Emergence (Awakening Series Book 2) (13 page)

Chapter 24

Lou

After trolling for a couple hours with no luck, I slipped inside the salon to make lunch for the guys. I was in the galley, in the middle of piling turkey and ham onto five sandwiches, when I heard the guys yelling.

"LEFT LONG!! THERE SHE IS!! DROP IT BACK!! DROP IT BACK!!"

I watched through the salon widow and someone yelled 'FISH ON!!' While the crew frantically cleared the lines and the boat slammed to a halt and was then shoved into reverse.

I grabbed the knife I was using to spread the mayonnaise and mustard and speedily sliced all the sandwiches, while bracing myself against the counter, not wanting to miss anything.

The salon door slid open and Carson called for me. I looked up to see a huge smile on his face. "Come fight this fish baby."

My adrenaline spiked as I abandoned my post in the galley and raced to the fighting chair. I had been waiting years to catch another fish, and it was finally my chance.

"Here, sit in the chair and I'll clip you in the bucket harness," Jack said with excitement as he placed the harness in the chair.

I noticed Andy with his legs braced against the bulkhead, holding the rod with the fish on, his forearms straining with the weight of it.

Once I was settled in the fighting chair Andy moved over and placed the rod in the chairs gimbal and Jack clipped the reel in.

"Okay! Brace with your feet here," Andy said, pointing at the foot rest. "The fish is still running, so let it take as much line as it wants. When it stops taking line, reel it in as fast as you can. I'll be here to adjust the drag if you need more leverage. Now go!" he instructed.

I guided the line on the reel with my left hand, waiting until I heard the clicker quiet before using my other hand to crank with all my strength.

Scott backed down on the fish and I reeled it in as quickly as I could. Every time he gunned the throttle black smoked poured out from the exhaust and water poured over the stern of the boat, filling our lungs and soaking all of us with salty spray. This went on for a good thirty minutes before I was completely drenched and my arm felt like a limp noodle.

"You're doing great baby, you've totally got this! Come on, Lou!" Carson yelled in encouragement.

I thought my arm was going to detach from my body if I didn't get that fish to the boat quickly. "I'd help you if I could baby, but it's one pass per fish, and Andy already passed the rod to you. You've gotta finish it, but you can do it. You've got this!"

With my adrenaline spiked and renewed determination I cranked the reel as often and as quickly as I could. At some point I got into a zone and I couldn't even feel my arms any more. I just did what I had to do to get the fish to the boat.

After what seemed like hours Andy finally yelled for me to stop, the fish was at the boat. He reached over the side and touched the leader.

"Get out your camera and snap some pictures, I'm going to release her," Andy called and Carson dove into action, pulling his phone from his pocket.

Once the fish had been released, Carson showed me the pictures. "Look babe, it was a small blue marlin. Probably about a hundred and fifty pounds. I'm so proud of you! You did an amazing job. How did it feel to get back out there?"

"It was awesome, but now I'm exhausted!"

Carson laughed as Jack brought me a sandwich. "Here's your lunch, the rest of us already ate."

I could hardly hold the plate because my arms were so weak so Carson picked up a half and held it up for me so I could take a bite.

"So Jack," I asked around my bite of turkey. "My fish was called small at 150 pounds, and I think it broke my arm. About how big was yours, do you think?"

He smirked at me and scratched the back of his head. "I'm pretty sure my fish would have broken you and not just your arm. That fish had to be about six hundred pounds, wouldn't you say Carson?"

"Sounds about right to me," Carson replied, smiling before turning his green gaze on me. "Okay Lou, let's get you out of this chair. We're going to pull the lines, switch out the rods, and go work the ledge. Hopefully we'll bring home some dolphin for dinner."

Carson helped me up and led me over to the cushion. Scott, Andy, and Jack worked on switching out the lines while Carson fed me the rest of my lunch.

It was playful and intimate, him feeding me, but I was in heaven. I was in the Bahamas, fishing again for the first time in years, and it was all thanks to this beautiful man, with his incredibly large and giving heart. I wanted to crawl into his lap and let him devour me.

"Thank you for bringing me here, Carson," I said, trying to convey my feelings for him through my eyes.

His smile dropped and his pupils dilated as he looked from my eyes to my lips. He leaned toward me and whispered. "I'd give you the world if you'd let me, Lou, but if you don't stop looking at me like that, we're going to have a problem."

He gestured to his shorts, which were tenting in the front and I started to laugh.

"God, I love your laugh," he said, breaking into a wide smile. "I could listen to it for the rest of my life and would never get tired of hearing it."

Goosebumps rose on my skin at the thought of spending the rest of my life with Carson. I stared at him wide-eyed as I let the idea sink into me. It felt incredibly right, almost as if it were always meant to be.

He cocked his head at me as if he knew what I was thinking, and then stood up and held his hand out for me with a smile.

"Come on, woman. Let's fish," he said, pulling me to my feet and giving me a smack on the butt.

**

Dolphin fishing was everything I remembered from my childhood. With my polarized sunglasses I could practically see them clear as day under the weed line and kept lookout for Scott since my arms were useless.

"Over there!" I yelled, pointing. "Starboard side!"

Scott steered toward the birds that were diving on the jumping bait fish. I could see the dolphin under the water, their yellow and green flesh flickering brightly in the dark blue of the water.

"Right short!" Andy yelled, followed shortly by "Fish on!"

Jack worked to pull in the dredges and the teasers while Carson grabbed another line and tossed it in the water, hoping to attract another dolphin from the school.

"Lou, get down there and toss a line in. You don't have to reel it in, just get a line in the water. We can catch a bunch this way."

I climbed down from the bridge as quickly as I could and threw a line over. By that time, Carson, Jack, and Andy all had a fish on and were slowly reeling them toward the boat.

"Okay, get 'em on board!" Scott yelled.

Carson, Jack and Andy all reeled theirs in and I waited for Carson to come take my rod.

In a couple hours we'd pulled in a total of nine dolphin and then brought in the lines so we could head back to shore.

As we slowed, approaching the marina, Carson pulled me aside.

"One last thing before we're done for the day," he said, handing me a blue flag with a marlin on it. "You've got to put up your flag."

I took it from him and climbed up into the cockpit, with his help. "Like this?" I asked, clipping it on.

"No, flip it upside down. That means we released it. Right side up means you boated it."

I nodded, clipped the flag in, and watched, wrapped in Carson's arms, as it blew in the wind.

**

Jack and I headed up to the house as soon as we docked and Carson went with Andy and Scott to the fish cleaning station.

"Hey Allison! How was she?" I asked, walking in the door behind Jack and going over to take Carly from her. "Hi sweet baby!"

"She was a total delight. We ate lunch on the porch, went for a swim in the pool and played on the beach after her nap. That's one sweet baby you've got there, Lou. She reminds me so much of Caroline and Carson when they were young. It makes me nostalgic for the time when they were still little. I don't know if I could do it every day, but I'll keep this sweet angel any time you need me."

I smiled, taking her hand. "Thank you Allison. That means more to me than you could possibly know."

"Don't mention it. Now, give me back that baby while you go get cleaned up for dinner," she said reaching out for Carly.

"We're having mahi-mahi steaks!" Jack interjected. "Fresh caught."

"Sounds great," Allison said, carrying Carly into the kitchen. "Come on little one, let's prep some sides for the yummy fish your mama and Carson caught today."

Allison and Jack had been so wonderful to both Carly and me. They had accepted us immediately and treated us like family, even though we'd only been in their lives for a short while. It felt like I had a second family, a second home, and I relished every moment of it.

I watched as Carly reached out and fisted a handful of Allison's hair and received a kiss on the forehead before I ducked into my room and got cleaned up.

Chapter 25

Carson

After we dined on fish and pasta salad that Mom insisted Carly had made, Lou put her down for bed and then the two of us cuddled together under the sheets.

"Thanks for today, Carson. I don't know if I really realized how much I'd missed fishing until I was out there doing it again. I had a great time."

I leaned down to where her head was resting on my shoulder and kissed her.

"I'm glad you had a nice time. I can't tell you how proud I am of you for reeling in that fish. That was a tough fight. You did an amazing job." She smiled and closed her eyes, no doubt worn out from the events of the day.

Thinking back to the night I met Lou and how I'd been so crazy when I couldn't find her the next day, and then rearranging my entire existence to be the kind of man who could care for a woman and provide for a family, I realized that somewhere, sometime, I must have done something right in order to have had Lou walk back into my life.

She had worked her way so deep into my heart I knew she'd be there forever. There was nothing that could keep me from spending my life with her, worshipping her, cherishing her; building a life and giving Carly siblings.

"I love you, Lou."

She sighed into my chest and I looked down to realize that she'd fallen asleep, obviously exhausted from such a long day. Shifting my position so that her head was resting on the pillow, I curled up next to her and watched her beautiful face, so peaceful at rest, until my eyes grew heavy and I succumbed to sleep myself.

**

The next day was beautiful and calm. There was only a slight breeze and the water in the marina was so still it was glassy.

After we devoured breakfast at the restaurant we all climbed into the Hell's Bay, my dad's flats boat, and went around the back side of the island to find some lobster.

Lou was a little worried about diving for them, but after I explained that they were spiny lobster and not the kind with claws, she was more excited.

I got her outfitted with a pair of fins, a snorkel, and a mask before giving her a brief tutorial on how to use the three pronged spear to capture the lobster, and then suited up myself.

Once we were in the water I demonstrated how to find the lobster, by looking for their antennae sticking out from rocks and other outcroppings along the bottom, and then fired my spear, snaring one between the three prongs.

When we surfaced, Captain Scott took the spear, grabbed the lobster with a gloved hand and tossed it into the live bait well for safe keeping until we got back to the dock.

My dad joined us in the water and after an hour or so of lazily swimming around scouting for lobster, each of us had met the six tail limit for the day, and climbed back onto the boat.

"That was so much fun!" Lou said, pulling off her snorkeling gear and towel drying her hair. "What are we going to do next?"

"We're going to one of my favorite island places for lunch, and then we're going to stop by the blue hole," I told her.

"The blue hole?"

"Yes, there's this beachy area we pull up to, Mom and Carly can hang out there with Dad, but you and I will go with Scott up this little trail to a rocky cliff, and below is literally a blue hole that we can jump into."

Lou's eyes widened. "How far is the drop, and what's in this hole?"

"It's not that big of a drop. As for what's in it, not too much of anything but crystal clear water. See, millions of years ago The Bahamas literally rose from the sea, built by sea life, like corals, which created a limestone shelf. Then the sea levels dropped really low during the ice age, leaving the shelf high above the water line. The waves, and streams of rain and groundwater, beat away at the limestone, forming caves. When the ice melted the caves filled with water. In some cases the caves collapsed, leaving a big hole filled with blue water, or a blue hole.
"

"It sounds beautiful, but also a little terrifying. What if there's some giant prehistoric fish or something living in there?"

I laughed.

"It's fresh water Lou, and there's not a whole lot of outlets to the sea for something that large to be hiding in it without access to a food source."

"Maybe we're the food source."

"Well, I've been jumping into that water several times a year since as long as I can remember and nothing's eaten me yet. But, if you're that worried about it, we can hold hands and jump together. I'll protect you from the big bad sea monster."

She rolled her eyes and punched me in the shoulder as I pulled her into my chest.

"Stop making fun of me," she pouted.

"You make it too easy!" I said, kissing the top of her head.

"Alright you lovebirds, find a seat. I radioed Chester that we have 6 incoming for lunch," Captain Scott said. "He's mixing up a new batch of rum punch as we speak."

Lou took Carly from my mom and sat down on the cushion at the bow of the boat. I sat next to her and Scott started running the boat.

"So, tell me about this restaurant," she yelled into the wind.

"Flo's Conch Bar. It's a little gem hiding on one of the islands nearby. There's a rickety old dock we'll pull up to, and you can see Flo's from there. It's this bright pink building where they serve amazing conch fritters, and Chester, the owner, makes the most toxic rum punch you've ever had in your life, but you can't taste a drop of the alcohol in it. It's that smooth. You're going to love it."

A while later when we pulled up to the dock, I pointed out to Lou all the conch shells lining the shore from the water line all the way up to the restaurant. She laughed at the chickens running around in the grass, and was really intrigued by all the dollar bills stapled to the walls with sayings and signatures from all the people who'd visited and left their mark.

"Do you have a dollar?" she asked.

I pulled out my wallet and gave her a dollar and she picked up the sharpie waiting on the table just for that reason. I watched as she wrote something on the money, and recapped the marker.

"Where's the stapler?" she asked, just as Chester brought out the first round of rum punch.

"Here it is, young lady," Chester said, in his Bahamian accent, setting down the punch and picking the stapler up from the kitchen window behind him. "Just find a spot that you like, and hang it."

Lou handed Carly to me, and then stood up and placed her dollar on the wall, stapling it in place before she returned to her seat.

"Here, try the punch," I said, handing her the cup.

"Oh, my goodness, you were right. Best rum punch I've ever had," she said, taking another sip.

"Just wait until you try the conch," I said and she smiled. "I'm really glad you two are here." I hugged Carly to me and Lou leaned in, kissing my cheek.

"I'm glad we're here too."

After we all stuffed ourselves with conch and paid the bill, Lou took Carly back down to the dock to reapply sunscreen. I stopped on my way out the door to look at the dollar she'd hung up and laughed at what she'd written in big block letters.

LOU WAS HERE

9/8/13

I guess I'd been expecting something sentimental or inspirational, but what she'd written was perfect.  Lou was here, and I intended to make sure she was there to stay.

**

Scott pulled the boat up on the beach a few islands over from Flo's and Andy threw the anchor overboard, setting it in the sand.

I climbed over the railing and hopped down, helping mother down and then reaching for Carly, who I handed to Mom, before helping Lou.

"Ready for the jump?" I asked.

"Ready to see this big hole in the ground, but maybe not ready to jump off a cliff," she replied hesitantly.

"Don't make up your mind before you even see it," I scolded her.

She laughed, pulling out her ponytail and redoing it into a messy bun. I loved it when she wore her hair up. Her neck was one of my favorite places to kiss. I pulled her back against me and leaned down, peppering kisses from her shoulder up to her ear.

"I'm not, I'm just nervous. Jumping off a cliff into a collapsed cave full of water was never on my bucket list, so I'm trying to come to grips with the idea."

"You'll be fine. Don't you trust me?" I asked, winking at her.

"I trust you," she said confidently, causing my pulse to pick up. "It's the prehistoric monster fish I'm worried about."

I laughed and rolled my eyes at her, spinning her around and taking her by the hand. "Come on scaredy-cat. Let's go jump off a cliff and get eaten by a dino-fish," I said sarcastically, pulling her along the trail behind me.

When we reached the end of the trail, I pointed out the rock outcropping that overlooked the blue hole and Lou and I stepped up to the edge to look over.

"Oh my god, Carson! Are you serious?" she asked, taking a step back. "It has to be like thirty feet down!"

"Nah, it's more like twenty," Captain Scott said, coming up behind us.

Peering over into the still dark blue water, I could see why Lou was a little hesitant, but I'd been jumping off this cliff most of my life, and I knew there was nothing to worry about.

"You just have to step back a few feet, and get a good running jump so you clear the wall, and then you point your toes down and cross your arms over your chest. Easy," I instructed her.

"Yeah,
easy
for you to say," she said and then started bouncing from one foot to the other, shaking her hands out at the wrists and taking deep breaths.

"Are you psyching yourself up?" I asked, thinking how cute she looked.

She glared at me, so I took a minute to remove my shoes and t-shirt before stepping back and then racing off the cliff. The entire drop took seconds, and then I was in the cool water below. Kicking back to the surface I looked up just in time to hear Lou scream, and then she was plunging through the surface of the water nearby.

When she came up she screamed again, punching her fist into the air. "That was AWESOME!"

I laughed at her enthusiasm, swimming over and wrapping my arms around her. "You are amazing, you know that? Are you free for the rest of your life?"

She giggled and leaned in to kiss me. "Okay, seriously though, that was literally the most exhilarating thing I've ever done!" she deflected.

"Lou, look at me," I said to her, and when her eyes met mine I continued. "I know I joke around a lot, but I just want you to know that I'm serious about our future together. Someday I'm gonna marry the shit outta you, and I don't want you to forget it."

Her beautiful cerulean eyes welled up with tears a moment before her lips met mine in a searing kiss.

"I love you, Carson," she whispered to me. "Thank you for this weekend, it's been incomparable and unforgettable."

My breath caught in my throat after finally hearing the words from her. The same words I'd been dying to say myself.

"I love you too, Lou. I wouldn't want to be here with anyone else," I told her, leaning in to kiss her again.

My world was perfect and my future secured as our tongues tangled together while we both struggled to stay afloat and keep our mouths pressed against one another. She started to giggle and then I couldn't stop myself from laughing as well.

A moment later she was dunking me under the water and swimming away as fast as she could.

"Scott, how do I get out of here!" she called, trying to evade me as I grabbed for her ankles.

Having Lou along on the trip was incredible. Watching her get involved in everything we did, and seeing her eagerness to learn and try new things cemented her further into my heart, if that was possible. Everything was perfect, and I finally felt at peace with the direction my life was taking. I felt like nothing could go wrong as long as I had her by my side.