Page 57 of Stranded

“Has it been hard waiting for him?” Felix asks. He draws his leg up to sit sideways, watching me carefully. “When we gottogether…” he gestures toward Carter, then grins as I wrinkle my nose. “Well, I can’t imagine waiting. That’s all.”

At least they got straight to the point.

“Mmm,” I hum, feeling everyone’s eyes on me as I look toward the ferry again. “It’s not always easy. But it’s better than the way I just rushed into things before. This time…” I shake my head. “We get to learn all about each other first.”

“That actually sounds sweet,” Zach murmured.

“It is.” I’m smiling again. I can’t help myself. “Everything I learn about him just makes me like him more.”

There’s a few moments of silence as they trade glances.

“I was worried at first,” Carter finally says. “But, you know what? I think it’s been good for you.”

The others nod with agreement. “Yeah?” I ask, tearing my eyes off the ferry at last to glance at my friends.

It’s Murph, the quietest one of our group, who answers. “You’re more chill.”

“At first, I thought you’d rearrange your life around Ronan’s,” Drew says, carefully. “Making sure you’re always home when he is. Doing everything he needs done.”

“You’ve done that before,” Carter says, clapping my shoulder gently. “But this ishere. It would be a lot worse.”

In my own home, where I can’t just up and leave… I could start to feel like a stranger.

The breath rushes out of my lungs as I see what they mean.

“I might have done that once,” I admit. “But not anymore. I’m putting my love life on hold for him, because he’s worth it.” I smile, peeling back the coffee cup lid for a sip.

The more I get to know Ronan, the more I can’t imagine wanting anyone else.

“But I’m not putting my whole life on hold,” I add, looking around at them. “I promise.”

Carter grins and clasps my arm, while the others nod and murmur their agreement.

My little brother is beaming at me the hardest of all.

“Yeah?” I murmur to Felix.

He blinks away the tears shimmering in his eyes and squints over the harbour. “I’m just glad, that’s all. You’ve spent your life looking after me. It’s about time you look after you.”

I reach out for a fist bump, but what I get is a hug—and coffee very nearly spilled over my leg. I yelp, pulling away just in time as everyone hisses and then laughs with relief.

I settle back down and clear my throat. “Actually, while we’re on that subject… I’ve been reading up lately.” I can’t blame them for their surprised looks—I’ve always been better with my hands than with words. “Ronan said something that gave me an idea. And I can’t stop thinking about it.”

“Spit it out,” Carter kicks me in the shin.

“Okay, okay. I want to become a tour guide.” I’m half-expecting them to scoff at me. This part of the world is known for the great outdoors. Tour operators are dime-a-dozen. “But boat tours, right? Talking about Sunrise Island. Nobody else is doing that. We could do short trips at first, in between the hourly ferry runs.”

When I finally stop for a breath, Zach claps and whoops. Drew pumps his fist in the air. Felix is bouncing up and down and grinning. Even Murph gives me a slow, approving nod.

“You think I should do it?” I ask, blinking at them.

What about all the things that could go wrong?

“Remember when we were kids?” Felix grins. “You used to do pretend tours for us. Half the facts were made up, but that made it more fun.”

I crack up with laughter. I can’t believe I’d forgotten that.

“Foryears, I believed the lighthouse was built by a special species of ant found only here,” Zach grumbles, and we all burst out laughing.

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