Stranded with the Quarterback

by Elana Johnson

  “Were you scared?” Tesla asked.

  “So scared,” Orchid said. “But I’m fine. Look, I got you this shell.” She pulled the seashell from her shorts. “It’s mostly intact. The waves on the island weren’t as big as the ones here.”

  Tesla took the seashell and looked at it, flipping it over to see the shiny pink underside. She looked up at Orchid, whose knees were starting to hurt.

  “And you won’t believe this, but I climbed a rock wall. All by myself. And I learned how to cook chickens over an open flame, and—”

  “Orchid,” Eden said. “Let’s get in the car, okay?”

  Orchid straightened and followed her sister’s gaze. People were coming their way, and she put her hand on Tesla’s back. “Let’s do what Aunt Eden says. Back to the car.” She climbed in the very back with her daughter, leaving the middle seat for Holden and Eden.

  She wanted to hug her parents. Cry until she had no tears left. Tell Tesla about the rock climbing, and the wild boars, and the vegetable garden.

  About Maine.

  She held everything in, the silence in the SUV as her dad navigated them through the mob and the cars to the exit, almost as unsettling as being on the island.

  “We’ll stop for food,” her mom said. “And then you can tell us everything.”

  Orchid exhaled as she pressed her back into her bedroom door, the stories finally over. Her daughter had had a lot of questions, and her eyes had never been so round as Orchid told her all the things she’d done.

  You really climbed rocks, Mama?

  You really plucked and cooked a raw chicken, Mama?

  You really helped that guy with his back?

  She really had.

  Even she couldn’t believe it, but she felt a new strength inside her she wanted to hold onto. She wasn’t the weakling she’d been when she’d boarded the StarMatch cruise ship. She’d spoken to people. Gone out of her comfort zone. Survived a tsunami strike, and then a tropical storm, and then seven long days stuck on an island.

  She moved away from the door, the soft bed in front of her calling to her. She was so tired, even after napping on the ship. They’d only been eight hours from Getaway Bay, and she didn’t have to sleep in a tree house.

  Her parents had taken Tesla for one more night, and Orchid sank gratefully onto the soft mattress. Palm fronds and banyan leaves would never be this soft. Another sigh slipped between her lips.

  She had no idea where her phone was. She thought she’d left it on the first ship, so it was probably at the bottom of the ocean by now. That ship could be anywhere, and she supposed she could try to call the company in the morning and find out what had happened to it, and if she could get her personal belongings.

  If she had a phone, she could call. Which she didn’t.

  “Doesn’t matter,” she whispered to herself, stripping off all her clothes and climbing into bed. Sleep should’ve claimed her instantly, but she found herself awake, thinking about Maine.

  She had no way of getting in touch with him either, and now that she was back in her comfort zone, back in Getaway Bay, in her home where everything was neat and organized and made sense…a relationship with Maine didn’t.

  With those thoughts in her head, she finally slept. When morning came, it was still fairly dark outside. Orchid pulled herself from bed and into the shower, staying in the hot spray for what felt like a very long time.

  She wanted bacon cheeseburgers too, but at barely seven o’clock in the morning, she couldn’t get one. She flipped on the TV as she started making coffee, a simple luxury she wouldn’t overlook again.

  Gratitude filled her heart as the newscaster said, “And now, we have the amazing story of the rescue of Maine Fitzgerald, starting quarterback for the Getaway Bay Orcas. We welcome him and the head coach of the team, Coach Jerry Bloom, to the show.”

  Orchid spun, her heart hammering out of control. Maine looked like the plastic version of himself, and annoyance filled her. No one had contacted her for an interview, and this star quarterback had glazed over when they’d arrived on the island. Orchid had got them all moving, and when Tanner got hurt, Orchid continued to get things done.

  “Tell us,” the woman said. “What was it like out there?”

  “It’s…vast,” he said. “A lot of hopelessness. A lot of introspection.”

  “Not a bad answer,” Orchid said, wishing she were on the set so she could give her answer to that question too. Kiss Maine afterward and tell him how great he’d done.

  She would’ve said, It was what it was. We were very lucky to have fruit and vegetables and wild chickens. When my sister was stranded on Bald Mountain Bluffs, they had nothing for a long time. So if there was an island to be stranded on, we got a good one.

  “What kept your hopes up?” the newscaster asked, and Orchid leaned closer to the TV, as if that would help her hear better.

  “My team,” Maine said without a moment’s hesitation. “I went on the cruise with one of the wide receivers, and I knew Shane would be rallying everyone and everything he could.” He glanced at Coach Bloom. “And I knew Coach wouldn’t just carry on without me.”

  Coach Bloom smiled, but Orchid’s chest had gone cold. Sure, Maine had talked a little bit about his teammates and his coach while out on the island. A very little bit. He’d told her more about his family, more about his dreams to open an ice cream stand, more about him, than anything related to football.

  But it was his team that had kept his hopes up?

  She scoffed and shook her head. “What a joke.” She couldn’t help the pinch of hurt that moved through her either. What about you? a tinny voice cried inside her mind. He’d said a couple of times he was glad she was with him. Glad they’d met on that singles cruise. Glad they were going through this together.

  Was that all a lie? Another of his plastic personas? Another time when he had the exact right words to say and said them?

  Orchid didn’t know what to think. She didn’t like the negative thoughts swirling in her head, but she didn’t know how to banish them either. She looked at the screen again, disliking this version of Maine she saw.

  He’d said he wanted to meet Tesla, take her out, have a relationship with her. Was any of that true?

  “We’ve seen a few couples get stranded together in the past couple of years,” the female newscaster said. “You were out there with a woman. Was there a love connection?”

  Everyone chuckled, Maine included. He dropped his head and shook it. “I mean, I survived, you know? We all did what we needed to do. Tanner got hurt, and we took care of him. We worked together. We helped each other. There’s a bond there, sure. I’m just glad I wasn’t alone.”

  Orchid pulled in a tight, tight breath and held it. I’m just glad I wasn’t alone.

  Anger moved through her, and she hit the power button on the remote to turn off the TV. She got up from the couch, the scent of coffee telling her everything was set for the morning. But she couldn’t stand still. Couldn’t sit down.

  Her hands shook as she poured herself a cup of coffee. She stirred and stirred and stirred, those words swirling the same way the brew did.

  I mean, I survived.

  He would’ve never survived without her and her backpack of supplies. It was her knife, her cord, her tarp, her desalination kit, her fire-starting kit that had saved them.

  “I saved us,” she said fiercely to herself. “Eden’s foresight saved us.”

  Disgusted, she tossed the mug of coffee into the sink, the shattering of the ceramic startling her. Her emotions came down as she realized what she’d done, and before she could move to clean it up, the front door opened, and Tesla said, “Mama!”

  She turned to hug her daughter, refusing to let any tears fall today. She was safe. She was home. And Maine didn’t deserve her tears.

  “Hey, baby,” she said to her daughter.

  “Do you want to go to breakfast?” Tesla asked. “Aunt Ivy said she’d pay.”

  Ivy walked
in then, her phone held to her ear. She held up one finger and finished her conversation before saying, “So. Bacon. Eggs. Waffles. Let’s go.” She scanned Orchid. “You’ve definitely lost weight, and I need to hear everything about this quarterback you cuddled with on the island.”

  Ivy had been at Orchid’s last night, along with the rest of the family, as Orchid had told the tale of the last several days. She’d mentioned Maine Fitzgerald of course, but nothing about holding his hand, or kissing him, or sharing parts of herself with him she hadn’t with anyone since Henry.

  She rolled her eyes. “There was no cuddling,” she said, and she actually thought it sounded true.

  “Mm hmm,” Ivy said. “Get some shoes on. I’m starving, and I’m sure you are too.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Maine hated that the first face he saw as he walked off the set was Clarissa’s. She’d spent hours with him last night too, and he just wanted to be left alone. His family had flown in from Texas, though, and they wanted to spend the day with him.

  The morning news wanted a special feature, and Clarissa had begged him to take it. “It’s good press,” she said. “You’re a local hero. Everyone loves you.”

  So he’d done it. He hadn’t anticipated the love connection question, and his answer burned the back of his throat.

  If Orchid saw that…he’d tried to warn her he wouldn’t be allowed to be the same man she knew from the island.

  And she wouldn’t want him anymore, he knew that. He didn’t even like this version of himself.

  “You did great,” Clarissa gushed. “You looked professional and personal at the same time. Our comment feed is full of well-wishes.”

  From females, Maine knew. But none of them actually wanted to know him. They had false ideas about him, about who he was, because of news spots like the one he’d just done.

  Exhaustion pulled through him. “Do I have a new phone yet?” he asked when he should’ve told Clarissa thank you.

  “Bobby’s getting it this morning,” she said. “After you spend the day with your parents, we have a six p.m. meeting with the owner. Bobby will have it for you then. All set up.” She smiled like Maine should be so happy he had an assistant to set up his phone for him. Like it was hard.

  His head hurt, as he’d slept for only five hours the night before. And with an evening meeting with Walt on the horizon, Maine didn’t think he’d get to bed much before midnight either.

  He just wanted to be alone.

  On the island, he hadn’t ever wanted to be alone. What a difference a day made, as well as the company he was with.

  Clarissa walked off the set with him, and thankfully, his father emerged from an SUV parked in a drop-off zone outside the TV station.

  Relief hit Maine right behind his breastbone. “Dad,” he said, hugging his father fiercely. His dad had never been overly emotional. He’d driven Maine to work hard in school and on the football field, and he’d driven thousands of miles to watch his son play the game they both loved.

  He said nothing, but when Maine finally stepped back so he wouldn’t get squeezed to death, he could see the emotion in his father’s eyes. “We’ve been so worried,” he said. “And then they wouldn’t let us see you last night.”

  “I’m okay,” Maine said, looking behind him to the SUV. “Where’s Mom? Honey? Diana?”

  “At the resort,” he said. “I was told I might be able to see you, so I didn’t want them to come if we couldn’t.”

  He glanced at Clarissa, annoyance filing him from top to bottom. “I’m free until the meeting tonight, right?”

  “Yes, sir.” If she felt bad about how the communication with his parents had gone, she didn’t show it.

  “Let’s go, Dad,” he said, walking around the front of the SUV without a backward glance at his public relations specialist. Sometimes he really, really hated being in the public eye.

  But with the doors closed and the SUV moving away from the station, Maine leaned his head back and sighed.

  “Breakfast?” his dad asked. “There’s a great little place we found a couple of days ago. Private, on the beach.” He glanced at Maine.

  “Sure,” Maine said. He didn’t care where they went. He just wanted to eat, and private sounded really great.

  His father let him lapse into silence as he drove over to the Sweet Breeze Resort and Spa.

  As they approached, Maine wanted to ask his dad something before they got the rest of the family in the car. “Dad?” he asked. “How do you know when you’re in love?”

  His dad jerked his attention to him, his eyes searching Maine’s when they should’ve been watching the traffic. “Maine….”

  “I don’t know if you saw the interview just now,” he said. “I didn’t want to say anything on TV. Her name is Orchid Stone, and I think I might be in love with her.”

  “The woman from the island?”

  “Yeah.” Maine looked out the window. “If she saw that…she won’t even talk to me.” Why had he said that? Why couldn’t he have just been honest? “I don’t know why I didn’t want everyone to know about us. I should’ve just said, ‘Yeah. Orchid and I are still getting to know each other, but I hope I can find her number and ask her to dinner.’” He looked at his dad to find him grinning.

  Maine didn’t know what he had to be so happy about. “Why didn’t I say that?”

  “I don’t know, son. Why didn’t you say that?”

  “Because I don’t want my personal life splashed all over the news.”

  “Well, that’s not the professional life you have.”

  Maine didn’t answer, because his father was right. And Orchid wouldn’t want her personal or professional life all over the front page or in Internet articles either. And she’d never let Tesla be dragged into that.

  Maine felt like a relationship with her was beyond his reach. If the media knew about it, they’d want to interview her. There would be cameras at her house, taking pictures, people asking questions.

  Orchid wouldn’t want any of that, and she’d be livid if Tesla had to endure it.

  He sighed, wishing he’d met Orchid at a party or a restaurant, though he knew he never would’ve seen her at the same places he hung out. She was so unlike the other women he’d dated, but so much the kind of woman he wanted.

  “Look, if you like this woman and you think the relationship is worth pursuing,” his dad said. “Then do it. Who cares what the press says? You’ve never cared all that much before.”

  “Yes, I have, Dad,” he said quietly. “That’s why I have Clarissa. To make sure I don’t screw up publicly.”

  “Falling in love is not screwing up,” his dad said, turning into the driveway at Sweet Breeze. They’d barely pulled up when his mom and sisters came out of the building. Maine hastened to get out of the SUV then, his throat closing so fast he could barely say, “Mom,” past the emotion.

  He hugged her, the best feeling in the world getting embraced back by his petite mother. His sisters made a group hug, and he could hear one of them sniffling. Probably Honey. She was definitely the most emotional of the women in his family.

  “Ma’am,” someone said, and Maine stepped back from his mother. “You can’t record this.”

  He watched as the valet took a woman’s cell phone and started tapping. “I’m sorry,” he said as she started to protest. Two security guards came through the doors, and the valet started explaining what had happened.

  “Sorry,” one of the burly men said. “He’s right. We don’t allow recording on the premises of people you’re not with.” He glanced at Maine, who gestured for his family to get in the SUV.

  He managed to turn back amidst the woman’s shrill protests and say, “Thank you,” to the security guard and the valet. He closed the door and said, “Let’s go to breakfast,” at the same time his father said, “Maine fell in love with Orchid Stone on the island.”

  “Dad,” he said as his mother shrieked and both of his sisters gasped.

&nbs
p; “What? It’s true.” He eased away from the curb as the questions started flying, and Maine wasn’t sure if he should be glad he had the chance to talk about it or annoyed at his father.

  The truth was, he was a little bit of both.

  “So what are you going to do?” Honey asked. They’d spent a long time at breakfast while Maine told them about everything that had happened on the deserted island. Then they’d rented kayaks and gone to the beach, where he currently sat with his older sister under an umbrella. His parents were out in the ocean, and Diana had gone up to the shops to get something for her boyfriend back home.

  “About what?”

  “About Orchid, silly.” She kept her sunglasses-covered eyes out on the water, and Maine appreciated that.

  “I don’t know.” He’d been toying with dozens of options, from going to every flower company on the island until he found her to waiting to see if she’d come to him to announcing his retirement on the news the next morning.

  “Do you really love her?”

  “I honestly don’t know,” he said. “I’ve never been in love, Honey.”

  “Sure you have,” she said. “You love football. You knew that was what you wanted to do. So when you think of the next year, or the next five years of your life, what do you see? Is Orchid there?”

  He didn’t have to think very long or very hard. “Yes,” he whispered.

  “Then you’re in love with her,” Honey said. “And you said some stupid stuff this morning. Big deal. Everyone says stupid stuff. Blame it on Clarissa. Whatever. But you better figure out how to make things right with Orchid, or you could lose her.” Honey did look at him then. “I know, Maine. Remember when I screwed things up with Tyrone?”

  “I remember,” he said, reaching over and squeezing his sister’s hand. “But he’s back now, right?”

  “He’s back,” she said. “We’re working through things. That’s all a couple can do. We love each other, and we’re working through hard things.”