Island of Second Chances

by Cara Lockwood

  “Well, I can’t have that.” They held each other a long while. Then Laura pulled away. For the first time, she felt she had the courage to actually take the pregnancy test. She was able now to see the result, no matter what it might be.

  “I need to go to the bathroom,” she said, sliding off her bar stool.

  “Sure. I’ll get started on these dishes,” he said, gathering up their dinner plates and hopping off his stool.

  Laura went to the bedroom, grabbed the pregnancy test from its hiding spot in her drawer and went to the bathroom. She listened as Mark moved around the kitchen, the sound of the tap running and dishes clanking together. It was now or never.

  She ducked into the bathroom, locked the door and readied the test. Her heart beat quickly as she finished, put it on the counter and waited. She’d flush the toilet in a second. She glanced at the window. What do I want? She didn’t even know. She couldn’t imagine being pregnant, but if she was...did that mean she’d have a second chance to be a mother?

  She felt a jumble of emotions—panic, hope, stress.

  Laura eyed the test with some trepidation, waiting for the window to change with her result. She bit her bottom lip as the letters started to materialize.

  Pregnant.

  Chapter Nineteen

  LAURA WAS...PREGNANT. Oh, God. She felt both overjoyed and horrified all at once. She’d have to tell Mark...but how could she? Hey, by the way, I know you want to sail around the world in honor of your son and you might be just getting over serious thoughts of suicide, but what do you think of being a dad...again?

  A knock on the door made her jump.

  That’s when she realized the sound of the kitchen tap running had disappeared. He must’ve finished the dishes. How long had she been in here staring at the pregnancy test?

  “Everything okay in there?” Mark’s voice came from the other side of the door.

  Um, no, everything is not okay. I’m going to have your baby.

  If my body can actually carry that baby to term.

  Hastily, Laura flushed the toilet. “Uh, yeah. Coming!” Her mouth was suddenly dry.

  Laura couldn’t imagine telling him the news. How could she? Theirs was not supposed to be a long-term thing. They’d both signed on for something short-term. This changed all those rules.

  And what if he was excited about the prospect of being a dad again...and what if she miscarried the baby? Could she really risk getting Mark’s hopes up when she knew her body was faulty, that she couldn’t manage her last pregnancy?

  Laura stuffed the test back into the box and then hid it at the very back of his bathroom cabinet, behind the plunger. She’d retrieve it later. Right now, she had to hide the evidence. Deal with it later.

  “Coming,” she said. She opened the door and Mark was there, a puzzled look on his face.

  “Everything okay?”

  She nodded. “Just a little upset stomach. Probably nerves. About the race tomorrow.” She laughed uneasily.

  Every fiber of her being wanted to tell him, and yet...she couldn’t. Not now.

  Not to mention, if she told him, there was no way he’d let her sail tomorrow. He’d step out of the race, and who knew if that would even ensure she’d carry to term? She might lose the baby anyway. There was no way she’d let him give up on sailing for Timothy.

  “No need to be nervous about tomorrow. You don’t have anything to worry about,” he said and took her into his arms.

  She so hoped he was right.

  * * *

  MARK TOSSED AND turned most of the night, worrying about the race the next day. Was he doing the right thing? Allowing her to race? Was she ready?

  Races could get dangerous. Accidents happened all the time.

  And what if they did win? He wasn’t even sure what his goals were anymore. Laura had changed them all. In his arms, Laura slept fitfully. She was worried about the race, too. Not that he could blame her. It wouldn’t be an easy thing. To race or to win.

  Eventually, the alarm sounded with Mark not sure he’d gotten much sleep at all.

  “Time to get up,” he said, nuzzling the top of her head. Laura yawned and sat up, looking every bit as beautiful as an actress ready for her close-up. Her pink cheeks and pink lips invited his kisses. She looked amazing, even without makeup. Her natural beauty drew him to her. He dipped down and kissed her on the lips.

  “Morning, gorgeous,” he said, and she smiled. “Ready to race?”

  “I hope so.”

  Mark flipped on the morning news as he brewed them a pot of coffee. Then a loud alert blared as an emergency announcement popped up on the screen.

  “What’s that?” Laura asked, poking her head out of the bedroom as she pulled on a clean shirt.

  “No,” Mark said as the words flashed across the screen. “No. Can’t be.” He only caught a few words, but they made his blood run cold: hurricane headed to St. Anthony’s.

  “Wait. Mark. Turn up the sound.”

  Mark reached for the remote and clicked up the volume.

  The weather forecaster, a petite brunette in a blue dress, stood before a map of the Caribbean. “Here you see Hurricane Jimmy is forming off to sea, but it’s now changed its course. We thought it was headed north, but now, see, it’s turned south. It could make landfall as soon as tomorrow.”

  “Mark.” Laura stood next to him and squeezed his arm. “I thought the storm was supposed to miss us.”

  “Apparently, it slowed, changed direction and got bigger instead.” Mark frowned. “They’ll have to postpone the race.” He turned up the volume a few more notches.

  The forecaster looked solemn. “We’re forecasting winds over a hundred miles an hour. We’re advising all residents to leave the island or to take precautions. Board up your homes, make sure you have gas for your generators. This could be a big one. It’s picking up speed and St. Anthony’s might be the first island hit.”

  Mark sank into the couch, still staring at the screen, feeling all the blood drain out of his face.

  “The race,” he murmured. And just like that, his phone lit up with an announcement from the race organizers. Race postponed. Of course. They couldn’t very well race in a hurricane.

  “What about the Timothy?” Laura asked, voice full of concern.

  “We’ll have to hope it’s not as bad as the forecasters are saying.” Mark stood. “But we need to get you off this island.”

  “Me? You mean us.” Laura crossed her arms across her chest and jutted out her chin in a way that told Mark she was going to make this difficult.

  Mark shook his head. “You’re going. I’m staying.”

  “Nope. You come with me, or I’m staying.”

  “Laura.” Mark sighed. He hated being right. “This isn’t actually a choice I’m giving you.”

  “Last time I checked, you were not, technically, the boss of me.” Laura’s chin rose a few notches higher. Mark knew her well enough to know that meant difficult just got impossible.

  Mark’s phone rang and he dug it out of his pocket. “Garrett,” he said.

  “You see this? I can’t believe that storm turned into a hurricane. What the hell?”

  “And it decided to come early,” Mark said.

  “Climate change, man,” Garrett lamented. “More storms and sooner. Do you need my help with the boat? There’s a flight in two hours to inland Florida, but I can stay if you need.”

  “No. Go ahead. Get on out of here, man. Get safe. I can take care of the Timothy.”

  “Okay.” Garrett breathed a sigh of relief on the phone. “You and Laura going to get out, too? Last flight is at ten tonight, I think.”

  “Laura will be on it,” Mark said, staring at the obstinate woman standing in his living room. She shook her head in a warning. “Even if I have to throw her over my shoulder and carry her
there.”

  This time, Laura shook her head harder, mouthing, No way.

  Garrett laughed. “You know women don’t go for that caveman stuff, right?”

  “So I’ve heard. Okay, man. You stay safe.”

  “I’ll be praying for you,” Garrett promised on the phone.

  “Pray for the boat,” Mark corrected. “I’ll be fine.”

  He ended the call and turned to study Laura. “Pack up your stuff,” he said. “We’re getting you off this island.”

  “Let me help you with the boat. Then you can join me. On a plane.”

  Mark sighed. He knew that it was a losing battle. If he protested, they’d waste more time arguing about who would be on the plane, and they didn’t have much time. The hurricane was coming and coming fast.

  “Come on, then,” he said. “Let’s go to the marina and make sure the boat’s secure.”

  * * *

  CROWDS OF CARS and people swarmed the marina, making it a chaotic mess as folks tried to secure their boats. Some people loaded them up on trailers to haul away to shelters inland, while others just lashed them tightly to their moorings in the dock. Laura watched as Mark set about doubling the knots and making sure the sail of the boat was lashed tightly to the jib and then set about securing it to the trailer at the back of his boat.

  “Where are we taking it?” Laura nodded at the trailers lined up to haul boats away from the sea. Mark frowned at the line of trucks hauling trailers.

  “We’re going to take our chances and store it not too far from here,” Mark said. “Garrett told me of a place.”

  Laura supposed that made sense. “What do you need me to do?”

  “Tie more knots,” he said as he furiously secured the sail.

  After about two hours, they’d finished securing the boat in the large storage facility a mile in from shore. Sirens sounded, alerting the folks the hurricane was on its way.

  “Time to get you to the airport,” Mark said.

  “Only if you’re coming with me.” She wasn’t going to leave him.

  “Laura.” Mark sighed. “I love your loyalty. It’s one of the many, many things I love about you.”

  The words hung there. Love? Did he say he loved things about her?

  “But you’re going to get on that plane whether I’m on it or not.” Mark helped Laura off the boat, offering her a steady hand to the dock.

  Laura clambered onto the wooden slats and shook her head. “No. That’s not how this works.”

  “What’s this?”

  “Us. It’s now how we work. And by the way, there are plenty of things I love about you, too.”

  “Really? Like?”

  “Like I will tell you on the plane.”

  Mark laughed a little, showing his even, white teeth. He grinned and put his hands on his hips, leaning over her small frame. Laura had to crane her neck to look at him, the dark clouds past his head threatening rain and worse, a storm that could rip this island apart.

  “You drive a hard bargain,” he said.

  “I know,” she answered. “So what are we going to do? Are we going to stay? Or are we going to get on the plane?”

  “There’s a we now, is there?” he asked, cocking one eyebrow. “I thought we were a temporary thing.”

  Laura shrugged. “I’m not talking about the future. I’m talking about right now. The us of right now. And we’re partners and partners don’t split up or abandon one another. Real partners stick together.”

  * * *

  A QUICK CHECK of all the flights on the island found them all booked. Laura and Mark tried standby as well, but as the day went on, it became clear they might not be able to make it off the island. No matter how hard they tried.

  “If you hadn’t helped me with the boat, you would’ve gotten on a flight,” Mark said, frowning as they reluctantly left the airport.

  Laura dashed out after Mark as they headed for his pickup. There was no reason to stay at the airport. Now they only had a very little bit of time to get the condo ready for the impending storm.

  “You don’t know that,” Laura said. She slid into the cab of his pickup truck and shut the door, shaking off the rain from her poncho. Laura thought about the tiny baby in her belly. Was she putting them both at risk by staying? But she didn’t have a choice now. No flights out, and no boats could go out in that choppy sea.

  “I do. It’s my fault.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Laura said, grabbing his hand. “We’re together. That’s what counts.”

  Mark pulled Laura in his arms and she went, feeling his warm arms encircle her. She craned her neck to meet his gaze as he dipped down to kiss her. His lips felt warm on hers, sending a little rush of want down her spine. He pulled back and studied her face for a minute. He stroked her cheek.

  “God, I love you,” he said, and Laura froze.

  “You do?”

  “Hell, yes, I do. I love you, Laura.”

  Laura felt her heart speed up as the realization hit her that she felt the same way.

  “I love you, too,” she said, and Mark pulled her into his arms and squeezed her so tightly she almost couldn’t breathe. For a fleeting second, she thought of the baby inside her. “Can’t—”

  “Breathe? You need to breathe?” Mark let her go and she took in a breath. He started up his pickup and drove them to the store to get supplies.

  “Kind of important, don’t you think? But then again, I guess since we’re waiting out a hurricane, we’re going to live dangerously.”

  “Well, I think you need a new nickname. Instead of Miss Noise Pollution, I think I might start calling you Miss Dangerously. That has a nice ring to it.”

  Laura grinned. “Is it dangerous to fall in love with you?”

  Mark grabbed her hand and kissed it even as he kept his eyes on the road. “All my exes say yes.”

  She laughed a little as Mark pulled into a store parking lot. “Just how many exes do you have?”

  “A thousand, give or take a hundred,” he teased. “If we’re going to do something so foolhardy as to stay on this island, then we’re going to need to board up our windows, get some food and batteries and hope we’re not making the mistake of our lives.”

  “If it is, it’ll be the last mistake we ever have to worry about,” Laura said and Mark threw back his head and laughed. The ominous skies above them began to leak rain.

  Mark checked the sky through the windshield of his truck. “We’d better get moving,” he said. “Storm’s coming fast.”

  Chapter Twenty

  THE RAIN PELTED Mark’s shoulders as he hammered in the last piece of plywood across his patio doors. Now all of his windows were covered and secured as best he could make them. The winds were already starting to pick up.

  He didn’t like the idea of potentially risking Laura’s safety, but then they didn’t have a choice. He’d waited out other hurricanes before, and he hoped this one would be like the others—all bluster, no real damage. The admission that he loved her came as easily as breathing at this point. It was just such a simple and uncompromised truth. They belonged together, hurricane or no.

  He dropped the hammer back into his toolbox and then walked back around to the front door of his condo. As he walked through the door, shaking raindrops off his blue slicker, he found her humming in the kitchen, making sandwiches.

  “I thought you might like a snack,” she said. She deftly sliced a turkey sandwich in half.

  “We just ate!” he cried, surprised, since they’d only had lunch an hour ago.

  Laura shrugged one shoulder. “I guess I’m just extra hungry today,” she said.

  He took the sandwich anyway and managed a bite. “At this rate,” he mumbled through chomping, “we might run through our supplies before the hurricane even hits.”

  Laura laughed
and playfully slapped his arm. “We have enough food here to last a week,” she reminded him. “Besides, seeing you work so hard was enough to make me hungry.”

  They’d hit the grocery store, which already had pretty thin pickings as everyone on the island had the same idea. But combining what they grabbed there and the food they already had meant they were more than set for a long haul if the hurricane knocked out power or flooded the island.

  Flooding, Mark knew, was the real danger. The high winds could certainly take off a roof or two, but the island had already suffered its fair share of rain. The extra deluge from the hurricane could wash out roads or cause landslides, making getting around the small island more than difficult.

  Laura dug into her sandwich with gusto, making Mark laugh.

  “You’re acting like you haven’t eaten in days,” he said and moved closer to her, putting his hand on the small of her back. He loved touching her. How soft and small she was, how delicate. She leaned into his touch, even as she mumbled something that sounded like delight as she ate three more bites in succession. The moans of satisfaction made Mark think of other sounds she made—in bed, and he suddenly wished snack time was over.

  “You want to put that down for one minute?” he asked her, tugging her by the waist to him. “I don’t mind kissing turkey sandwich, but...” He grinned.

  She finished her last bite and tilted her head up, and he kissed her, gently at first, but then she deepened the kiss, drawing him closer.

  Dramatic music from the TV broke them from their kiss as news of the storm scrolled across the screen.

  “This just in. Hurricane Jimmy has been downgraded from a Category Four to a Category Three storm,” the newscaster said. “Residents are still advised to take cover, but for now, it looks like the island will be spared the big storm predicted.”

  “That’s good news,” Laura said, glancing at Mark.

  “The best,” he agreed and pulled Laura closer once more. They kissed again, their passion turning hotter. “I think we should take this to the bedroom,” he murmured in her ear, and she nodded enthusiastically. He led her by the hand into the darkened room.