Destination Wedding ~ A Novel (11 page)

"Guess we'd better get back to the lodge so we're not late meeting up with everyone," Claire said, wiping the sand from her shorts as Jim had.

They walked down the beach, this time silent, each one keeping their thoughts to themselves.

Chapter Nine

Claire and Jim returned to the lodge in time to put their purchases in their room and change into sneakers for the trip to the lighthouse. Claire wasn't sure how much walking was involved so she thought sneakers were the safe choice. She knew for sure she wasn't climbing up inside the lighthouse. She had a terrifying fear of heights.

They each took their cameras and a bottle of water from the room's small refrigerator and walked down the stairs to the patio. Mandy and Craig were already sitting down there when Claire and Jim arrived.

"Get your license all squared away?" Jim asked.

Mandy smiled. "Yep. We're one step closer to being stuck with each other forever," she said, her eyes twinkling mischievously.

Janice and Carl came through the breezeway from the back of the lodge with Glen and Lisa right behind them.

"Let's go catch the ferry," Glen said. "It should be down there in less than five minutes.

The group hurried down the steps to the street and crossed over to the dock where the ferry stopped. Sure enough, it arrived five minutes later like Glen had said.

"What is the rest of the group doing today?" Claire asked Mandy as soon as they were all seated on the ferry.

"Everyone went down to Land's End beach again today. They'll all be back in time for dinner," Mandy answered.

The ferry driver made two more stops to pick people up at other docks and then headed across the harbor to the lighthouse. Their group was the only one to get off there, and the ferry driver told them he'd be back in about an hour.

The small group made their way in the direction of the lighthouse. They were the only people around. There was a small gift shop off to the right of the walkway, but that was it for buildings except for the lighthouse. As they walked up the sidewalk to the lighthouse, everyone stopped to admire the flowers blooming all around and to take pictures of the lighthouse close up.

Claire told Mandy and Craig to stand with the lighthouse in the background and snapped a picture of them, then asked Janice and Carl to join them for a picture of the foursome. Glen took Claire's camera and snapped a photo of her and Jim with Mandy and Craig, too. Then it was Glen and Lisa's turn to have their photo taken. They were all having fun, even the Fishers.

Once they stepped inside the small lighthouse, Claire stepped aside to let everyone pass by her.

"I'll just wait for all of you down here," she said.

"Mom. Don't you want to go up and see the island from above? I'll bet it's beautiful," Mandy said.

"Honey, you know heights and me don't mix well. Just looking up that spiral staircase makes me dizzy. I'll wait for all of you down here. I can get some good pictures of the island from the dock."

Mandy sighed, but turned and followed Craig up the circular staircase. Janice and Carl followed behind them, then Glen and Lisa. Jim held back.

"I'll bet Mandy's right," Jim said. "The view up there must be incredible. Why don't you just try? If you feel sick, I'll help you come down right away."

Claire shook her head. "Don't you remember how dizzy I got when we climbed that fire tower years ago when Mandy was little? Or the time we went to the Grand Canyon and I practically passed out trying to look over the railing? There's no way I'm going to repeat that."

"You fly. That doesn't bother you," Jim said.

"That's because I don't sit by the window and I'm inside a plane. It's not the same as climbing stairs or looking down a canyon. I know I'll get sick. Or worse, I'll get up there and won't be able to come down," Claire said.

Jim shook his head. "You're going to miss out."

"Stop goading me," Claire said menacingly.

"But it's a once in a lifetime experience," Jim said.

"What happened to being nice to each other?"

Jim smiled. "I am being nice. I don't want you to miss it. Listen, I'll walk up right behind you to make sure you don't fall and then help you down again. Come on, Claire. You know you want to go up there."

Claire looked up at the spiral staircase, then back at Jim. He was right, she did really want to go up and see the view. But just looking up made her queasy. Yet, she was never going to be here again, and she'd love to have great pictures from above.

"Okay," she told Jim. "I'll go up. But I swear, if I get sick, I'm going to throw up all over you for making me go."

"Well, it won't be the first time, now will it?" he teased.

Claire threw him a nasty look.

Claire hung her camera around her neck to free her hands. With Jim right behind her, Claire started ascending the staircase, holding the railings with both hands. Going up the first few turns wasn't so bad as long as she didn’t look down. But the higher they went, the narrower the steps became, and Claire had to look down to see the steps. She stopped once when she saw the ground far below and she started to waver. Jim reached up with one hand and put it on her waist to steady her.

"Easy there. Try not to look down. You're doing fine," he told her.

Near the top, Claire stopped and glanced up in fear. The last few steps up to the very top weren't really steps at all. It was a ladder built into the wall that went up through an opening in the floor of the top landing.

"Oh, boy. I don't think I can do this," she said fearfully.

"Yes, you can," Jim told her in a soothing voice. "Go ahead, I'm right behind you."

Claire reached for the railings, grabbed on tight, and put her foot on the first step. She pulled herself up to the second step. Then the third. She felt Jim right behind her, just one step below her. If she let go, they'd both go tumbling down to the platform. That thought scared her half to death.

"I can do this, I can do this," Claire chanted quietly to herself.

Jim smiled behind her. "Just keep saying that, Claire."

Claire looked up and saw Glen standing near the opening, ready to help her. She felt a little better. Three more steps and her head was through the hole in the floor. Two more steps and Glen took her hands and helped her up and onto the floor.

"There you go, Little Sis," Glen said.

They stepped aside to let Jim through.

"See, you made it," Jim said triumphantly.

Claire smiled, but then looked down the hole she'd come up through. She wasn't looking forward to climbing down.

"Mom, you came up," Mandy exclaimed happily. "Come over here. You can circle the entire floor and see everything for miles around."

Claire let go of Glen, who she'd been hanging on tightly to since he'd helped her up. She followed Mandy to the small windows that lined the walls in a complete circle. The room was small, almost claustrophobic. Claire hoped she could look out the windows without passing out.

Slowly, Claire edged her way to the window next to Mandy. She peered out. Mandy and Jim had been right. It was an amazing view of the island and beyond.

Jim came up behind Claire and looked over her shoulder. "Aren't you happy that you didn't miss this?" he asked.

Claire nodded. She started taking pictures of the island from every view, moving from window to window, with Jim protectively following her. The ocean beyond the island was a beautiful variation of blues and greens that went on forever into the bright blue horizon. Claire snapped picture after picture, enjoying the lovely scenery.

Soon, Janice, Carl, Mandy, and Craig left the room and headed down the stairway. Glen helped Lisa through the opening in the floor, then asked Claire if she'd like him to stay and help her down.

"No, you go ahead. I want to take a few more pictures before we go down," Claire said. She felt confident now since the view wasn't making her queasy. Glen disappeared down the stairs.

After Claire and Jim had taken as many photos as they wanted, it was time to go down. All the giddiness Claire had felt about being able to look out the windows without getting sick disappeared when she looked down the opening to the ladder. Fear began to rise inside her and she felt the color drain from her face.

"Are you okay?" Jim asked.

"I'm not sure. How am I going to get through that hole and grab ahold of the ladder without falling through?" Claire asked, starting to panic.

"I can hold your hand to steady you while you step down," Jim said.

Claire eyes grew wide. "But then who will help me down from below if you are up here and I'm on the ladder? What if I fall? Oh, my God. I should have told Glen to stay. I can't do this with just your help."

Jim grasped both of Claire's arms, making her focus on him. "Okay, steady now. Don't panic. You can do this. I'll go through first, then you can come down after me, okay? I'll grab you if you lose your balance."

Claire looked into Jim's eyes. She had to trust him. She had to believe she could get down from here. There was no alternative. She couldn't stay up here forever.

"Ready?" Jim asked.

Claire slowly nodded.

Jim walked over to the opening, turned around, grabbed the railings, and stepped down onto the first step. "See how I did it?" he asked Claire. "You do it the same way, okay?"

Claire nodded. She watched Jim step down another step, then another, until there was room for her to step down. She walked over to the opening and looked down at Jim. She felt dizzy. Claire closed her eyes tight.

"I can't do this," she told Jim, backing away. "I can't. I'll fall. I'll knock you down. I can't do this."

"Claire, listen to me," Jim said calmly. "You can do this. Just come over here and don't look down. Grab the railing tight, then step down onto the first step. I'm right here. I won't let you fall."

Claire felt like crying. Tears welled up in her eyes.
I shouldn't have come up here. I'm never going to be able to get down.

"Claire. It's okay. Everything's going to be okay. You can do this. Come on. You can do this."

Jim's soothing voice kept urging her forward. Claire finally opened her eyes, swiped the tears away, and inched toward the opening. She turned around and grabbed tightly to the railings. Hanging on for dear life, she slowly reached one foot down toward the ladder's step. She hesitated, not sure where it was, then she felt a warm hand on her ankle, guiding her foot to the step. Through her sneaker, she finally felt the step, and placed her weight on it.

"There you go," Jim said. "Now, keep hanging on tight and move your other foot through and onto the next step."

Claire did as she was told. Again, she felt Jim's hand on her ankle to guide her foot to the step. She let out a sigh of relief.

"Now just keep coming down the ladder," Jim told her. "I'm right here. Right behind you."

Slowly, Claire moved her right foot, then her left foot, finding the next ladder step for each one. She felt calmer with each step she went down. Finally, she heard Jim step onto the landing where the actual stairway started, and she stepped one foot down on it, too. She felt Jim's hands circle her waist as she slowly dropped her other foot onto the landing. She opened her eyes to see where she was and accidently looked down the middle of the stairway to the bottom floor where everyone else was waiting for them. Claire wavered, feeling dizzy again.

"It's okay, Claire," Jim said softly into here ear. "I've got you. I'm not going to let you go."

Claire closed her eyes and stood there a moment until she felt steadier on her feet. Feeling Jim's hands on her waist made her feel safer. Much safer.

"Ready to go the rest of the way?" Jim asked.

Claire nodded. They walked to the staircase with Jim's arm around her waist, steadying her. Slowly, step by step, they walked down the staircase together with Claire hanging onto the handrail with one hand, and the other hand grasping Jim's waist. Jim held her tightly against him, never letting go.

The others were already outside when Jim and Claire made it to the bottom step. Claire still clung to Jim, even after they were on the main floor.

"Are you okay?" he whispered to her.

"Yeah. I just need to get my bearings," she said, standing there. "Sorry I was so much trouble, but you already knew I was afraid of heights."

"No trouble at all," he said softly, looking directly at Claire. Jim leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her cheek. "Happy to do it." He slowly pulled away and walked out into the bright daylight.

Claire stood there a moment, thinking about what had just happened. She reached her hand up to her cheek and touched it where Jim had just kissed her. Regaining her balance and her composure, she followed him outside into the sunlight.

That night the entire wedding group ate dinner at The Red Snapper Inn on the other side of the island. They'd all dressed up and driven their golf carts there. Janice and Carl had ridden with Mandy and Craig, and Claire had ridden with Jim. It was another beautiful evening with a clear sky and warm air.

The Red Snapper Inn was one of the three resorts on the island and also boasted an upscale restaurant. They sat at a long table on the enclosed patio that had large windows all around. Like every place on the island, there was a spectacular view of the ocean.

The food was delicious. Everyone had ordered some type of seafood, except for the Fishers who had stuck with chicken again. Claire had tried the local lobster that came with delicious roasted red potatoes and asparagus tips. Jim had tried the fish of the day, steamed grouper, and shared a bite with Claire.

"Is the food better tasting here on the island?" Claire asked everyone at the table. "Or does it just seem better tasting, because there is always such a great view?"

Everyone in the group laughed, but agreed that everything they'd eaten since coming to the island had been delicious.

Night fell as they finished dinner. Claire and Jim had shared a slice of cheesecake with strawberries on it, and Claire felt like she was going to burst from eating so much food. Mandy and Craig suggested taking a walk on the beach before driving back to the resort, and everyone agreed that would be nice. Janice and Carl stayed behind, though, and waited for them in the bar.