Reckless Abandon(15)

I remember hitting my head. Or shall I say, I remember the pain. First, the pain was in my hand from when I grabbed on to Leah. Then I felt like I was kicked in the cranium.

The water was murky so I didn’t know if I was blacking out or just having a hard time seeing through the haze in the water. When Devon put his arms around me, I was floating lifelessly. He made it seem so easy, the way he grabbed me and lifted me up and out of that water. That breath of air I took, breaking the surface, was long, deep and so desperately needed. I must have been on some adrenalin rush because, until then, I didn’t even know I couldn’t breathe.

Leah kept on telling me how I was the strongest person she ever met. In return, I kept on drinking.

Luckily, today’s hangover is nonexistent, thanks to Leah letting me sleep it off.

I lift myself up and look around the room. The curtains to the glass door are pushed open, which means Leah must have gone out for a walk. Looking at the space at the foot of the door I see Leah’s shoes she wore yesterday and the slippers I wore home. Shoeless Emma chose to wear them instead of hobbling on one Top-Sider.

Shame. I loved those shoes.

Leah is still not back when I exit the bathroom, freshly showered and wearing a pair of navy shorts and a red tank top. I pull my hair back in a ponytail and am sliding on a pair of flip flops when Leah comes back into the room.

“Good, you’re dressed!” she says, wearing a denim shirtdress, holding a newspaper and a coffee cup in her hands. “I went down for breakfast and picked this up for you.”

I take the coffee and paper from her and take a sip. “Thank you. At least we know we can have three squares here at the hotel if the money doesn’t come through in time.”

“It’s about five in the morning, Ohio time, so I don’t expect to hear from Adam until this evening.”

I pinch my mouth to the side of my face. “Looks like there’s not much we can do but walk around.”

“Oh, to the contrary my dear sister.” She says, walking over the mirror, “We’re finishing our boat tour today.”

“How?” I ask into my coffee cup.

“Devon sent a note to the hotel this morning. They gave it to me when I was in the lobby. We’re expected at the marina at noon.” Checking her makeup, she applies some fresh lip gloss.

I point the newspaper at her like it’s a sword. “Absolutely not.”

Her shoulders fall and she turns to me with her head tilted to the side. “And why is that?”

“Seriously? I made a huge fool out of myself. He was pissed yesterday and, if you ask me, we have taken way too much from the man already. Come to think of it, isn’t it a little creepy that he did all these things for us? I mean, what does he want in return? He wants something in return, Leah. I bet he’s expecting something and I, my friend, am not giving it to him.” I cross my arms in front of my body, careful not to drop my coffee cup.

Leah looks back at me; her body hasn’t moved since I started my little rant. Pale blue eyes narrow at me as she stands there, quiet which is, as you know, so not like Leah.

She waits a minute and then straightens her body and lays it into me in a calm and very controlled voice. “Do you want to talk serious, Emma? The man dove off a boat to dive down, God knows how far, to save you from drowning. He also went out of his way to use a personal contact to get us passports. Passports! He was an absolute gentleman to us on that boat. In fact, he wouldn’t even enter the room.”

She noticed that, too, huh?

Leah continues. “You say he was pissed at you in the music room but he was nothing but friendly to us when we left. It sounds more like that other guy you saw was pissed. Yet out of everyone, you know who has the right to really be pissed?”

I look at her, shaking my head.

Leah points to herself. “Me. I should. But I’m not. The reason I’m not is because the universe wants us to have a good time. It’s like someone somewhere knows exactly why we’re here and they want us to have the trip of the century. We have a guardian angel and he is making sure we’re okay.”

I really like the idea of our guardian angel.

“Ems, yesterday was awesome. We fell into the sea. We were on a crazy sick yacht. When we go home, we are going to have the best story to tell. And now this man, who has a big heart and a hell of a lot of money, has invited us to finish our tour. He didn’t even say he would be there. The note only said that a boat would be waiting for us at the marina. So put on a smile and grab that godforsaken fanny pack, because we are going on that boat!”

Damn—little sister knows how to prove a point.

Looks like we’re going on a boat ride.

Safe to say I’ll be leaving the fanny pack at home.



When I finish my coffee we walk down the stone steps to the marina. This time, we go into each of the shops and look around at the various items for sale. It’s for the best we don’t have any money because we would spend way too much buying tourist items for our family. Even though we aren’t buying anything, Leah thinks it will be fun to get silly and try on the various T-shirts, scarves, and fedoras that are on display.

It is a hot day, the sun beating down, warming the skin. Tourists are wearing big floppy hats and sunglasses. I kick myself for leaving mine in the room.

Leah and I make it the dock of the marina promptly at twelve o’clock and follow the instructions on the note as to where we should meet our boat.