,” Archer said. “Thanks for coming.”
“You holler, and we’ll be there. Always.”
When they arrived back onto the lawns behind Erica’s cottage, Luke was standing with his arms folded, with his feet a foot apart. Archer knew the stance meant he didn’t like Gregg any more than he did.
“He’s still standing, it must mean something, and Erica’s nowhere in sight,” Jason commented as they came nearer.
“Follow me,” Archer said to Gregg’s back.
The man turned around, relieved to see Archer. That could only mean Luke had given him advice that was threatening. For a second, Archer felt for the man. Luke’s quiet chats were not pleasant. He never laid a finger on anyone, but he sure knew how to threaten. Archer took off in the direction of Turner Hall and the shower by the swimming pool. He waited for Gregg to get washed and changed, then escorted him back.
Erica and Daisy sat on the sofa under the covered patio, with Luke, Jason, and Yanny opposite. Luke spotted them coming first and stood. The other four stood too and put their coffee mugs on the table.
“Let’s go for a walk,” Erica said to Gregg when they arrived.
She didn’t wait for an answer and whistled for Teddy to go with her. He ran to catch her up and stuck by her side. Archer’s heart filled with love for the stray dog and his protectiveness of a woman he barely knew.
It brought to the surface his own feelings for Erica.
“Do not touch her,” Archer said as Gregg moved to join Erica.
“I’ve already had the speech from your brother Luke.”
“Doesn’t mean it’s sunk in, does it?” Archer replied. “I mean it. Do not upset her.”
“I know her better than you do, dickhead. She is my wife.”
“Was your wife. You gave her up. Now she’s engaged to someone else.”
“Whoever he is, he won’t win. I’ll get her back.”
“Come on, Archer, join us for a coffee. We haven’t seen each other for weeks,” Jason said, taking Archer’s arm to steer him away. Archer let him, but only because he didn’t want to put Erica in a position to have to explain. If she hadn’t already told Gregg who she was marrying, it wasn’t his place yet.
It riled him he couldn’t speak to Erica first, couldn’t tell her how he really felt, how much he missed her. So he kept a wail inside as he watched Gregg jog to catch Erica up. Teddy barked and moved to Erica’s other side, away from Gregg.
“That’s my boy,” Archer said aloud and laughed .
He joined his siblings on the sofas. Someone had brought out juices and a platter of pastries.
“Where did they come from?” Archer asked.
“I got a basket together to welcome Erica back. As a peace offering for invading her home,” Daisy said.
“Are you best friends now?” Luke asked, jabbing her in the ribs with his elbow.
“I really like her, Archer. Please make sure you marry her,” Daisy said.
“I can’t make her marry me, Daisy, but I sure hope she isn’t considering getting back together with her ex-husband. There is nothing to make her go through with the deal we struck. She is free to walk away. Along with my fucking heart.”
“Aww, Archer. It will all work out. I just know it,” Daisy said.
Unconvinced, Archer munched through a couple of pastries and listened to his sibling’s banter. He’d missed them over the last few months since he’d been back on the island. He’d hoped like hell he could convince Erica of his true feelings because he needed the wedding business to get Jason, Luke, and Daisy back for good.
The coffee was gone, and the sun was at its full height when the stories ran dry of their travel escapades since they split after leaving the rig. The lull was interrupted by Teddy running across the lawn, barking his head off. He came to a skidding halt next to Archer and repeatedly barked. The unrelenting sound didn’t stop when he ran off but stopped when Archer didn’t get up. He came back and forth a few times.
“I think he wants you to follow him,” Daisy said.
When Teddy noticed Archer had stood and began walking, he sped off across the lawn to the top of the path. Archer looked to the others and shrugged his shoulders. He followed at a walking pace until Teddy ran back to him, still barking. When he ran away, Archer jogged to catch up with him. Archer could hear the others behind him right on his tail. When they got to the fencing and looked down to the beach, they could see what had panicked Teddy.
“Fucking hell. She’s stuck in a riptide,” Luke said, jumping the fence and running down the pathway. Archer was next, and he just knew Jason and Daisy were following. They were all strong swimmers, but any strong swimmer knew not to put themselves in danger.
“I’ll stay with Teddy,” Yanny called after them.
When they reached the sand, they kicked off their shoes and went to the shoreline. Erica was moving away from the shore, treading water.
“Where’s Gregg?” Luke asked.
Archer didn’t give a shit where Gregg was. He’d left Erica to fend for herself. Anger boiled in his veins, staring at the woman he loved, drifting away from him. He couldn’t help the metaphorical reference to his love life.
“Look, down there. He’s crawling out of the water,” Jason said.
Archer looked to where Jason was pointing down the beach. He watched as Gregg face planted the sand.
“Daisy, go and see if he’s okay. If he is, tell him I will kill him for leaving Erica out there.”
Daisy took off at a run to tend to Gregg and he turned back to see how far Erica had drifted.
“What are you going to do?” Jason said.
“I’m going to fucking get her,” he replied, pulling off his t-shirt and dropping his board shorts, so he was just in his boxers. He didn’t want to be weighed down with any heavy clothing .
The riptide wouldn’t drown Erica, but it would take her further from the shore. It would be her tiredness that would cause her to drown.
“You’re not going out there unaided. Let me get the float and rope,” Luke said.
Archer willed Luke to hurry as his brother ran on the loose sand to the tree line and unhooked the floatation device and the length of rope. He returned, tied the rope around Archer’s waist, knotting it tight, and handed him the float.
“I got this end. You know what you’re doing?” Luke said.
“Yep. We’ve all been trained to do this.”
“Is she going to panic?” Jason asked.
“No. She’ll be calm.”
Archer didn’t wait for any more questions and entered the water away from the riptide and swam out to her. As he got nearer, he could see Erica’s eyes were half-mast from her exertions. How long had she been there? He swam parallel to the shore and got behind where she was. Archer blinked, and she went under for a few seconds before she popped up again, spluttering. He approached her from behind and put his arm over her shoulder and under the armpit on the opposite side, guiding her to float on her back. She thrashed until he spoke.
“I’ve got you, honey. Hold on to the float. I’ll get us to shore.”
With the emotion of almost losing her, he tried to stop the blurring of his eyes with unshed tears. He needed her to be safe, to talk to her, to tell her he loved her.
All Archer had to do was keep hold of Erica. True to his thoughts, she remained calm and heavy in his arms. She was like a stone. Archer looked to shore to see Jason tow them along the beach and out of the rip tide. When they were pulled to the sand, Archer lifted Erica into his arms as soon as he could stand. Luke rushed into the water and untied the rope around Archer’s waist. Gregg and Daisy met him when he stepped onto the dry, loose sand.
He stopped and looked at Gregg, his soaking wet clothes sticking to his body. “What the fucking hell were you thinking? You wanted to get your wife back, so you thought leaving her stranded in the sea was a way to go?”
Erica was heavy in his arms and out cold. He needed to get her dry and warm, away from the arsehole he was glaring at.
“Get him off the island,” Archer said to his siblings.
“I’m sorry, I thought she knew how to swim out of a riptide. Erica has told me about the sandbank making a causeway out to the island. I wanted to see it, but she said not to go out because the tide was coming in. It came so fast that we argued, and both got swept away. She tried to make me come to shore, but I wouldn’t listen.”
“Get out of my sight,” Archer roared.
Gregg jumped at Archer’s voice and tripped when he backed away, landing on his arse. Archer strode by with an exhausted Erica and climbed the pathway. When he got to the top, Teddy and Yanny were waiting.
“Is she okay?” Yanny asked, taking her hand and kissing the back of it.
“She should be fine, just exhausted from treading water for so long. I’m going to get her back to the cottage and into bed. Do you know where you’re staying tonight?”
“Don’t worry about me. Daisy is sorting me out, just concentrate on Erica.”
Letting out a whine, Teddy jumped up Archer’s leg .
“She’s okay, buddy. You saved her life,” Archer told the dog.
Teddy jumped up Archer’s leg again, trying to get to Erica. Archer dipped down into a crouch so Teddy could lick her face, and then Archer made his way across the lawn to the cottage. Taking the stairs two at a time, he went to her bedroom and into the bathroom. She was coming round but still groggy.
“Archer?” Erica said.
“Yeah, honey.”
“You came running,” she said, lifting her arm to cup his cheek.
It was entirely unhelpful as he tried to remove her wet clothes, but he let her caress his cheek, still holding back the tears that he could’ve lost her.
“I’ll always come running. We all will if you’re in trouble,” Archer replied.
Erica’s head hung like she was drunk. He’d sat her on the chair in the corner by the shower unit, but it wasn’t proving easy.
“Archer, is everything all right?” Daisy called out.
“Are you alone?” he shouted back.
“Yeah, it’s just me. Do you need help?”
“I do, she’s like a dead weight, and I don’t want her to get a chill.”
Daisy entered the room and undressed Erica while Archer held her upright. Between them, they got her washed, dry, and into PJs. Daisy watched Erica while Archer took a shower and put on the clothes Daisy had brought up.
When he was changed, he returned to the bedroom to see his sleeping angel tucked in under the covers .
“Where’s Gregg?” Archer asked Daisy, not taking his eyes off Erica.
“Luke took him down to the port side in the buggy. He’s going to make sure he’s on the next boat off the island. I think he would have chartered a boat himself if there wasn’t a ferry due to leave in the next hour.”
“I could’ve lost her, Daisy,” Archer said, relieved Gregg had gone.
“But you didn’t, focus only on that fact. I’ll leave you two alone. Your phone is next to the bed on charge. If you need me, send me a message.”
“Thanks, Daisy. I owe you. I owe all of you.”
“You don’t owe us anything, big brother. You’ve spent your whole life looking out for us. This is the least we can do.”
Archer hung his head and then took a long breath through his nose. He heard the door click closed, and he looked up to find it was just him and Erica.
Walking to the other side of the bed, he stepped out of his shorts, pulled off his t-shirt then climbed into bed. He was an experienced swimmer, but even he was exhausted from the rescue and carrying Erica back.
Archer brought her tight to his side and drifted off to sleep.