Stranded - A Second Chance Romance Read online

  “I wonder if they got out of the storm's path,” Penny said gripping the seat tighter. “I hope Heidi’s okay. She’s not good with regular storms on land.”

  The corners of my mouth curled up slightly. “Neither were you if I remember correctly.”

  A quick memory of holding her during a particularly loud storm flashed in my mind. We’d been in bed. The removal of our clothing helped take her mind off of what was going on outside. I could still remember how silky smooth her skin had felt. I wondered if she’d remembered too.

  “What?” she asked when I locked eyes with her.

  “Nothing.”

  The storm outside was noisy, and it seemed to go on forever. There wasn’t anything I could do but sit back and hope the boat would hold up.

  I slammed my fist down on the panel, hoping to bring life back to something. Anything. Preferably the radio. It would be nice to let someone know we were out here.

  “Your phone,” I said. “Is it working?”

  Penny pulled it out and clicked the power button. The light was overly bright in the cabin.

  “Anything?” I asked.

  “No signal.” Penny frowned.

  “Shit.”

  The boat rocked so hard to the side I was afraid we were going to tip. I stared out the window trying to make sure my boat was still on top of the water, but it was so dark. The only way I’d know for sure we hadn’t tipped was because water hadn’t started filling the cabin.

  “I hate this,” Penny said. “I don’t know why I didn’t just listen to my gut.”

  “It’s going to be okay.” I tried to show her a confident smile, but I was pretty sure I’d failed.

  The boat rocked hard again, and then again. Water splashed up over the window.

  “Hold on,” I said grabbing on to a nearby railing.

  “I haven’t stopped holding on since we left the dock,” she said in a shaky voice.

  “Oh Jesus Christ,” I said staring out of the front window.

  Penny’s eyes were wide. “What?”

  I couldn’t tell her that what looked like a thirty or maybe even forty-foot wave was heading right toward my boat.

  My hand gripped the railing, and I wrapped my other arm around her waist. I put my mouth close to her ear.

  “Whatever you do, don’t let go.”

  The boat felt as though it was flying, for a second, I thought maybe it was over. But then we started falling.

  3

  Penny

  When the boat stopped moving, I wondered if I was dead. But the second I caught Jack’s eyes I knew I must be alive. There was no way the afterlife was an eternity of me being stuck with my ex.

  “Is it over?” I asked.

  Jack quickly stepped away from me as though I were made of burning coals. He peered out of the window.

  I saw the flashes of light, but the thunder seemed further away. Maybe we’d actually made it through the storm.

  The boat suddenly jerked to an abrupt stop. Jack turned around and looked at the floor.

  I hadn’t realized it, but my feet were wet. My eyes connected with his. He tried to hide it, but he was panicking.

  Jack pulled me up close to him and started checking over my life vest. Then he checked his own.

  “Jack? What’s going on?”

  “Something must have happened. We’re taking in water. Too much water,” Jack said, his words practically falling out of his mouth.

  “That doesn’t sound good. What does that mean for us exactly?”

  He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the cabin. “I’m not sure yet.”

  The water was calming significantly, but neither of us were able to miss the damage to the side of his boat.

  “Goddammit!” Jack shouted.

  “What happened?”

  “I don’t know. We must have hit something or some debris hit us. Fuck!”

  Jack didn’t let go of my hand as he walked around splashing through the ankle high water. He shook his head and ran his hand through his hair.

  “Penny. There’s nothing I can do.”

  “What do you mean by that?” I was pretty sure I could guess. I had no idea why I wanted to hear him say it.

  “We’re going for a swim.”

  I bit down on my fingernail hard hoping the pain would force my tears to retreat. I didn’t want Jack to see me lose it.

  “Heidi will report that I’m missing. She knew I was coming,” I said mostly trying to make myself feel better.

  “She didn’t know you were with me.”

  “No, but she knew I was coming.”

  Jack was shaking his head. “When you didn’t arrive on the last boat, she probably just assumed you went home.”

  “You are not helping like at all. She’ll call me. Eventually, she’ll send someone right?”

  “Let’s hope. Is your phone working yet?”

  I pulled it out of my pocket. My cold, wet fingers lost their grip, and my phone slipped out of my hand and into the water filling the boat.

  “Shit!” I said, bending down to grab it. Before I could pick it up the water pulled it away from me.

  I tried to yank my hand free, but Jack pulled me back. He moved both of us and quickly grabbed my phone.

  He pressed the center button, but nothing happened. The screen was black.

  There wasn’t anything I could do to stop the tear from leaking out of the corner of my eye. If Jack noticed he didn’t say anything.

  “What do we do now?” I asked.

  “Guess we get in.”

  “It’s so cold.”

  Jack swallowed hard. “My boat is going down… we don’t have a lot of options here.”

  He led me to the back of the boat and lowered himself down into the water. My teeth chattered as I followed him into the chilly water.

  “I think we’re supposed to move away from the boat?” I said.

  “What?”

  “When it goes down, it’ll pull us down with it,” I said.

  His lip curled up on the end. “Where did you learn that?”

  “Titanic? Honestly, I don’t remember,” I said.

  “My boat isn’t that big,” Jack said holding on to me as we swam away from the boat.

  “Then why are you swimming away?”

  “Just in case,” he said. I could tell by the way his words came out just how cold he was.

  We swam a while before he turned back and watched his boat go underwater. He bowed his head for a second before looking around in a complete circle.

  Jack started swimming, pulling me along with him. I looked around trying to figure out where he was leading us.

  “Do you know where you’re going?” I asked. As far as I could tell we were completely surrounded by water.

  “No clue,” he said.

  My heart started pounded faster but stopped when it felt like something moved past my leg. I sucked in a quick breath.

  “Jack?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Are there sharks around here?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

  “You don’t think so?”

  “Well, I’m pretty sure we’re okay but hard to say for certain because I’m not exactly sure where we are.”

  “I wish that comforted me.”

  Jack held to me tighter as a big wave gently pushed at us. I wasn’t exactly sure his swimming was doing us any good, the water seemed to be pushing and pulling us in varying directions.

  We were both completely out of control. It didn’t matter which way we wanted to go, the ocean was going to decide for us where we’d end up.

  “Hopefully they’re out there looking for us,” I said looking up at the sky. There weren’t sounds of boats or helicopters. The only thing in the sky were the flashes of lightning in the distance.

  “Yeah. Maybe,” Jack said, but I knew he didn’t believe it.

  “How long do you think it’ll be until morning?” I asked, my teeth chattering uncontrollably.
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  Jack didn’t turn around as he attempted to paddle us in the same direction. “Hours.”

  We were silent as the water moved us around. I was tired, and we’d been in the water so long that my bones felt frozen. It was as though the smallest touch could cause me to shatter into a million pieces.

  “Jack,” I said taking in a sharp breath. I pointed off toward the left. “What’s that?”

  Jack squinted and changed the direction he was trying to paddle us. “Not sure, but it looks like palm trees.”

  “Oh, thank God,” I said pushing my wet hair out of my eyes. “We must not have been too far from shore.”

  “We were. The storm must have really thrown us around.”

  As we made our way closer to the shore, I started to think about Jack. Not just Jack, but how if I would have been with Heidi and the boat would have gone down, I probably wouldn’t have survived. There probably weren’t enough life preservers on the yacht for everyone that was on the boat.

  I bit my lip and prayed that Heidi was okay.

  Even after everything Jack had cared enough to help me survive. He hadn’t let go of me, not even for a second since the boat sank down to the bottom of the ocean.

  If things had been different, maybe Jack and I would have still been together. No, we definitely would be together. We’d been perfect for each other.

  But then he had to go and screw everything up. I still couldn’t comprehend why he’d done it. He’d betrayed me. He’d hurt my reputation. Goddammit, they’d almost thrown me in jail.

  Not even saving my life made up for it. But the only person I could be mad at for being stuck in the frigid ocean was myself. I shouldn’t have ever asked him to take me out. I should have just gone home.

  Heidi would have gotten over it. I should have just dealt with her, but then again hindsight is twenty-twenty. It wasn’t like I knew I was going to end up taking a swim in the ocean in the middle of the night fully clothed.

  “I’m sorry,” I said frowning.

  “Me too,” he said.

  I was about to ask him what for when a big wave pushed us toward the land. It was almost like the waves were pushing us forward, only to sweep us right back. Two steps forward, one step back, eventually we’d get there, and I couldn’t wait to put my feet on the ground.

  4

  Jack

  The wet sand sucked my feet down with each step I took out of the water. It was like it didn’t want to let us go.

  “It’s colder out of the water than it was in it,” Penny said hugging herself. I wanted to put my arm around her to help warm her, but I was just as cold, and wet. Not to mention, as far as I knew, she still hated me.

  “Hopefully, we’ll be indoors soon enough,” I said looking up and down the beach. I couldn’t tell which way would lead us to the city.

  The sky was dark, and I couldn’t see lights anywhere around. Not even a reflection of them in the sky to indicate which way to go.

  “Wonder if the power went out in the city,” I said gesturing for Penny to follow. I picked a direction at random and started walking along the beach.

  “Maybe,” Penny said walking slowly behind me.

  “Are you okay?” I asked glancing back at her.

  She nodded. “I’m cold. I’m tired. My legs are killing me, but at least I’m on land.”

  “You were always one to look on the bright side.” I pinched my lips together, so I didn’t say more.

  Penny had always been more of a glass half-empty person, but I’d never minded. If anything, she balanced me. It wasn’t that I was too optimistic because I definitely wasn’t, but she always offered a different view. Things I hadn’t considered.

  Except for that one time with her brother, I’d always made better choices when I’d been with her. Now, I didn’t even have a home to go back to. My home was at the bottom of the ocean with all of my things. Not that I’d had a lot.

  Goddammit.

  I dragged my hand down the side of my still damp face. What the fuck was I going to do?

  I wouldn’t even be able to rent a hotel room since my wallet was at the bottom of the ocean. Not that I could even fucking find where the hotels were.

  “Oof!” Penny grunted.

  I turned around and saw her pushing herself up out of the sand. “You okay?”

  “I fell.”

  “I see that.”

  “My legs are so tired.”

  I stretched out my hand. “Here. Let me help you up.”

  “It’s okay. I got it.”

  But the second she was back on her feet she wobbled to the side. I caught her before she could stumble back down into the sand.

  “We can take a rest,” I said looking down into her beautiful sparkling blue eyes. Even in a situation like this her eyes still held magic.

  “Okay, yeah, maybe just a few minutes.”

  I helped her down onto the sand and sat down next to her. Her body was shaking so vigorously I started to worry.

  “I could try to start a fire,” I said already pushing myself to my feet. Maybe if she could warm up a bit, it would be easier to make our way back to civilization.

  “You know how to do that?”

  “I do.”

  “That’s a useful skill.” Penny smiled. “I didn’t know you could do that.”

  “Why would you? If I had a match, I’d use a match.”

  Penny shrugged. “I just thought I… never mind. I’d love a fire.”

  “Okay, wait here. Don’t wander off.”

  “Where would I go?”

  “I… I don’t know,” I said taking a step away but stopping to make sure she wasn’t thinking about running away. If I were her, I’d run away from me too. Hell, I’d tried to run away from myself, but turned out that was impossible.

  Seeing her again brought everything back to the surface. There was no way she could ever forgive me because I couldn’t forgive myself.

  I looked at the ground trying to find logs and sticks that would work to build a fire. There were dried fibers on a plant which I snatched up to get the ember started.

  I had everything I needed to get a fire going, but I couldn’t move. It felt like my feet were sinking into the sand. I looked down but I wasn’t in quicksand, I was just standing there being a chicken shit.

  I thought back to the night the cops were tailing her brother and me. It had been my bright idea to stop and quickly stash his stuff in her car. He’d had so much. I knew he was selling again, but I kept my mouth shut.

  He was freaking out, begging me to help him. Trent was losing it, and I thought I was helping the family, but all I did was tear them apart.

  If only I had taken my own car that night, she wouldn’t ever have been involved. It would have been me that was in trouble.

  “What’s taking so long?” Penny said over her shoulder. “I’m scared.”

  “Coming,” I shouted back.

  If the cops hadn't had those stupid dogs, everything would have been fine. They wouldn’t have had to call Penny in. The cops cleared my name before they’d cleared hers.

  I could still picture her mom asking me why I’d done it with tears streaming down her cheeks. Why did I have to get Penny involved? She’d never even stepped on an ant, well that wasn’t true most likely, but her parents had put her on a pedestal long before I’d met her.

  I’d told Penny I was trying to help her brother, but the cops had been so mean to her. They’d kept her for questioning. Ugh.

  I tightened my grip on the branches and sticks as I made my way back. It had been stupid, but at the time I was panicked. Trent was losing it, and the only thing I could think of was to hide the drugs.

  Damn dogs.

  Now Trent’s in jail, but the family hates me and Penny couldn’t trust me after that. I couldn’t blame her. It was a mistake I’d never be able to make up for, and one I’d never be forgiven for.

  I plopped the logs down in the sand in front of where Penny was sitting and set up the twigs in
the way I’d learned years ago. It was more than twenty minutes before I finally got a spark.

  “Oh yay!” Penny said with a small clap. “I was just about to tell you to give up.”

  “I felt like giving up fifteen minutes ago,” I said with a smile as the fire started to grow.

  Penny scooted forward and held up her palms near the small flames.

  “Don’t get too close,” I warned.

  She waved her hand at me and shook her head. Yeah, I probably hadn’t needed to tell a grown woman to stay away from the fire. Especially not Penny. She was smart as a whip. Much smarter than I was, that was another reason it had been so easy to fall in love with her.

  Fuck. I didn’t know why I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Even though I’d been the one to fuck everything up, there were times she was still infuriating, although, I couldn’t think of one.

  “You think the city is that way?” Penny asked jutting her jaw out in the direction we’d first started walking.

  “I’m not sure.” I scratched my head as I looked up and down the beach. “Neither looks very promising, but one eventually both ways should lead us somewhere.”

  I pulled off my shirt and laid it down in the sand near the fire to dry. I’d have done the same with my pants, but Penny probably wouldn’t have approved.

  “When the sun comes up, I should be able to make more sense of our surroundings. Maybe even spot a house,” I said.

  “It’s crazy,” Penny said looking down at her feet.

  “What is?”

  She smiled. “When I was younger I loved beach parties and staying up all night. Now, I’d eat a bug just to be home in my pajamas with a tub of ice cream. Er, let’s make that hot chocolate.”

  She tucked her still damp stringy hair behind her ears and blinked those crystal blue eyes at me. I swallowed down the feelings that stirred deep inside me. If she didn’t hate me, I’d have crawled over to her and kissed he on those perfect lips.

  “Yeah, me too. Except my home was on that boat and I have no desire to live at the bottom of the ocean. The hot chocolate sounds really good though.”

  She chuckled and wrapped her arms around her stomach. “I really wish I would have eaten dinner. My favorite thing at those parties are the seafood appetizers. I was going to feast on them.”