It’s a Friday night. Usually the two of us are curled up on the couch at the beach house we’re renting on Bream Bay, our dogs snoozing at our feet. It’s about half-way between Russell and Leigh, where the campus is. Since the program she got into was north of Auckland, we figured the easiest thing to do was to rent a place together between the yacht charter and her school, so that I could still work and she could attend her studies.
When she graduates, then we’ll move into my place back in Russell. Or perhaps we’ll go elsewhere. We’ve got a big enough nest egg now to have a lot of options. Even though I had to sell a few boats to pay for Daisy’s tuition, the boat business is booming. After our shipwreck made the news, Deep Blue Yacht Charters became a household name. I had assumed that the event would have soured people on sailing, but I guess any publicity is good publicity.
Daisy says it’s because I’ve been on TV a lot, talking about it, something to do with my movie star good looks, blah blah blah. Regardless, there’s even some sailing reality show that our local Channel 2 wants to do with us. Daisy is completely comfortable with the spotlight, but I’m not. We’ll have to see.
Either way, we’ve decided to let our future be as fluid as possible, planning the bare minimum and going with the flow. Any bumps or setbacks in our way, and we know we’ll get around them together.
I guess you could say it’s one of the good things that came out of the whole shipwrecked ordeal. Actually, after all was said and done, only good things did come out of it.
Yes, losing my ship hurt. I’m not going to lie. I loved that boat, spent a lot of years taking care of it. But she didn’t go down without a fight, and in the end she protected us when it mattered. I can take pride in having had that ship, and I have hundreds of memories to draw upon.
A lot of those memories were some of the last I would have with her.
A lot of them involved Daisy.
I remember her trying to make eggs during a particularly rough morning, the waves slamming into the boat just as she was flipping them, and they landed right on her head.
Then there was the way she gasped when she first saw the night sky.
How she’d talk, talk, talk during those long night shifts, waiting for the dawn, and how I pretended to hate it. But I didn’t.
The way she’d try and do her yoga when she thought I wasn’t looking.
But I was looking. I was always looking at her. It was impossible not to.
In the end however, even with Atarangi gone, it made Daisy and I grow closer.
It caused my heart to open up and find space in there for her, just as she found the space for me.
It brought us together like nothing else could, and for that I am forever grateful.
It made Daisy and her sister grow closer, too. They still fight, of course, but there’s now trust between them when they fight.
As for the newlyweds, I’m sure the shipwreck prepared that couple like years of pre-emptive counseling. They’re solid as a rock now, and I have to say, both of them have lightened up considerably since then. They like to trek all over the South Island and camp, and Richard recently bought a motorbike. I’ve not actually seen him on it yet, but if he passed the test, then I guess he’s okay to ride.
They’re also going to be parents soon. Lacey is six months pregnant with a boy. They’re absolutely over the moon with joy, and Daisy and I have already been appointed godparents. The both of us aren’t too keen on the idea of kids ourselves, especially now that we have a couple of rescue dogs, and a cat, but we both plan on spoiling the baby immensely. Anyway, the kid is going to want a tough uncle to look up to. At least that’s what Daisy says. She says Dick Boner Junior shouldn’t have to follow the footsteps of his father.
The shipwreck also brought all our families closer together. When I got back to New Zealand, after spending three weeks with Daisy in San Francisco, I made a point of spending more time with my parents. Not that I didn’t before, I was always visiting since I lived so close. But I wanted to get to know them on an even deeper level. I also just wanted to relish the time I have with them, knowing how easy it is to have all that taken away.
Meanwhile, both Daisy and Lacey have formed a closer relationship with their parents. They’ve spent a Christmas out in Oregon, and her parents have also managed to come to New Zealand again. The girls don’t believe it sometimes, but their parents are very proud of them.
I know it’s cliché, that good things come out of the bad, that what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, that the light at the end of the tunnel can be brighter than the light before. But they are cliché for a reason, because they’re true. If you can’t find rhyme or reason in this crazy, unpredictable world, at least you can find solace in that.
Daisy looks behind her at the setting sun, then turns around, and gives me the thumbs up.
I raise my hand and tug at the writing slate attached at my BCD, or buoyancy compensator.
She does the same.
Then falls back into the water.
I copy her, flipping backward, fins over my head.
I hit the water with a splash and then right myself.
I see Daisy on the other side of the six-foot Zodiac and swim through the bubbles over to her.
She gives me a thumbs up again.
I do the same.
Then I follow her lead.
It would be easy to say that Daisy turns into a mermaid underwater, with her voluptuous body, and that flowing red hair, but I’d say she’s more like a shark. She’s quick, confident, and knows exactly where she wants to go. She’s done countless dives at this spot, just off Goat Island, because so many of her classes are here, and she knows the underwater landscape like the back of her hand.
The water here is clear, and in the dying light, a gemstone green.
I watch as she goes and spies on an octopus moving along the sand, she points excitedly at the rays swooping over the reef.
It’s beautiful, it’s magical.
It’s time.
While she’s following the rays, entranced by them, I unclip my writing slate and start writing on it with the attached pencil.
Will You Marry Me?
Yes, it’s simple, and maybe a bit corny.
But this feels right for us, here, under the waves.
It’s been a few years that I’ve wanted to do this, but I wanted to get all our ducks in order first. Wanted to make sure that this was what the both of us wanted.
I can’t imagine my life without Daisy. She makes everything that much better.
I hold out the slate, waiting for her to turn around and see me.
Finally, she does.
She’s too far away to read it properly, so she swims closer.
Stops.
Bubbles erupt from her mouthpiece and her eyes go wide.
I point at the slate for emphasis, just in case she doesn’t understand it.
She stares for a few moments more, then hastily unclips her slate and writes something with what seems to be a lot of exclamation marks.
Turns it around.
Yes!!!!!!
I grin, the mouthpiece falling out.
She removes hers and does an underwater cheer.
Swims over, wraps her arms around me, then kisses me on the lips.
Mine.
She’s mine.
And we should probably go to the surface.
I still have to give her the ring.
We kick up and burst up through the water. The sky is now dark, the moon and stars are out, and the water is starting to sparkle with bioluminescence.
“Are you serious?” she asks me, grabbing my arm.
“Of course I am,” I tell her, bringing her closer to me and kissing her again. “Will you marry me, Gingersnap?”
I reach into a pouch and bring out a ring. It’s attached to a chain, so I don’t lose it.
She gasps as she sees it. “Tai. This is gorgeous.”
“It’s the koru,” I tell her, the spiral in
the middle of the rose gold ring, with the sparkling diamond in the center. “The curl of a new fern. Symbol of new beginnings.”
“And it’s rose gold.”
“Like that damn luggage you loved so much.”
She snorts. “Yes.”
“Is that a yes about the luggage, or that you’ll marry me?”
“Yes,” she cries. “Yes, yes, yes I’ll marry you!”
“So agreeable,” I muse.
She laughs. “I guess so. Fuck. My god. I can’t believe I’m going to get married!”
“I’ll be there, too.”
She giggles. “I’m serious. I just…I’m so happy. So happy.” She looks around her. “Though as beautiful as this all is, I don’t think I feel like being underwater anymore. I can’t concentrate.”
“I didn’t think so,” I tell her. “Come on, let’s go back to shore.”
Once on the boat, we go straight back to the campus dock and we quickly get changed out of our wetsuits and gear. Then I take Daisy by the hand and lead her down the beach and around the corner.
There, just as I’d hoped, is a picnic laid out on the sand, a blanket covered in different appetizers and lots of wine, all framed by flickering candles.
“You did this?” Daisy yelps, hand to her chest.
“Well, your classmates helped me,” I tell her, eyeing the people running away in the shadows.
“Congratulations Daisy!” one of them yells, while the rest hoot and holler.
“Oh my god, Tai,” she says, smiling with tears in her eyes. “I never knew you were so romantic.”
“Well, I have to keep you on your toes, don’t I?”
Then I drop to my knees and propose all over again, relishing the feel as I slip that ring on her finger.
I take a moment to admire it on her dainty hand, then I yank her down to my level, so she’s sitting on the blanket.
“Now, we feast,” I tell her.
I picked out quite the spread, and diving usually makes Daisy ravenous anyways. But this time, she barely eats. She’s too busy planning the wedding already.
“We’ll have to invite Fred and Owen,” Daisy says. Then she frowns. “Though I don’t think New Zealand would let Wilson in.”
I laugh. As it happened, Fred and Owen, the research scientists of Plumeria Atoll, fell in love. They lived on the atoll for a good year before Fred decided to make an honest woman out of Owen, then they packed up and moved to Fiji. They now live on the beach.
With Wilson.
We have yet to visit, but it’s definitely part of our plans. Or at least, it’s one of the options for the future. Maybe we’ll sail there.
“Don’t even think about it,” Daisy says to me, recognizing the twinkle in my eye. I’ve suggested a few times that we should get on the boat (we now have a fifty-foot catamaran) and go on another ocean passage, but heading up to Fiji again would be pushing it.
“You don’t think it would be a fun honeymoon?”
“Tai,” she warns. “Don’t make me tickle you.”
Of course she does.
We fall back into the sand, laughing.
We stay up until sunrise.
THE END
What to Read After Lovewrecked
If you’re wanting to check out any of my other romances, I have too many to list, but here are some of my favourites (and all below are available on Kindle Unlimited):
Like best friends to lovers?
- BAD AT LOVE (a quirky friends-to-lovers romance)
- THE PACT (two best friends agree to marry each other by the time they’re thirty)
Nordic Royals series (all standalone!)
- THE SWEDISH PRINCE
(The Prince of Sweden falls for an American girl - spin on Roman Holiday)
- THE WILD HEIR
(The bad boy Prince of Norway has to marry a good girl princess in a marriage of convenience)
- A NORDIC KING
(The widowed King of Denmark falls for his much younger nanny)
And if you like age gaps and forbidden romance, try:
- BEFORE I EVER MET YOU ( young single mom falls for her father’s best friend)
- HEAT WAVE (a woman falls in love with her dead sister’s ex in this sensual forbidden romance)
Connect with the Author
Heyyy! Nice you meet you :) If you want to connect with me, you can always find me on Instagram (where I post travel photos, fashion, teasers, etc, IG IS MY LIFE and the easiest place to find me online)
-> or in my Facebook Group (we’re a fun bunch and would love to have you join)
-> Otherwise, feel free to signup for my mailing list (it comes once a month) and Bookbub alerts!
About the Author
Karina Halle, a former travel writer and music journalist, is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of The Pact, A Nordic King, and Sins & Needles, as well as fifty other wild and romantic reads. She, her husband, and their adopted pit bull live in a rain forest on an island off British Columbia, where they operate a B&B that’s perfect for writers’ retreats. In the winter, you can often find them in California or on their beloved island of Kauai, soaking up as much sun (and getting as much inspiration) as possible. For more information, visit www.authorkarinahalle.com/books.
Also by Karina Halle
Contemporary Romances
Love, in English
Love, in Spanish
Where Sea Meets Sky (from Atria Books)
Racing the Sun (from Atria Books)
The Pact
The Offer
The Play
Winter Wishes
The Lie
The Debt
Smut
Heat Wave
Before I Ever Met You
After All
Rocked Up
Wild Card (North Ridge #1)
Maverick (North Ridge #2)
Hot Shot (North Ridge #3)
Bad at Love
The Swedish Prince
The Wild Heir
A Nordic King
Nothing Personal
My Life in Shambles
Discretion
Disarm
Disavow
The Royal Rogue
The Forbidden Man
Lovewrecked
Romantic Suspense Novels by Karina Halle
Sins and Needles (The Artists Trilogy #1)
On Every Street (An Artists Trilogy Novella #0.5)
Shooting Scars (The Artists Trilogy #2)
Bold Tricks (The Artists Trilogy #3)
Dirty Angels (Dirty Angels #1)
Dirty Deeds (Dirty Angels #2)
Dirty Promises (Dirty Angels #3)
Black Hearts (Sins Duet #1)
Dirty Souls (Sins Duet #2)
Horror Romance
Darkhouse (EIT #1)
Red Fox (EIT #2)
The Benson (EIT #2.5)
Dead Sky Morning (EIT #3)
Lying Season (EIT #4)
On Demon Wings (EIT #5)
Old Blood (EIT #5.5)
The Dex-Files (EIT #5.7)
Into the Hollow (EIT #6)
And With Madness Comes the Light (EIT #6.5)
Come Alive (EIT #7)
Ashes to Ashes (EIT #8)
Dust to Dust (EIT #9)
The Devil’s Duology
Donners of the Dead
Veiled
Lovewrecked Page 26
