13. Caleb
THIRTEEN
Caleb
P eople are shitty parents sometimes. The words echoed in my ears. I’d said it about the kid’s family, but what I was thinking about was Margot’s parents. Why would I say that to Margot? Why would I even bring it up? Fuck.
I couldn’t go back to the room yet. I tracked down one of the nurses in the hall who had promised to put a cot in the room for Margot. I found myself in that pathetic courtyard with perfectly manicured hedges outside the cafeteria. I paced up and down the paver stones. I couldn’t quite make myself follow the square to complete the circuit.
What was I doing here? Why did I stay? I stepped from one paver to another. Back and forth. Back and forth.
My captain was going to need a full report on the rescue today. He was going to want even more details on why I stayed so long at Pointe Harbor, keeping the cutter in the slip on the mainland.
My dad would hear about it. My brother. The whole island. That’s when I needed a real explanation. Once they knew they were going to flood me with questions. I had to prepare more for them than I did for Officer Guthrie’s inquiry.
The idea of walking out on Margot right now seemed just as hard. I’d already given her my word I’d be here. But why? She wasn’t going to stay on Marshoak Island.
There was still a lot about her I didn’t know about what happened to her the past seven years. What if she decided to keep the Blue Heron? What was her plan? Would she move to Marshoak Island? What did she do in New York? There was no way she existed in a vacuum. Margot had another life.
When I walked back into the kid’s room, Margot was layering the cot with blankets. I spotted a folded set on the chair along with a couple of pillows. She smiled at me.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
“Yeah. I had to check on a few things.” I strolled in and sat in the chair. I leaned over and she stilled. I touched my index finger against her knee. “Do we need to get a bandage for that?”
The scrape looked pretty nasty, even though the blood had dried and stuck to her skin. I didn’t want it to become infected. There was no telling what was on the pier.
“I can take care of it when I get back to the house,” she argued.
“Hold on. I’ve got this.” I walked over to the cabinet over the sink and started rustling through until I found a clean bandage and tape. I ran the water until it was warm and soaked a washcloth.
“What are you doing?” Margot asked, watching as I pressed the warm cloth to her knee. She hissed. “That stings.”
“Sorry.” I winced but continued to gently pat the scraped skin until the dirt was gone. “Here, let’s make this easier.” I adjusted my position so I was next to her on the cot. I felt her take in a big breath. I moved her leg into my lap, crossing it over my thighs. The shorts from the surf shop rode up the sides of her legs, revealing taunt muscles. God, she was sexy. I wanted to run my palms over her skin and dig my fingers into the softness of her inner thighs.
I took my time, eyeing where to put the bandage so it could move with her. I felt Margot’s eyes on my neck and studying my face before she returned to watching me work on her knee. Her breath was faster.
I lined the last corner with tape. “There you go.” I think that will hold overnight. I turned and her lips seemed only inches away.
My chest pounded. I wanted to feel her lips again. Be reminded what her tongue could do. I moved slightly, but then the door burst open and the night nurse walked in.
“Time for vitals,” she announced.
I cleared my throat and unceremoniously tossed Margot’s leg to the side so I could climb into the chair. That’s where I needed to stay and cool off.
When the nurse was finished, she asked us if we needed anything.
“All good,” I answered, gripping the pillow between my hands.
“I guess we should get some sleep?” Margot volunteered.
“I guess so.” Our eyes lingered a little longer.
“Good night, Caleb.”
Margot crawled under the blankets, tucked them against her chest, and rolled toward the kid.
S even Years Ago
“ W here are you taking me?” she asked.
“You’ll see.” I steered my truck south along the beachfront road.
Margot and I had been hanging out for a couple of weeks. The problem was that we were never alone. Not even once since I walked her home from the party. Walt always seemed to come up with a chore for her to do. Or her mom wanted a ride into town to run errands.
Between my schedule at the marina, my family, and hers the summer was slipping away from us.
I wanted to show her a part of Marshoak I was certain she hadn’t seen before. Tonight it was only us. I swore no interruptions.
I parked close to the dunes and ran around to unlatch the door of the truck. She hopped out, her long tan legs exposed by the short hem of her sundress. Had she gotten prettier since the night at the party?
My hands tangled through hers. “Come on. There’s something I want to show you.”
“Should I be nervous?” She cocked her head sideways, examining me, but instead of giving her an answer, I tugged her up the trail.
We climbed over the dune through the pathway of sea oats. The waves crashed against the shore.
“I didn’t think you were the surprise kind of guy.”
I paused at the top to get my bearings. I shrugged. I had never been into surprises. But that was before I met Margot. Before I realized finding reasons to make her face light up was my new favorite thing.
“Surprise?” I smirked. We piled our shoes in the reeds, and I led her through the sand, sifting it through our feet. It was still warm, even though I had timed our arrival to match the sunset.
The sky was brushed with strokes of orange and pink. It was the perfect canvas for what I wanted to show her.
“Okay, but really. Why are you being so mysterious?”
I held a finger to my lips. “Shh. You’ll ruin it.”
We rounded the base of the largest dune on the beach. I held her firmly in place by the shoulders, constraining her from taking another step. My fingers lightly dug into her skin. A salt breeze lifted her hair, and I smelled summer wrapped up in that moment. Coconut. Sunscreen. Her shampoo. She leaned back into my chest just as my arms wrapped around her.
How was it possible to feel this comfortable with someone? To want her as much as I did and never kissed her. Every part of Margot was a fucking mystery to me. I craved the unraveling. Peeling back the layers. Getting to know her one smile. One kiss. One whisper at a time.
“Are you going to tell me why I’m staring at the sand?” she whispered.
I held her closer. A little tighter. “Look right there.” I pointed fifteen feet ahead.
“Okay, more sand?”
“Nope. A turtle nest.”
“What?” she gasped.
“One of my buddies told me about it. It’s earlier in the season than most, but this is the time of day they like to hatch, and I thought just maybe…”
“Are you saying the nest could hatch? Tonight? Right now?”
I didn’t have a chance to respond when the sand began to sift and dance around. We held our breath. It wasn’t my first hatching but watching it with Margot made it feel like it was.
Then it happened. We saw the first tiny head pop through the sand and kick its way free. It wasn’t alone for long. They scampered out of the nest two, three, five at a time.
“They know what to do?” she asked.
“Watch.”
On cue, the hatchlings pointed toward the ocean and filed in line flopping and rolling toward the surf. The sun was sinking fast. It took a while for the entire nest to break free and make their escape, but Margot and I waited until every single turtle had been swooped up by gentle twilight waves and swept out.
“That was incredible.” She turned toward me. My fingers grazed along her waist, tugging her toward me.
I knew this was the moment. All the push and pull, the waiting, the agonizing hours of frustration—they built and created the energy I felt hammering my entire body.
My hand slid to the side of her face. I felt the warmth of her skin heated from the sun. I didn’t think I had the control I needed for a first kiss. Fuck. I’d never had much self-control.
My lips grazed against hers. Slowly at first, then I gripped the side of her hip with my other hand as her arms circled my neck. She tugged as her hands slid into my hair, sealing my lips against hers. Our mouths moved quicker, faster. It was as if I’d been starved and all I could think about was tasting her. A little purr escaped her lips as my tongue slipped inside, tangling and dancing with hers.
She perched upward on her tiptoes. Damn if she wasn’t cute and sexy all rolled into one. I nipped at the corners of her mouth just as her head rolled back. I continued a trail of kisses along her neck and to her collarbone. Every inch of her was golden and warm. And fuck me. She wasn’t wearing a bra in this little dress.
I gulped. We were alone on the beach. For now. But that could change quickly if the surfers jumped on the changing winds.
My hand trailed to her knuckles, lacing our fingers together.
“What if I told you I know there’s somewhere we could go?”
She bit her bottom lip. Her gorgeous green eyes twinkled with lust and mischief.
“I’d say maybe you should have taken me there first.”
I winked. “And I thought I was the one trying to surprise you.”
We began to walk back over the dunes to collect our shoes. “Thank you for bringing me to the turtle nest, Caleb. Really.”
I held the door of the truck open for her. “I wouldn’t have wanted to show anyone else,” I answered.
I climbed in behind the wheel. That’s when I knew no matter how great the sex was going to be or the nights we would have together I still had a chance to back out of this. I could drop her off at the Blue Heron and never call her again. I only had five minutes or less to make that decision. Five minutes to determine if I was going to let this girl into my life. Take a chance. Let myself drown in her. Five minutes to decide if I was willing to open up to someone again. Even fucking fall in love. I put the truck in reverse. Who was I kidding? I knew from the moment I met her exactly what I was going to do.