Chapter 19
The wind blew harder and harder, but Gray managed to focus on the task at hand. The boat listed more often than he would have liked as they tried to outrun the storm. The appetizer was bad, but he knew the entrée would be far worse. This storm was just starting. “Get on the radio, Riley,” he instructed. “Just leave it on the same channel and try to get an answer. If you can’t, try the other channels.”
“What do I say?”
“Just tell them it’s a distress call.”
“A distress call?”
“Yep.”
“Um…okay.” Her face was pale, and her hair was hanging down her back in long, snaking strands. She nodded, and her lips trembled, but she obediently turned and headed toward the radio.
Gray managed to find air and pull it into his lungs. The whole time he was out in the swell, he kept his eye on Maggie. The waves had carried him far from the boat and nearly drowned him, and that shark had almost made a meal of him, but the sight of Riley running around the boat and trying so hard to find him had given him the strength and courage to make it to the lifeboat. That was a tricky feat, because that monstrous beast in the water had scared him stiff till his legs refused to move. In the end, he knew that was probably what had saved his life; as terrifying as they were, sharks were kind of stupid and had trouble noticing anything not flailing around like an injured seal.
His desperate grab onto the lifeboat was exactly that: desperate. He was sure he was going to die and leave Riley out there alone on the water, with no way to get the boat back to shore, and when the thought hit his own imminent death seemed much less scary and important. Her life was what he fought for as he clung to the boat and tried not to draw any more attention from that shark, a twenty-five-footer at least. That thing was big and powerful, and even now, as he stood on the deck of Maggie, he knew it could quite possibly topple the boat with them still in it. He wouldn’t dare frighten Riley with that reality, but they had to get as far from it and the maelstrom as possible.
Gray’s soaked head cleared a little when he heard Riley making the call. He planned to get them as close to shore as he could, as fast as possible. He cranked the speed up a few notches but didn’t dare go any faster. They were cutting through the waves too quickly, leaving a perilous wake behind them. That, combined with the force of the roiling water, could capsize them at any second, and the last thing he wanted to do was take another swim with Jaws.
He strained to see the shore through the rain, which was reducing visibility to almost nil. He had estimated they were a mere two miles from shore, and he was moving Maggie as fast as he dared to push her, but it would still be a long half-hour before they reached land…if they reached it at all.
Damn it, Gray, you fool! Why were you so foolish to go out so far without checking the weather? At the time, he was far too angry with his father and was just determined to go, but now he cursed himself again for dooming them both with his rash, childish behavior. Once again, one of his temper tantrums had landed him in hot water, and this time Riley was in that water with him.
He moved his hand toward the controls, and his fingers stilled as his mind went over the possibilities and considered their options, which weren’t many.
“Coast Guard? Hey, it’s the Coast Guard!” Riley yelled, and the catch in her voice broke his heart. “They need to know how to find us,” she said.
Gray’s eyes immediately went to the panels. He gave her the coordinates and added, “Tell ‘em we’re moving toward shore on that direct course but the waves may send us east because of push.”
Riley parroted the words, then said, “They said they’re not far at all. That’s good, right?” she asked, hope dripping off every syllable.
Gray nodded, but he knew better than to be too hopeful. Depending on where the Coast Guard actually was, and the strengthening wind, their help might just come a little too late.
He continued battling the controls, keeping his eyes on the horizon. He saw a faint smudge through the rain and assumed it might be land, but he couldn’t tell how far away it was, especially since he was not entirely sure how far out they’d been thrown by the waves. He tried and failed to stifle a yawn; his energy was running low, and time seemed to stretch and stand still for them while speeding up for the storm that was pursuing them. The odd smudge on the horizon never got any closer, and Gray began to think he was imagining things, like a desperate person seeing a mirage in the Sahara.
Riley hurried up beside him and rested her hand on his arm.
“Almost there,” he said, though he wasn’t sure how true it was.
“Good.” She was scared shitless but hanging on. She just wasn’t sure how much longer she could do it. When he leaned into her body, she felt better and leaned back against him.
The rain fell harder, obscuring the land ahead, and Gray swore again as the downpour met the heat to form a thickening veil of sea fog.
Riley’s voice cracked. “Is that bad?”
“No, we have the instruments,” he said, a fib if there ever was one. “It’s fine. No worries. We’re heading to the dock, and then we’ll hole up in a room somewhere and order the most enormous Chinese dinner in history.”
“Mmm. I like Chinese.”
“Me too, but I bet no fortune cookie woulda predicted this,” he said, then let out two deep breaths. This time it wasn’t only his life that rested on his ability to keep his head. Gray had never known true responsibility until that very moment, and the weight of Riley’s life in his hands felt too heavy, too crushing. In a way, it did crush him, smashing every ounce of immaturity within him, destroying the selfishness and the holding back of his heart. He felt it happen, felt it when all the things that had been standing between him and truly being a man—a man in love—were crushed to dust. Suddenly it was all up to him, and he had to be the man, an actual grownup. He had to keep her safe, and once all that pretense and boyish nonsense melted away beneath the weight of that responsibility, he was ready to bear it. He found himself wanting to protect her, and he held her life above his own. While he wanted to live, too, he had to make sure she did. His whole heart told him it didn’t matter if he died out there, as long as Riley Teeters went on to have a long, happy life. With that thought on his mind he doubled his efforts, doing his best to hold the boat steady. “Riley, go downstairs before you fall.”
“No. I’m not leaving you.”
“You might get hurt. Go.”
“I’ll hold on to something then. I’m not leaving you, Gray.”
“Damn it! Do you have to be so stubborn?” he muttered, then risked a glance at her face. She knew exactly how deadly the situation was, yet she chose to stay with him no matter how it was all going to play out. He felt a squeeze on his heart at the thought of that. Had anyone ever, in his entire life, cared for him this much? The simple answer was no, they hadn’t, and he vowed that as soon as they got to shore, back on dry land, he was going to tell her just how much he loved her. He couldn’t bear to say it in that moment, because he didn’t want it to sound like a farewell, like he was giving up, like that damn, pathetic goodbye speech of Jack’s in that Titanic movie. He sighed and looked over at her. “Hang on really tight then. It’s about to get bad up here.”
“Don’t worry, Captain. Because of you I’m getting used to all kinds of bad,” she said with a wink, then gave him another firm squeeze on the arm as he handled the controls.