I swam to the edge of the pool, where it was shallow enough that I could sit on my knees, then crossed one arm over my chest while pointing with the other to where I’d discovered the skeleton. “It’s over there, deep down.”
As Jake began removing more of his clothes, I began to believe that he was going to strip down to his birthday suit. I would not be able to politely ignore that, and my reaction would probably be undignified and embarrassing. Thankfully, though, he left his underwear on. They fit him perfectly, like he could be a model for the brand.
Jake strolled out to the deeper section of the water, then dived under the surface, heading to the spot I’d indicated. He seemed completely natural as he swam under the water, like he was part fish. It was mesmerizing to watch him move, and I stared at his body until he went too deep for me to see him. He was down there for quite a while, long enough for me to get worried about him. I was pushing away from my safe spot, on my way to go rescue him, when he finally popped to the surface. I was deep enough now that I had to tread water, but I still let out a relieved sigh when I saw he was okay. “Did you find it?” I said above the sound of the waterfall.
Jake grinned in answer. “I did. And that’s not all I found . . .” He lifted his hand to show me a sturdy-looking knife held tightly in his fist.
Joy and relief surged through me so fast I felt light headed. God, a knife. Such a simple item, but so vastly important to us. Jake swam my way, then handed it to me. With his body so close to mine, I suddenly became acutely aware of not having any clothes on. Damn it. Why hadn’t I left on my underwear, like him?
Keeping his promise to not look at my nakedness, Jake kept his eyes glued to my face. So sweet. “The guy’s boots seemed to be in good shape still, all things considered. I’m going to see if I can pull them up.”
“Why is there a skeleton in the water?” I asked before he could swim away. “Where did he come from?”
Jake pursed his lips as he treaded water. “He looked military to me . . . World War II, probably. These islands were stopping points for all sorts of missions. Maybe we got lucky, and this island was important back then. Maybe we’ll find more stuff we can use.”
“Like a boat?” I asked, grinning.
Jake laughed, looking happier than I’d ever seen him look. Then he twisted around and dived under the surface, giving me a pretty decent shot of his backside before he disappeared.
While he was trying to retrieve a dead soldier’s boots, I took the opportunity to swim back to my clothes and hurriedly re-dress. I was soaking wet and my things were still damp, but it felt good to be covered again. And armed. I clutched the knife to me with a wide smile, so happy for the tool fate had dropped in our laps.
I was even happier a few minutes later when Jake sloshed out of the water carrying a pair of soggy black boots. They were in desperate need of drying and looked like they were barely holding together, but we’d both been walking around barefoot since we’d arrived here. Even if we had to rip off the rubber soles and tie them to our feet with vines, it was better than nothing.
“Oh my God, Jake,” I said when he reached my side. “This is amazing! Do you really think there could be more things like this out there?”
He nodded, his grin unrestrained. “Yeah, where there’s one body, there’s probably more. A lot of those island skirmishes were bloody.” His smile fell some. “Which is horrible, but at the moment, you know . . .”
“It’s kind of a lifesaver. Yeah. We should go hunting for things, as soon as possible.” There were so many potential treasures out there, and all we had to do was look for them.
Jake nodded again, then set the boots on a nearby rock to dry. “Let’s eat first.” He glanced down at his mostly naked body, and my eyes inadvertently followed. “And maybe dress and dry off . . . ,” he finished, grabbing his slacks.
A nervous tittering laugh escaped me as he pulled them on. “Right . . . clothes . . . ,” I murmured. As he dressed, my eyes drifted over his body, settling on his tattoo. The script said, Believe you can and you’re halfway there. God . . . that was one of my favorite quotes: inspirational, motivating, reminding me that I could be whatever I wanted to be. Seeing it emblazoned on his skin made it my absolute favorite quote of all time. I had to bite my lip as he finished dressing, and a small sigh escaped me when his stomach was covered again.
Once Jake was dressed, we headed back to camp to eat some of the fish I’d buried. There was a buoyancy in the air and a lightness in our step that hadn’t been there before. This new discovery was filling us with some much-needed cheer. We were more relaxed as we sat around the fire eating the thankfully undisturbed fish, and we smiled a lot more. In fact, I found myself staring at Jake more and more frequently, memorizing him, admiring him, imagining the perfect pecs I knew he was hiding under his shirt, the tattoo I longed to trace with my fingers . . .
I knew it wasn’t the proper thing to be picturing, but the more I watched him, the more I wanted to watch him. It felt so natural. So right. And it wasn’t one sided. Jake was watching me just as much as I was watching him. Our eyes locked frequently during our meal. Even though it was wrong, I didn’t want it to end. Things were so quiet here, so isolated, so beautiful. It made the real world seem distant, almost like it no longer existed or like we were stuck in a dream. I had to keep reminding myself that this wasn’t a fantasy . . . and Jake wasn’t mine.
Once our meal was finished, Jake stood from the rock he was using as a chair. “Well,” he said. “Want to get started on our treasure hunt?”
He extended his hand to help me stand, and I grinned as I grabbed it. “Absolutely. Where should we start, though? This island is huge.”
Twisting, Jake faced where the waterfall was located. “I thought maybe we’d go back to the top of the waterfall. If the body washed down from up there, then we might get lucky.”
“Sounds perfect,” I murmured, studying his strong jawline.
Turning back to me, Jake smiled, then picked up the knife. “We’ll mark the trees as we go so we know how to get back.”
For the millionth time, I was so grateful that he was here. I probably wouldn’t have thought of that little detail, and I’d probably have ended up getting horribly lost.
Jake put on his newly rescued boots, grimacing a bit as he pressed his toes inside. “They’re still pretty wet, but it’s better than nothing.” He glanced at my bare feet and frowned.
I held up a hand to reassure him. “I’ll be fine. And besides, we’re probably going to find another set today, right?”
A half grin graced his lips. “You’re starting to sound as optimistic as me. I like it.”
And I like you. More than I should. Not wanting to ruin the good feeling in the air, I left my thoughts unspoken, but that was getting harder and harder to do.
Chapter Eleven
We hiked back up to the top of the waterfall, Jake holding my hand whenever the terrain got tricky. I found that I really liked the skin-to-skin contact, and whenever the path was clear, I wished for hills and large rocks that he had to help me over. Any excuse to touch him.
There was a rushing stream at the top of the falls, but that was it. No pile of bodies, no weather-worn clothes to sift through. Nothing. I was both relieved and disappointed. I glanced Jake’s way, and he had the same conflicted expression on his face.
“This is weird, isn’t it?” I asked him.
He looked over at me with a sheepish smile on his face. “Definitely. Hoping for dead bodies wasn’t something I’d ever imagined myself doing.” Reaching out, he grabbed my hand. It sent a zing of electricity up my spine. I knew I should avoid unnecessary intimacy, but I really loved it when he touched me. “I know I’ve said it before, but I’m really glad you’re here. It makes all of this a little more . . . bearable.”
His sentiment made me grin, made a flutter of nerves tickle my stomach. “Yeah . . . I know. It’s horrible but wonderful too.” I instantly clamped my mouth shut after I said that. I sh
ouldn’t say stuff like that. The situation was strange and awkward enough.
Jake looked guilty as he glanced down at his feet. I could feel his hold on my hand loosening. Not wanting him to let go yet, I squeezed him harder and pointed with my free hand at the lush landscape. “So should we start looking around? If there are bodies up here, nature has probably done a good job reclaiming them.”
Jake slightly shook his head, like he was shaking away his conflicted feelings. Then he nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. Of course they wouldn’t just be lying out in the open. That war was decades ago. We’ll need to dig around.” He grimaced, like he wasn’t looking forward to that. Honestly, I wasn’t, either, but the end result would be worth it.
We began systematically searching around the stream, rummaging through the underbrush, looking for unnatural clumps of greenery. Anything that might indicate something buried underneath. We didn’t find any bodies, but we did find sources of food in our search—berry bushes, coconut trees, banana plants. Finding other things to eat besides fish was remarkably invigorating. By the time we called it a day and stumbled to bed, we were both tired but satisfied. All in all, it had been a good day. And as I lay close to Jake’s side, falling asleep, I allowed myself to rest my hand on top of his. And when he flipped his hand over so our fingers could interlace, a peaceful smile spread over my lips. Maybe it wasn’t so bad here after all.
Over the next several days, Jake and I developed a routine on the island. After waking up, I’d go fishing while Jake tended to the bonfire. We’d meet up for lunch and eat whatever I’d caught or foraged, and then we’d go searching for dead soldiers. It was morbid but busying work, and the days seamlessly flowed into one another.
Every morning I looked forward to the day’s activities, and every evening I looked forward to crawling into bed with Jake. Even though I missed my friends and family like crazy and I couldn’t wait to get back to them, I kind of loved our new life. I thought Jake was beginning to love it, too, until one morning when I woke up to see him staring aimlessly at our makeshift firepit. The look on his face wasn’t a content one. He looked on the verge of breaking down.
“Hey, you okay?” I asked, creeping out of our shelter to sit beside him.
He smiled at me, but I could tell it was forced. “Sure.”
I pursed my lips at his answer. “No, really. Are you okay?”
The smile fell off his lips with a sigh. “I don’t know. It’s just . . . it’s been three weeks.” He pointed to a tree nearby, where he’d been making a hash mark every morning to mark the passage of time. I’d been purposely avoiding looking at the “calendar.” I didn’t want to know.
“Oh,” I murmured, a little shocked at how much time had passed. Being on the island was like stepping outside of time. It made it easy to forget that back home, the chaos of life was continuing without us.
Green eyes locked on the tree, Jake shook his head. “They know by now. And they’ve accepted it. They all believe we’re dead. Kylie believes I’m . . .” Swallowing a lump in his throat, he looked over at me. “Do you think she’s okay?”
Hot tears pricked my eyes. This was why I hadn’t wanted to look at the tree. I didn’t want to think about Kylie, think about my friends, think about my parents, think about everyone’s pain. Pain I’d caused them. Pain we’d caused them. I shook my head. “No,” I said in answer. There was no way my sister was okay. She was devastated. Sobbing. Heartbroken on multiple levels. God, I’m so sorry, Kylie.
Jake nodded, then hung his head. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, hugging him, comforting him. I held him for long, silent seconds until finally he said, “Even though she thinks I’m . . .” He looked up and searched my eyes. “How long do you think I have before she . . . moves on? How long do I have before I lose her?”
There was so much anguish on his face, so much grief in his eyes. It killed me to see the pain he was feeling because of another woman, but I understood why he was hurting. I swallowed the lump in my throat.
“I don’t know . . . right now she’s grieving, mourning you, and she’s in too much pain to even think about dating someone else. That could last months, maybe even years. I know if it were me, it would take forever to move on from losing you.” My eyes drifted over his hauntingly gorgeous face. “You’re not the kind of person someone gets over quickly . . .”
I cringed as my heart leaked into my words. I hadn’t meant to put real feeling into that, but I hadn’t been able to stop myself. Jake’s expression morphed into one of compassion. “Valerie, I—”
Not wanting a tender moment to pass between us right now, when I felt so weak and vulnerable, I shot up off the rock I was sitting on. “I think I’m going to take my bath early today. Don’t go to the waterfall for a while, okay?”
I felt a little better after cleaning up. At times, it was so wonderful being here with Jake that my heart felt like it was about to burst with joy. Other times—when I remembered he wasn’t mine—it was so painful and awkward that I wanted to be anywhere but here on the island. If only I knew what our future was going to be. Would we be rescued? Or would we be stranded here forever?
When I got back to camp, Jake was gone. Probably tending the bonfire. We lit it every day in the hopes that someone would see it, but so far we hadn’t spotted any ships on the seemingly endless ocean, and no one had spotted our signal. Being lost with no effective way to communicate with the outside world was a horrible feeling.
Now that Jake wasn’t in the area, I felt guilty for bolting on him. He’d needed comfort, and I’d failed him. Sure, I’d given him a little bit of support, but it hadn’t felt like enough. He’d clearly needed . . . more, and I hadn’t been there for him.
I looked around the shelter, feeling truly alone for the first time in weeks. This place looked a lot different than it had our first night here. Once Jake had found the knife in the water, he’d gone to work making this place better. Our shelter was still an A-frame shape, but we had a wooden floor now and much sturdier sides. He’d also carved bowls, spoons, forks, and several other everyday essentials that we hadn’t had before. He was quite talented at making things; our camp felt almost like a home now.
I shifted to look over at Jake’s calendar tree, letting the weight of time settle over me. Three weeks. Three weeks of sleeping side by side every night, three weeks of keeping each other company, three weeks of keeping each other alive. It had felt shorter than that, but at the same time, it had felt so much longer. The attraction we’d both felt coming onto the island had only grown while being here. I’d started this journey being hopelessly allured by him, but now . . . now I was positive I was in love with him. He was everything I’d ever wanted in a man and more. But it didn’t matter, because he wasn’t mine. He belonged with Kylie.
Knowing I couldn’t just stand here all day and contemplate my tangled heart, I picked up my spear and prepared myself to catch some dinner. I was just about to head out on the well-worn trail when I heard the sound of something crashing through the woods toward me. Fear instantly slammed into my body, freezing my nerves. What sort of animal could make that much noise? The wild pigs Jake had heard a while back? We’d never spotted them, only signs of their existence throughout the jungle, and from everything Jake had told me about how dangerous they were, I knew I didn’t want to run into them alone. I swung my fishing spear around in front of me, just in case. It was a weak weapon against a pig, too flimsy to make much of a difference to their thick hides, but at least it was something.
My palms grew sweaty as the sound of snapping twigs grew louder. God, whatever it was, it was huge. I ducked down in my stance, lowering my center of gravity. Whatever was coming, it wouldn’t take me without a fight. I held my breath while I waited for the animal to break through the denser brush into this small clearing. When it finally crashed through, it took me a moment to understand what I was seeing.
“Jake?” I’d been so convinced that a charging animal was nearly upon me that his presence w
as baffling. “What’s going on?” He was panting, hands on his knees as he caught his breath.
He smiled, then noticed my stance and surprise. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. I just had to tell you what—”
Instantly understanding, I interrupted him. “Oh my God, a ship! There’s a ship, and it saw our signal?”
His expression dampened as he stood up straighter. “Uh, no . . . sorry. Didn’t mean to get your hopes up either.”
“Oh . . . then what is it?”
His mood instantly perked back up. “You’re going to have to see it to believe it.” He extended his hand to me, and I set down the spear and grabbed it. The joy on his face was contagious, and it instantly obliterated the odd moment we’d had this morning. I couldn’t wait to see what he wanted to show me.
“Okay.” I grinned, eager to be off on an adventure with him.
Nearly bouncing with excited energy, he turned us back toward where he’d burst into camp, and then he quickly began moving us away. Even though we weren’t quite running, it wasn’t long before I was breathing more heavily and starting to sweat. A part of me wanted to ask him to slow down, but I didn’t want to dull his eagerness. Or my own. What the heck had he found?
He stopped us in front of a moss-covered wall of rock. God, we didn’t have to climb that, did we? Because I really didn’t think I had the energy at the moment. Jake was staring at me with that little-boy smile on his face, like he expected me to see something in the greenery. “I don’t . . . what are we looking at, Jake?”
My gaze was still focused up, at the top of the massive boulder. Jake grabbed my chin, redirecting my eyes to the boulder itself. I wanted to instantly understand what he was trying to show me, but the intimacy of his hand on my face was too much; I suddenly couldn’t focus on anything else.
Sadly, he let go of my face, then swept his hand toward the boulder. “See anything strange?”
“No, it’s just a rock.”
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