Broken Wings (A Romantic Suspense)(61)

I lean down and cup my hands together. The Pacific Ocean wets my palms and sluices between my fingers. I smell my hands and take in the tang of seawater. It’s weird how clear it is. Before the wave rolls back out, I can see my feet through the water.

Jack, barefoot, finally stands next to me and takes my hand. I try to say something but the words catch in my throat half formed. It’s almost too beautiful for words.

My cheek feels wet and I wonder if I was splashed somehow, but it’s too warm, and the salty taste is wrong. Tears stream down my cheek. I feel the world turning around me, all at once aware of how huge it all is. It’s like I’ve been walking with a giant following me my whole life, and I’ve only just now turned around and spotted him.

Jack squeezes my hand.

“What do you think?”

“It’s magnificent.”

He doesn’t seem all that impressed, or maybe he’s just more interested in me than the sea; he’s been staring at me the whole time.

“You should see the look on your face.”

I giggle and jab at his arm, but he catches my wrist and turns me around to face him. His arm snakes around my waist. The sand squishes even more under my toes as I rise up on the balls of my feet to reach him, pulled into a kiss. The cold sea air whips around us, and his lips are the only warmth in the world, his tongue the only taste. I hold him tight and feel his heart beating against my chest.

This is what it’s like to feel whole.

We didn’t bring a blanket, so a bench on the deserted boardwalk will have to do. It’s the same kind they have at the beaches I know, oddly enough. The big, heavy back swings from the sea side to the land side, so it can face either way. Jack pushes the seat back and we press against each other. I stick my hand up under his sweater to keep it warm, and feel him.

It takes an hour for the sun to set. It’s like being in a trance. Food and air and water are little things. I could live on Jack for the rest of my life if I had to.

The sun dipping into the water is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, the colors so vibrant and captivating that I can’t stop staring. Jack watches me the whole time, though, smiling softly. His smile turns into a grin when I glance up at him and our eyes meet.

I don’t need to ask. I know he enjoys watching my reaction to the sunset more than the sunset itself.

When the sun is gone and the sky begins to darken, we stand up and walk back to the car.

Jack takes the phone and plugs in directions, and we drive.

I feel almost lightheaded. We reached the end. What now?

I should have known. Jack drives straight to the nearest burger stand. It’s a small place, a mom-and-pop type outfit, with only six round metal tables and an ordering counter.

Before we go in I pull my hair into a loose ponytail. No more hiding, behind my hair or otherwise. I am who I am. The cook looks up and is startled, and the woman running the register frowns slightly when she sees me.

I can’t blame them, it’s a shock, but I don’t care.

We scan the menu for a minute, holding hands, like any other couple in the world.

Jack orders one big milkshake with two straws. I snicker when I see it, in a big glass with whipped cream and a cherry on top. They give us more milkshake in the metal mixing cup, on the side.

Jack eats hungrily. He picks up a french fry and pokes it toward my face. I play at swatting it away then nip it from his fingers with my teeth and we both laugh hysterically. The employees are watching us, but I don’t care. I glance over and see them smiling.

By the time we finish, I’m stuffed. One of the big burgers wasn’t enough for Jack, he had to go back for seconds, and now I’m leaning back in my seat with a bowling ball in my stomach, watching him finish his second round. He slows a bit at the halfway mark.

“Damn, these are good,” he says. “We have to come back here.”

I slip my foot out of my shoe and tickle his leg with my toes, smirking. Jack gives me a look that sends a shiver through my whole body and nudges the milkshake toward me. He gives me a look that makes me feel dirty for sucking it through the straw.

“Get a room, you two!”

Startled, I jerk back, and a blush creeps over my cheek.

I expect Jack to snap at the cashier, but he grins instead. “You know a good place around here? I need something high class. I can’t take a girl like this to a jack shack.”

Mortified, I turn away.

“This is our honeymoon, after all.”

“There’s a bed and breakfast up the way. I can give you directions.”

Jack writes them down and stuffs a twenty-dollar bill in the tip jar. We clean up our table and walk out. I don’t know how he can walk at all after all the food we ate. I flop into the Corvette, stuffed and exhausted.

“Read these off to me, will you?”

I nod and give him directions as we go turn by turn. The route takes us up into the hills.

When we arrive we find a big, rustic house overlooking the ocean. Jack and I walk inside and a chime announces our presence.

An older, heavyset woman emerges from the kitchen. She doesn’t miss a beat and says, “Can I help you?”

“We need a place to stay.”

“Usually we require a reservation, but I have some rooms available. How long did you need?”

“Just two days,” Jack says quickly. “We’ve been on the road for a while. We need a day to rest up, I guess.”