“No, it’s all right. I’ve come full circle now. When I arrived on this island, I thought it was further punishment. But when you explained God’s forgiveness to Crystal, I realized that even though I’d deserted God, I’d never ceased being His beloved. I never stopped believing in Him—I just wallowed in my guilt instead of having the sense to come back home.” She laid her other hand on his, sandwiching his big hand between her two small ones. “Jake, you not only helped Crystal, but me too. I’m back in the sheepfold where I belong, and I’m singing halleluiah!”
He eked out a smile, but her joy was hers to exult in, not his. He wasn’t a lost sheep. He’d never strayed from the sheepfold. So why had the green pastures and still waters been taken away?
“What about you, Jake? How are you doing?”
His gaze shifted to the Lone Soldier. He pulled his hand away and pointed at the skeleton. “That’s how I’m doing.”
“I don’t understand.”
His chest tightened, radiating tension up his neck to his jaws. “I miss Ginny terribly.” He cast a wry smile Betty’s way. “You heard my ranting. Later I wondered, is Ginny what I want, more than I want God? Is that why I find no comfort in Him?” He shook his head. “No. There’s no doubt in my mind. No doubt in my heart. I want God more than I want anything or anyone.”
He turned his head to the skeleton and spat out the words, “Just like the Lone Soldier wanted his motherland.”
Betty sat in silence, her brow furrowed. When she spoke, her voice was soft. “Sounds to me as if you’re saying you’ve been loyal to God, but He hasn’t been loyal to you. Jake, you know God doesn’t abandon His loved ones.”
He scowled.
“He hasn’t abandoned you, Jake.”
“No?” He twisted to confront her, eyeball to eyeball. “Then what has He done to my life?”
* * *
Above them, Eve stood at the edge of the small plateau, her fingers gripping her shirt tighter with every word until her knuckles paled. Jake’s answer to Betty, mounting like the red-hot lava of an erupting volcano, stunned her.
Not about wanting God—she didn’t care about that. But about being abandoned. Abandoned. Her heart pounded so hard her whole body shook. That was the horrifying truth undergirding her nightmare about the wolves.
Her own volcano erupted with frightening intensity. Whatever terror the wolves were, her father hadn’t rescued her from them—that part she understood. What was new was that he hadn’t cared. Hadn’t cared! He had abandoned her to them. Had made that deliberate choice.
The shock registered a 7.0 on the Richter scale of her heart. It knocked flat every thought, every memory, every emotion. Except one. The one that revealed her sprawled by the roadside, dumped like trash from a fleeing vehicle.
She turned numbly as Crystal, panting, her shirt as stuffed with fruit as Eve’s, skittered off the mountain path and onto the plateau. “Thanks for waiting. I dropped the mangosteens and had to chase them.”
Eve blinked. Below them, Jake and Betty craned their necks to spot them.
“We’re ba-ack,” Crystal sang out. She sat on her bottom and scooted down the plateau to the trench. “We are fruit-rich!” She giggled and lowered the front of her shirt to reveal her cache. “C’mon, Eve, no fair jumping!”
Eve backed away from the edge and obediently slid down the plateau. She clasped the fruit to her chest as if it were something precious. Something she must not let go of. Inside the cave, she gently deposited the fruit onto the table.
A mental fog, so thick she could hardly push through it, stilled her hands, her feet, her brain. She stood, vaguely aware of Jake bumbling off to the sleeping corridor, of Betty and Crystal pawing over the fruit spread across the bamboo slats of the table.
“Did you hear me?” Betty whispered fiercely. “Jake needs your help!”
That caught her attention. She elbowed out of the fog. God-abandoned hero needs help of father-abandoned wolf victim. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “Tell me again.”
“Exercise,” Betty hissed. “Help him recover. Keep him busy with goals. Get him over this grump hump he’s facing.”
“He knows how to exercise, Betty. He doesn’t need me nagging him. We’d both hate it.”
“You said you’d be a blessing to him from now on. Well, here’s your chance.”
Blessing? Keeping her distance would be the blessing, not ramping up time spent with him. A feeling of light-headedness weaseled into her heart at the thought of an excuse to be with him. Could she handle it without giving herself away?
She shook her head. “Sorry, it won’t work.”
“You can help him get his mind off his problems,” Betty persisted. “Give him something to be successful at. You owe it to him.”
“I don’t—” Owe him anything? She gritted her teeth. Only her life. Her heart, too, although she couldn’t reveal that. “Okay, Betty, I don’t think he’ll go for it, but I’ll offer.”
And hope, for her heart’s sake, that he rejected it.
* * *
Sighing, Eve set two stones weighing some five pounds apiece onto the flattened grass halfway down the trench. Her heartbeat quickened as Jake stuck his head out the cave door and inched his way like an ancient, emaciated tortoise into the morning sunshine. She ached to help him to his feet, to feel his arm clasping her shoulders while they plodded side by side down the trench for his morning walk. But that was not what Jake wanted. His plan was recovery, not intimacy. Fine. That’s what she’d help him with then.
She stood with her hands loosely at her sides. No folding her arms—that looked authoritative. Jake was the one in charge here; he’d made that clear. She was still surprised he’d agreed to let her assist him with an exercise plan. The patter of her heartbeat slowed at remembering the expression on his face when she’d offered. Definitely not a look of appreciation. More like she was cod liver oil, distasteful but good for the health.
“I found two rocks for you.” She retrieved them from the grass and held them up. Oh, good grief—she was acting like a ten year old trying to win the approval of a dumb boy too young to be aware of girls yet.
“Good. Thanks.” Jake didn’t even glance at her. His attention was focused on where he placed his steps on the uneven terrain of the trench.
Ah, that was probably why he’d said yes. For him to trip now, or to fall short in any of his exercise goals, meant humiliation. Betty or Crystal would give him sympathy and be easy on him, but certainly not Eve. No, he’d think of her as being as hard-nosed as a boot-camp drill sergeant. She crunched her bottom lip between her front teeth. So, was that a compliment or a finger pointing to yet another of her faults?
His smile when he reached her set her heart thumping even faster. So what if the grin was because he’d gone the distance without stumbling—that big flash of teeth said he was sharing the success with her. She couldn’t help but return the smile. But she didn’t compliment him. Not when her role was to be the tough guy.
“Ready?” As soon as he stopped next to her, she held out the two stones.
He settled his puffing with a big intake of breath, took hold of the rocks, and shifted his feet into a wider stance. “Curls first, then presses.”
She counted for him, her stomach clenching toward the end at seeing him strain to barely lift the rocks. Her sigh at the finish was as heavy with relief as his. “Good job, Jake.” An understatement, really. She relieved him of the stones and set them where no one would trip over them.
The last part of his plan was to walk back to the cave. How was he going to do that when, simply standing there, his whole body trembled from his exertion with the stones?
Sometimes you just had to overrule good intentions. Stepping past him, she took his hand and fastened it onto her shoulder with her own grip. She pivoted to face the cave. “Jailbird’s march,” she commanded. Her step forward forced him to step with her. His weight jolted through his arm to her shoulder, so that she had to brace herself to keep from
sprawling on the grass. But he didn’t protest the change of plans. Step, brace, step, brace. Slower than an ancient tortoise, they made it back to the cave door without falling.
Jake sank to his knees at the entrance and sat back against the cliff with a deep huff. Crawling inside didn’t look like a viable option.
“I’ll get us some water.” She brought them each a coconut shell filled from the bucket inside the cave.
“Didn’t realize I was this bad off.” Jake held the shell with both hands to drink.
“You did well. I was impressed.” She let the compliment sink in. Then, with a wicked snicker, “Ready to do it again tonight?” That was the plan. His plan. And she was the tough guy helping him out.
His cheek twitched in a half-hearted smile.
A week later, the trench was an easy walk. They moved the routine down to the cove, where Jake could also bathe. Heavier rocks and longer distances were added, until, at the end of a month, he announced he was fit and ready to resume his responsibilities. His body was no longer a mirror image of the skeletal Lone Soldier, but was filled out with regained weight and muscle.
In fact, he looked quite good. With shaggy, dark auburn hair curling onto his neck, his beard a startling orange, and the katana sword strapped across his bare chest and back, he rated the title of Island Warrior. He laughed at that.
He laughed a lot now, smiled a lot. Betty beamed at the change. “Nice work, Eve. Nothing builds up a man like achieving his goals.”
If only the laughter and joy were in reaction to her. Oh, she knew how to attract a man’s attention, to let him know he was an item of interest. But that wasn’t what she wanted with Jake. She’d had enough of shallow relationships.
Clearly he thought of her as a comfortable companion, nothing more. And that was how they’d remain.
She’d have no problem keeping her love a secret.
Chapter 46
Jake poked his head out of the sleeping corridor. “Eve, now that we’ve found the axe, do you want to check on the bamboo with me tomorrow?” The thought of tramping all alone over the island squeezed the juice out of his brain. Last time he’d been gone that long, he spent the whole time thinking of Ginny, missing her until it drove him crazy. The memories were sweet, but only in small doses. Three solid days would take him over the edge.
Eve hesitated before turning from the hearth fire, but Crystal whipped right around. “I want to go!”
Why hadn’t he thought of that? “Works for me, Pumpkin. We’ll be gone two nights, if that’s all right with your aunt.”
“Please, Aunty?”
Betty rose from her chair at the hearth to face Jake. “I wouldn’t sleep a wink.” Already she was wringing her hands.
“But I’ll be with Jake. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“You’d be going through that croc land and around the swamp,” Betty croaked. “Right, Jake?”
“Right.” No way Betty would relent after his and Eve’s croc story from the typhoon. “Tell you what, Pumpkin, next time I go to the volcano top, I’ll take you with me. Since we’re all out of marshmallows, we’ll roast a snake or two up there to gnaw on.”
Snakes—the little ones—had become Crystal’s favorite treat. From the glower on her face, though, not enough of a treat to replace a three day trip with him. Truth to tell, he was disappointed too.
“Take Eve with you if she’ll go,” Betty said. “Crystal and I will be fine.”
He looked back at Eve. “You up for it?” Funny how they’d all changed. Eight months ago he’d never have thought city-girl Eve capable of roughing it. Now she was all smiles at the prospect.
Her voice percolated enthusiasm. “I’ve been wanting to check out the bamboo.”
“Good, then I’ll get you up early with me.” He ducked back into the sleeping corridor. Guess he had changed too. Eight months ago he’d have died rather than ask Eve along. But once her drive to attend that court date got out of her system, she’d proven herself a real trooper. Much more cooperative. Likeable, even.
His eagerness to leave woke him several times before enough light peeked through the portals to warrant rising. He roused Eve, and they slipped out quietly to avoid waking Crystal. He wouldn’t put it past the child to sneak after them.
Eve chuckled at the idea. “And risk Betty’s wrath? I don’t think so.”
Good point. Winning her aunt’s trust was proving a tough challenge for the poor kid.
He strapped the katana sword onto his back, and Eve fastened a bayonet onto her side. Last night, she had finished everyone’s moccasins made from the deer hide. They weren’t bad, considering she hadn’t known how to cure the hide, but the the two shirts made from the leopard skin were as stiff as armored vests. She wore hers over her ragged T-shirt, but he was waiting until his stitches healed. And no matter how much she protested, he was going to wear his inside out with the soft fur next to his skin.
He took off at a trot, Eve easily keeping pace with him. She was only inches shorter than he, compared to Ginny, who was a foot shorter and needed him to slow down for them to walk together. Walking or running, Eve’s long legs were a match for his. She’d demonstrated that well enough during their exercise sessions. Only after he’d won their last few foot races was he ready to declare himself fully recovered.
In no time at all, even with stopping to pick fruit, they arrived at the beach where Betty and Crystal had landed. Where he’d swum out to rescue Eve. He paused to gaze at the tossing ocean. Now that he knew how far away the tip of the island was, he marveled that the current hadn’t swept the two of them out to sea.
God’s intervention? Or just the way things had worked out? If he hadn’t rescued Eve, she wouldn’t have been there to sew up his wounds from the leopard. He’d have bled to death. Crystal and Betty would have been left alone and defenseless on the island. Gratitude at how the events had lined up swelled his heart.
But if God were going to intervene, why not do it before Captain Emilio killed all the passengers? He clenched his teeth. None of this needed to have happened. He should have been back home with Ginny, spending their last days together.
Beside him, Eve raised her voice above the caws of gulls soaring overhead. “This is where you swam out to rescue me, right?” She squeezed her right hand in her left and looked down. “I was stupid to be angry at you for pulling me ashore by my hair instead of appreciating the fact that you’d saved my life.” She quirked a weak smile out of one side of her mouth. “I guess sometimes the trivial right in front of our eyes blocks the significance of the big picture behind it.”
“You were pretty traumatized after a day in the ocean.”
Her face grew sober. “I was. I’ve never been so scared in my life.” A shiver imbedded her next breath. “The ocean was endless. Nothing in sight above the water, everything to dread below the water. It was like a glimpse of eternity. A glimpse of—” She stopped.
“Of God?”
“Yes.” She shook her head, her eyes casting back and forth across the sand. “He’s so completely unfathomable. He’s just . . . out there. You don’t know what in life is going to strike you. You don’t know where there’s safety. You’re always at risk.”
His head spun. Wasn’t that what he’d been feeling? Struck by God, no rhyme or reason? He filtered through his stock answers for her, but came up empty.
“Anyway”—Eve huffed a snort of self-conscious laughter—“my hair survived quite well.” She touched his arm, a swift gesture that flitted away without settling. “Silly to bring it up, but, well, thank you for holding on and not letting go. I’m glad it served as a towrope.”
He glanced at her hair. The sun had bleached its deep honey color into a kaleidoscope of blonde highlights. Ginny’s hair had done that, too, brightening under the summer sun to a shiny copper orange. Her hair was curly in fine wisps that framed her face. Eve’s was a thick curtain that hung behind her ears and partway down her back.
He blinked away the com
parison. “You’re welcome.” What do you say to someone whose life you saved? Make it count now that you know how precious life is?
That wasn’t what he heard God saying to him. More like Jake Chalmers’ life hadn’t counted in the first place.
* * *
Could the trip have started out any better? It was all Eve could do not to shout her joy. Finally, that ridiculous incident about her hair had been dealt with! Would apologies for her other offenses bring the same relief? Jake would have to hold her hand just to keep her from floating away. Maybe on this little excursion she could reverse all her past wrongs with him. Three days—oh what a sweet journey lay ahead!
“Croc land,” Jake announced as they crossed from beach to bog. As if she wouldn’t remember the spot.
They trudged single file, their moccasins making soft sucking sounds with each lift of a foot. Although they were at the far edge of the swamp, only a stone’s throw from the ocean, the trees effectively cocooned them in damp heat and a stench of rotting vegetation. A welcome committee of mosquitoes escorted them the entire way. She swatted them at every step. “I hope these guys aren’t carrying malaria. I’ve got more bites than I’ve got hairs on my head.”
Jake peered over his shoulder and grinned. “It’s the gals who bite.”
She rolled her eyes. Correction was not conducive to the good time she planned with Jake. “I don’t care about the gender; I care about the disease.”
“They’d have to bite an infected person to be carriers. I think we’re safe.”
“Then how about if we go into the swamp to see the tree stumps you found?”
“You mean the mahogany? You like being eaten alive?”
They emerged from the jungle into blazing light reflected off white sand—a warning that their feet, even with moccasins on, would pay the price of a noonday sun that ate shadows for lunch. Within minutes, their clothes were soaked with a second coat of sweat.
Jake stooped and brushed aside the sand at his feet until he reached the cooler layer underneath. “Mosquito repellent.” He smeared handfuls over every inch of his sweaty, exposed skin. Eve followed suit.
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