18. ALEX
18
ALEX
T he weather was perfect. Earlier today it had looked like a storm, but now that I was with Charlotte, the storm had retreated and left only blue skies.
It was symbolic. Whenever I was around her, it felt like the storms in my life passed, too.
Stop being such a sap. But Charlotte was the kind of woman who would make a man wax poetic.
The last time I’d seen her, she’d worn a gypsy top, and her hair had been wavy. Now, she wore jeans and a T-shirt and trainers—practical and efficient—and she’d pulled back her hair in a ponytail but she looked just as fantastic.
It didn’t matter what she did, she would always look incredible.
She looked out to sea as we navigated the water, and her eyes sparkled. Her face was a mixture of awe and happiness, and every now and then, when the water splashed up against the hull of the boat and the sea spray splashed on her face, she laughed.
I could listen to her laugh all day. I was in very real danger of becoming hopelessly addicted to her.
When we were far enough away from the marina so that we weren’t surrounded by a slew of other boats, I cut the engine, and we sat in pure silence. The water lapped against the boat, and we could still see the beach—a narrow strip of sand in the distance.
“This is so peaceful,” Charlotte said.
“I love it out here,” I agreed. “I don’t come often enough anymore. Work always seems to take up all my time.”
“You should try to make some time, then.”
She was right. I really had to make time for something like this more often.
“I used to come out here with my brother Chris all the time. We used to go for adventures, exploring the islands all around here.”
“Are there a lot?” she asked.
“About five or six that I know of. Probably more. Chris and I never used maps. We just headed in a direction until we found something. It used to drive my dad mad when we stayed out after sunset. I understand why he was angry now, but back then… we were just kids, you know?”
“It sounds like you and your brothers are close.”
“Yeah, in a lot of ways. In some ways, we’re very different, but I guess it’s like that with everyone, not just family.”
Charlotte nodded. “What about your parents? Are you close to them?”
“Very. Especially my dad, since he’s in the office a lot, still. He’s taking more of a backseat now, but I don’t think he’ll ever really retire. He likes being involved, and it’s good—it keeps him young at heart to be busy.”
“And your mom?”
“Oh, she’s the glue that keeps the family together, you know?” I said, thinking about my mom. She had been the woman every one of us boys had needed to be able to look up to after what we’d been through.
“Without her, we would all have been lost. She’s the kind of woman who makes you want to be the best version of yourself but so humble, too. She’ll never take credit for anything she does.”
Charlotte smiled sadly, and I struggled to understand her expression.
“She sounds wonderful.”
“She really is.”
The wind picked up again, and when we looked up, the sky was overcast once more. The clouds were thick and threatening this time.
“Where the hell did that come from?” Lightning cracked, followed by a loud clap of thunder.
I started the engine and turned toward the marina, but in no time at all the ocean had turned from a calm, peaceful thing to a beast with high waves that threatened to crash down on us.
I tried to steer through it, but twice I had to turn the boat against the waves that grew around us so that the boat wouldn’t capsize. The last thing I wanted was to be in the ocean in this storm. The lifejackets would keep us afloat but that wasn’t enough when the waves grew taller and taller and lightning danced on the water all around us.
When I tried a third time to go toward the marina, I realized it wasn’t going to happen. There was no way. The ocean pushed us further and further out to sea, and the few times I had to correct course just to avoid a wave pushing us over only threw us out to sea even more.
The boat rocked significantly, and Charlotte cried out, gripping the side. Her eyes were wide.
“Alex?”
“It’s going to be okay,” I said through gritted teeth. “We’re going to be fine.”
I stayed calm and focused and used everything I’d learned over the years to keep the boat as stable as I could. The storm made it hard to keep any kind of course.
“We’re going to have to head toward the island,” I called out over the sound of the storm as rain started to pour.
“Where?” Charlotte looked around frantically.
“Dutch Island is closest,” I said, pointing. Visibility was low now, and the waves were erratic, but I avoided the most dangerous areas and steered clear of shallow rocks as we got closer. The shoreline of the island was a little rocky, and I looked for a safe place to land.
The boat tipped dangerously far twice, and Charlotte screamed, but then we reached the island. As soon as the water wasn’t too deep, I jumped out and dragged the boat onto the beach. Charlotte jumped out of the boat and helped me, refusing to be a damsel in distress.
The rain came down in sheets. Her hair clung to her face, and we gasped for air through the water that came down.
“We need to find shelter!” Charlotte cried out as lightning cracked dangerously close by, followed by the immediate roar of thunder.
“The old lighthouse.” I pointed to the tall structure that reached up above us.
I grabbed Charlotte’s hand, and we ran across the beach toward the rocks that surrounded the lighthouse. We followed a path through, climbing our way up to the top. The rain made the rocks slippery, and Charlotte fell, but I helped her up, and she scrambled on with me.
We finally reached the side of the lighthouse. An old wooden door was locked, but the padlock was rusted. I grabbed a rock and hit it. After three times, it broke, and I yanked the door open, pulling Charlotte inside with me.
The door swung shut, slammed by the wind, but finally we were sheltered from the storm.
We both breathed hard.
Charlotte scrubbed her face and squeezed the excess water out of her hair.
I pulled off my T-shirt and wrung it out.
“Hello?” Charlotte called out.
“It’s abandoned. The whole island is.”
“Oh, no,” Charlotte said. “Are you sure?”
“The lighthouse isn’t even in commission anymore. It’s just a structure. But at least we have some shelter from the rain. We’ll have to stay here until the storm dies down.”
“It came out of nothing,” Charlotte said.
“Yeah, the change of the season can bring freak storms on sometimes, but this is pretty bad.”
I walked to the small window that overlooked the ocean; it was a roaring, wild beast out there. The ocean could be incredibly serene and beautiful, or she could be a tyrant and take the lives of those who ventured out on the waves.
The one thing I’d learned very early on in life was that the ocean was never to be underestimated and that we humans might have figured out how to be at the top of the food chain on land, but out there on the waves, we were nothing.
The wind drove water in through the rotten wooden door and through the windows that didn’t do much to keep out the weather.
“Come on,” I said and headed toward the spiral stairs that led up to the mid-level room. “It might be safer up here if there are any floods.”
“This high up?”
“Rather safe than sorry.”
Charlotte nodded and followed me as I climbed up.
The mid-level room was in much better condition. The windows were solid, keeping out the storm. A metal trunk, workbench and shelves, and a table with mismatched chairs were placed around the edges of the room. A pile of tarps and ropes was left in the middle.
At the far side, another staircase led up to the lantern room, but I didn’t need to go up there.
“Here,” I said and walked to the shelf, taking off blankets that had been folded up. They were dusty but okay.
“How did you know they had this here?”
“Chris and I came here a lot when we were younger. It didn’t look like anyone had been here in a while.”
“Right.” Charlotte shivered.
“It might help if you get out of your wet clothes,” I offered.
She eyed me.
“I’m going to strip, too, and wrap myself in a blanket. We can hang the clothes up and hope they’ll dry, but I don’t want to make a fire in here.”
“Too much rotten wood,” Charlotte said, nodding as she looked around.
“Yeah.” I undid my jeans and pulled them down.
Charlotte stared, but when I looked at her, she looked away, averting her eyes.
I grinned. She was sweet. So out there, so wild in bed—I spoke from experience—but so shy and withdrawn at the same time.
I turned my back, giving her privacy so she could get undressed, too.
I hung our wet clothes over the banister on the stairs that led up to the lantern room.
“Thank you,” Charlotte said.
We’d dragged the tarps to the wall next to the table and sat down on it.
She still shivered, her hair wet, and I shifted a little closer. I put an arm around her and pulled her against me. She was a little stiff at first, but when my body heat seeped through the blankets, she huddled a little closer.
“I can’t believe stuff like this still happens,” she said.
“Stuff like what?”
“Getting stranded on an abandoned island. In these modern times.”
I chuckled. “Nature doesn’t care how advanced we are. In the grand scheme of things, we’re nothing. Without nature, we’d shrivel and die, but without us, nature would continue on as it is. Or it would thrive, even.”
Charlotte nodded. “It’s grim to think about it that way, but it’s true.”
“It’s important to know that we don’t exist without expiry dates and vulnerabilities,” I said. “It keeps us humble.”
Charlotte glanced up at me. “That’s not something I ever thought I’d hear out of your mouth.”
“Why not?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I just thought you were a certain type of person. Now I’m starting to think that I might have been wrong.”
I warmed at that. I didn’t know what she’d thought about me, but I did know that if I could impress her or make her see me in a positive light, that was a win.
“We might have to stay here until morning,” I said. “We can’t leave until this storm passes.”
“We’ll be okay here?”
“I think so. We don’t have any food or water, but I’ll see what I can find downstairs once the worst is over and we can risk it.”
“I have water and cookies,” Charlotte said and reached for her bag, careful to hold the blanket tightly to her chest.
She pulled out two bottles of water and a soggy box of cookies.
“Oh,” she said. “Well… I had cookies.”
I laughed. “We can work with this. I don’t mind soggy cookies. The water is more important.”
Charlotte nodded. “And here I was wondering if two bottles would be too heavy to carry around all afternoon. Now I wish I’d taken more.”
“It will be fine.” I pressed my lips to her forehead before I could catch myself. “We’ll just ride out the storm, and soon we’ll be able to go home. The island isn’t too far for a rescue team, and if the boat is still intact by morning, we might not even need it.”
“Oh, no, the boat,” Charlotte said.
“It’s fine,” I said with a grin. “Boats can be replaced. We cannot.”
Charlotte nodded, not saying anything, and she huddled tighter against me.
I knew this was just the storm and the situation throwing us together, but God, if I had to be here with anyone, I wouldn’t have had it with anyone else.
Having her this close to me was incredible, and for the first time in a long time, I felt like I could do something of value.
I could look after her. Charlotte was precious and deserved to be looked after, and that was exactly what I would do to the best of my ability.