Page 50 of Wrecked
“I love Jack and Rose. They have a perfect sort of love, don’t they? Like Noah and Allie… Snow White and Prince Charming?—”
“Romeo and Juliet?”
She scrunches her nose and shakes her head. “Way too tragic. I want a love like Johnny and June.”
“Soo, you want us to die within months of each other? Noted,” I tease. She rolls her eyes at me and turns back to the movie just as Rose flops off the door, swimming across the frigid water to reach the whistle and call for help.
“I want aTitanicmoment,” she decides, nodding her head at the idea.
“You want to hold my hand as you watch me die? Only to fall asleep and leave me alone in my final moments? I love you, baby, but I’ll pass,” I joke, offering her a charming smile as she glares at me.
“No,Nate. I want you to be there after I die. I want to close my eyes and slip away from this world, only to open them and find you waiting for me in heaven.”
“You got it, baby. I’ll always wait for you, even in death,” I assure her. “You just have to promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“That even after I’m gone, you’ll live a long life. Like Rose does for Jack.” She looks at me for a long moment before shaking her head.
“We jump together, right? Sorry,Jack, I can’t make you that promise.” She shrugs. “I don’t make the rules.” She cackles as I tickle her sides again, annoyed with her answer. “Do you think we have a love like that?”
“Like Jack and Rose? Allie and Noah? Or Snow and Prince Charming?”
She smiles wide. “All of them.”
“No, Pip. We don’t have a love like them.” Her face falls before I continue. “We have something so much better. We have the type of love people would die for. They just haven’t written our story yet.”
Her eyes cloud, long lashes moving fast as she blinks away tears. “I really love you, you know?”
I twist from my spot and tackle her to the bed, hovering above her. “I really love you too. But if you tear my frozen hands from yours in the middle of the Atlantic, I’ll haunt you for the rest of your life,” I tease.
“That won’t be a problem. I’d make room for you on the door.” Her eyes convey the truth of that promise.
A clash of thunder crashes above us, shaking the foundation of my house. Ellie’s eyes grow wide, and she pulls me down on top of her. I kiss her forehead and lift my weight from her small frame, turning on my side, but staying close. She turns to face me and pouts at the change in our position.
“I’m supposed to protect you, not squish you.” I laugh playfully.
She studies me for a long moment, her eyes flicking across my face. “Do you think it’s crazy? Being so young, but so certain we’ve found our person? Our forever?”
I take a minute to consider my answer. “I think most people only dream of feeling the way I did when I saw you sitting across from me at the library. I didn’t know what it meant then. I just knew you were meant to be mine.” I caress her cheek, loving the way her eyes flutter closed at my touch. “I think most people search their whole lives for their soulmate and never find them. So, no. I don’t think we are crazy. I think we are lucky. We get to spend the rest of our lives feeling the kind of love most will never experience.”
“Yeah,” she smiles warmly, “I think we’re the lucky ones.” She wraps her arms around my waist, and within seconds falls asleep peacefully in my arms as the storm rages outside.
I don’t know what fate has in store for us, but I know that I will spend the rest of my life loving the girl in my arms.
CHAPTER 26
NATE (PRESENT)
The forest floor is littered with fallen branches and scattered leaves, dense and tangled undergrowth making it hard to walk in a straight path. Bursts of sunlight penetrate the condensed woodland, allowing outgrowths of vegetation to cultivate in the rich soil. The path continuously transitions from shadowed wilderness to open bush as the thick overhead canopy varies in viscosity. Walking is easier to manage under the heavy canopy of trees as it effectively blocks the intense sunlight and restricts the growth of plant life. Unfortunately, much of our walk has been under a sparse crown of palm trees, designing a more challenging environment. The impenetrable foliage coupled with the pathless terrain confirms that this part of the Amazon rainforest is uninhabited by people.
Which is not good for us.
Sweat drips down my back as we trek through the jungle, the humidity is almost too much to bear. It feels like I put my face in front of a blow dryer while trying to take a deep breath. We walk for several more minutes before we are enclosed in a darker, cooler ecosystem. Even though the shaded areasproduce fewer potential supplies, I am thankful that the glaring sun is off our backs. The heat here is so intense it’s dehydrating us quickly.
I hold Ellie’s hand as we walk through the heavy region of trees, looking for material that could help us build a temporary shelter. My legs still ache from the long swim to the shore, but you could cut my limbs from my body, and it still wouldn’t be enough to stop me from keeping Ellie safe tonight.
I see a worn path ahead, likely created by the animals that tread through this area. I head in that direction and hope that path will lead us to a water source. We need water even more than we need shelter. We expended a lot of energy on our swim to the beach, and even more when we got here.
