Chapter 17
Zane
After hanging the new door on the cabin of my boat, I step back and study the work. It’s been freshly stained and will hold up for a long time…so long as I don’t have to throw anyone through it again.
The last week has passed smoothly, while Leopold works to ID the guy who didn’t make it off my boat. So far, his dental records, fingerprints, and DNA have returned nothing fruitful. Not that I’m surprised.
Hired killers rarely have paper trails.
Not even Tucker Hunt has been able to find anything based on his photos, meaning he was wiped from every database everywhere. This guy is even more of a ghost than I am.
Things with Tessa have also been weird, though that’s more to do with me than her. When she told me she wouldn’t leave without a note, I knew she was trying to put my mind at ease, but all it did was remind me that she’s still planning to leave when all of this is over.
No matter what the outcome, I’ll lose her again.
And that’s been a tough one to swallow. But I’ve since realized that, even though that’s true, I want her to leave knowing just how important she is.
That way, she can finally stop living in the past. I want her to have a good life, even if it’s not with me.
My cell rings, so I reach down and pull it out of my pocket. When I see Anastasia’s name on the screen, I can’t keep the grin off my face. “Hey.”
“She’s on her way with Sawyer.”
“Great. I just finished.”
“I don’t think she even realizes what today is.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me. With everything we’ve had going on, I barely notice the days as they pass.”
“But you remembered today.”
“How could I not?”
She laughs softly. “Well, give her my love, too.”
“I will. Thanks for your help.” I eye the white box on the counter inside the cabin.
“Anytime, Big Brother. Have fun.” She ends the call, so I shove my phone back into my pocket and work quickly to clean up the tools.
I’m just finishing when Sawyer and Tessa step on board.
The last week has given her leg time to heal, and her limp is gone for the most part.
Though I do notice that early in the morning and late at night, she seems to be in pain.
“This is where I leave you, My Lady.” Sawyer bows dramatically, and Tessa smiles.
“Thank you, Sir.”
He grins, clearly happy that she’s playing into it. “Cap.” He salutes me, then turns on his heel and heads back down the dock.
For the first time in a week, Tessa and I are alone. She turns to face me, her smile falling slightly. It makes my chest ache to know that she’s still awkward around me, but I hope today will change that.
Maybe. It may also make it worse.
Either way, it’s worth the risk.
“The new door looks nice,” she comments.
“Thanks. Well, are you ready?”
Confusion mars her expression. “Ready for what?”
“Wait up there; I’ll be right back.” I gesture toward the pilothouse, then quickly untie the dock line securing the boat to the marina.
“So where are we going?”
“You’ll see,” I reply with a grin, then start the motor.
It rumbles to life, and I guide the boat out onto the water with the precision of someone who has been doing just that nearly his entire life.
Even as young as I was when my dad passed, he’d taught me to sail.
In a lot of ways, I’m more comfortable at the helm of a boat than at the wheel of my truck.
Tessa stands at my side, her gaze fixated straight ahead. Although I know it’s treading dangerous waters, I can’t help but imagine what it would have been like if we’d gotten married. Would she have been happy for the year we sailed around the world?
Would we have kids now?
Would I have gone to medical school and become a doctor?
Focus on the present, Knox.
“I thought you could use some distance,” I tell her, my voice louder than normal so she can hear it over the rumbling motor.
“You thought right,” she replies with a wide smile that has my stomach twisting into knots.
Twenty minutes pass in silence with just the sound of the rumbling boat motor to keep us company. But soon, we’ve reached our destination, and I guide the boat toward the small island, staying as close as I can while also avoiding the rocks.
Tessa turns to me, a wide smile on her face. “Really?”
“You recognize it?”
“Of course I recognize it! Some of my best memories are out here.” She follows me down toward the bow of the boat, where I drop the anchor.
Warmth spreads through my chest as I take in the sight of her bright smile.
“Well, I figured it was the best way to spend your birthday.”
Her brows draw together, and her smile falters. “What?”
“Do you not know what the date is?”
She continues staring at me, clearly trying to decide whether or not it really is her birthday. “I didn’t even realize. I haven’t celebrated since—well—since we did the last time.”
That warmth I’d experienced moments ago dissipates. “You haven’t celebrated your birthday since you were nineteen?”
She shakes her head. “I never saw a reason to. We didn’t celebrate it when I was a kid, and I guess I was just focused on surviving.”
“Tessa.” My heart breaks for her. For the loneliness she must have experienced since she left.
“It’s fine.” She forces a smile. “So it’s my birthday, huh?”
“Yeah. Anastasia brought over something for you to swim in, and I figured we could—” I trail off, shaking my head. “I’m sorry. If this isn’t how you want to spend today, we can head back.”
“Are you kidding? I think this is perfect. Is what she brought me back in your room?” When I nod, she turns away and heads down into the cabin of the boat.
I’m paralyzed as she leaves. Completely and utterly unable to move from the spot I’m standing in. When we’d first met, she told me that, aside from parties the teacher threw at school, she’d never celebrated her birthday. I’d made it a point to do something every single year for her.
Even after she went missing, I’d come out here with a cupcake and wish her a happy birthday. It was my way of being close to the woman I thought I’d lost forever. And now I find out that, this whole time, she’d been out there, surviving, not even taking the time to celebrate the day she was born?
Emotion burns my throat, and I force myself to turn away so I’m not standing in the same spot when she comes out. I strip out of my shirt and kick off my shoes. I’ve just finished lowering the ladder on the sundeck when she clears her throat behind me.
I turn, and my mouth dries.
I’d specifically told Anastasia to make sure she grabbed something modest for her. Mainly because I have a feeling the sight of Tessa in a bathing suit will be enough to drive me wild.
But when I get my first look at her in a pair of swim shorts and a rash guard t-shirt, the punch to my gut is enough to knock me overboard.
She’s stunning.
Dark hair braided down her back, feet bare, it’s all I can do not to close the distance between us and pull her against me. Would she shove me aside? Or is there a part of her that misses what was between us, too?
“Look okay?” she asks, arching a brow.
I clear my throat. If by ‘okay’ you mean perfect. “Yeah. Great. Fit okay?”
“Like a glove.”
I’ll agree with that. Holding out a hand, I wait for her to cross over and slide hers into mine. The feel of it is so right, so perfect, that it momentarily transports me back in time to when the whole world hadn’t been between us.
When it was just her and me.
I lead her toward the back of the boat, then release her long enough to climb onto the tiny sun deck off the back.
“You ready for this?” I ask her once she’s joined me.
Her dark eyes are wide with excitement, her cheeks flush with color. “It’s been a long time since I went swimming. Last week’s stormy dip aside,” she adds with a laugh.
I lean in closer, desperate to erase at least some of the distance between us. “I won’t let you drown.”
Her gaze locks on mine. “I know you won’t.”
The tension between us increases tenfold, and I have to clench both hands into fists at my sides to keep from giving in and crushing her against me.
Get it together, Knox. I grin at her, then dive into the cold water. It envelopes me, ripping away all unwelcome thoughts about a gorgeous brunette and how desperately I want to make things work, even though they never will.
It shoves aside the constant stress I carry, and offers me the rare opportunity to focus only on the feel of my body moving through the water as I swim. I come up to the surface and take a deep breath before grinning up at her.
Tessa’s expression steals my breath. Unguarded. For the first time since she came crashing back into my life, she looks free.
“You coming in?” I ask.
With one final, heart-stopping grin, Tessa leaps into the water.
When she doesn’t immediately surface, though, worry pushes through the joy. I start to dive down to look for her when a hand grips my ankle. The contact sends a spike of heat through me, and I still haven’t pulled myself together when she surfaces with a laugh, her eyes bright with joy.
“Did I scare you, Navy man?”
I’m unable to tear my gaze away from her. “Something like that. Wanna race to the island?”
“I think you have an unfair advantage over me,” she replies.
“You used to win.”
“Because you’d let me.”
Truth be told, I’d been too afraid that something would happen to her if I got out of the water first, so I’d always let her remain in front of me. That way, I never took my eyes off her. “I’ll even give you a head-start if you’re scared.”
“Not a chance,” she says. “You ready?”
“One. Two—”
“Three!” she yells, then starts swimming as fast as she can through the water. I laugh and follow, stride after stride, moving through the water with the proficiency that comes from spending a lifetime swimming. First as a kid living on the coast, then as a Navy SEAL.
And no matter how many swim minutes I log, I’ll never get tired of it. Being out on the water has a way of putting things into perspective. Especially when I think of Peter and the apostles as they were out on that storm-tossed lake.
It’s a reminder that, no matter how stormy things get, Jesus is always there.
I fix my attention back to Tessa. She’s leading us, with me keeping pace a few feet back.
In her darkest moments, she turned away from Him. Is that why she’s here? Did He give her a nudge back to Stormwatch so she could find her way home again?