The Big One (Second Chance Romantic Comedy)

by Katherine Hastings

  He grabbed the chain suspended above us that led into the cave and gave me a nod.

  “Lay back,” I said to her while I leaned back, flattening myself into the bottom of the boat.

  “What?” she responded, looking down at me like I’d lost my mind. I didn’t give her a chance to argue and pulled her down into my arms. She offered only a little resistance and then rested her head on my chest, and I slid my arm around her, pulling her in close. “What are we doing?”

  “Wait for it.” I kissed the top of her head when our guide ducked, and we slid into the small hole and darkness surrounded us for a moment.

  “Liam!” she squealed as the rocks slid over our heads. I blinked in the moment of darkness, and then my eyes adjusted. Our guide rose up now that we were clear of the small entrance, and I sat up, taking her with me.

  “Oh my God,” she whispered, her own awe matching my own.

  “Welcome to the Blue Grotto.” I squeezed her hand.

  Bright blue lights shone through the water surrounding us and illuminated the cave, the ripples of water leaving glowing lights bouncing all around us. The blue glow wrapped us in an ethereal radiance and I loved the way it lit up her face.

  “Liam. This is incredible.”

  “I thought you might like this.” I slid my arm around her and settled back against the boat. Our guide broke out into a traditional Neapolitan song and Ellie’s smile grew while his voice echoed off the blue walls.

  “It’s tradition,” I said. “They sing a love song when they bring you in.”

  “I love it.” I felt the weight of her head deepen as she leaned in a little harder. “Have you been here before?”

  “Once, with my grandpa when I was visiting for the summer as a boy. We sailed over just like you and I did today and moored just outside. I thought it was magic that made the cave blue.” I chuckled.

  “I love that you and your grandpa were close.”

  “Me too.” Grief over his loss settled over me once again. “I didn’t see much of him growing up because we lived in Amsterdam, but I loved coming to visit and sailing with him. These last few years I lived here, he was my best friend. I’m glad I got the time with him at the end.”

  “I have to ask, what does make the blue glow?”

  “Magic, obviously.”

  “Liam!”

  I kissed her forehead and chuckled. “There’s an opening under the water that lets light in, and it shines up and creates the blue glow. Back in Roman times, Emperor Tiberius used this as his private swimming hole.”

  The singing of our oarsmen stopped, and we bobbed in silence. I inhaled a breath filled with the salty smell of the water, the dampness of the rocks, and the sweet vanilla scent in her hair. The combination was intoxicating, and I closed my eyes for a moment, just listening to the waves echo in the cave and the sound of water lapping at our boat.

  Our guide rowed us around and I groaned inwardly when I realized our short time was up.

  “Duck!” he said, and she giggled as we lay back down. I wrapped my arms around her, and we slid beneath the opening while our guide pulled us through using the chain. When we emerged, the bright sunlight caused me to squint, and I blinked rapidly to readjust. Not wanting to release my grip, I held her close just a little longer as our oarsmen paddled us away. She didn’t try to right herself, and instead snuggled in a little tighter.

  “We’re here!” he announced, and I felt the boat slow. Sitting up, I looked to see the lines of people waiting at the bottom of the stairs leading from the cliffs to the grotto.

  “Thank you,” I said. “I’ll see you at five.”

  “I’ll be here!”

  “Wait. We’re leaving our boat?” she asked, glancing back to where I’d left it moored.

  “Yep. My grandfather taught me this secret. The Marina Grande where everyone enters the island is worse than Grand Central Station in New York. Thousands of people coming and going. You moor here, pay the oarsmen extra, and enter the island right here. No lines, and our oarsmen will meet us here at five when the grotto closes and bring us back to the boat.”

  “Brilliant!” she responded.

  “He was a very smart man. Come on.”

  I hopped to shore and held out my hand. She grabbed on and I pulled her to my side. The guide tossed up my backpack and her bag.

  “Thank you, friend. We’ll see you soon.”

  With a smile he waved, and two more people took our seats on the little boat. After slinging the backpack over my shoulders, I took her hand and started up the stone stairs leading up the cliff.

  “The view is incredible!” she said, as we continued climbing, passing beneath the rock bridge. “I have to admit I said I wanted to come here on my bucket list that summer, but I never really researched how incredible it is.”

  “I’ve been here only a couple times, but it’s been years. It is breathtaking isn’t it?”

  She puffed hard from the continuing climb and I stopped to look at her.

  “You okay?” I asked, noticing her red face.

  “Yes. It’s just a lot of stairs and I take the cab everywhere in Chicago.” She tried to laugh but her breathing turned it into a cough.

  “Do I need to worry you’re going to have a heart attack? Not that I wouldn’t mind giving you a little mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.” I waggled my brows and gave her my best sly smile.

  Her laugh grew, but the coughing deepened. “Don’t make me laugh!”

  “Here. Take this.” I pulled off my backpack and pushed it toward her. Her arms dropped under the weight of it.

  “I’m already struggling and now you want me to carry the backpack? Jesus! What’s in this? Bricks?”

  Chuckling, I stepped behind her and slid it over her shoulders. “Once I adjust the straps it won’t feel so heavy.”

  “Thanks, Liam. Such a gentleman making me carry your bricks.” She tried to toss me a glare, but the playful light danced behind her eyes.

  I finished securing the straps and took her pink tote bag, sliding it over my shoulder.

  “Wow. Liam. I’m not quite sure why we’re switching bags, but you look fantastic in pink.”

  Holding her bag on my shoulder, I turned my back to her. “Hop up.”

  “What?”

  I glanced over my shoulder and gave a pop of my head to encourage her on. “I can’t carry you with my backpack on, so now it’s on you, and I’ll carry you both. And you can’t hang on with your purse, so now I’m sporting this very fashionable bag. Hop on, Ellie.”

  Pursing her lips, she pulled them into a smile. “Well, now I feel dumb.”

  “See? I am a gentleman. Now, your chariot awaits milady.” I lowered myself and patted my lower back. Her arms wrapped around my neck and I felt her hop up. Catching her behind the knees with my elbows, I bounced her up higher onto my back. Her giggles echoed in my ear, and she leaned around and kissed my cheek.

  “You’re my hero.”

  “Anything for you, baby.”

  Her sigh rippled through her whole body and I felt it finish with a shiver. I carried her up the rest of the stairs, listening to her ooh and ah over all the sights until we reached the top. The vintage orange bus was starting to pull out, so I flagged the driver and took off running when I saw him stop and open the door.

  The bouncy ride on my back sent giggles tumbling out of her while she struggled to hang on. When we reached the bus, I let go of my grip on her legs and let her slide to the ground.

  “Grazie!” I said to the driver and handed him some euros before sliding my backpack off her shoulders and returning her purse. We climbed on the bus and hurried to our seats just as he started off.

  “Sit by the window so you can see.”

  She smiled and climbed over me, pausing for a moment on my lap before plunking down where I’d just been. Having her slide across me sent a rush of blood to my groin. I closed my eyes and thought about anything and everything else to force the real visions that wanted to take up spac
e in my head... visions of her naked on top of me in the hull of that sailboat in Ephraim.

  “I have never seen anything so incredible,” she said, staring out the window.

  “I’m so glad you like it here.”

  “Love. Love it here.”

  “I live so close and yet I haven’t been here as an adult. It feels different this time.” My gaze wandered out the window to the views that plunged down to the ocean below. Everything was green and colorful, and it looked even better with her in the frame.

  “Good different or bad different?”

  “Good different. You’re here.” I caught her glance and leaned my head up against hers. “I still can’t believe you’re here.”

  “You and me both.”

  We watched the incredible sights on our short ride to the outskirts of Marina Grande. When the bus stopped, I grabbed our bags and led her off. The streets were busy, and traffic wound through as people came and went from the hub of the little island.

  “This is why we snuck in the back,” I said to her while she looked around. “You should see how busy it is farther in near the docks.”

  “Are we going down there?”

  “I have a different plan, one a little farther away from the big crowds.”

  “No arguments here.”

  Looking up, I saw Charlie’s Scooter Rental and was glad it still looked just like it did when Grandpa and I had rented one. “Follow me.”

  We went into the office, and after paying the man he took us outside to get a scooter.

  “I’m so excited!” She hopped up and down behind me. “I love scooters! Actually, the last time I rode one—”

  “You and me in Peninsula State Park?”

  She nodded and gave me a shy smile.

  “That time you crashed it and we lost our deposit? That time?”

  Her gaze dropped, and she nodded, shuffling her feet before glancing back up. “Yep. That time. But in my defense, it was my first time!”

  After much begging that day, I’d agreed to let her drive and climbed on behind her. We’d wound through the park and while attempting to turn into Nicolet Bay Beach, she’d hit the gas instead of the brakes and we’d ended up in a clump of bushes spitting dirt from our mouths. The memory of her sad eyes and dirt smeared face caused me to burst into laughter.

  “I’m driving,” I said between laughs.

  “Probably a good idea. These are windy roads.” She snorted and then joined my laughter. “God, that was embarrassing!”

  “Entertaining. At least from my viewpoint.”

  “Here you go!” The little Italian man brought us to the line of mopeds, and we choked down the rest of our laughter.

  “This one!” She raced over to the only pink one in a row of yellow mopeds. “Pleeeease? Can we take the pink one?”

  Shaking my head, I walked over to where she already sat on it, a grin stretched wide across her face.

  “First I carry your pink purse, and now you want me to drive a pink scooter?”

  Biting her lip, she nodded.

  With a heavy sigh I tossed up my hands. “I’m going to have to, how do you say it? Oh yes. Give up my man card.”

  “Yay!” She clapped, and I knew I would do anything to see that smile of hers.

  “Here you go!” He handed me the keys and flashed me a sympathetic look. I reached the little pink scooter and Ellie stepped off, that smile still burning bright.

  I shook my head. “You’re lucky I lo—” I stopped abruptly.

  The words tumbled from my mouth before my brain could process them. You’re lucky I love you. That’s what I was about to say. But it was too soon to say it, wasn’t it? It felt natural to say it because I still felt it. I’d always felt it. My love for her had never gone away, not even a little. I’d said it ten years ago, and I’d meant it as much then as I did now... perhaps now even more. Now I knew what life was like without her.

  Wide eyes stared back at me while I stumbled on the word and froze. It’s too soon.

  “...look good in pink,” I finished after the lengthy pause, swallowing hard and shifting my gaze out to the ocean.

  Disappointment flickered behind her forced smile. I should have said it.

  “That you do,” she said, quickly moving our stilted conversation along. “So where to?”

  Shaking off my self-inflicted pain, I forced my own smile and took a deep breath.

  “It’s a surprise.” I walked behind her and put my backpack over her shoulders and pushed the little black helmet on her head. She stared up at me while I clipped the chin strap and I knew she wanted to say something. I could always tell when she was holding back by the little wrinkle that formed between her eyes. When nothing came out, I threw a leg over the pink scooter and settled in. “Climb up, baby.”

  The disappointment still on her face disintegrated when I called her baby, just like I had a hundred times that summer. Seeing her soft smile return soothed the wound I’d ripped open and I finally took a breath when I felt her slide up behind me and those slender arms wrap around my waist.

  “The best way to see Capri is on a scooter,” I said, while securing the black helmet on my own head. When I’d finished, I pulled my sunglasses from where they dangled on the front of my tank top and slid them into place. “I’ll try not to pull an Ellie and put us in the bushes.”

  “Pull an Ellie?” She laughed and squeezed me hard.

  “Hang on, baby.”

  I cranked the key and flipped the switch to start the engine, and the scooter chugged below us. Twisting the handlebar, it lurched forward, her arms tightening around my stomach while I steered us onto the street.

  We wound through Capri and I took my time so she could take in all the sights of this incredible little island. I was enjoying the scenery as well, and soon we were in Anacapri and our scenic ride ended when I saw the line to Mount Solaro. After finding a spot to park our scooter, I hopped off and relieved her of the heavy backpack.

  “Welcome to Mount Solaro,” I said, pointing to the top of the mountain.

  “Oh my God! Is that a chairlift? Are we going up?”

  “That’s the plan. Come on.” I slid my arm around her waist and pulled her along with me. After purchasing tickets, we got in line for the lift.

  “Wait a minute. They only seat one person at a time? I’m a little scared, Liam!”

  We stepped to the front of the line. “You’ll be fine, baby. I’ll be right behind you.”

  Worry wrinkled her brow when they waved her forward. One last nervous glance came my way before she stepped in front of the moving chair and let it sweep her away. I stepped up next and climbed into my own seat, closing the bar and watching her ascend up the mountain.

  Even though I could still see her, I already missed her. I wanted her at my side, in my arms, and I wanted to kiss those lips at will. She turned and looked over her shoulder at me, a wide grin while she pointed to the sights below. For a moment, my gaze followed her finger, and just as quickly my eyes snapped back to her.

  The minutes ticked by and finally we reached the top. I watched her hop off, and when it was my turn, I hit the ground and rushed to her side. My arm slid back around her waist and that hollow pain I’d felt in her absence subsided. I tried not to let the reality slip in that she’d be leaving in four days. Since fifteen minutes felt like eternity, that was an absence I couldn’t bear to think about.

  “Okay, that was really cool!”

  “Fun wasn’t it? Wait until you see the view from the top.” Wasting no time, I moved us up the stone steps until we stepped out at the top. When she saw the sweeping views surrounding us, she slowed to a stop.

  “Oh my God.”

  “Breathtaking isn’t it?”

  “There isn’t a word to describe this.”

  I’d been up here once before, but it still stunned me with its beauty. Lush green carpeted the island, with tropical trees dotting the landscape. The colorful buildings stacked along the cliffs and the views went
straight down to the cerulean waters below.

  “Follow me.” I took her hand and led her through the crowd and off to the secluded little spot overlooking the cove below.

  “We need a picture,” she said after gawking at the sights below.

  Pulling out her phone, we pressed our heads together and smiled. The picture caught us both, as well as the breathtaking views behind us.

  “No one will believe these views.” She snapped a few more photos.

  “I’ve got the best view around.” She noticed my eyes were no longer on the landscape and blushed. A single step brought her in front of me, her hands sliding across my chest while she leaned up and pressed a kiss to my lips. With my arms encircling her waist, I pulled her in, happy to keep my tongue busy in her mouth so I didn’t spit out what I really wanted to say.

  I still love you.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Ellie

  I followed Liam off the beaten path to the little clearing on top of Mount Solaro. The sweeping views sucked the air from my lungs and I still hadn’t found the words to describe it. He stopped and looked around before dropping his backpack on the grass.

  “Here. This is perfect.”

  I watched him unzip the backpack and start pulling out items and piling them on the ground. It wasn’t a particularly sensual moment but watching his biceps flex with each pull from the bag had my stomach fluttering and that familiar heat settling back between my legs.

  Grabbing the plaid blanket from the bag, he lifted it in the air and let it drift back down until it settled onto the grass.

  “Sit,” he said. I stepped onto the blanket and crossed my legs, still watching him pull more stuff out of his bag.

  “Who are you, Mary Poppins?” I laughed.

  “Did Mary Poppins’ bag have wine?” He pulled out a bottle of red and held it up.

  “You are way better than Mary Poppins!”

  He settled down beside me, dragging along the strewn contents of the bag. Two plastic cups got placed between us and he uncorked the bottle of wine and filled them up before handing me one.