Page 115 of The Scars I Bare
I looked up at him, smiling. “Yes, but I’ve heard the view from the water is to die for, Captain Sutherland.”
A soft chuckle fell from his lips as he pulled me closer. “I think that could be arranged. And then what?” he asked.
“And then…everything.”
“Everything?”
I nodded. “Everything. I want it all. With you.”
Six Months Later
“Ready?” Taylor asked as I stared out onto the crystal-blue water, the waves gently lapping at the docks below us.
I took a deep breath, smiling to myself. I could already hear the eager voices of children outside the office door. “Yep.”
“Good, ’cause they’re hyper today. Better you than me. I’ll take a fishing party over that any day.”
I chuckled, grabbing several life vests on my way out. “Suit yourself. But just remember, at the end of the day, I get Popsicles. What do you get?”
He gave me a sly grin. “If everything goes right? A hot, single tourist in my bed. Now, go do your job.”
I stood up straight, dropping several of the life vests to the ground, and I did my best to mimic a soldier, my left hand moving to the top of my forehead. “Yes, sir!”
He shook his head, chuckling, as he gathered the necessary paperwork for his upcoming excursion. “You salute with your right hand, asshole.”
Looking to my right side, currently devoid of any prosthetic, I laughed. “You love having me back. Admit it!” I said, holding my hand out wide, baring my chest, with an equally wide grin.
“I’d love it even more if you weren’t such a smart ass about it.”
“That’s the brother I love,” I joked, reaching down to pick up the child-sized life vests before heading out the door.
I was flying high this week. This simple idea that I’d come up with less than a week after coming home from the hospital, still bruised from the beating I’d taken in the water, had finally come to fruition.
And with such success.
I never thought I’d go back into the water, but that night, I’d faced my darkest fear.
I realized in that moment, when I bolted out the door, intent on saving Blake from his own stupidity, that, for Cora, I’d face all my demons a hundred times over.
But out there, on that boat and in the water, I discovered just how stupid I’d been. I’d been so focused on Cora, I hadn’t thought about myself. Blake wasn’t the only stupid one that night. It was sheer luck that I managed to keep both of us afloat before the Coast Guard found us.
I needed to retrain myself. Not only how to steer a boat, but also how to survive in the water.
I’d been avoiding the water because I felt betrayed. But it’d had me wondering how many handicapped people out there avoided the water and all its many forms because of sheer fear.
“Damn, you look mighty fine today, Mr. Sutherland,” I heard Cora call out.
I looked across the street and saw her and Lizzie heading toward me. Lizzie was dressed similarly to me—bathing suit and not much else. Unfortunately, Cora was going to work and had far more on.
I’d have to remedy that. Later.
“There are my girls!” I hollered as both came closer. “Are you ready to be my big helper again?” I asked Lizzie, causing her to immediately nod her head with enthusiasm.
“I did a bunch of research on sinking ships. What to do, what not to do—those kinds of things. Did you know the first lifeboat launched from theTitanicwhen it was sinking only had twenty-eight people on it, but it was equipped to hold sixty-five? Do your boats have lifeboats? How many?”
Cora gave me an amused, sideways glance as I looked down at the curious little girl who’d stolen my heart.
“We have lifeboats on the big boats and inflatable rafts on the smaller ones. Not to mention state-of-the-art equipment. Promise. Now, come on. Say good-bye to your mom. She’s got to go to work, and so do we!”
