Aaron strode to a stop in front of her, quieting his breathing from the hike up and back the boardwalk. “Didn’t really think this through ahead of time.”
Alex gave him a quizzical frown. “What?”
Aaron reached out and brushed her chin with his thumb and index finger as he searched her eyes. He turned his attention to her left hand and took it in his right. He caressed it for a moment. The objective of his trek up the pier became evident as he clamped the capped end of a permanent marker between his teeth. He pulled off the lid and proceeded to draw…
Aaron released her hand. Alex inspected his artwork. A single if slightly wobbly line drawn around her ring finger, a small heart connecting it on top. For what seemed the hundredth time this day, she gulped down the lump in her throat. Stable breath hard to come by, her eyelids fluttered.
“Like I said, I… really didn’t think this through… It’s been official for me, I think since the first time I saw you, and we’ll make it more official…” He recapped the marker.
She just stared, eyes wide, as in a trance.
That simple hand-drawn black line… the meaning it symbolized. All essence of time and surroundings vanished. Alex blinked at him, and tears rolled down her cheeks. Was it really possible for a person to survive this, having their emotions ripped from one end of the spectrum to the other all in one day? “That’s… that’s just about the most… I… I don’t think I’ve ever even heard of that before!”
She grabbed him in a tight hug again. All reserve left her, and she sobbed on his shoulder.
Her lock threatened to compress the air from his lungs. Aaron returned a secure hold to her quaking body. This was by far beyond any positive response he desired. His own eyes squeezed shut, he nuzzled the side of her neck.
“Whoa. Okay. I guess I’ll take that as a yes.”
The sunset had all but disappeared, now just a sliver of tangerine and purple on the horizon. Only a handful of people remained on the pier besides them, many of the rest having filtered back inside to see the band. Alex held Aaron’s hands, careful of his injured one.
“How long do you think it’ll take to heal? And how’s…?”
He followed her line of sight as her eyes shifted focus to his waist. Releasing her hands, he tugged the hem of one side of blue plaid flannel out of his jeans and pulled it up a couple of inches to show her.
Only an angry rouge track remained to mar tanned skin, its roughness and swelling already beginning to subside. In the end, the damage from Essex’s score held the good fortune to go no further than a painful, visible reminder and the requirement of a few internal and surface stitches via Les. Another scar in the making. Alex laid a tentative palm to his side and returned her eyes to his, her touch a soothing comfort not only to the wound on his body but also to his soul. He shrugged in a lighthearted gesture as he took her free hand again to reassure her.
“Les fixed me up pretty good. I heal fast.” A wink accompanied a lopsided smirk. “It’ll be fine as long as I keep the strenuous activities to a minimum for a while.”
Alex regarded him through her lashes as he lowered his shirttail. “Well, we’ll just have to be extra careful with you then.”
A devilish laugh and grin answered her. He rotated his hand as he let his gaze pause on it, a throaty sigh forcing the several shameless comments that came to mind into submission. “As for this, pinky’s broke. The other one’s sprained real bad. I don’t know, couple more weeks or so maybe?”
Alex nodded. “Guess you won’t be writing much for a while, huh?”
Aaron chuckled. “Didn’t know if you really noticed.”
She giggled at him. “Well, of course, silly. I’m a bit more attentive than that. And I didn’t think you wore your main holster on that side just for style.”
A slight bow of his head and a squeeze of her hand in appreciation of her observations and humor. He glanced around the pier, out at the ocean, returned his eyes to her. “What now?”
“Give me that.” She took the marker from him.
Aaron stopped her as she reached for his hand. He dug a fingernail at the end of the taped wrap.
“Wait, no, I can work around—”
“Mmm-mm…” He now had the end of the unrelenting tape in his teeth to tear it open. Success at last. He unwound the wrap, removed the splint, and presented his hand. “That’ll work better.”
Alex shook her head at him. With great care, she took his hand in her own. The familiar digits appeared as before, with their slight bends and large pads, but a catch developed in her throat at the fading purple-and-yellow discoloration the bandaging had concealed. She blinked and swallowed. Delicately and slowly she drew her own tiny heart and black band around his bruised finger. “There. Now we can wrap that back up.”
“Not just yet.”
Aaron eyed her drawing. A match to his, though much neater in form. That small return gesture with the deepest of meanings. He could understand why she lost it with his. He cleared his throat and glanced away, blinking back dampness from his own eyes. Damn.
Okay, son, get it together. He looked back to her, his knowing smirk not a bit successful in warding off the tears. They rolled down his cheeks and he bit his lip. She was back in his arms in a heartbeat. Right where she should be. Just a little longer. We gotta get off this pier.
He brought a hand up to rub his eyes and laughed to clear his head. “Okay. So I guess it’s official—you like being stuck with my sorry, crazy ass. Now what?”
Alex stepped back, playfulness lighting her features. She cocked her head and put her hands on her hips. “Hmm. You did put me through a lot more hell over the past couple of weeks.” She trapped her lower lip in her teeth. “And you’re definitely gonna pay for it.” The dimples at the corners of her mouth deepened in elvish charm. “Better have something real good in mind to make up for that.”
Aaron laughed, eyes flashing, and laced his fingers behind his neck, wincing as he forgot about his hurt ones. “Good one. That’s a good one.” He nodded at her, producing his half smile. “You bet I do. Where do you want to go?”
Alex stepped forward and looped her arms around his neck. He moved his hands to her waist as she brushed his lips with hers and pressed her forehead and nose to his. “Home.”
Aaron kissed Alex. “You up for a night ride?”
“Absolutely.”
Fingers interlaced on his belly, the warmth of his body pressed against her, Alex leaned into Aaron’s back, holding tight on the back of his motorcycle. The winding road and blurred outlines of trees whizzing past told her where they were headed. Higher elevation brought a chill to pine-scented air.
Tall lodgepoles and sugar pines inked black silhouettes against starlight above. Aaron parked the bike and led Alex by the hand through the dark. The crunch of their footsteps on pine needles and twigs echoed into shadowed mountain wilderness. The hoot of an owl sounded in the distance.
Away from the light pollution of civilization, stars shone with an intensity Alex hadn’t seen for some time. Their brightness filtered down through the trees to light the way and gave an ethereal glow to natural shapes on the forest floor. Chill air frosted breath, ghostly wisps in the sable of night.
Aaron stopped and clicked on a flashlight. A fire ring stacked with wood lay in front of them, brush and forest debris cleared well away from its stone-lined edge. He handed her the light. “Hold this.”
Several clicks from his lighter produced a glow in old pine needles and cones. The flames intensified, their orange-tinged flickers illuminating Aaron’s face. Alex switched off the flashlight and handed it back as he stood. Dry kindling crackled. A tent cozied nearby between a couple of immature ponderosas.
“Well,” Aaron said with a shrug, “it’s not exactly a house with a fireplace yet, but…”
Alex took hold of his hand and hugged his arm. “It’s perfect.”
Morning serenity and cold air. Aaron knelt at the campfire to stir and rouse the coals. Fresh k
indling and dry pinecones crackled to life under newly added logs. They’d be ready for making breakfast later. Smoke drifted skyward in a thin wispy column against the windless peace of sunrise.
Alex sat just inside the tent door, blanket wrapped snug around her. She giggled at Aaron when he shivered and pulled his leather jacket closer about his chest, tugging at the long hems of his sweatpants to hook over and cover bare toes.
“I won’t be out there long,” he’d told her. The cost of choosing to throw on only a couple of items of clothing before venturing out into the chill.
He shrugged back at her, his quirky grin dimpling red cheeks. He’d be back in soon enough to get warm. All the events from her first moment of seeing him on the dock at the ship, to this moment in time, swirled through her head. Would life ever be normal again? Not a chance. Would unusual circumstances arise from time to time? Excellent probability. Did she care? Not at all. He was worth every precious, crazy second and more. Another smile touched her lips.
She reached over to open her backpack and pulled out her notebook, the journal she’d started on the ship. Those few first records, quite a few since during the stay at the mountain compound, but nearly forgotten in recent weeks as everything unfolded into insanity. She ran a finger over its worn edge, removed her pen, and before she began to write, took a look back at her first line entry…
Boy, have I got a story to tell…
I sincerely hope you enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you did, I would greatly appreciate a short review on your favorite book website. Reviews are crucial for any author, and even just a line or two can make a huge difference. Thanks so much,
R. Jayne Revere
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R. Jayne Revere grew up in the rural Midwest. Stories of adventure and thrills always captured her attention, as well as those where attraction develops under unusual and chaotic circumstances. Putting her active imagination to use, she combines those elements along with a hint of the mystical in her books. Nature photography is another creative outlet for her, and her love of the natural world always finds its way into her fiction.
When she’s not writing or dreaming up her next story, she can be found on outdoor adventures, traveling, and enjoying time with her awesome family and friends and adored cats.
She appreciates a good coffee, and like her character creation, Alex Thomas, she can hit that two-foot target at seventy-five yards.
If you love a good high-stakes action/thriller with a healthy dose of romance and a touch of the supernatural, you’re in the right place.
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Off the Deep End Page 31
