Finding Haven

by Foster, T. A.

  He started toward the launch and noticed she was already ten yards out in the water.

  “Hey, I thought we were paddling together!” he shouted across the water.

  “We are. See if you can catch up.” With that, she dipped the end of her paddle in the water and made a deep stroke next to her kayak, propelling her farther ahead.

  Evan recognized a challenge when he saw one. His competitive quarterback side kicked in, and he ran toward the launch, tossing the kayak forward, and jumped into the open seat. He fumbled with the paddle until he had an even stroke, crossing his chest like a figure eight. She was fast, surprisingly fast, but he knew he could catch her.

  Instead of turning into the open sound water, Haven steered into a creek where she seemed to be able to pick up speed. Evan sliced the paddle through the water, pressing hard with his shoulders. He caught her smile as she looked over her shoulder to gauge his distance. She continued to steer straight as the creek narrowed. The rows of houses and piers were behind them.

  Only a few more yards. He was so close. Adrenaline surged through his veins, and he felt his heart pump harder as he worked to overtake her boat. He plunged the tip deeper into the water, sending him within inches of the orange kayak in front of him. The bow of his boat sailed past Haven. He jumped up victoriously.

  “Yes! Gotcha. Yes! Yes!”

  “Sit down!” Haven screamed, but it was too late.

  “Whoa-whoa-whoa!” Evan rocked back and forth on his feet and tried to steady the vessel, but he had already disturbed the natural balance of the boat.

  “Jay!” Haven managed to yell his fake name before he landed on her kayak, flipping both of them over and into the saltwater creek.

  Evan popped to the surface, realizing he could touch the murky bottom.

  “You ok?” Evan sputtered the words as he reached for his capsized victim. He thought he felt something brush past his leg, and he knew it wasn’t Haven.

  “What in the hell?” She brushed her hair out of her face and spit out a mouthful of water.

  “Sorry, about that. I guess I got a little carried away with my victory.” He shrugged his shoulders in apology.

  “Victory? I didn’t know it was an official race. I was just kidding around.” She grabbed onto the side of her boat and tossed the paddle in the cockpit. She looked mad.

  Evan stared at her. What had gotten into him? He had sped through the marina and creek like a NASCAR driver. Albeit, an incredibly fast and triumphant driver, but still he may have let things get out of hand. The last thing he wanted was to piss her off.

  “And I thought you weren’t much of a kayaker,” he teased. Obviously, she had downplayed her aquatic skills. He should have known better. The girl grew up on an island and ran a kayak stand.

  He couldn’t stop staring. This was worse than the urge to race after her in the boat. Her white T-shirt clung to her skin, the water making it almost transparent. His eyes landed on the lacy outline of her bra; it was hard to miss with the way her chest was heaving. The scalloped edges stuck to the tops of her perfectly round breasts. Damn.

  “You could help me with this part.” Her voice jerked his eyes away from her chest.

  “What?” At least he kept himself from stammering.

  “Help me get back in the kayak,” she urged. Evan thought she noticed where his eyes had been.

  The water was almost chest-deep for her and even though she tried several times to hoist herself into the cockpit, it was proving impossible without a boost.

  He reached below the surface of the water and wrapped his hands on either side of her waist.

  “Here we go. One. Two. Three.” At the end of the count, he shifted her upward, giving her room to toss her leg over the side.

  “Thanks. Think you can manage to get in yours by yourself? I don’t think I can help you from here, but you can always swim back.” She adjusted the paddle in her hand and began spinning around to face him.

  His kayak had drifted a few yards from them. “I’ve got this. No problem.” He swam over to the boat and surveyed how he was going to get back onboard without making an idiot of himself for the second time.

  He was almost a professional athlete. He rarely called in a stunt double on the movie sets. He could get back in a kayak.

  “You ok over there?” Haven called. She floated closer.

  “Yep.” He eyed the boat again and decided just to go for it. Damn any more embarrassment.

  He pressed hard with his palms and lifted his frame out of the water. Nailed it. He grabbed the paddle and circled toward her. Although, now that he was in the boat, he realized how uncomfortable his wet T-shirt was. He laid the paddle across his knees and peeled the shirt over his chest. The warmth of the sun’s rays felt good as they hit his shoulders.

  And there it was. The reaction he had tried all day to get. A satisfied smile spread across his face. However, before he could revel in his true victory, Haven took her eyes off Evan’s chest, just as she collided into his kayak, sending him back into the salty creek.

  “SORRY. OH my God, I’m so sorry.” She floated closer to the overboard new-hire. He was smiling and searching the water for his shirt. “I wasn’t paying attention.” She wasn’t going to tell him it was because the water running down his sculpted abs had made her lose any sense of reality.

  “I think we can say we’re even.” He plucked his shirt from the water and wrung it out before tossing it into the boat.

  Haven noticed he didn’t seem mad. Although, she was more than annoyed he had sent her tumbling into the creek. The only reason she had agreed to take him out was so that she could ask him more about his writing. Somehow, that had turned into a race and now they were both soaking wet. She hadn’t even gotten in the first question about his book.

  “Maybe we should get back to the docks before either of us goes overboard again,” she suggested.

  Her eyes followed every muscle along his shoulders and back as he hoisted himself into the seat. She had no idea all of that was under his T-shirt when she hired him. She bit hard on her lip and closed her eyes, willing herself not to think all kinds of dirty thoughts. Like how those muscles might feel under fingertips and pressed against her. No, bad idea—very irresponsible and dangerous idea.

  “Sure. Maybe we can try this again another time.” He smiled at her, and then breezed past her in his kayak.

  Haven paddled, matching his slow pace. Jay sat relaxed in his kayak, cruising slowly enough to see an egret in the marsh and a turtle slip off a log. There was so much more to see when you weren’t racing through the creek. The orange hues of the sun cast the entire creek into a fiery dream. She could tell he was taking it all in.

  “So, what do you think of Perry Island?” She was almost completely parallel to him. They glided at a steady rhythm, unlike their earlier sprint.

  “It’s got something I’ve been searching for for a long time.” He sounded pensive. A mullet hopped in front of them.

  “Really? What could that possibly be? We don’t even have a movie theater.”

  Haven knew that vacationers loved the island. The beaches were beautiful and the seafood was always fresh, but they didn’t know what it was really like. If anyone of them had spent a winter here, they would think differently. Everything shut down. The tourists were gone, the landscape turned brown, and the chill from the humid winds cut right to the bone.

  “No movie theater? Well, that explains some things.” He eased into the boat launch.

  Haven waited until her bow touched the incline of the ramp before hopping to the side. “Yeah, no movie theater, no mall, no hospital. It’s like we’re cut off from civilization out here.”

  “Sounds perfect, if you ask me.” He rested the paddle in the cockpit as he stepped out of the boat.

  “Perfect? Where are you from? It’s boring and there’s nothing to do. I miss Chapel Hill and people who are interesting.”

  She hadn’t stopped mourning her college life. Graduation was over
a month ago, and sometimes she still felt like she was still on summer break, as if classes were waiting for her in the fall. However, she knew if she didn’t have a job lined up by September, she would be right here doing the same thing, day after day.

  “I guess I don’t need much entertainment.” He winked as he turned to grab her boat and lift it into the rack.

  It was a simple gesture, a flirty gesture, which she had received hundreds of times, but this was the first time she felt nervous and as if she had just had a few sips of wine. She wanted him to do it again.

  “That’s not what I mean. I know how to have a good time, but living on an island, you see the same people over again, have the same conversations, hear the same news. I miss the interesting people. The ones I haven’t known my whole life.”

  “Would you consider a writer an interesting person?” His voice was serious, but laced with so much flirtation.

  He was bold. It didn’t take much interaction with him to know he was a professional flirt, but she couldn’t help but like it. He was good at it.

  “Maybe. Depends on the writing.” It didn’t hurt to flirt a little. Her back was turned, but she heard him laugh. It made her grin.

  “I see.” He lifted the kayak next to her. “I’m from a small town too. It’s not all that bad. There’s something to be said for people knowing who you really are.”

  “Right. Like knowing when you sneak out of your parents’ house when you’re twelve, or everyone knowing you made straight As on your report card, or did you like the part about people giving you advice on what you should do with your life?”

  She tightened the loops of the straps and made sure the kayaks wouldn’t fall over when they stepped away.

  “Agreed. That part of small town life is rough, but it’s home. You can travel the world and live in twenty different cities, but deep down, there is only one home. You’ve got to love this place.” She knew the answer he was expecting to hear from her. It would be too complicated to tell him how much she loved the island, but at the same time how much they needed a break from each other. Perry was stifling her.

  “I do. I will always love it, but that doesn’t mean I have to stay.” This conversation had suddenly turned more serious than she wanted. The more Jay talked, the more she kept revealing. It was already a bad habit.

  “I get it. Sometimes you have to leave home for a while to realize it’s the place you’re really supposed to be.” His hand gripped the kayak even though she had already secured it. It was as if he needed the extra balance.

  “Speaking from experience?” she asked, wondering what had made him so pensive. All day he had been nothing but smiles.

  “You could say that. I just miss home some days more than others.” He stepped back from the row of boats and adjusted his sunglasses.

  Haven knew there was truth in what he said. She liked to remember her college days as the perfect escape from the island, but there were times when she missed the ocean sounds and the friendly faces of home. Wherever Jay was from must be calling to him right now.

  She tried to run her hands through her hair, but the creek water had tangled it. “Well, thanks, Jay, for everything today.”

  “Everything?”

  “Yeah, taking the job. You really bailed me out this morning.” The encounter with her father and Travis turning in his notice seemed like it was days ago. What were the chances she would be able to fill the position so quickly? “But, I need to change out of these clothes, and you might want to put on a shirt.” It was hard to talk to him while he stood dripping, shirtless, and all of a sudden looking incredibly edible.

  He looked at his shorts and laughed. “Maybe not a bad idea. So, what time do I need to be here in the morning? Is it really five thirty?”

  Finally, someone who recognized five thirty was the most ridiculous time to go to work. “Yes, sorry about that part. The fishermen are in early. They like to get their coffee and donuts.”

  He slung his shirt over his shoulder. “All right. I’ll see you in the morning.” He turned and started walking toward the parking lot.

  “Jay! Wait.” The words were out before she could take them back.

  “Yeah?” He looked as confused as she felt.

  “Since you’re new and everything, would you want to get something to eat? But, totally not a big deal if you can’t, because you’re probably tired and you need to change and then you have to be here so early and—”

  “Sure.”

  Haven’s pulse whirled, making her feel slightly off balance.

  “Oh, really? Cool.” She hadn’t thought past the invitation.

  “I have an idea. Why don’t you come to my place? I have a feeling it’s part of the island you might not know so well. Maybe it will be something different.”

  “Like have dinner at your place?” Now her stomach was doing flips. This was starting to feel like a date. When he started walking away, a part of her wanted him to stay a little longer, but a date, that was something else. Although, she questioned why she would be resistant to him. He was cute and sexy. All day, he had made her laugh and he had this crazy calming effect on her that was hard to ignore.

  “I can’t guarantee it will be the best meal, but yeah, let’s try it. Consider it my thank you for the job.”

  Haven didn’t know how to react. She already knew that this dinner was crossing the line, but it was hard to explain how something about Jay put her at ease, no matter how many times she caught him checking her out today.

  “Yeah, we can talk about writing.” She had tried all day to bring it up, but he kept asking work-related questions. Maybe over dinner, she would get to ask him if words hit him like they did her. If he woke up in the middle of night with a life or death mission to get the words out. Yes, there were things she definitely wanted to ask him. “But since you dunked me in the creek, I need to change. Give me the address and I’ll meet you in an hour.”

  He smiled. “Ok. I’m at the Perry Campground, last trailer on the right. You’ll see the name, Silver Belle.”

  “I don’t know what to make fun of first: the campground or the name.” She giggled and pulled her bike from the rack.

  “It’s high living for me.” He retrieved a pair of keys from his soggy shorts. “See you in an hour.”

  “Bye.” She grasped the handlebars and pushed down on the pedals—half-watching Jay, and half-watching the road in front of her.

  In an hour’s time, she would be having dinner with a handsome writer. Haven didn’t think she could have written a better ending to her day if she had tried.

  EVAN SPUN into his usual parking space near Silver Belle, and raced into the camper. It looked like a tornado had blasted through the place. What was he thinking asking a girl over? Two weeks of solitude were starting to take their toll on his judgment. He shook his head and started hiding all signs of his bachelor lifestyle.

  He pulled the trash from the bin and tied the sack. As soon as he exited the camper, Charlotte stopped him. This was her usual time to hit the sand for beachcombing.

  “Hey, stranger. Haven’t seen you all day,” she purred.

  “Hey, Charlotte.” He didn’t have time for this. “I’m kind of in a hurry.”

  “Oh shoot. I was going to ask if you wanted to come over for a beer after my walk. I have your favorite. You drink that Texas stuff, right?”

  “That’s real nice of you, but actually, I have a friend coming over tonight.” Maybe this was the deterrent the woman needed. If she saw him with another girl, she might take the hint.

  “Oh, that’s too bad. But, baby, don’t worry. That beer won’t go bad. We’ll just do it another time.” She patted him on the shoulder as she headed down to the beach.

  Evan was convinced nothing would dissuade Charlotte. He clutched the trash bag in his hand, and jogged to the dumpster near the office. He still had a few minutes to jump in the shower before Haven arrived.

  EVAN LOOKED in the mirror one more time and rubbed his palm aga
inst the smoothness of his jaw. He looked more like himself than he had in weeks. He liked the beard, but it wasn’t really him. It was a part of letting everything go in his life—his diet, his friends, his career. He liked his face better this way. There was a small amount of cologne in a bottle he had thrown in his overnight bag. Careful not to overpower the air, he pressed halfway on the trigger. This was getting more and more like a date. He couldn’t argue Haven had been the one to ask him to get dinner. He just took the reins and asked her over here. He hadn’t set out to make a date with her or any girl this summer. As far as he was concerned, he was off the market and only here to relax and unwind. Tonight was all about having a good time.

  He pushed open the camper door to check on the fire he had lit before his shower. The coals were blazing red and orange. He hoped she like steak, because that was what was on the menu. So many girls he dated ate salads and fat-free cardboard, he didn’t know what real girls ate anymore.

  A smile formed on his face, thinking back to her expression when they tumbled into the creek. She was more real than any girl he had been around in a long time.

  He rolled the sleeves on his plaid shirt and slid his feet into his new flip-flops. He knew he looked like a combination of a Texas boy and a Carolina transplant, but he felt comfortable in the khaki shorts and his old shirt. It was better than a tux.

  He heard the music blaring from Pirate’s Booty. Charlotte must be back from her walk to collect seashells. She had buckets of them all over her yard. He didn’t understand why she brought new ones back everyday, but he didn’t understand much about his neighbor.

  The fire blazed as he poked it a few times with a skewer. The moon was bright on the horizon as he tried to pick out a few stars. The sky never looked the same as it did in Texas. His heart hurt a little thinking about Texas and when life was easy and simple. He missed his ranch. The pounding surf in the distance reminded him he wasn’t done here. It wasn’t time to leave yet, even though he didn’t know who or what had set the timer. It just wasn’t time.