The Sanctuary (Playa Luna Beach Romance)

by Sarah Collins

  It was fascinating to her that you could tell when it was breeding time. Then, there were some very big holes, indicating huge stingrays, and lots of much smaller ones surrounding them, some as small as eight inches in diameter. She knew for a fact they were here, so she went ahead and shuffled, hoping she didn’t look too silly to the man on the beach, adding insult to injury.

  She surprised herself, wondering if he was watching her, and was glad she had grabbed her new, favorite bikini as she packed back in San Diego. At 5’4”, she knew she was on the shorter side for girls from California, especially volleyball players as she had been, but she thought she was pretty well proportioned. She had been a competitive volleyball player in high school and two years into college, and always the shortest on the team. Since then, she tried to stay as fit as available time allowed. At least she hoped she had at that moment, shuffling in the sand and trying not to fall over.

  Now waist-high in the water, she pushed off, swimming leisurely. Big waves were infrequent here on her beach, and she navigated the small ones today with ease. She was a strong swimmer and loved the feel of the warm water on her body. Swimming steadily, she could feel the tug of the tide pulling her with each wave.

  As Cassie swam in the clear water, she saw something big glimmering on the sandy ocean floor. Amazing shells were common here, and she was an avid collector. She couldn’t stop herself, and diving down to double check, she saw the telltale black and white pattern of a murex shell, a big one. It looked like it was intact, not like some of the others she’d collected on the shore. They’d been beaten down by the tide and the rocks, and this was a great find.

  She surfaced, took a deep breath and dove back down. She grabbed the shell and pushed off from the bottom toward the surface. In an instant, she realized she wasn’t moving anywhere. She kicked her feet and tried to push off again, a searing pain shooting up her right leg.

  Dropping the shell, she grabbed the knife she always carried in the water from her waistband, cutting through the net that had captured her. Pulling it away from her feet, she saw the big, rusty fish hook hanging from her thigh, and it ripped in further as she pulled the net away.

  She screamed underwater at the shock, salty water filling her mouth. Desperate, she clawed for the surface, trying to get to air. Her head broke the surface, but her leg was no use to her, and all she could do was cough and flail.

  As she coughed, blinded by the intense pain, she struggled to stay afloat. She thrashed about in the water, trying to find her balance in both her body and her mind, but some part of her brain realized it was a losing battle. As she willed her body to be still, tendrils of blood wisped in the water around her, and she knew it was hers. She couldn’t catch her breath, and was just about ready to give in to the pain and panic.

  Dimly, she heard a voice from behind her. “Be as still as you can.” She tried, but felt her body pulsating with pain. One arm shot out and grabbed her around the waist, holding her head above water and moving along quickly. “Don’t fight me. Just try to breathe until I get you to shore,” she heard him say.

  With panic taking over her mind, it was all she could do to remain as limp as possible and let him pull her in with the waves. She felt herself on dry land, on the sand, and struggled to get air into her lungs while getting water out. Coughing wildly, what seemed like a gallon of water gushed out of her, onto the sand.

  A voice again broke through the fog of fear in Cassie’s mind. “Easy, I’ve got you. Just breathe. Don’t fight me, just breathe.” Over and over his voice commanded her to relax and breathe. Her breath came back to her, and her panic began to subside. Suddenly, with a swoosh, Cassie felt herself being carried back to the beach chairs by the handsome, dark man she had seen before. She realized she couldn’t walk, and was grateful he was holding her. Surprised, she realized she was shaking.

  Chapter Four

  As he set her carefully on the chair, Taylor arrived on the quad, skidding to a stop right before them. “Cassie, are you all right? I saw from the house you were struggling in the water. What happened?”

  Cassie was still not able to speak, and the man directed Taylor to find some alcohol or hydrogen peroxide and bandages as fast as she could, along with some pliers. Normally, Taylor would have said something to the tune of, “Well, who the hell are you?” Mercifully, this time she didn’t.

  She hopped on the quad and headed back to the house as fast as it would go. Cassie felt as if time had stopped completely, the pain searing her leg and feeling as if it were pulsing through her entire body. She clutched the stranger’s arm as pain ripped up and down her leg.

  Taylor appeared with what the stranger had asked for. She pulled Cassie’s blond hair away from her face and stroked her forehead with concern. “What the hell happened?” she said to the stranger, not taking her eyes off Cassie.

  “Your friend has a fishing hook stuck in her leg. We need to get it out as quickly as possible. I’ll need you to get some ocean water over here,” the man said, still holding Cassie’s leg and reminding her to breathe.

  Taylor quickly grabbed the only thing handy to transport water, the pineapple holding the pina colada. With a guilty glance at Cassie, she chugged the sweet liquid on her way to the water. She scooped up the salt water and, running as fast as she could without spilling it, returned to Cassie, handing over the water.

  It was obvious the man knew what he was doing. He removed the hook, first soaking Cassie’s leg in salt water, then alcohol. He shook the beach towel free of sand, wrapping it around her thigh to stop the bleeding. As the pain began to fade Cassie struggled to take in what had happened. She stared at her rescuer with gratitude.

  “Who are you? How did you… how did you know how to do that?” Cassie stammered, still struggling through the fog in her head. With a gleaming smile, the man answered “I guess there hasn’t been time to introduce myself. My name is Alejandro Vasquez. I was in the Mexican Navy, where we learned emergency first aid, and how to rescue beautiful, drowning women.”

  Cassie, taking inventory of her senses, realized she had full use of her faculties again after the scare. Enough so, that is, to see Taylor standing behind the handsome stranger and give her a thumb’s up, accompanied by a huge smile.

  Cassie turned her gaze from her friend onto the man who was gently cleaning her wound. Up close now, she looked at him more intently. About 6 feet tall, his wavy brown hair tumbled over his forehead, almost covering his amber eyes as he bent over Cassie with care.

  Once again, he caught her eye as she looked up. He smiled, his teeth bright, and looked at her kindly. “I’m glad I was here. Right place at the right time,” he said, with a hint of a Spanish accent.

  “I’m going to need to clean the wound well, with peroxide. It was pretty rusty, and we need to make sure everything’s out,” the stranger added with a look of concern toward Cassie’s red and swollen leg. “How are you doing? Are you breathing all right?”

  Even with the still-searing pain, Cassie had to stifle a laugh when Taylor, still behind the stranger, clasped her hands together under her right cheek and started batting her eyelashes. Leave it to Taylor to find humor in anything and everything.

  Cassie turned her full attention to her rescuer and confirmed that, although the gash still hurt, her breathing was fine.

  Alejandro was methodical and exquisitely gentle as he cleaned the gash on her leg. Cassie was pretty good with blood and all things medical, but she felt herself starting to get dizzy as the pain increased. She grabbed the sides of the chair, squeezing so hard her knuckles turned white.

  “Hey, you’re hurting her,” Taylor said, jumping over to Cassie’s side and grabbing her hand. “Here, Cass, grab onto my hand and squeeze. I can take it.”

  “I’m sorry, ladies, but it has to be done,” the stranger said, continuing on with his work. “If I don’t do this, it will be a lot worse before it gets better.”

  “It’s okay, Taylor, I can take it,” Cassie said, meekly for her.
She was usually so strong, but this was a level of pain she had never experienced before.

  Alejandro smiled, too. His smile was mesmerizing, Cassie thought, as she tried again to clear her head. “I’m fine, really. You don’t have to do that,” she said, shaking off her thoughts.

  “You’re not fine. Not quite yet,” he said firmly.

  Slowly, he turned her leg this way and that, checking to make sure he had cleaned the wound thoroughly. Taylor held her hand the entire time, which seemed to Cassie to take days, not minutes. She let herself squeeze Taylor’s hand when it hurt the most, remembering Taylor had performed this service for her own mother when she was in chemotherapy, having blood drawn almost every day. Her mom had been afraid of needles and Taylor stepped up to the challenge of comfort and providing broad shoulders. Cassie was grateful to have her best friend with her while she did everything she could not to scream.

  “Almost done, but I’ll need more water,” the man said, smiling at Cassie. “We’re on the home stretch.” The reassurance it was almost over was welcome news as Cassie struggled to stay in the chair. Taylor fetched him another pineapple full of seawater and Alejandro applied another splash of peroxide to Cassie’s injured limb.

  Chapter Five

  As Alejandro finished up, Cassie felt the blood returning to her body and head. She was able to sit up, finally, and was curious to see the red gash crossing her thigh. Instinct caused her to reach out to touch it, and he grabbed her hand midway to her thigh. “Don’t touch it. We need to bandage it properly to make sure it stays as clean as possible,” he said, looking over the wound seriously.

  She must be getting all of her senses back, she thought, as his touch on her wrist sent tingles up and down her body, letting her know she was no longer numb. Not only were her senses returning, but they must be especially heightened due to the injury.

  Alejandro, surveying his handiwork, seemed satisfied. “I’m pretty sure we got everything out that needed to come out. I hope I didn’t hurt you too badly.” He seemed genuinely concerned he hadn’t hurt her too much.

  Cassie looked at her leg, up at him, and back to her leg. She seemed unable to form a sentence, remembering the feel of his touch. “Uh, she – we – are really grateful. I’m sure it’s fine,” Taylor said, chiming in as her friend didn’t respond. With a quizzical look at Cassie, she said, “We are really grateful for your help. I don’t know how she would have made it to shore if you hadn’t been right there.” Cassie gave her friend a grateful glance for filling the dead air. Taylor winked at Cassie, and said to Alejandro, “So now what do we do, Captain?”

  Alejandro smiled at the term, and quickly replied, “I’m no captain. Just a lucky guy with some skills that came in handy. And I would never pass up an opportunity to save a damsel in distress,” he said with a grin. So, he’s humble, too, thought Cassie, and funny.

  “We should probably get you back to your house now, and out of this sun.” Alejandro looked up the beach toward the houses on the cliff. “Where, exactly, is that?” he said, sounding a little puzzled.

  Cassie was glad Taylor had had the presence of mind during all the drama to switch the quad for the jeep permanently stored in Cassie’s parents’ garage. It wouldn’t be the first time the car had gotten them home safely during an adventure. “We can take the jeep,” Taylor said, tilting her head in the direction of the 4-wheel drive vehicle. “It’s the house right up there, just around the bend,” she said, pointing out the brick house with the arches standing on the cliff. “You have to go up to it from the back, but it’s easy. I’ll show you.”

  Taylor picked up all the supplies and hustled over to the jeep, placing everything in the back. She opened both of the front doors for Alejandro and waited for them to join her for the ride up to the house.

  Cassie braced herself to stand, hoping she could hobble over to the Jeep without falling flat in the sand. She gasped when, rather than let her get up and try her weight on her leg, Alejandro swept her up into his arms, carefully avoiding the gash. He set Cassie in the passenger seat, taking great care not to let her leg brush against anything that would hurt her in any way. Cassie melted into the seat, once again grateful for friends, new and old.

  “I’ll sit in the back,” Taylor said. “You drive, Alejandro, and I’ll show you where to go.”

  He hopped into the jeep and turned the engine over. With great skill, he traveled through the deep sand, avoiding any big dips or bumps. The short ride to the house was as gentle as it could have been, given the size of the sand dunes and the need for 4-wheel drive.

  Pulling up to the house, he switched off the ignition, turned to Taylor and said, “Can you get some more bandages?” To Cassie, he said, “Stay put.”

  He came around to the passenger side of the car, retrieving Cassie once again and carried her into the house. He scanned the house and walked into the bedroom, bending slowly as he placed her on the bed. He stood nearby while they waited for Taylor and the supplies, glancing at his surroundings.

  “How are you feeling?” he said cautiously.

  “I think it’s getting better,” she said, amazed her tongue was no longer glued to the roof of her mouth. “You did a wonderful job. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

  “Thanks for letting me out of the jeep, Tarzan. I had to crawl over the seats and out the window,” Taylor said, with a gleam in her eye. “Guess you were in a hurry.”

  “Oh, sorry about that. I was in a hurry to get your friend comfortable,” he said, still looking at her steadily. Cassie wondered what he was thinking, but didn’t have the courage to ask.

  Taylor set the supplies on the nightstand, breaking the hush hanging over the room. Neither Cassie nor Alejandro noticed she had brought in the pineapple, too, that had saved the day. She did notice, however, a commotion out in the living room heading her way.

  In a flash, a big black ball had bounded past Alejandro and jumped on the bed. Cassie screeched as Taylor leapt toward the bed, grabbing at the dog with one hand and the lamp with the other. “Whiskers, no!” Taylor shouted and she steered the panting dog onto the floor.

  “Thanks for getting to him before he got to my leg,” Cassie said, smiling at Taylor. Turning to the black, disheveled mutt, she smiled and said, “Hi, Whiskers. You worried about me?” Whiskers gave a little whine and sat on the floor, waiting for Cassie or Taylor to give him permission to return.

  “Jimmy must be nearby,” Taylor laughed, glancing out the door looking for the dog’s owner. Whiskers only turned up if it was somewhere Jimmy was going. The longest resident of Playa Luna, Jimmy was a bit of a misfit, and there was much speculation as to why he’d chosen to live the majority of his adult life in Mexico. He’d moved down to live with his parents over 20 years ago, and had been to the United States only once during that time.

  Poking his head in the door, Jimmy said, “Hey, ladies. What’s up? Saw you had some trouble down at the beach.” One good thing about having Jimmy around, Cassie thought, was if anything went wrong, he was always there to help. Sometimes she thought he was a bit like a mother hen with all of them in camp. Nothing wrong with having an uncle to watch your back, though, so she said, “We’re in here, Jimmy. This is Alejandro Vasquez. Alejandro, Jimmy Martin.”

  The two men shook hands and Jimmy glanced at Cassie’s bandaged leg. “Accident?”

  Taylor threw him a wry smile. Jimmy was a man of few words, and usually short ones. “Yep,” Taylor confirmed. “The Captain here saved her after she lost all ability to swim when the fishing hook got stuck in her leg.”

  Jimmy raised his eyebrows, taking a closer look at Alejandro. “Captain?”

  Alejandro lowered his eyes, holding his hands up in front of him. “No, not a Captain. I was in the Mexican Navy, that’s all. Just learned about first aid.” He glanced at Taylor, and she wrinkled her nose at him and smiled.

  “Well, it’s a good thing you did.” Jimmy said gruffly. He was a bit of a different sort. His long gray beard
and piercing blue eyes made him look a little wild at times. And he always said exactly what he thought. “Thought you were a good swimmer, Cassie.”

  The air rushed out of Cassie’s lungs and she reddened. He always could get to her. “I am, and you know it. I just panicked when I was under trying to pick up a shell and my foot got caught in that net.” She tried not to sound defensive. Grateful that she’d been rescued, she still wanted to keep her reputation as a competent, capable swimmer.

  “Oh, you know how it is when you panic, Jimmy,” Taylor added, hoping Jimmy would let it die.

  “I’ve seen Navy divers panic during practice exercises and almost drown themselves. No shame in being hit with a new situation and having it roll right over you,” Alejandro said, his compassionate eyes glancing at Cassie.

  “Well, don’t let it happen again,” Jimmy said over his shoulder as he and Whiskers walked out of the room.

  Taylor laughed after he’d gone. “Man, he’s a tough one, isn’t he?”

  “And that’s no exaggeration,” Cassie added, grateful he’d gone, but equally grateful he’d checked in on her. It was familiar and comforting, and she didn’t take offense.

  “Is he always that gruff?” Alejandro asked.

  “Yes. That was actually on the warm and fuzzy side for him,” Taylor said, laughing again at the memory. “Sorry Whiskers jumped on you. I couldn’t get to him in time.”

  “No problem. He missed my leg,” Cassie said, grateful yet again for small favors.

  “This is quite an interesting campo you ladies have here. And this is quite a lovely house,” Alejandro said, looking about the brick house with its arches and carefully matched Mexican firebrick. “I haven’t seen whale-tail matching of this quality in a long time.”