The water was clear as glass near the surface, but it lost its translucence just below the surface due to the turbulence of the recent heavy rain. I couldn’t see much, just a few branches and a handful of leaves.
“How big a tree are we talking?” I glanced at her, curious.
“Big.” Rebecca sat back on her haunches and heaved a long-suffering sigh. “It’s an old oak tree, used to grow over the river down by the dam. We found the stump; it looks like it got split by lightning. Even with eight able-bodied people, I have no idea how we’re going to get it out.”
“You said you had equipment?” I asked. “What kind of equipment?”
“All kinds of equipment, but unless you know how to scuba dive it’s not going to do much good.”
I looked at Michael and he looked back at me. Sure enough, he nodded. I found myself fighting a smile. “We may just have someone that can help with that.”
“What?” Rebecca stared at me, and then looked around at the others. It took a moment before she cottoned on to the fact that she was missing a joke. “You’re kidding me, right?”
“Not at all. Michael was a cop,” I explained to her. “He’s trained in all kinds of different things.”
“Actually, I learnt to scuba dive while I was in high school,” he interjected helpfully, and flashed me that silly grin of his.
“Or he’s just an overachiever. Something like that.” I shot him a mock-glare for contradicting me, but that just made his grin widen.
“Well.” Rebecca absently rubbed the back of her neck, staring thoughtfully down at the murky water. “I guess that does change things, doesn’t it?” A flicker of hope passed through her eyes, and brought a smile to her face. “I guess we have a chance after all.”
“Let’s hope so,” Michael spoke up, then he glanced around at the rest of us. “We’ll need to get down there and have a look before we formulate our plan of attack. None of us have any experience with hydroelectric power stations besides you. Which of us can swim?”
Hemi grinned at him. “Man, my boys live on the edge of a lake and take our kai from the water. What do you think?”
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Michael winked, and then glanced at me. I simply nodded; I didn’t swim very often, but I could if I had to. He nodded back, then looked up at the sky to judge the time. “We probably have enough time to take a quick look. Is your equipment ready?”
“One set is,” Rebecca answered, easing herself back to her feet nimbly. “I’ll go fetch it.”
“I’ll help,” Hemi volunteered cheerfully. The pair of them scampered off, leaving Michael and me alone.
I watched them go, then looked up at him and playfully raised a brow. “So, if you’re going swimming, does that mean you’re going to take your clothes off?” I teased impishly.
Michael just grinned at me and waggled his eyebrows.
***
By the time Rebecca and Hemi returned with the scuba gear, Michael had stripped down to his boxer-briefs and given his clothes to me for safekeeping. I folded them up neatly and put them aside, and promptly initiated an in-depth conversation on the weather. No, really. For reasons that I couldn’t quite determine, I had started finding it hard to concentrate the moment that he’d undressed, which seemed to amuse him greatly.
“It definitely smells like rain,” I commented, shading my eyes against the setting sun.
“You keep saying that, but I don’t smell anything.” Michael looked at me curiously. “How can it smell like weather?”
“I don’t know how to explain it, but I can definitely smell it.” I did my best to explain what my instincts were telling me, but he didn’t seem to fully understand. “If you draw in a deep breath through your nose and mouth, you can feel a coolness and moisture on the air.”
“I can’t smell anything.” I heard him sigh sadly, and shot a quick, worried glance his way – except that when I did, I caught him smirking and realised that he had deliberately drawn my eye.
“Damn it!” I complained, swiftly covering my eyes. “That’s not nice. You know how to play me like a fiddle.”
“I think a flute would be a more appropriate instrument, don’t you?” he teased mercilessly, then reached out and grabbed me around the waist to pull me into a playful kiss. Suddenly, it was very, very hard to concentrate on the task at hand.
Someone scoffed in mock-disgust. Startled, I squeaked and leapt out of his arms, leaving him looking incredibly amused. With a flash of completely irrational embarrassment and a touch of annoyance, I blushed furiously and stalked off a short distance to cool down while Rebecca and Hemi helped Michael into the diving gear.
“The current is quite strong,” I heard Rebecca warning him, “so be careful. The turbines are all off so you can’t get sucked into any machinery, but you could get stuck down there.”
“I’ll be careful,” Michael rumbled. The imminent danger distracted me from my strange mood; although I was feeling out of sorts, he was still my Michael and I loved him, so I returned to the group to offer my support.
They hadn’t bothered with a wetsuit since the water would be warm, and he wasn’t going to be down there for long. Residual moisture left on the tank and mask sent water droplets rolling down his skin like a gentle caress. I tried not to see them, but the more I tried to look away the harder it was to focus. One droplet survived long enough to trek all the way down across his hard belly, to moisten the rim of his shorts; try as I might not to see it, my eyes followed it all the way down.
Thankfully, no one was looking at me as the heat rose in my cheeks again, which was a blessing in disguise. My sister taunted me mercilessly about the blushing thing. My skin was so fair that I turned as red as a tomato at the drop of a hat. Suddenly, I was very glad that she’d stayed at home.
“If you need us to haul you out, tug the rope sharply three times.” Oblivious to my distress, Rebecca continued her instructions as she fastened a secure line onto Michael’s weight belt with a heavy-duty clasp, and fed out enough line for him to be able to move freely.
He nodded and slipped the mask over his face, settling the mouthpiece within his lips. My heart skipped a beat as he stepped backwards into the water, but he popped up again a moment later and flashed us a thumbs-up sign. Rebecca tossed him a waterproof torch, and then he was gone into the depths.
We were left to feed out the safety line as he needed it, but other than that all we could do was wait. I sat down on the edge of the concrete platform to wait, and slipped off my shoes so I could dip my feet in the river and let the cool water take down the swelling.
I watched the trail of bubbles diminish as Michael moved beneath us; I could imagine his powerful strokes as he swam, even if I couldn’t see him. With no other option, I pushed my anxiety aside and tried to relax. Michael was a competent swimmer and seemed to have an impressive assortment of skills. He’d be just fine.
All kinds of different skills. I trailed a toe in the water as I mulled over the idea. You might even call them talents. He’s… a very talented man…
“Are you still blushing?” Rebecca’s comment made me jump. When I glanced up, I saw both her and Hemi watching me with amused expressions.
“No,” I retorted sharply and looked away, suddenly embarrassed beyond words.
“Uh-huh.” Rebecca did not sound convinced. I could practically hear her rolling her eyes. My embarrassment deepened, and anger rose within me. Michael shouldn’t have put me into that position. He knew very well I was shy and cautious around strangers, though he had made it his life’s mission to draw me out of my shell.
Embarrassing me in public was certainly not the way. He must have seen them coming and decided to assert his position of ownership over me right when they could see it. It was the only logical conclusion. For once in his life, I felt like he had made a very serious judgemental error. I glared at the water and kicked it absently, gritting my teeth in brooding silence.
I heard the other two wander away a short distanc
e, and then a whispered conversation between them that ended in muffled laughter. I felt sure that I was being gossiped about, and I didn’t like that feeling at all. Sulking, I stared off into the water, willing my boyfriend to return so that I could kick his shapely backside all up and down the river for leaving me in this state.
My annoyance grew in leaps and bounds the longer I was left to think about it. Then Worry reared its ugly head, and smacked Annoyance aside. To say that my emotions were at war would be a misstatement; it was more like a vicious barroom brawl going on inside my head. My conflicting emotions were locked in a catfight for dominance.
Concern won for the time being, but I wasn’t sure how long that would last. As annoyed as I might be, I loved Michael more than I had any means to express. I worried about him all the time. Even though he was technically still close to me, it felt like he was a million miles away, in a whole other world. I estimated it had been about ten minutes, maybe fifteen. I leaned forward, staring down into the murky water, willing myself to be able to see more than a few feet down.
Something moved, a shadow in the depths. I leaned out further, straining to make out what it was, but I couldn’t see it clearly. Then, suddenly, something cold and slippery fastened onto my ankle and pulled; before I could even scream, I was yanked bodily into the cold river. My head went under, then I popped up spluttering and fighting the current.
Michael grabbed me around the waist to keep my head above the surface. It took a second before I realised that he was the one who had pulled me into the water, then I let out an inarticulate shout and smacked his shoulder.
He just laughed playfully and helped me back to the river’s edge, where strong hands grabbed me and hauled me back out of the soup. As soon as we were back on dry land, I planted my hands on my sodden hips, and fixed Michael with a dark glower.
“Dammit, Michael; that water is cold, you know,” I complained, soaked from head to toe. The breeze chilled me and left me shivering.
“I know, but you made me wash the dog so it’s only fair,” he answered cheerfully, as he shed his mask and stripped off the tank and weight belt, leaving himself clad only in a pair of distractingly wet shorts.
And with witnesses, too. Annoyance sprang back on the offensive and bitch-slapped Worry with her purse.
Thankfully, Michael knew when to quit. He must have seen something in my face that told him enough was enough, because he settled down and put his serious face back on. Rebecca handed him a towel, but rather than use it on himself he put it around me and rubbed my shoulders to dry me off. The gesture relaxed me a little, but I was still feeling cantankerous and had to bite my tongue to keep from saying something smarmy.
“Let’s head back inside,” he suggested, glancing at the others. “Once we’ve dried off and changed, we’ll gather the troops and formulate a plan of attack.”
They took the hint. Relieving us of the scuba gear, the two of them hurried off, leaving Michael and me to follow at a more sedate pace. Sensing something was amiss, Michael gathered his clothes under one arm and put the other around me, but I was stiff and unresponsive as the fight continued inside my head. I felt him watching me but I didn’t make eye contact. Instead, I glared down at the ground by our feet.
He waited until the others were gone to point out the obvious. “You’re mad at me.”
I grunted wordlessly; I had no idea how to verbalize what I was feeling.
“Hey,” he whispered, trying to catch my chin and tilt it up as he so often did, but for once I resisted him. “Please don’t be mad, honey. I was just playing around. I thought you liked the water.”
I could hear the hurt in his voice, and that softened my annoyance. He was as new to this as I was, I reminded myself. He had no way to know what would hurt me unless I found some way to articulate it.
“It wasn’t the dunking; I was already angry by then,” I told him. My voice came out harsher than I intended it to. When I finally looked up at him I could see the pain in his eyes.
“What did I do?” His voice was confused and pleading. For the first time in our relationship, he didn’t understand me, but even though I’d hurt him with my sharp tone he was still trying. Guilt suddenly reared her ugly head, and shanked Annoyance right in the kidney. I looked down again, but this time it was for a whole other reason.
“It’s just… I… I don’t know how to say it.” I sighed heavily and closed my eyes; I felt his strong hands on my shoulders, rubbing me gently through the towel.
“Please try?” he whispered, drawing me up against him. “If I’ve done something that hurts or offends you, give me the chance to make it up to you. You know that I would never, ever deliberately hurt you.”
My shoulders sagged as I felt his warm, comforting bulk press up against me, holding me close. He was right, I did know that. I knew it wasn’t his fault. He couldn’t understand unless I explained it. He was a sweet, kind man, and he didn’t deserve the cold shoulder.
“I-I… I don’t like it when the others laugh at me, at us. When you get me all, you know, blushing and stuff, and then they’re there and they laugh. I feel so embarrassed.” Tears stung at my eyes; it all felt so ridiculous, but I couldn’t help how it made me feel. “Rebecca laughed at me after you made me blush before. I was so humiliated.”
“Oh, sweetheart, I’m so sorry.” He brushed away my tears with one hand, and leaned down to plant a kiss on my forehead. “I didn’t mean to. I guess I’m just… out of practice on how to behave in public.”
“I think we all are,” I agreed, snuggling up against him. His skin felt simultaneously warm and cool where the wind had chilled it, and closeness always felt so wonderful.
“What can I do to make it better? Or not do, so it doesn’t happen again?” He sounded anxious, far younger than his thirty-two years of age. Like me, his emotional growth had been truncated by the disaster that had devastated our planet. At the age of twenty-two, his world had ended, and he had no romantic experience to fall back on except what he was learning from me. “Would it be better if I didn’t touch you in front of others?”
“No,” I hurried to reassure him. “I don’t mind if you touch me. I like that. It’s just, sometimes when you tease me… you know how easy it is for you to get me worked up. I’m vulnerable when I’m worked up. You’re the only person I trust to see me that vulnerable.”
I heard a soft intake of breath; when I glanced up at him, I finally saw understanding dawn in his eyes. He nodded and offered me a tiny smile. It was then I knew that I had reached him. He hugged me gently and I hugged him back, snuggling my face up against his broad chest as a pleasant sense of tranquillity drifted through me.
We had officially survived our first fight, if you could call that little tussle a fight. At least this time, no one ended up with a cracked jaw. I felt him nuzzle me, the rough stubble of his chin brushing my cheek as he put his lips beside my ear. His voice was a whisper, cool enough to chill my wet skin but warm enough that I only shivered in the pleasant way. “Are we okay, then?”
“We’re okay,” I whispered back, brushing my wet hair out of the way so that I could kiss him and show him that I still loved him. I felt him relax as our lips met; his hands were so gentle, it felt like nothing in the world could ever make him want to deliberately hurt me.
All of a sudden, the troubles of our lives seemed so far away, and the only thing in the world that mattered was the man in my arms.
***
Michael and I retreated back to our room hand-in-hand. I felt buoyant, so much better than I had a few minutes before. Despite how recently I’d been in a sulk, I now felt happy and content. More importantly, I finally understood what people meant when they talked about the make-up period after a fight.
I definitely looked forward to spending some pleasant alone-time with him later on in the evening. Hell, I would have dragged him off to bed right then and there, except for a promise I had made to my sister. It was almost sundown, and I’d sworn to contact her on t
he first evening after we arrived.
When we reached our room, we found a few more towels waiting for us, as well as an old plastic drying rack for our wet clothes. Michael set up the frame, while I peeled off my sodden garments and flung them into a pile on the floor. By the time I was down to my underwear, I realised that I was being watched.
"What?" I shot Michael a look over my shoulder, and narrowed my eyes at him as though I were on the verge of taking offense. This time I wasn't, but two could play at the teasing game.
The poor man looked so tormented that I couldn't keep the ruse up for long. A smile snuck its way past my mask of indignation, at which point he suddenly realised that I was pulling his leg. His expression brightened immediately, and with it returned his wicked sense of humour.
"Hey, it's not my fault that I like watching you take your clothes off," he retorted, folding his arms across his broad chest. Suddenly, his smile turned impish, and he made an encouraging gesture with one hand. "Oh, don't stop there. The rest of your clothing is soaked as well."
I felt the heat rise in my cheeks at his flirtation, but since we were alone I didn't mind at all. While his cheeky humour had gotten me so upset before, now it struck just the right chord with my increasingly playful mood. I found myself giving serious consideration to whether we had time for a little indulgence before sunset.
Michael snuck up behind me while I was still frozen with indecision, and the feel of his chest against my back made the choice for me. Skylar could wait a few more minutes.
“Here, let me help,” he murmured, his lips right behind my ear; I felt nimble fingers unfastening my bra and then a chill as he peeled the wet garment away to expose my skin to the air. A shiver ran right through me, but it was the good kind of shiver; goose bumps rose across my breast.
“Why thank you, sir. How terribly helpful of you,” I purred back. I hadn’t even realised that I was capable of making that kind of sound until I met him, and it never failed to startle me. Thankfully, Michael distracted me by slipping his hands around my body, his fingers exploring my moist skin.
The Survivors (Book 2): Autumn Page 22