“I could watch them all day. They are so cute.”
He could watch her all day. “Good, because you’re going to get to swim with them. Or at least near them. Do you see that tiny patch of green in the distance? That’s the island we’re heading to and the porpoises hang out around the island.”
She spun to look directly at him. “Really? They’ll actually come near us?”
“Sometimes.”
Her eyes flared. “Thank you so much for bringing me here.”
He felt suddenly about ten feet tall. “Anything for the lady,” he said, wanting more than anything in that moment to kiss her. He also realized in that moment that he was in way over his head where his new neighbor was concerned. He had never had this strong of an attraction to someone before.
It was a place he had never really thought he would be in. It took his breath away.
“Is everything okay?” Her smile faded to a slightly baffled expression.
He gave himself a mental shake. “Yeah, sure. Everything is perfect.”
“Okay. For a minute there, you looked worried.”
“Worried, me? Nah.” He gave a reassuring grin and hoped it looked genuine.
At last she seemed to accept his words and turned away to stare at the island, he breathed a sigh of relief. He raked a hand through his short hair and fought to regain his footing before he fell straight off the cliff he was suddenly teetering on.
And he was most certainly teetering. Falling without a parachute seemed more accurate.
Overwhelmed by the beauty of her surroundings, and the amazing man who had taken time out of his day to bring her here, Sammy Jo watched the porpoises play in the water surrounding the tiny picture-perfect island. Never in a million years would she have dreamed this day up.
And he’d come up with it on a whim.
He slowed the boat and they eased into shallow waters near the tiny island.
“It’s so clear and such a gentle turquoise.” Enthralled, she leaned over the edge and looked down. The variations of water colors fascinated her. Different depths gave different shades. It was amazing. She could clearly see the rocks on the bottom. She felt like she was in a dream where everything was breathtaking and so different from her life four months ago. “How deep is it right now?”
“It’s about ten feet here. We’ll move in to about four feet and I’ll anchor up.”
“It is wild to find this little island in the middle of nowhere and with its own little expanse of white sandy beach.”
He had put his shades on and she could no longer see his eyes. “There are small places like this dotted all over the coast. This one is special to me because of the porpoises that hang out around it. It also is where we used to come for family picnics growing up.”
She stared at him with wonder filled eyes. “Family picnics on an island. I can’t imagine that…” her voice trailed off and she looked back to the island. “I still can’t believe I’m here now. I’m thrilled just seeing them.”
He had been moving the boat slowly toward the shore and now he shut off the engine and walked to the front of the boat and unhooked the anchor. It dropped into the water and he fed the chain overboard until it caught. He hadn’t missed the longing in her voice when she’d spoken of the family picnic. He had taken those times for granted since his family loved everything about Windswept Bay. And everything about being a big family.
Once he let go of the anchor, he turned toward her and grinned. “Okay, all set. Your own personal swimming pool. Complete with porpoises.” He pointed behind her and she turned just in time to see the sleek gray dolphins jump from the water, as if copying each other.
She brought her hands up to her cheeks and watched in awe. “Look at their silky gray bodies gleaming in the sunlight.”
Jake came to stand beside her at the edge of the boat. He loved her excitement. “They’re acrobats of the sea.”
“I just can’t believe you brought me here.” She placed her hand on his arm and blinked as tears pooled in her eyes. “I didn’t even have this on my list and suddenly here I am, about to get into the gorgeous water and swim with these beautiful creatures.” She blinked hard but tears ran down her cheeks. “I’m sorry about the tears. It’s crazy, I don’t even know why I’m tearing up. Except that I was just so surprised and so excited.”
“Don’t cry.” He stepped toward her, concerned gaze locked on the tear that slipped down her cheek and he startled her by cupping her jaw and gently brushing it away with the pad of his thumb. Every cell in his body called for him to hold onto her. To make everything right for her, because something about Sammy Jo’s life seemed very off to him.
“I didn’t mean to make you cry but if it’s good tears then that’s okay. Are they good tears?”
Sammy Jo tried not to lean her face into his hand. It felt so good there against her skin. “It’s good tears” she whispered, longing to feel his arms around her as they’d been that day he’d come to her rescue.
His grin grew and his eyes twinkled. “Thank goodness for four sisters who taught me that sometimes girls cry good tears. If not for that, then I’d have been worried.”
“You did very good.” Emotion caused her voice to wobble.
“Good, when I say I’m going to help you do something, I want to do it right. But this shows me that you definitely need to get out more. Are you ready to get in the water?” He dropped his hand and smiled with what could only be described as a mischievous grin.
The man made it hard to think straight. “I’m ready. I feel like a child on Christmas morning. I’m more than ready.”
“Then let’s do this.” He stripped off his T-shirt and she forgot to breathe for a moment as the sun kissed his tanned, muscled torso. He tossed the shirt on the dash of the boat and then placed his hands on his hips. “Okay, your turn. You aren’t going to swim in that cover-up, are you?”
“Oh, right.” Trying not to be self-conscious, she pulled the cover-up over her head and laid it on the dash beside his shirt. She was glad she’d chosen her yellow one-piece, because she knew there was no way her body could ever compete with his. Or the scuba diving, string bikini-clad girl who’d pushed him into the bay that first day.
She forced herself to meet his twinkling eyes. “I’m ready.”
“Yes, you are.” His eyes held hers. “You can swim, right?”
“I can swim, though it’s been awhile. And never in the ocean.” Of course, he knew that, she was rambling.
“I’m glad you can swim. I’ll teach you to snorkel today and that will help get you ready to take dive lessons.”
“Snorkeling sounds fun…but maybe scuba diving could come later.”
“We’d use a pool to get that process started before taking you out to a real dive. But we could have you ready in a few weeks.”
“Oh, that would be quick.”
“Yeah, it doesn’t take as long as you think to get you ready to dive with an instructor.”
She fought down the panic that threatened to set in. “Really, there’s no rush. But the snorkeling is something I am adding to the bucket list. And, you know, I hadn’t meant for you to have to take on my whole list.”
“Hey, it’s fun. I’m enjoying helping you,” he said and then he dove into the water in a perfectly executed shallow dive over the edge of the boat.
She gasped and lunged to the side of the boat. Thankfully he’d dove onto the far side of the boat where the water was still some deeper.
He came up almost instantly, water swinging off of him as he shook his head and grinned up at her. “Come on in. The water is perfect. If you don’t want to jump in, then come back here to the back of the boat and step on the platform.”
She couldn’t move for a moment as he swam to the back and waited for her. It was as if he knew where she would head. And absolutely, there was no way she was attempting to dive in after his perfect showcase. Feeling shaky and keyed up, she stepped cautiously over the edge to the small platform next
to the motor. He grinned up at her and held his hand up to her and she really, really thought about pinching herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming this entire trip. Maybe she was Alice in Wonderland and she’d fallen down a rabbit hole.
She wanted to do this. Nerves tumbled through her as she slipped her hand into his, inhaled deeply, then jumped, feet first, into the water with him. Not graceful but it would have to do.
She plunged beneath the water and then felt the tug of his fingers as her toes touched sand and she kicked up to burst from the water smiling. She hadn’t swum in so long but thankfully it all came back to her as she moved her legs to keep her head above water. Not that she needed to worry or anything; the man was all smiles as he tugged her fingers and swam toward the shore, towing her with him.
A moment later, he stopped swimming and stood. “We can touch here. Relax.”
Her feet sank into the sand just as a porpoise whizzed by like a torpedo. She screamed because she hadn’t been expecting it and moved toward Jake.
He laughed and pulled her close, wrapping his arms protectively around her. “It’s okay. It’s just a friendly porpoise.”
She laughed shakily. “I thought it was a shark,” she gasped. Her heart thundered as she looked up at him.
He grinned. “Nope, just your friendly porpoise.”
“Right. I just wasn’t expecting it and it startled me.”
His grin deepened. “I am not complaining. You can jump into my arms any time.”
Only then did she realize that she was plastered against the man like a second skin. His heart was pounding against hers and his lips were so close. “Oh…” Her voice trailed off as she had the sudden overwhelming desire to kiss him. What was he going to think if she kept throwing herself at him?
“Not a problem, at all,” he murmured. His gaze dropped to her lips. His brows bent slightly and then he set her on her feet. “Are you ready to walk on your very own personal piece of paradise for the afternoon?”
Had he thought about kissing her like she had thought about kissing him?
“Yes,” she blurted, needing space, baffled by what had just happened. She took off toward the white sandy beach. She needed land beneath her feet, and she needed it now.
Because right now she felt as if she were stuck in the deep end of the pool and was floundering to keep a grasp of reality.
Chapter Five
“I still can’t believe you haven’t ever come to the beach.” Jake watched as Sammy Jo pulled the facemask from her face with the snorkel dangling from the connector. She had taken to snorkeling almost instantly. Here he’d thought she was going to be timid and maybe even afraid. But no, she’d listened intently to his instructions and then she’d put on her mask, wrapped her mouth around the snorkel mouthpiece and dipped her face into the water, following his directions to perfection. Once she’d done that, she looked up at him, water dripping from her wet hair, and she’d laughed with joy. The woman laughed more than anyone he’d ever known.
“I love this. This is going to be great,” she said after pulling the mouthpiece from her mouth. “And the fact that the porpoise came up to us two times was fascinating to me. Hands down amazing.”
“They know a pretty lady when she’s near.” That got him a blush. “We’re going to have to head back soon.”
“Okay.” She walked out of the water and sank down on the sand. He followed her. “I just can’t get over how vibrantly colored everything is. The yellow fish pop like neon lemons and the orange and purples—it was just amazing.”
“Wait until you scuba dive. You’ll be even closer to them. It’s a whole other world down there.”
She looked nervous suddenly. “Yes, well, no hurry there. I loved today. Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome.” He grinned, excited about the thought of taking her diving. “I thought today would be a good day to get the preliminaries out of the way.”
Preliminaries. He’d gotten more out of the way than he’d realized. He had had to fight off the desire to kiss the mermaid smiling at him. He wanted to know more about her. For starters, if she adapted so quickly to this adventure, why had she never done it before? Yeah, she’d said she’d taken care of her grandparents and then she had her work. He’d felt then that there was more to it than she had wanted to say and he felt even more sure of it now.
“Why haven’t you done something like this before?”
“My home in Texas was four hours from the nearest beach. Which meant if I went I’d be gone all day, if I were to make it back to the house before nightfall. And I couldn’t be gone all day.”
He didn’t understand why she was so tied down. “But why were you so tied down?”
She glanced longingly at her snorkel then back at him. “Because my grandmother needed me to help with Granddad. Then later, she needed me to take care of both of them. My granddad was a war hero, and he came home an invalid. He’d lost both his legs in the war and he also suffered from terrible bouts of vertigo and PTSD. They needed me.”
“Wow, I’m sorry.” Jake felt for the older man. “That’s a rough break.” He didn’t talk much about his time as a SEAL but he’d been one of the lucky ones. He’d had plenty of close calls, and so had his brothers Max and Trent. But they’d all made it out. He counted his blessings every day.
“My granddad served his country proudly and didn’t talk about it much. But he didn’t do well with others around. He and Gram raised me most of my life. I don’t know what would have happened to me if they hadn’t taken me in.”
“Why did they have to do that? Other than, of course, that they loved you.”
“I never knew my dad. Not even a name on my birth certificate. I don’t normally talk about that.” She frowned. “It’s personal.”
“It’s not your fault the man wasn’t around.” He wanted to make her feel comfortable. And he felt good that she’d confided in him.
Her eyes held his and he watched them soften. “Right. He might not even have known he’d created a baby. Anyway, my mom was an addict and…they and the courts took me from her to save me. She died of an overdose not long after that.”
He hadn’t expected that. Their gazes locked. “That’s rough. I’m glad you had them. This world would be far worse right now if not for all the good grandparents out there stepping up to help with their grandchildren.”
“I know. I was blessed to have them. And I am so grateful I was able to help them when they needed me. They meant the world to me. Gram taught me how to sew at an early age and that’s given me this joy of my own business.”
“That’s cool. How did that get started?” He was curious about her and wanted to know as much as she would share.
“I started making my own clothes by the time I was in high school. People started asking me where I was getting my outfits and so I started making clothes for friends too. I came home and then made a website and Gram came up with the name. We were making plans, dreaming dreams, and really enjoying ourselves. And then she had the stroke. It was a bad stroke and it left her pretty paralyzed. I was very lucky that she lived at all.” Her voice wobbled with emotion.
Jake placed a hand on hers. “I’m so sorry.”
She shot him a bittersweet smile. “So anyway, as you see, there wasn’t time for me to have adventures, because after that I had both of them to take care of. Though I did have some help come in a few days a week to help with Gram’s rehab.”
“That was good.” He couldn’t imagine having no free time. But he could tell she thought it was no big deal. She had a wonderful heart, it was easy to see.
“When Gram realized she probably wasn’t going to get better, she came up with the bucket list. She hated for me to be so tied down and wanted me to look forward to what I would do one day. I wasn’t keen on it at first. But she loved to play the bucket list game and she got to where she could talk and I could understand her. When she had another stroke after Granddad passed away, she made me promise that I would move to W
indswept Bay. This is where she met my granddad. So, it was agreed I would move here. And that I would start fulfilling our bucket list.”
“Our bucket list?”
She smiled. “Yes, my list is very personal, as you can imagine. And I may not ever fulfill everything on it, but each thing I check off will be for Gram.” Her words were thick with emotion.
She was still grieving, he realized. “That’s a wonderful story, in a tragic way. Your grandmother cared for you deeply and it sounds like your granddad did too. I’m so very sorry for your losses.”
“Thank you. They were there for me when I needed them. So, it went both ways. I loved them deeply.”
“How long ago did you lose them?”
“My granddad passed away almost a year ago and I lost Gram four months ago.”
“Not long at all.”
“No, but I didn’t hesitate to implement our plan. I was afraid if I didn’t, I might back out. My friend Roxie helped push me to do it too. It was a promise she’d made to my gram. So here I am. Determined to open my horizons.”
“I want to help you with as many things as you need me to help you achieve or want me to help you achieve. If you’ll let me.” He might not have all the spare time in the world but he would find it. He wanted to help Sammy Jo more than anything he’d ever wanted in his life. If anyone deserved help, it was her.
“Okay, I would like that. If you have time.”
“I have time. Now, we better get in the boat and head home. We’ll get started on dive lessons next week.”
With This Forever Page 4