Page 112 of In the Pursuit of Haven
I steadied myself, facing him. “This is really the rock?”
He smiled. “It is now.” His eyes searched mine. “It’s supposed to signify a long and happy union.”
Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes. Was that really our destiny? Marriage was a holy vow; I’d always believed it, but lately, and when I’d least expect it, doubts crept in and I’d thought that Jessie had forgotten us. He ran his hands down my back and squeezed me closer.
The longer we worked together on finding this treasure, the more I was starting to remember exactly why I’d said “yes” to him.
“I should’ve taken you here the first night we were married,” he said. “I love you, Roxy. Please remember that.”
I wanted to say it back, but my words got lost in his kiss. His fingers pressed into my back as he brought me close to him where I belonged. Even after three years of marriage, there were sides to Jessie that I hadn’t yet discovered. I still felt like the explorer visiting far-off countries. Everything about him was both mysterious, familiar, and sacred—the way he touched me, desired me, loved me. I hoped he felt how much he meant to me too.
I laid my head against his chest, feeling his heartbeat thrash against my ear. “Tell me more about this reverend?” I asked.
“Let’s see, Smalls won every strong man’s contest, and he used to move all these rocks around, which I guess made for good training, and he must’ve had a sense of humor too, because he named them all afterwards, sometimes after the couples who’d honeymooned here.”
I smiled up at Jessie. “Which one isourrock, then?”
“This one.”
I smiled. He’d decided that on the spot.
His eyes twinkled. “I’ll carve our names underneath it and no one will know it exists, except us.”
I stilled as a thought struck me. “You know… not that I want to suggest this as a possibility because it means a lot of work, but if Smalls was in any way related to the Shepherds…”
“He’d leave a clue under these rocks?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
He groaned. “You’re right… ruling out that theory sounds like a lot of work.”
I laughed. I could barely pick up our dog sometimes, but we could try to find some sticks to use as leverage to get to the bottom of as many rocks as possible.
“It sounds terrible,” Jessie said. We’d need a backhoe… or a burly Reverend Smalls. “But hey, we can try a few.”
“Which ones are most promising?” I asked. We might as well be smart about it. “Did your father say anything about the minister’s favorite rocks?”
He grinned. “I’m not sure I believe anything coming out of my old man’s mouth, but yeah, he mentioned a few actually. We can try some of those.” Jessie led me through the rocky, dirt pathway to the far side of the island.
A bitter wind howled after us. I brought my jacket closer to me. Jessie waited for me to catch up at the bend and added his arms to that. The guy had an inner fire that heated me through to the core, though it also made me forget to watch where I was going. My foot caught a rock and I stumbled, almost dragging my knight in shining armor into a heap with me.
He laughed as he steadied us. “If you want, I can carry you again.”
I bumped him with my hip and slipped from his grasp, reveling in the ocean smells traveling through the brisk wind. I’d always loved the days I’d spent with Jessie out on the beach, although the unleashed power of those high waves in the distance were a little more terrifying than usual.
The shacks on this side of the island were built right up to the edge of the crags. The waves splashed up and over the sides, the ocean froth sizzling and spitting as the water swept back from the land like it was boiling hot instead of freezing.
Jessie pointed to the rock next to a boat shed on stilts. It served as a breaker, keeping most of the tide back with its massive size. “My old man said that Smalls named that boulder ‘Philip the Apostle’… and then…” Turning, Jessie found another hulking rock practically built into the roots of a birch tree. “He called this one ‘Andrew’… and then there was a third one… where was it?” He headed around the side, where suddenly was revealed the vast and open ocean disappearing into a matching gray sky. I caught my breath. The forces of nature were miraculously endless out here.
“This one,” Jessie called me over. “This one he named ‘Simon, the Rock.’”
“I see…” I smiled. “He named these after the three apostle fishermen from Galilee.”
And these boulders were far too immense to pry out of the ground. “We could move some of the rocks cluttering the base to see if we can’t unearth some clue or writing.” Jessie headed for Simon’s first, and I followed him. Grabbing a fallen tree branch, I tried to heave a few rocks up. Searching the bottoms and finding nothing, I let them roll back to the side.
Jessie bumped my arm as he passed me. The rock he carried could swallow whole the last one I’d rolled over.
After a half an hour of this backbreaking work, we weren’t finding much. I glanced over at Jessie, seeing the sweat pool down his back, despite this chill. He’d peeled off his coat, followed by his shirt, determined to find something.Anything!
