When I see the first sign of the island along the horizon, sometime before sunset, my heart flutters in my chest, and the closer we get to it, the harder it becomes for me to stand upright.
My knees don't want to hold me up as I consider saying farewell to so many good, wonderful things. But I know that I have to do it.
I need closure, so that I can move on with the rest of my life.
But as we pull up to the island, toward the little harbor and beach where the helicopters landed, where we'd made camp, my heart stills in my chest.
Because there's another boat docked against the beach.
It's a small vessel, much smaller than The Mermaid. It must be one of Brendan's boats. Maybe they've already started development for the hotel. That would be impulsive, too fast, but not out of character for him. And the idea that this island will someday sport a luxury hotel makes me feel like crying, but I swallow my tears, square my shoulders, and squint harder at the boat.
It's small, maybe a little bigger than the Swan Song was, and it looks new.
And it has an odd name, The Compromise.
As Jack coaxes The Mermaid up to the shore, I stare at the second boat, trying to catch sight of its inhabitants, but there's no one on board. I stare and stare, confused by the tangle of feelings inside of me—until I realize that there's something unexpected coming alive in my heart: hope.
Because somehow, somewhere in the back of my mind, I suspect that this boat might belong to Ivy.
That's crazy, though. How could Ivy acquire another boat so quickly? She couldn't. Maybe, like me, she's chartered a boat to come out here to say goodbye to the place.
Maybe...
Jack anchors our boat, and he gets out his plastic dinghy and tosses it down into the water. Hope is still rushing through me as I hop into the dinghy, promising Jack that I'll be back very soon. I take the plastic oars from him as he salutes me with a big grin.
There is hope alive in me as I begin to paddle quickly and awkwardly toward the shore.
When the boat bottom hits the sand, a shiver races across my skin. I pull the dinghy up onto the beach, out of reach of the encroaching tide, and then I set off in a run toward the abandoned campsite.
Has it only been a few days since we were here? Oddly, it feels like a lifetime since I last set foot on this beach, and also like it was only a moment ago. That strange duality isn't lost on me as I skid to a halt next to the burned-out signal fire. I'm panting, my hands on my knees as I cast around the campsite...but everything is still in place, exactly the way we left it. I duck my head into the stick tepee that I shared with Ivy, but there's no one there.
I lift my chin, turning my steps toward the waterfall this time. The hope is rushing through me like my blood, like all of the feelings that I've had for Ivy and kept inside of me, all of the feelings that I never even told her about...
I never told her that I loved her. I was afraid. I was so afraid that she would end up hurting me, but I should have been brave, should have been courageous enough to tell her exactly how I felt. That I loved her, deeply, that I'd fallen for her, head over heels.
That I couldn't imagine my life without her. That every day would pale without her companionship, that she completed me in every sense of the word, and that on this island, with her, I had become something different. Someone better.
I had become the person I was meant to be. Because I loved her.
Breathing hard, I run through the forest to the waterfall. I follow the familiar path, my heart thundering inside of me...
And when I shove through the underbrush, when I arrive, breathless, at the edge of the stream's pool, beside the waterfall...
There she is.
Ivy is sitting on the rocky outcrop just above the pool, eating a peach.
I stare at her for a long moment, spellbound. Part of me is afraid that if I blink, if I look away, even for a heartbeat, she'll disappear—like the mythical creature she always seemed to be.
But this isn't a dream.
This moment is real.
And Ivy holds up a second peach with a small smile, her legs crossed beneath her. There's a playful tilt to her head as her lips curl up at the corners. Her sea-green eyes regard me with warmth...with love.
She extends her arm, holds the peach out to me. “I had a craving,” Ivy explains, smiling softly.
Heat rushes through me as I gaze at her, as my heart rises so high in my chest that I can feel every crack mending, every broken bit repaired. “So did I,” I whisper.
Ivy stands up in one fluid motion, the peach falling from her hand as she opens her arms to me. And then I'm running to her, falling into her arms, holding her tightly, as if I'll never let go again.
I kiss her hard. I kiss her fiercely, every feeling I've had over these past few days culminating in this one moment, this one action.
I cover her mouth, her face, with kisses as we both laugh and cry, holding each other, staring at each other. “What are you doing here?” I breathe out.
“Well, I'm going to live here,” Ivy says simply, holding me out at arm's length. In the encroaching darkness, her eyes are shining as brightly as stars.
“You...what?” I gape.
Ivy grins at me. “Funny thing,” she says, raising a brow. “I talked to some fancy lawyers, and they assured me that I could get a pretty penny from Brendan for persuading me to put my boat—and the lives of everyone on board—in harm's way. So, Brendan and I...we made a little arrangement.”
Ivy spreads her arms, encompassing what I'm assuming to be...the entire island.
“Wait...that's impossible. He gave you this island?”
She shrugs a little, grinning hugely. “Well, he gave my brother and me this island. Apparently, according to Brendan's lawyer, the island isn't desirable, anyway, considering the frequent storms that happen around here. No big structures could ever be built here safely.” She shakes her head. “But who cares about big structures? Oh, and I got a new little boat out of the deal, too,” she says, her smile growing even wider. “What'd you think of her?”
I blink. “The Compromise?”
“See,” Ivy begins, stepping closer to me. She slides a finger beneath the strap of the tank top I'd stripped down to; I left my my blouse on Jack's boat. “A little while ago,” she murmurs, her eyes darkening with desire, “I got stranded on a deserted island with the most gorgeous woman I've ever met.”
I stare up at her, breathless, as her fingertips gently glide down my shoulder, taking the tank top and bra strap with it.
“And it kind of made me rethink, well, everything,” she says, pausing for a moment, as she searches my face. “I've always been this wanderer, never wanting to put down roots. Never wanting anything to last. But now...” She trails off, and then her arms are around my shoulders, my waist, drawing me close to her, hip to hip, heart to heart. I wrap my arms around her shoulders, inhaling deeply my favorite scent, the salt of the ocean mixed with all that is Ivy.
“Now...” I prompt her breathlessly, as she begins to kiss my shoulder, her mouth hot against my skin.
“Now,” she whispers, her lips against me, “I'm wondering if you'd be willing to give me a chance to start my life over—” She backs away, pinning me to the spot with her electric green eyes. “With you.” And then she lifts her chin, her eyes flashing. “I love you, Gillian.”
Tears are falling out of my eyes as I stare at her, and then I'm drawing her close again, kissing her hard at first, and then gently. “I love you, too,” I tell her, laughing. And then: “Are you serious?” I chuckle a little through my tears. “I just want to make sure.”
While we're kissing, Ivy slides my other strap off of my shoulder and begins to kiss my neck.
“Would a pirate lie?” she asks, smiling against my skin.
“But what will we do? How will we live?” I start to think about logistics, but Ivy shuts me down with another beautiful, sly smile.
“Figure we'll build a house,” Ivy says
between kisses, as she slowly begins to undress me, tugging the tank top down completely. “Maybe start a peach farm.”
“A peach farm...” I whisper, my breath coming in gasps now.
“Sure. Why not? And you can take pictures, and I can ferry our peaches to the mainland, maybe even write a little. And we can make love anywhere the hell we want—because this is our island,” says Ivy, and though she's busy unzipping my skirt, she rises now, wrapping her arms tightly around my waist and pulling me to her.
I hold her tightly, the blood rushing through me, love and need twining together in a perfect rhythm. “Ours...” I breathe, aching with joy. I glance at Ivy then, perplexed. “But what will we name it?”
“Don't worry,” says Ivy, pressing a kiss over my heart. “Already got that covered.”
And then she points to a rustic sign nailed to a nearby banana tree.
In oil pastels, Ivy painted Gillian's Island on the driftwood.
She kisses me there, in the center of our island, while the very first stars of the night appear overhead, bright and shining in the glorious evening sky.
And I am exactly where I belong.
The End
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Drawn to You – Could you learn to love—and trust—again after suffering a painful betrayal? A novel about two women who, after the course of one eventful week, realize they were meant to be together.
Love Stories – Escape for an hour or two in the tender, passionate pages of Love Stories. In her first collection of lesbian romantic short stories, Natalie Vivien offers nine romantic tales of love found and broken hearts mended. Each story features a woman who finds herself altered—and empowered—by love.
The Thousand Mile Love Story – Would you take a thousand mile road trip with your best friends...and the ex who broke your heart? A novel about two women who fall in love all over again, and the funny mishaps a thousand mile road trip can bring.
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Falling for Hope: The Hope Stories Collection – A sweet, romantic series of stories about a group of women who go camping, and the two women who fall in love.
These and more are available now.
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About the Author
Natalie Vivien writes love stories, because she lives a love story that inspires her every day. Together with her wife, author Bridget Essex, for over a decade and married for over eight years, they are madly and passionately in love, and build a good, cozy life together with several fur babies who get away with murder because they're so adorable.
Natalie and Bridget founded Rose and Star Press in 2014, a publisher of lesbian romance and fiction of distinction. Lesbian romance is Natalie's life's work, and she hopes very much that you enjoyed Gillian's Island.
Learn more about Natalie at http://natalievivien.wordpress.com or send her an email at [email protected].
Learn more about Rose and Star Press, publishers of lesbian romance and fiction of distinction, at http:///www.LesbianRomance.org
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
About the Author
Gillian's Island Page 16
