15. MIDDAY: SERENDIPITY
Dax
“Can I have my shirt?” she asks in a timid voice.
“Damn it! What were you thinking?” My voice is harsher and louder than either one of us expects. I pull the tank top from my pocket and fling it at her.
“I’m sorry, I just didn’t want to be alone,” she says, pulling the tank top over her head. “I got scared that I might never see you again, so I went to find you. And then I thought I saw Preston and ran after him—but it wasn’t him.”
The fabric is torn down the front of her tank, exposing part of her chest. She fidgets nervously with both sides to cover herself. As she glances up at me, my anger melts into one of regret before I step forward to wrap my arms around her. The tears she’d been holding back stream down my chest.
“I’m sorry,” I tell her and hope she’ll only hear genuine kindness and not the fear in my voice. The jealousy I felt after reading about her first kiss pales in comparison to the jealous rage and possessiveness that tore through me after seeing her held captive by those men. I’m still amazed I was able to keep my composure because second to getting Ava back, I wanted to kill them all.
“I was just so angry,” I say in a weak attempt to explain taking my anger out on her. “I told you it was dangerous. They could have killed you. Are you alright?”
“Yes. I thought he was going to let me go, but then he attacked me and ripped my shirt so—I bit him. And he cut off a piece of my hair.”
I suppress my anger and lean back to look at her with an amused grin. “So that’s why his lip was bleeding?” I ask, and she nods. “Good. I hope it leaves a scar.”
I brush the hair behind her ear the way I imagine Preston used to do. My fingers move to the spot under her chin, and I tilt her head to the side to confirm my eyes aren’t deceiving me. There’s a bright red mark on the side of her face that is starting to swell.
“What happened to your face? Did he hit you?” I try to keep the morbid shock and disdain out of my voice but fail miserably. She nods again, and I feel a muscle pop in my jaw. “Sit down. I’m going to get something to put on it. I’ll be back in a minute.”
She slides down the wall to wait and touches the tender spot on her cheek and jaw. I’m surprised her teeth aren’t jarred loose. I storm out of the cave and rush to the rocks near the shore to grab a handful of cool kelp. Returning to sit down beside her, I gently press it to her cheek.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” I say, fighting the urge to kiss the angry red spot the way my stepmother used to do when I got hurt, but Ava’s mind is far from noticing.
Her eyes meet mine and she quietly says, “That woman had on Preston’s shirt. I followed her because I thought she was Preston. Why is she wearing his shirt?”
“I don’t know,” I tell her, but the shocking and realistic possibility I’m afraid to say creeps into my mind.
“They killed him, didn’t they? He’s really dead. Noooo…”
I pull her into my arms again and when she stops crying, I try to comfort her as I carefully wipe the tears from her face. “You don’t know that. Maybe he took it off and they just found the shirt somewhere like I found the name tag.”
I’m not sure if she really believes what I’m saying or if she knows I’m saying it for the sake of her sanity, but she clings to my words with every ounce of hope she has left and nods her head.
I wait for her to look up at me. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”
“No, I deserved it. That was really stupid,” she says. “I started missing Preston because you were gone… then I started missing you too… so I panicked and decided to go look for you.”
A flicker of happiness flashes inside my chest, but she looks down, ashamed, and I don’t know if it’s from her foolish behavior or her admitting to missing me. I laugh to distract her from her worried thoughts.
“I forgive you. Just promise me you won’t go wandering off like that anymore. It’s suicide. If you cross into their territory again, I assure you that we won’t be so lucky.”
She’s quiet for a minute before she asks, “So how did you convince them to let me go?”
I could lie and get away with it, but what would be the point? Besides, Preston’s forwardness worked well for him and I have a lot of catching up to do. I choose my words carefully and try to control the laugh tugging at my lips.
“Well… the arrow pointed at Chief Lambais’ head definitely helped. And I told them in so many words… that you were my wife,” I say hesitantly. “And that the entire Anwai tribe was out searching for you.”
She pulls away and glares at me with her arms crossed. Her mouth falls open for double measure.
“Hey—it worked, didn’t it?” I smile and pull her back towards me to hold the kelp on her cheek. “The other alternative was for me to tell them you were the main course for my next meal. And that would have ended in a case of finders keepers, losers weepers—you know what I mean?”
“Then why were they chasing us?” she says, and her tone suggests she’s confident I’m holding back part of the story. And I am.
“Well, I ordered them to release you and told them you were my wife—”
“And?”
“Then the chief informed me that you had trespassed onto their land and so you were—fair game, so to speak.” I sense her impatience and talk faster. “So I told him you were special, that I’d made a sacrifice to the spirits and they’d rewarded me by sending you. I told them you fell right out of the sky.”
I explode into a fit of laughter, but she doesn’t join me. How can she not laugh? That’s hilarious.
“Seriously?” she says with one eyebrow raised. “That’s what you told them?”
“Come on. You don’t like that? I personally thought you falling from the sky was a nice touch. And it’s probably not a lie.” I laugh again and then stop. My attempt to make her laugh has made her think I’m insensitive. I clear my throat. “Sorry, I realize now that’s not as funny as I initially thought it was.”
Is it my imagination or is she trying to keep from smiling?
“So… who followed us?” she asks me.
“That was Zoron. Chief Lambai claimed that Zoron, his eldest son, had been making sacrifices to the spirits too. So in his and Zoron’s opinions, the spirits had delivered you to him.”
Her eyes widen in horror. “He was planning to make me his wife?”
“Don’t flatter yourself. He would’ve had his fun with you and then when you refused to cooperate, they’d have killed you and served you as the main course. Why do you think they were starting a big fire in that pit? I’ll tell you why. Because one of two things was going to get cooked, a pig for the wedding feast—or you.”
I can tell she’s shocked by my blatant honesty, and she takes the kelp from my hand to hold herself. I want to take it back because I love the way my hand feels against her cheek. Briefly, I entertain the thought of kissing her lower lip she’s so intent on chewing, but the only thing that would accomplish is that I’d have a matching red cheek to go along with hers, compliments of the palm of her hand.
“Look, I told him I would personally be responsible for you and make sure you didn’t trespass again, but that if he didn’t release you, it would bring war to his tribe. He was contemplating my threat when you yelled my name.”
I pause, remembering the chill her desperate scream left in my gut, and swipe a lock of wavy hair from my forehead before continuing.
“I could have gotten us both killed by taking my eyes off the chief, but when that loser raised his hand to hit you, I lost it. He’s lucky I aimed for his arm or he would have been a goner. And Zoron may suffer a mysterious untimely death now that I know he laid his grubby fingers on you too.” I peek up at her from under my lashes and force the hard line of my jaw to relax into a smile. “Anyway, Chief Lambai knows they’re slightly outnumbered by the Anwai tribe, and he knows Chief Anwai thinks highly of me, so he didn’t want to risk it. That’s why he went with
Zoron’s suggestion to trade. I’m sorry about the bracelet. I know it means a lot to you, but it was that or my bow, and unless you tell me that bracelet could have summoned a ninja leprechaun, I clearly made the right choice. Zoron followed us, hoping to kill me and recapture you before we could make it back to Anwai territory. He sort of has a reputation for disobeying orders. As do you, apparently.”
She exhales loudly. “Well, the entire ordeal was horrible,” she says and looks down at her hands. “But thank you for rescuing me. Again.”
“No problem.”
An awkward pause falls between us, and I run my fingers through my hair while she fidgets with her torn shirt. Like an idiot, I feel the need to extinguish the silence.
“So which part was the worst for you?” I lean back against the rock wall with my arms resting on my knees. “Being strung up like a roasting pig on a stick, getting a taste of Zoron’s rotten breath, or our half-naked bodies pressed up against each other inside the trunk of a tree? Cause I have to admit, the last part wasn’t that bad for me.”
I love the color and expression in her eyes. Just as predicted, they widen and then narrow to thin slits.
“You did that on purpose!”
“Did what on purpose?” I ask with complete sincerity because I’m appalled by her accusation. “I did what I had to in order to save our lives. You might prefer to be the wife of a savage over me, but I don’t care to be an appetizer at the wedding.”
“Well, was it really necessary to yank off my shirt?” she asks, apparently reminded of the embarrassing situation she’d been too upset to be mad about until now.
“Yes,” I tell her. “That florescent pink shirt was like a beacon in the forest, flashing meal of the day. If your white shorts weren’t camouflaged by dirt, I would have ripped them off too. I mean, maybe you didn’t notice—but a vicious cannibal was pursuing us. Besides, you should be happy I removed your shirt without damaging it further. Although one could argue that the alterations are an improvement. I’m definitely not complaining. Maybe Zoron should go into fashion design.”
The heat shows on her cheeks and she slugs me, but the small upturn of her lips makes taking a punch in the shoulder well worth it.
“Relax,” I tell her. “I have an idea.”
I reach for her foot, pull it into my lap, then untie the lace and remove it from her shoe. After doing the same with her other foot, I grab my knife and reach for her shirt.
“Do you trust me?” I say, asking permission with my eyes.
“With my life? Yes. With my clothes? No,” she says with sly grin.
I laugh and scoot closer. Taking one side of the torn fabric in my hand, I use the knife to carefully puncture a row of tiny holes near the edge of the tear on both sides.
“So how did you find me?” she asks, and I wonder if she’s trying to distract both of us from my fingers and gaze hovering so close to her exposed chest.
I glance up before answering and wish I could read her nervous thoughts. “I was perched on a branch with my bow aimed at a wild pig and the second I released the arrow, I heard you scream and almost fell out of the tree. The arrow got him in the leg instead of the chest and he took off into the trees, but I ran back to the castle as fast as I could. When I saw you weren’t there, I went looking for you. I saw the tracks from your Vans and followed them straight to the Lamarai border.”
She listens to my account and then understanding registers on her face. “So that’s why you picked me up when Zoron was chasing us. You knew he was following my footprints.” She studies me with her amazing eyes. “Wow. What would I do without you?”
“Uhm—drown. Get eaten by cannibals. Starve. Something along those lines.” A wide smile that I’m sure looks arrogant pulls up at my lips. I thread the lace through the holes starting at the bottom and pull the sides together, finishing with a neat bow at the top.
She looks down at my patch job. “Thanks. You’re awesome. Looks like Zoron might have a Project Runway competitor.”
“Ha. Ha. Ha,” I say, offering my hand to help her up. She follows me to the entrance of the cave.
“So what now?” she asks. Her stomach growls for the second time in the last five minutes.
“Now I—or we—have to go hunting and hope we don’t run into any more cannibals. It’s midafternoon, so the men from the tribe are probably done hunting, which will be to our benefit. But I’m not taking you in that. We need to find you something else to wear that’s a little less neon. Maybe if we ask nicely, Roxy will loan you her only spare shirt.” I cringe just thinking about it.
“Actually, I have another shirt in my backpack,” she says, and the thought instantly cheers me up. I’d forgotten about the clothes that were at the bottom—right on top of her journal. My heart leaps into my chest.
“I’ll go get them,” she says, and I follow her back inside the cave. I’m so busted. I hold my breath while she pulls black board shorts and a gray T-shirt from her backpack. Standing up, she pauses to stare at me. She knows! What can I possibly say that will make this situation better?
My mouth jumps ahead of my brain and the word “What?” slips through my lips. Brilliant, Dax. I just gave the typical response every guy on the planet uses when caught red-handed, and I probably have the stupid dumbfounded look on my face to go along with it. My heart picks up pace while I wait for the accusations to go flying.
But she’s looking at me like I’m the one missing something. It’s the same look I get from Roxy sometimes, and she usually accompanies it with the word ‘duh’. What does she want me to do? Is she waiting for me to admit what I’ve done?
“I need to change,” she finally says, and relief spreads over me like a warm blanket.
“Go ahead, no one will see you.” I wave my arm in the direction of the beach. “I promise there isn’t anybody around.”
“But you’re around.”
The realization hits me and catches me off guard like an unexpected ocean wave from behind. “Right. Well, I just remembered something I have to take care of down by the beach, so you can change and I’ll be back in a few.”
I turn to leave. Whatever. Has she forgotten I’ve already seen her half naked? If she cares so much about privacy, maybe she should have stayed put in my secluded castle. Wait, did I just say that out loud? I glance over my shoulder before exiting the cave and judging by the grin on her face, my mumbling complaints didn’t go unheard.
I find the same hiding spot on the beach as before, behind a rock that will provide me some cover but allow a good view of the cave so I can feed my new addiction without being discovered.
July 14
Preston picked me up this afternoon, and then we grabbed Chinese food before heading to Mr. C’s house. Mr. Caruso has been in L.A. all weekend, so Preston and Kirk are staying there like they always do when he’s away on business. We sat together in my favorite oversized lounge chair on the deck and ate the food straight from the box while watching the sunset in the sky.
I complained about having to work tomorrow and was cherishing every minute I had left with him. He acted surprised and said he thought I liked working for George. Then he fed me some noodles with his chopsticks and flashed a smug grin. I couldn’t stop myself from telling him the job was great, but that Sergio was responsible for making me dread going to work. It felt good to get that off my chest.
He laughed and said, “Don’t worry about him; he’s harmless. And unfortunately, he won’t be leaving Oceanview Aviation anytime soon. The perks of being Mr. C’s nephew.”
Can you believe it? I had no idea. So just like his uncle, I guess Sergio has money. That doesn’t make him any more appealing to me, but it certainly explains why he’s used to getting what he wants. Preston said he’s Mr. C’s personal mechanic, but George hired him no questions asked when he needed something else to do while Hotel Charlie was gone. Preston laughed when I told him I thought Sergio was creepy and that his staring makes me uncomfortable. “Of course h
e stares; he can’t help himself,” Preston said. “Maybe I should warn Georgie your good looks are a menace to the workplace.”
He took the Chinese box from my hand, sat our food on the table beside him, and leaned in to kiss me… and we couldn’t stop kissing! It’s like Preston is making up for all the time lost when he thought he shouldn’t be kissing me. When our lips finally parted, I melted into the chair and laid my head on his chest.
He laced his fingers through mine. We sat quietly for a minute before he offered to take me home, but I begged him to let me stay a little longer. I wasn’t worried about the late hour—only that our time was running out. He kissed me on the forehead and told me to meet him on the top floor in five minutes. “And that swimsuit I told you to bring might come in handy,” he said with a wink before he turned to stroll inside.
I escaped to the bathroom to change and then started up the stairs to the third floor. Turning at the landing, I spotted Preston’s jacket hanging on the end of the railing and then halfway up the stairs lay his vest. I gripped the towel and stepped over it, but I stopped dead in my tracks when I noticed his shirt and bow tie puddled at the top of the stairs. I reached the fourth floor and looked down the hallway to the double doors at the end. One was cracked open, beckoning me, so I walked silently in my bare feet and entered the lavish master suite that consumed the entire floor.
The lights were dim and I could hear the gurgling of a Jacuzzi from the balcony just beyond the open French doors, so I took a step forward, but paused when I noticed Preston’s pants sprawled sloppily in the middle of the floor next to his shoes and socks. My eyes followed the path leading from the pants to the gently waving curtains, and my breathing stopped entirely. Right in front of the open door laid a pair of boxers and a hastily strewn undershirt. Of course, I could only assume one thing. Preston was waiting for me on the balcony—wearing absolutely nothing.
My chest filled with panic. I was totally unprepared for the situation and way out of my element, so I just hoped the hot tub was very, very large, and that Preston enjoyed a good game of rock-paper-scissors. I stepped outside and just as I expected, Preston was awaiting my arrival.
He looked up and invited me to join him in the enormous Jacuzzi. I couldn’t take my eyes off his smooth, buff chest—chiseled to perfection and better than I’d imagined numerous times. I tossed the towel over the back of the chair and turned to step in. Pausing, I realized my previous worries about him seeing me in a bikini were nothing compared to the worries flying through my brain at that moment.
He started to stand up so my eyes clamped shut and one hand flew over them for double measure. Then he asked what was wrong and coaxed me to open my eyes in his gentle voice. My heart pounded like it might explode, but I peeked with one eye and then both flew open. He was wearing board shorts. I exhaled, let out a nervous laugh, and then reached for his outstretched hand. A big grin spread across his face at my misunderstanding. He burst out laughing, and I thought he’d never stop. When he finally did, he slid around next to me to drape an arm around my shoulders. He stared at me with a mischievous grin while the fingers of his other hand slid to the end of a dangling curl, and then continued to glide down my arm all the way to my wrist. His touch made goose bumps rise on my skin.
All my stress evaporated away with the steam that rose in the air, and I was on the verge of drifting off to sleep when he said my name. The bubbles had just shut off so the only sound was the low hum of the jets. I lifted my head to look at him, and that’s when he said he’d been thinking about quitting his job with Mr. C to sail away somewhere. I literally stopped breathing. He was sitting so close that he must have noticed because then he asked me if I would come with him.
Of course I told him ‘yes’ without even thinking about it, and then asked him where we would go? He played with my hair as he talked and suggested we could start in France and then tour all around Europe, even mentioning that we could go to school there. I love the idea and know there’s no way I can afford to go to school in Europe, but the offer made me ecstatic so I’m determined to find a way. Now I have something to look forward to in my future even if the dream is a distant one.
Ava is ready and waiting when I return to the cave. I look her over and nod my approval of her shorts and shirt. “That will work. Now stay close and try to be quiet.”