Saving Summer (7 page)

Who would check their email at a time like this, looking for two stranded people on an island?

We went back to my house anyway and booted it up. No one was online. I posted a few status updates, hoping someone would see that we needed help. Then I emailed everyone I knew. Even my parents.

And then we waited.

And waited.

Nothing happened, and no one replied.

The problem was that everyone was so busy getting the hell out of town, that they weren’t hanging around online like they usually would.

“So if no one answers, what do we do? Sit here and die?”

Shortly after Summer asked that, I heard the first crack of lightning. We would be as good as dead if we couldn’t get off the island and find shelter. We had hurricane shutters, but I had to hang them. One by one. Alone. And my house wasn’t built to resist a category four hurricane.

So I left the computer on, volume high so Summer would hear in case we got any notifications or messages, and went outside behind the shed where my dad kept his storm supplies. I hung the shutters around my parents’ room. Making at least one semi safe place to go as a last resort. It was set high at the back of the house, and there weren’t any trees hanging over the room. We could get in the closet if things got really bad.

I was sweaty, my hand scraped from the damn shutters, but I’d accomplished my goal. The heavy lifting left me starved when I went into the kitchen. Summer had kept busy making the frozen pizza that had been for our movie night, and kept an eye on the computer. She had her back to me, and was checking it in the oven when I came up behind her.

“So, this could be our last meal,” she said in a small voice. “I mean. Your house doesn’t have much protection. The windows will shatter. The roof will go. The storm surge will swallow the island.”

I didn’t say anything and hugged her from behind, resting my chin on the top of her head. “We’ll get out.”

“You sound so sure.” She sighed. “But what if we don’t?”

“Well, we have to.” I forced my voice to sound confident, when I really felt like I was starting to drown inside. More than anything I hoped Celso or Damian would wonder why we haven’t called, or why the truck was still in the spot at the restaurant. Maybe they’d come looking for us. “Because I haven’t had the chance to take you out on a real date.”

She turned around and wiped her eyes. “Are you asking me out?”

I grinned. “Sure, and maybe a little more than that.”

“What’s more?”

“Like maybe the date goes so good that we go on another, and then another. And we go on so many dates, that I ask you to be my girlfriend.” I grinned. Damn, I just couldn’t help myself. This girl had appeared in my life, and made me feel so…happy. I was sour-feeling a lot of the time. But she just showed up and it was like the sun started to shine. It was strange, but I felt like Summer gave me a purpose. She made something inside me step up and man up. I was just as capable as my brothers, and it took this brown-eyed girl with the most amazing smile to help me realize that. And for that, I’d do everything in my power to save her.

She laughed, shaking her head. “You’re so sure about this, aren’t you?”

I quickly kissed her cheek and grabbed the oven mitts to get the pizza out. “I just have to do all the right things first. Dates, flowers, chocolates, surprises…can’t skip to the end.”

She laughed again, smoothing her hand up and down my back. “You know, Gael, you don’t have to do all those things for me. They’re nice, but they aren’t important.”

“I know, but I want to.” I nodded, trying not to blush as I cut the pizza. She’d also made me into a romantic of sorts. Yeah, I was itching to leave her a cute note or something. Just to show her that I was serious.

Though at this moment, being romantic wasn’t exactly the best course of action. It would be fun, sure. But we had a storm headed for us and an island to get off of as fast as possible.

Once we were off, I was going to get us someplace safe. Then I could try out being romantic.

After that, it was only a matter of time till I found Danny.

And when I did, he was going to wish that he’d never screwed me over.

Chapter 10
Summer

“I wish I had my cell phone…” But Lou had taken it.

“And I wish my phone hadn’t sunk.” Gael snorted. He was taking our predicament pretty good. Sometimes I felt like there was a little thundercloud hovering over his head.

“Yeah, sorry about that.” I winced.

“It wasn’t your fault.” He sighed, finishing off the last slice of pizza.

I stared at the ceiling, wondering if we’d survive the massive hurricane that would make landfall tomorrow if we couldn’t find a way off the island.

It was around midnight now. We’d given up on anyone seeing an email from us. Gael and I were tucked into his parents’ bed, watching a cheesy horror flick. We’d dragged all the supplies we thought we’d need. Food that wouldn’t spoil, bottled water, the old radio, and extra blankets and flashlights. We had a mattress laid over the big bathtub, one side of it duck taped so it wouldn’t fly off. We’d taken everything of value or meaning and put it in the big safe in the closet.

I snuggled against Gael, listening to his heartbeat, and as I started to fall asleep, I hoped what he wished for came true. I hoped we survived this so that he could take me on all those dates, and then ask me to be his girlfriend. I hoped we made it. Because I knew that I was supposed to meet Gael for a reason.

I slept restlessly, curled next to his side, and I laid in bed early the next morning listening to him breathe. In the distance I thought I heard thunder rumble. But it was probably my imagination.

Then I remembered…

On the island one summer. Searching for shells with Uncle Ben. He used to paddle me around in a little boat.

No, not a boat.

“The canoe.” I sat up, grabbing Gael’s arm. “It can get us off the island!”

It was a little hard for him to get up. I tugged and shook him. “Ten more minutes.”

“Gael, get up!” I shouted.

He blinked. “We fell asleep?”

“Uh, yeah. Now come on.” I said, pulling on my sneakers. I wasn’t going to be caught in a hurricane wearing anything other than sensible footwear. “Uncle Ben had a canoe. I know Lou would never get rid of it. I bet it’s somewhere on her property still.”

Gael was out of bed when what I said really sunk in. We ran out of the house across the island for the storage shed behind Lou’s. It was an old, rusted piece of garbage. The door wasn’t even attached. Gael and I hauled out the mower, and started chucking junk until we came to the very back, where an old canoe was covered in dust and dirt.

It took some effort, but we managed to drag it out.

Gael examined it. “Think it’ll float?”

I picked up a roll of duct tape that had been in the junky shed. “I’m willing to take a risk here.”

He nodded. “Take one end, and let’s get it into the water. See what happens.”

We carried it past the house and down the shore. I kicked my shoes off, and we waded till we were knee deep, keeping an eye out for any leakage, hoping that the thing would stay afloat.

I watched with bated breath as Gael climbed inside to see what happened.

“Well?”

He nodded. “It looks like it will hold. I’ve got a small outboard motor and some gas at home. I can rig it up to the back and make the trip faster too.”

We made the walk back to Gael’s house to get our things. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and lighting crawled across the sky. Our walk turned into a frantic run. Motor, gas, extra duct tape. Life jackets and some food and water. The last thing we brought was a paddle, just in case the motor died on us.

I put on a life vest and decided to climb in the canoe first. Gael held it steady, ready to hand me our things once I was settled. “Good?”

“Yep.” I held out my hands and he passed me our bags. “I think we should just go for it.”

He grimaced. “I want to sit in it for a while.”

“We don’t have enough time for this, do we?”

“Not really…”

I gripped the sides with a nod. “Well then, let’s go.”

“Fine.” He put on his life vest and climbed in behind me. “Pray this works.”

He started the engine. It was screwed to a piece of wood Gael found in his garage. He laid it over the back of the canoe and duct taped it. It wasn’t exactly the best job in the world. But it started up and looked like it would hold.

I paddled as he carefully took us away from the island. Storm clouds thundered even louder and closer overhead. The sun seemed to have disappeared, and rain began a steady fall as the outer lying storms attached to the hurricane rolled in. Come night, we’d be in serious trouble.

The little canoe was doing great. The motor required a few restarts, but we were making it. We had the dock in sight, our hopes soaring, when the rain started to pound us. The canoe was filling with water. I paddled harder, and stretched my arm out once the dock was close enough.

I grabbed onto the side, Gael killed the motor, and we launched onto the dock. He grinned, I grinned, and in a moment of excitement, I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him.

Gael froze and looked down at me. “Summer?”

I stepped back, feeling a little shy. Normally I wasn’t the kind of girl to make the first move. “Uh, Gael…”

He reached for my hand. “I’ve been waiting for that.”

I felt relief wash through me. “I was waiting for you to do it.”

“I wanted to, but it never seemed like the right time.” He wrapped his arms around me. Rain poured down, soaking us, but neither of us cared. We kept kissing on the dock in the storm, knowing that now we were off the island, everything would be fine.

“Can I ask you something?” I said as we walked up the dock.

“Anything,” he smiled.

“What happened to your cheek?” he had a faint scar that was more apparent the wider his smile got.

“Boating accident. Kind of helps make me look a little tougher, don’t you think?”

I elbowed him in the side, laughing. “Maybe a bit.”

Gael spotted the silver truck before I did. He tried the doors until the passenger side opened. Celso had left the keys under the seat. Once our things were loaded and we were safely buckled inside the cab, I felt immensely safe. We were off the island. We were going to make it. Nothing was going to hurt us.

“Let’s get the hell out of here, Gael.”

He grinned. “Yes, Ma’am.”

We got onto Highway One, hoping to get off the island fast. One obstacle stood in our way though. The Seven Mile Bridge.

Highway One was mostly over water. On a normal day, this wasn’t a big deal. But with the hurricane churning so close, and a storm surge of epic proportions threatening to wash cars off the road, the bridge could easily be under water.

We could only hope it was still open.

Gael turned on a local radio station. The newscaster said the winds were forty miles per hour, gusting as high as fifty-five in some areas. People were urged to stay inside or to take refuge at a shelter if they hadn’t gotten off the island.

“Will we make it?” I asked, feeling my chest tighten as I watched the stoplights sway.

“We can only try.” He shrugged, turning the radio down.

We approached our first body of water. The bridge was open. A police officer waved traffic on, allowing us to cross. But that was just the short side. When we got to the long stretch that would get us off the Keys, Gael stopped the car.

I watched his determined expression narrow as he took in the entrance ahead, and placed my hand on his shoulder in a gesture of support. We didn’t have to do this. But when Gael turned to me, he waited for my decision. He was leaving it up to me.

“Go for it.” Those three words felt wrong and right. It was risky. But other people were going. The wind wasn’t so bad. We would probably be fine.

Gael nodded, and a small smile crept across his lips. “Hang on.”

Chapter 11
Gael

“How you doing?” I had the wheel gripped tight in both hands. Wind rocked the truck back and forth. Waves were coming up onto the bridge at intervals I couldn’t keep up with. We’d skidded a couple times, and almost been rear-ended. But we were going to make it. We had to. I promised Summer we would. And I was never going to let any promise to her go bad.

“Good, you?” She was really nervous. Her knuckles were white as she gripped the seat, but she was being so brave. I was really proud of her. She chose to keep going when most people would have turned back.

“Yeah, good.” I smiled at her as the car rocked from a gust of wind. “I would love tacos right now.”

“Really, why?”

“They just sound really good…” I held my breath as the small sedan in front of us ran into another car that had stopped. I swerved around them, narrowly avoiding a massive wave that washed over the entire bridge. That was a close one. “What does the GPS say?”

She held up the small system my brother kept in the glove compartment. “Two more miles till we are on land.”

We’d gone five. Two was nothing now. “Great, we’re almost there.”

She nodded, keeping an eye out the window. “I feel bad that we didn’t stop to help those people.”

Yeah, it sucked. Everything inside me said to go back. The problem was that the weather was getting worse. If I stopped to help them, I could put us in danger. Be it from the waves if we got out of the car to help, or from lightning. Or even the people that we stopped to help. There was only room for two more people in the truck.

There was another accident at the foot of the bridge. This time the police were there to help, since they didn’t have to go far from land, I guess. Those people were lucky. When we drove past, I made sure to keep as alert as humanly possible. I was not going to get Summer and I in trouble like that.

It took us almost four hours to reach Homestead. The hurricane would swallow the bottom half of the state. I was even thinking about going through Miami until we had to stop. I got gas, after waiting in a long line of cars for half an hour, just to be sure we had a full tank.