Page 69 of Diving In

I now understood what Jack had meant in his last letter.

I sat on the back of the boat and let my feet dangle in the water. It was the perfect temperature of cool but chilly. Several schools of fish swam below my feet and I couldn’t help but smile. Just being here, in this spot, had already made me feel closer to Fletcher. I had expected darkness to fill this piece of the ocean, but as I looked down at the crystal-clear water, there was none to be found. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

CHAPTER 26

There were far more boats than usual today, and they all seemed to be headed to the marina. The once-blue sky had been invaded by intense-looking clouds that were approaching faster than normal, and as if on cue, a raindrop splattered my cheek.

“Shit!” I shouted, realizing my unexpectedly peaceful moment was swiftly coming to an end.

I pulled my toes out of the water and shot to my feet. I needed to pull anchor and get my happy ass back to the marina to beat the storm, ASAP. I headed for the bow of the boat, reaching in for the anchor. The rope was wet and cold as I tugged at it with both hands, panicking when I realized it wasn’t budging. The anchor had gotten stuck on something beneath the surface, and now I couldn’t get it free.

“This is not the fucking time. Please don’t ruin my perfectly good moment with this bullshit,” I begged.

I attempted to retrieve the anchor a few more times, as if it were going to somehow magically release itself from whatever had ahold of it. I yanked it back and forth with more force than I knew I was capable of, only to be duped every single time. I gave it one last massive effort, thrusting my entire body into it. But this time, not only did the rope not even budge, but my hands also slipped. I immediately fell back, not so gracefully landing on my ass.

I looked up at the darkening sky only to be greeted by a rumble of thunder followed by more frequent raindrops. They tumbled from the sky and plopped onto my forehead. With no better solution in mind, I climbed my way to the captain’s chair and took cover the best I could.

Two earthshattering booms ruptured the sky, one right after the other, so loud I could feel them shake my insides. It was followed by one strand of lightning that split off into a dozen smaller strands, sparking up the now dark gray sky.

Anxiety crept in just as quickly as the rain began pelting the windshield that I was trying so desperately to hide behind. I jumped up, remembering the tiny bathroom just behind the steering wheel, and made a run for it. I was using the term “bathroom” lightly because it was more like a cubby with a miniature toilet seat centered in the middle of it. But it would at least protect me more than this miniscule plexiglass windshield had been.

I scurried next to the seat, crouched down, and swung open the door, revealing the tiniest toilet—just as I remembered it. I climbed in and pulled the door shut behind me. I positioned myself on top of the closed toilet seat and pulled my knees to my chest, consciously listening to my breaths.

I had to brace myself a few times, using my hands to push against both sides of me to keep from pinballing around this claustrophobic space. I started counting just to keep my mind off what was going on outside of this box. A few seconds went by with no rumbles or shakes and as I debated whether or not to chance leaving, I caught a glimpse of something etched onto the back of the door.

FCW & GJW PROPERTY.

I gradually ran my finger over the letters, the sensation of the cold plastic against my fingertips enough to make me shiver. The number of times that Fletcher and I had hid in this exact spot when we were little… We always thought Mom and Jack would never find us here. It was a sort of safe space for the two of us.

Ironic.

“Once our safe space,alwaysour safe space,” I said, both to myself and to the ghost of Fletcher that I could sense lingering in these walls.

As I heard what sounded like footsteps, I leaned in closer to listen, and sure enough, it sounded like someone else had boarded the boat.

My heart rate quickened. I hoped it was another boater who’d stopped to help, but I frantically looked around for anything that I could use to protect myself in the off chance that it wasn’t. The only thing in this bathroom that wasn’t attached to the boat itself was a lime green and black lifejacket. I wasn’t exactly sure how this was going to work in my favor, but it was all I had, so it was going to have to do.

The door handle jiggled a few times before opening, because this was a boat and security was nobody’s main concern. I braced the lifejacket in front of me and lunged at the culprit, both of us landing on the ground, me mounted on top of him.

“It’s me,” the voice said, and I recognized it instantly. Cal grabbed onto my arms a little tighter, letting me know that I was safe and not actually about to be murdered by someone in the middle of the ocean.

I snatched the lifejacket away so that it was no longer blocking my view and shot back, “Cal?”

“What the hell are you doing out here?” he lightly reprimanded me.

“How did you know where I was?” I asked, ignoring him.

“You didn’t answer my question,” he said.

“You didn’t answer mine either,” I poked back, allowing relief to finally take over.

This goddamn man had the ability to get my insides stirring even in the weirdest of circumstances.

“I’ve been taking care of Jack’s boat, and Lucas, the kid who runs the gas at the dock, has become an acquaintance of mine, so he filled me in. I told him to let me know ifThe Naomiever left her slip because I had a feeling you’d do something like this eventually. I was surprised the $20 I’d slipped him was enough to do the trick, but sure enough, he called me the minute ‘a smokin’ hot girl’ pulled the boat out.” His eyes lit up as the words left his mouth, giving me a once-over. “I’ll admit, I’d expected you to get her out on the water at some point, but I was surprised to hear from Lucasafteryour plane was scheduled to have already taken off.”

“And you just knew I’d come to the spot?”

“Well, whether you’ve realized it or not, Georgia, you’ve been fighting through your past this whole time, pushing yourself to overcome your fears every second you’ve been here. Not to mention, this island clearly has a way of drawing you back to the places you said you’d never return to,” he suggested, his voice deepening. “But you still never answered my question. Why you are out here in the middle of a storm by yourself? You should have called me, I would’ve come with you,” he said. The protectiveness in his voice made me feel giddy.

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