Page 87 of Stuck in Paradise with You

I want to say yes. Because of the man sitting in front of me baring all. Because of the churn in the pit of my stomach, the pounding of my heart when I’m anywhere near him. Because of the honesty and the forgiveness we’ve finally shared.

But something is holding me back as we stare at each other across the space. Something is stopping me from crossing the space between us, wrapping my arms around his neck and holding my mouth to his.

I just don’t know where we go from here.

There’s a bang on the steel doors that’s less of a sound brought by the hurricane, which has slowly been receding while Luke and I have been lost in our world of torment, and more like a person.

Jessie barks.

‘Luke? Carrie? Are you in there?’

Dave.

There’s a beat, where I see in Luke’s eyes that he isn’t ready for us to be found. Then he calls back, ‘Yeah, we’re in here.’

‘Joe! They’re in here!’

Just like that, we’re back in the real world.

Though I have a sense that something life-altering happened while we were in this concrete shell.

38

LUKE

After hours, or however long we spent, in the dull light of the bunker, though the sky is grey and cloudy and, at my best guess, it’s late afternoon, I still squint as Dave and Joe pull open the steel doors and I step outside, Carrie’s hand in mine, leading her into the natural air. The wind hasn’t completely subsided but it feels more like a standard tropical storm out now, than an unruly beast.

‘I’ve never been so glad to see you, matey,’ Joe says, snatching me into an embrace, breaking my contact with Carrie.

‘I’m sorry, Joe,’ she says from behind me. ‘It’s my fault. Jessie ran and I instinctively went after her.’

Joe pulls away from me and tugs Carrie into a similarly rough and compassionate hug. ‘No apologies necessary, I’m just glad you’re okay.’ Jessie barks, jumping at Joe. ‘Thank you for rescuing our Jessie.’

‘Arguably, she wouldn’t have been in danger if I hadn’t lingered outside, so?—’

‘She was a scared dog, Carrie. She ran of her own accord.’ Joe’s words are firm, leaving no room for discussion, and I’mpleased for them. Carrie doesn’t need to add guilt to everything we’ve felt in the last twenty-four hours.

I feel like I’ve lived every emotion today already. As if Carrie and I have had a conversation that’s been building and that needed to happen for a very long time. I already feel relieved and depleted, burned out.

Still, none of it has prepared me for what I see when I finally look around the island. Charithonia has been devastated. Every tree and plant has been ripped from its roots or snapped and tossed away by the force of the hurricane. Green land replaced by barren dirt. Evidence of the ocean’s surge can be seen halfway up the rockface – debris deposited as it has receded, though it still completely consumes the beach and lower rockface. There are branches and tree trunks, coconuts and roof tiles, scattered everywhere.

As we walk up to the main walkway, we have to navigate fallen trees. The main electricity and phone lines have been torn from the cement in the ground and lie across our path. Though the main structures of the house and the pods are intact, the terrace is gone, the infinity pools are covered by trees, corrugated iron, random pieces of furniture that I don’t think emanated from this island. One of the large ceiling fans from the terrace has pierced what is left of the roof over Carrie’s pod, the arms poking out like a V from the top.

The four of us and Jessie are stilled by the sight. To my side, Carrie brings her hands to her mouth and I fold her under my arm as we stare at the place she could have been sleeping.

‘To think most of this is superficial,’ Joe says contemplatively. ‘It’s one of life’s greatest injustices that where you’re born dictates whether you still have a place to call home today. As soon as we can get across to the other islands to help, we will.’

Of that, we’re all in agreement.

‘The most important thing is we’re all safe and well,’ Dave says.

I don’t know what it is about their words but something makes me pull Carrie closer and press my lips to her hair. Makes me realize how important it is that I don’t let her go again. Not this time.

I’ll do whatever it takes to convince her.

We spend the last hours of relative light rescuing what we can from inside the damaged pods and the staff studios. The main house is remarkably undamaged beyond the superficial and we find everyone who needs to move location a spot to sleep either in a different pod or in the Hettich family home.

Joe makes the call that we’ll only use the electricity that’s absolutely necessary on account of having two large but not infallible generators and not knowing when the mains power will be fixed and reconnected.

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