Shipwrecked Summer (17 page)

“Hey,” he said, his voice growing soft as he crouched down next to me. “Don’t cry. You’ll be fine! It’s just a little cut.”

I sniffled as a sob escaped my lips. “I’m just...” I trailed off. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

He smiled before scooping me up into his arms. “There’s a little hut on the other side of the hill. We’ll wait for the storm to pass there.”

“The boat,” I croaked.

He glanced up at the black sky and shook his head. “Are you crazy? The storm’s here. How long have you been on the island?”

I shrugged. “A couple minutes?”

Jeff gave me an incredulous look. “You rode all the way here just now? And made it?”

“I guess I had a good teacher.”

“How did you get a boat?”

I bit my lip, hoping he wouldn’t get mad. “Um...I guess your dad kinda came back from his fishing trip early.”

He tightened his grip on me as we began the treacherous journey downhill. “You stole my dad’s boat?”

“I didn’t steal it!”

Jeff just raised his eyebrows, a small smile forming on the corner of his lips. “You sure about that? It isn’t yours and you took it and I’m quite sure my dad has no idea. Wanna try again?”

I rolled my eyes. “Okay, whatever, I stole it. But it was only to help you! If this is how you’re going to be, I wish I’d just stayed inside!”

He laughed. “Oh, stop it, you know I’m teasing.”

We reached the bottom of the hill and he kicked open a creaky wooden door and finally, finally, I felt relief from the driving rain.

He bent down and gently laid me across the cold concrete floor. “Don’t put your head down.” He walked away for a few seconds and returned, placing a balled up sweatshirt beneath my head. “There. Now, let’s take a look at your second leg injury.”

I smiled, barely feeling any pain anymore as I watched Jeff examine me. He busied himself for a few minutes, using a towel and something else to stop the bleeding before he pressed a paper towel against the wound.

“I don’t have a bandage or tape or anything so you’re just going to have to keep your leg flat and hold that against the cut for awhile. We’ll get to the first-aid kit when we can.”

I struggled to lift myself into a sitting position and looked around the hut for the first time.

It took me all of three seconds to scan the whole structure.

“What is this place?”

Jeff shrugged. “I don’t know what it was built for, but I’m really glad it’s here. I saw the clouds forming maybe an hour and a half ago, but I didn’t think anyone would get over to me in time so I figured I needed to find somewhere to ride out the storm. Stumbled on this.”

“It’s not much.”

He sat down against the wall on the other side of the hut--maybe ten feet away from me. “Are you complaining about this?”

I cracked a smile. “No. Guess I’m not.”

The wind whistled throw the slats in the wooden planks that held the hut together. The rain still pounded the ground and the occasional clap of thunder sounded as if it was right over our heads. I shuddered, thinking of how I could have easily been out on the ocean in this.

Jeff must’ve been thinking the same thing. “You still didn’t really tell me what the heck you were doing out on the water.”

I looked down at my hands. “Sure I did.”

“No.” He shook his head. “You mentioned that you did this for me, but I don’t understand.”

“I...I’ll start at the beginning.”

He nodded. “I think that’s a good idea.”

“I heard that this storm was brewing,” I said, taking a deep breath. “So I went down to the beach to find my grandmother and tell her to get home and help us prepare.”

“Makes sense.”

“When I was trying to convince her to come back, I overheard the lifeguards say that someone named Jeff was stranded here.” His eyes never left mine as I spoke. “I...I asked them if it was you.”

“Betcha hoped it was so you’d never have to see me again.”

“Right, that’s why I’m here,” I said, and he smiled. “They told me it was and one of the lifeguards said it had something to do with this letter.” Jeff’s smile vanished. “I hadn’t read it yet, but it was in my bag, and I had to know what it said. I dug it out and read it and I didn’t have a choice after that. I had to find you, to see that you were okay in the storm.

“I remembered what you told me about the boat and the keys and the purple frog bank and I was just hoping that your dad had come back from his fishing trip because I didn’t know how else I’d get out here and I really didn’t want to swim in those waves.”

“You’d have swum for me?”

I grinned. “Probably not. But I got the boat out and found the island and then didn’t know how to get to you. I was trying to climb that hill when I slipped and fell.”

“And here we are.”

I nodded. “Here we are.”

“I guess there’s still something I’m not really clear on,” Jeff said. “I mean, you wouldn’t even talk to me that night when I came to your work. What made you jump on a boat you barely know how to drive in the middle of a storm to try and help me?”

I sighed, drawing in a deep breath, not sure how to explain it because I wasn’t sure I totally understood it myself. “I just didn’t realize how much you apparently care about me until I heard that the letter forced you out here to clear your head. And then I read it and I just...I feel all those same things about you and when two people have those kinds of feeling for each other, it isn’t worth throwing away over a mistake. Or a misunderstanding.”

The smile spreading across his face made me forget everything: the pain in my leg, the fear of not finding him on this island, the thought that maybe I’d already lost him with my hesitation.

He was by my side in seconds. Jeff looked down into my eyes and I smiled. He reached up and cupped my chin in his hands before he leaned in--slowly, slowly, slowly--and gently pressed his lips to mine.

When we broke apart, I cuddled up into his chest and he draped his left arm around me, pulling me into him.

The violent storm continued to rage outside, but sitting there in that rickety little shack on the beach, I’d never felt safer.

We awoke to bright blue skies and a warm sun the next morning.

But Fresh Water Island didn’t look as inviting.

Garbage cans, umbrellas, and seashells littered the streets. Traffic lights were out and I’d heard that some people had even lost the roofs of their homes.

The cleanup would take days.

It didn’t matter. We’d get it done.

Jeff and I had made it back to the mainland late last night to quite a bit of fanfare. His father wasn’t all that happy about his disappearing boat and Grandma looked as if she wanted my head on a stake.

But even that didn’t bother me.

Because I had Jeff.

He came by the next morning to help us clean up our property. As I went outside to greet him, I noticed Pia standing in her front yard with Anthony, doing the same thing. I couldn’t help but smile. His nose was still purple, but they seemed happy.

And besides, did it really matter anymore? Anthony was nothing to me now that I knew what else was out there. I wasn’t sure my friendship with Pia would ever be the same, but we waved to each other from our houses, and I knew I wasn’t going to give up on us that quickly.

A few days later, Jeff and I were back out on the open water, lounging on the boat under clear blue skies and a warm sun.

“I can’t believe your dad let you take the boat after all that,” I said as we spread out our picnic.

Jeff grinned. “I think he’s secretly impressed by you. It’s not often I bring home a boat thief and all.”

I stretched out, feeling the rays on my skin and sighed happily. “Well, whatever the reason, I’m pretty glad he’s okay with it. We’ll have to bring Gianna and Joey out here some time. They’d love this.”

“Definitely,” he said, but I could tell he wasn’t thinking about that. There was something else on his mind. “So I had this crazy idea.”

I propped myself up on my elbows and pushed my sunglasses onto the top of my head so I could see him better. “What’s that?”

“I thought maybe you’d want to jump in today. I mean, you already drove a boat through the worst storm we’ve seen in years. Why not this?”

My eyes widened as my heart instantly began to beat faster.

“I know,” he went on. “You’re really nervous about it but I still think it’s something we should do. Together.”

I studied him for a few seconds. “Okay,” I replied. “Let’s do it.”

And this time, I meant it.

I climbed to my feet and joined him at the edge of the boat.

We linked hands, looked at one another and smiled. There was no turning back this time.

“Ready?” he asked me.

Tightening my grip on his hand, I looked into his eyes. “For anything.”

And together we took the plunge into the warm open water full of possibilities.

It started just like any other Saturday: Whitney, her best friend, Jason, and their fathers tossed an old football around in the park. But when her dad dies of a heart attack, Whitney doesn't realize her passion for the sport and her friendship with Jason will never be the same.

Two years later, Whitney's ready to begin the long journey of re-discovering her love for football, encountering a sexist coach, an unethical but irresistible opponent, a mustard yellow T-shirt, and Jason along the way.

How many boys, romance, and hits on the field can Whitney handle before it becomes too much and she's forced to throw in the towel on her dreams?

On, Wisconsin.