There's Always Tomorrow

by Darlene Mindrup

  Sitting across from her, seeing the firelight on her face, realizing how alone they were, all these things added together gave him strong primeval urges that he had to quickly suppress. What on earth had come over him lately? He wasn’t a man to be ruled by emotions. Forcing his gaze back to the fire, he told her harshly, “Go to bed, Adrella.”

  When he looked back, she had already disappeared inside her shelter.

  Chapter 5

  For the next week, Adrella saw very little of Dathan. He seemed to be avoiding her, and in one sense she was relieved, in another she was annoyed. She didn’t understand this growing awareness between them, but Dathan didn’t need to worry that she was about to throw herself at him, either.

  He left early each morning and didn’t return until late in the evening, in time to bring Adrella whatever means of sustenance he had procured. Usually it was fish that he caught using an old fishing pole and net he had kept stored in the lighthouse. Thankfully he hadn’t brought back any more raccoons.

  Today Dathan had promised that he would take her inland and show her a fresh water pool that he had found. Although he refused to allow her to bathe in it, he did promise to take a bucket and bring back enough water for Adrella to at least sponge bathe. Adrella could hardly wait.

  She watched him coming across the sand toward her and felt her heart give that funny little flip flop. If she had thought that he looked like a pirate before, he certainly fit the picture now.

  After nearly two weeks, the growth on his chin was more beard than whiskers. His pants clung wetly to his powerful thighs, his shirt doing the same to his muscular chest and arms. The warm copper color of his skin told its own tale of how he spent his time. Obviously he had been working on the dock again. Although the structure had been badly damaged in the storm, because it was on the side of the island that received less force from winds, it still remained partially intact. Even from this distance Adrella could see the gleam in his eyes that spoke of his vitality. Whereas she felt like a bedraggled cat, Dathan seemed to relish their situation and the obstacles he had to overcome.

  He drew up in front of her, his gray-eyed scrutiny running over her briefly.

  “Ready?”

  Adrella nodded and got to her feet. Dathan told her to stay close behind him, and watch where she walked.

  “I’ve seen several water moccasins around the marshes and pools,” he told her.

  Biting her bottom lip, Adrella said nothing as she followed in his wake. His voice had been clipped and cold, and his very posture spoke eloquently of his desire to be free from her company.

  She stared at the uncompromising set of his back, aware of the tension between them.

  “Have I upset you, Dathan?” she ventured softly.

  He glanced over his shoulder. “What?” One eyebrow curled upward in interrogation. “What makes you say that?”

  “I don’t know. You seem angry for some reason.”

  “I’m not angry,” he assured her, continuing forward. “I just have a lot on my mind.”

  Adrella supposed that was certainly possible. She knew she definitely did.

  “I’m sure someone will come looking for us soon,” she told him, not at all sure of any such thing. His only reply was a noncommittal grunt. Since it was obvious that he had no desire to talk, she dropped into silence.

  When they reached the pool, Dathan carefully searched the area before nodding with satisfaction and motioning Adrella forward. She stepped gingerly over decaying logs, her long dress rustling the grass around her feet.

  Wishing that she could take off her clothes and dive into the water, she settled for hesitantly lifting a handful of water and rubbing it over her face. She soon forgot to be afraid as the refreshing water cooled her flushed skin.

  * * *

  Dathan observed her playful antics while he filled the bucket with water, a small smile tugging at his lips. Watching Adrella play in the water like a child had caused a sudden swell of tenderness to engulf him. Her innocence touched a protective chord deep inside him that was at odds with the growing feelings of desire he had whenever he was close to her. More and more he was beginning to see her as the woman she was, and not the child he had always supposed her to be.

  He supposed that the love and respect he had felt for her father had kept him from noticing such things before. Now he found himself at war with his own personal feelings and desires. Because of his growing conflict, he kept more to himself and away from her, but it was becoming harder with each passing day. He was beginning to look for excuses to be near her. Watching her now, it suddenly occurred to him that this was not exactly a good idea.

  “Don’t drink,” Dathan warned. “This water needs to be purified.”

  With a nod she acknowledged his comment. Although warm from the sunlight filtering through the trees, the small pool of water was refreshing, and Adrella lost herself in the moment, playfully scattering water droplets everywhere.

  She lifted her countenance and grinned mischievously at him, intending to splatter him with water. Their eyes met and the smile left Adrella’s face, and swallowing hard, she got quickly to her feet, smoothing down her dampened dress.

  “I’m ready to go back now,” she said, her voice shaking slightly.

  Dathan heard the quaver in her voice and saw the uneasiness in her wary green eyes. Clearing his suddenly dry throat, he looked away from her.

  For the past few days he had studiously avoided her, hoping to figure out what was causing these oscillating feelings inside of him. One minute he wanted to take her in his arms and kiss the living daylights out of her, but the next, he withdrew inside of himself again and pushed her away, not wanting to get too close to her.

  Was the isolation beginning to affect him, or was he, in truth, beginning to see Adrella as his future wife? Was it possible that the promise he had made to Mangus was already beginning to settle down upon him with sure conviction, causing his feelings to evolve?

  “Dathan?”

  Her quiet voice pulled him from any further reflections. Mentally giving himself a shake, he feigned a smile, offering her his hand. Hesitantly she placed her small one within his own, and squeezing gently to reassure her, he led the way back to their camp.

  * * *

  The whole time they trudged back through the woods, Adrella was conscious of the warmth of his fingers entwined with hers. Even the bothersome mosquitoes didn’t seem such a nuisance since her mind was wholly occupied with her thoughts. The awareness between them seemed to be growing with each passing minute. Never having had much experience with men, except her own Da, Adrella was at a loss to understand the situation.

  They reached their camp, and Adrella gave a small sigh of relief. While Dathan retired to the lighthouse to affect repairs, Adrella sat down in the shade of a towering slash pine. Her thoughts churned and bobbed like the waves of the ocean.

  Dathan was a very handsome man. She had always thought so, but now he seemed to fill her every waking thought. Even her own father seemed like someone from a dream world, her reality receding until it encompassed only this one point in time. Even now the picture of Dathan’s intent gray eyes refused to be budged from her memory.

  Making a small sound of frustration, she got to her feet and wandered down to the shore. Ambling along, she watched the waves lapping at the beach, their rhythm, along with the soft breeze and vivid blue sky, soothing her into a better frame of mind. It was a truly glorious day.

  Glancing out at the water, she noticed something bobbing on the waves. Cupping her hands around her eyes to shield them from the sun, Adrella watched what looked like a small keg moving ever closer. The glare from the sun reflecting off the water made it hard to tell for certain.

  Each day the gulf had brought more and more debris washing up on their small island. At first it had been exciting
, like receiving presents at Christmas, but then she had come to realize that all those pieces of flotsam represented something devastated by the hurricane’s forceful winds.

  As the wooden barrel drew closer, Adrella could make out the words printed on its side. Harkin’s Flour Mill was emblazoned in white letters across the rounded surface, and Adrella knew that here, indeed, was a treasure.

  Her mind filled with images of fry bread for supper, she hurried down to the edge of the water. Taking off her lace-up boots and lifting her skirt, she waded out to retrieve the barrel. It elusively meandered on the waves just out of her reach. Each time she thought she had it, it bobbed below the water and surfaced farther out.

  The water was now reaching to her waist. Although she knew how to swim, her clothes would easily weigh her down if she got into water too deep. She began to be concerned that she very well might drown if a rogue wave caught her and pulled her out to a deeper level.

  She knew that if she waited, the keg should eventually wash up on the shore, that is unless it got caught it one of the currents that moved away from the island.

  Deciding that the prize was worth the risk, Adrella took another step forward.

  * * *

  Dathan set the bucket of whitewash on the iron stairs next to him. Standing back, he surveyed his progress. The mud and water line that had extended up the tower’s wall by fifteen feet had disappeared under his steady attack.

  Although he was limited on the number of repairs he could make without more supplies, he had faithfully tended to his duties as keeper of Cape St. George light. He was beginning to worry, though, over the diminishing fuel reserves. If someone didn’t come soon, it was possible that the light would not shine before too many more nights had passed. Thoughts of the disaster this could invoke left him worrying his bottom lip with his teeth.

  He froze into immobility at a sudden piercing scream from outside. His heart slammed against his ribs. Another scream and he sprang into action.

  Dumping his brush in the bucket of whitewash, he ran from the tower, stopping when he couldn’t see Adrella where he had last left her. Heart thundering in panic, his eyes quickly scanned the area, coming to rest on Adrella’s floundering form thrashing in the gulf water.

  “Adrella!”

  Running down the sandy beach, he quickly dove into the water, his firm steady strokes bringing him rapidly to her side. Shaking the water from his face, he wrapped his arm around her from behind and began easing them toward the shore. The weight of her sodden dress and his equally sodden clothes hindered his progress.

  Adrella hung limply in his hold, moaning painfully. “Oh, Dathan. It hurts. It hurts something fierce.”

  “Just hold on, Drell,” he urged. “I’ve got you.”

  Her agonized moaning sent chills coursing through him that had nothing whatsoever to do with the temperature of the water. Weak with pain, her head lolled against his shoulder.

  When Dathan’s feet finally touched bottom, he pulled Adrella into his arms and waded out of the water and up the beach, their soaked clothes leaving a trail of water behind them.

  Breathing hard from exertion, Dathan lay Adrella down on the sand. He quickly scanned for signs of injury but could find no visible ones. Her dress clung wetly to her body, pooling water onto the sand.

  “Adrella, what happened?”

  The color of her face was alarming, whiter than he had ever seen it.

  She moaned, rolling her head back and forth on the sand. “My foot. It hurts.”

  Lifting her gown away from her feet and legs, Dathan checked one foot and then the other. On Adrella’s left foot, little lesions were beginning to appear. Tiny pieces of jellyfish tentacles clung to her skin.

  Sucking in a sharp breath, he commanded her, “Be still. Don’t move your foot.”

  “Do something, Dathan,” she groaned.

  Dathan shoved away her groping hand. “I said be still. Don’t move. Not an inch, do you hear me?”

  Tears pooled in Adrella’s eyes at his hard tone. It made him feel lower than a snake’s belly, but the adrenaline and fear that had raced through him made him want to strike out at something. Too weak to do anything other than comply, Adrella nodded her head lethargically.

  Dathan hurried into the lighthouse tower, returning quickly with the bucket he had used only that morning for their fresh water. Running down to the gulf, he filled the bucket with saltwater and returned quickly to Adrella’s side.

  Taking a small stick, he gently lifted the pieces of tentacles off her skin and dumped them onto a piece of palm leaf, the whole time murmuring words of comfort. When he finished, he then thoroughly rinsed her foot with the water, flinching when she moaned again.

  His angry voice rolled over Adrella in waves, contrasting greatly with his earlier attitude. “What in the world were you doing wading in the gulf? I told you to stay out of the water! And for goodness’s sake, why did you take off your shoes?”

  “I wanted to get the flour,” she muttered, and Dathan thought for certain that she was becoming incoherent. He jerked his head up.

  “Flower? You risked your life for a stupid flower?” he asked sharply.

  Adrella flapped her hand weakly in the direction of the beach. “No, no. Not a flower. There’s a keg of flour. I knew we could use it.”

  Dathan’s eyes grew wide, his look searching the beach. He noticed the keg thumping gently against the shore. Getting quickly to his feet, he ran to retrieve it. Returning to where Adrella lay, he smiled.

  “Thank God,” he murmured, dropping the keg beside her.

  Adrella’s mouth turned down in a slight pout.

  “Well, now you can have some bread,” she rasped, the hurt evident in her voice.

  Dathan grinned, realizing that she had misunderstood his excitement over the flour. “That’s the least of my worries. It’s amazing, though, how God has provided for our needs.”

  Getting up, Dathan disappeared once again into the light tower only to return moments later with a bottle of wine that had floated up onto the shore days ago. Adrella had been all for pouring it out on the sand, but Dathan had negated that idea. One never knew when it might come in handy, and that time was now.

  Adrella’s eyes rounded. “I’m not drinking that,” she told him inflexibly. “I can put up with the pain without use of artificial stimulants.”

  Her da had drummed into her head the evils of alcoholic beverages having at one time succumbed to their siren song himself. He hadn’t whitewashed the telling, either. To think that her gentle, loving father could act like such a monster was hard for her mind to take in. She glanced fearfully at Dathan. Was he then a drinking man?

  Dathan shook his head, one corner of his mouth twitching slightly. “It’s not for drinking, Drell,” he told her, oblivious to the fact that he had started using her father’s pet name for her.

  Dumping the saltwater from the bucket, Dathan then poured half the bottle of wine into it. Helping Adrella to a sitting position, he lifted her foot and gently placed it into the bucket.

  The cool liquid slid over her stinging foot, and she breathed a soft sigh.

  “That feels better already,” she told him. Although her foot was already swelling, and the pain would undoubtedly be almost unbearable, the alcohol of the wine would stop the stinging of the jellyfish’s nematocysts.

  “We need to soak it for at least a half hour,” Dathan told her.

  When his gaze met hers, he found her green eyes sparkling with unshed tears. He felt himself melt at her obvious pain, and her evident desire to hide it. Why did the woman always feel compelled to conceal her feelings from him, especially when she was hurting? More than likely because he hadn’t exactly been the most considerate of men.

  Cupping her cheek in his calloused palm, he suggested in a tolerant tone, “I’m
sorry I yelled. It’s okay to cry, Adrella. I know it must be extremely painful.”

  She sniffed slightly, and Dathan wasn’t certain if it was from the unshed tears, or the beginning reaction from being envenomated by the jellyfish. Watery eyes and a runny nose were only two of the usual signs of being stung.

  “What’s the wine for?” she finally asked, pulling away from his touch.

  Sitting back, his face cleared of all emotion at her rejection of his touch. “The wine will inactivate the stingers. After a half hour I’ll be able to dust your foot with the flour and scrape them off without them injuring you further.”

  Adrella’s mouth parted slightly at her sudden understanding. “That’s why you were so thankful for the flour.”

  He nodded, getting to his feet. He studied her face carefully. There was as yet no sign of a serious reaction to the venom.

  “How are you feeling?”

  She wrinkled her face. “My head aches, my foot is throbbing, and I feel quite nauseated.” She grinned halfheartedly. “Other than that, I’m fine.”

  Dathan was satisfied for the moment. It was entirely possible that more serious complications could arise, but for the time being God had certainly taken care of them. Dathan was more convinced of this than ever.

  “I’ll be back shortly,” he told her. “Don’t take your foot out of the wine.”

  “Don’t worry. I won’t.”

  * * *

  Adrella’s gaze followed him as he crossed to the lighthouse and disappeared inside. She lay back on the sand, careful to keep her foot in the bucket. Closing her eyes against the sun, she tried to ignore her pounding head and the even more intense pain in her foot.

  Her thoughts inevitably turned to Dathan. How could a man be so gentle one minute, and as cold as ice the next? When treating her wounds, he was all gentleness and careful concern. He would be a wonderful doctor. She wondered again what had happened to make him turn his back on medicine. What had happened to him during the war that would make him deny his Hippocratic oath?