What Tomorrow Brings (Florida Keys Series) (5 page)

She nodded towards his plate. “You gonna eat those?” she said with a mouthful. Maggie was so hungry she couldn’t help herself. She never pigged out like this.

He chuckled and pushed the plate towards her. “After all that work making them, I’m actually not even hungry. I prefer just my coffee.” She reached over the table and cut herself a quarter of his waffles and commenced to downing them too. He watched her as she ate until she finally put her fork and knife down.

“Whew! That was decadent and heavenly and I’m ready to get to work. That’s if I can move now,” she smiled and rubbed her belly. Maggie sat back and sighed. “If you tried to make up for Cari being a jerk, you did well. But, it wasn’t your fault we ran into her or she acted that way.”

“I know Maggie, but you were with me. I felt responsible to make it up to you.” He took a sip of his coffee.

“You mean breakfast by you each morning isn’t part of the deal I got when my Mom booked this place?” she teased. A girl could get used to that!

“No.” He leaned front in his chair and gave her that look again, the one where smoky eyes stared into her big brown ones that couldn’t look away. “ I do have another treat for you. I got to thinking about your work. I know a great place to take you where you can be alone and get some writing done. It’s only reachable by boat. Want to check it out?”

“It probably wouldn’t hurt. Although I have gotten quite a bit of material in the last few days,” she teased, then sobered. “I’m sorry I mumbled all those things in my sleepy drunken state Jake. It’s the writer in me. I would never use you or your name in a book, unless of course, you would say it’s OK.”

Jake grinned. “No worries Maggie. Let’s start fresh and keep away from the Tequila. Deal?”

She nodded. Maggie helped to clean up the breakfast feast. She followed him inside and when she saw the mess he made in the kitchen, she made a mental note to offer to make the next meal. It would take half the morning to clean up but they laughed and had a good time together. Then Maggie went to collect her writing tools so they could go off on this jaunt that Jake mentioned.

“Hop on.” Jake held out his hand as she climbed aboard. The power boat made it’s way from the canal and around some of the tiny islands that jutted out along the way. Maggie stuck her face in the gentle wind, loving the ocean breeze and hearing the roar of the engine and the sound of the boat cutting through the water. She knew without a doubt that her novel would be set here, in paradise.

Jake concentrated as he maneuvered the boat around a long sand bar on the south side of an island. He shut the motor down and anchored. He helped Maggie out into the water, which was about knee high. She gave out a little cry when she hit the cool ocean water, then clung on to his arm with one hand as they made their way through the water to the sandy beach. She lugged her laptop in it’s waterproof bag in her other.

Jake unfolded the chair he carried and set it down on the sand under a small area enclosed with a few trees and brush for shade. “Oh let’s explore first,” Maggie cried out. She darted around a few trees as if playing hide and seek. “Come on Jake,” she urged. He strolled over to her laughing at her and then darted through some dense brush until she couldn’t see him.

“Are you serious, Jake! Don’t you know I am the queen of hide and seek!” She shaded her eyes even though she wore her glasses to see if she could find his shadow. That’s what usually gave people away. They always forgot about that. “Where are you, hot man,” she quipped, pretty confident that she’d soon find a shadow.

“Right here.” His arms grabbed her from behind and Maggie almost jumped out of her skin. She giggled and then dropped to the ground taking him off guard. Then she jumped up and ran towards the waters edge and splashed her way into deeper water. She sat down in the ocean with just her shoulders and face above water..

He started splashing first. She jumped up and gave it right back to him, laughing so hard she was almost in tears. “You are incredibly fun to be with,” Maggie said. She ran out of the water and plopped onto the chair Jake had set down earlier. She watched Jake stand up, water dripping from those ripped muscles as he splashed more over his face and hair. Then he made his way to his boat where he disappeared for a few minutes and reappeared with a small cooler and once again got back into the water. When he slowly strolled up the beach towards Maggie, it was like watching a live movie right in front of her eyes. Yep, Mama was so right. Eye candy never hurt a soul!

He set the cooler on the ground beside the chair. “It’s filled with some fresh fruit and a few drinks. Are you OK alone here for awhile? I’ll be back later this afternoon. That should give you some time to get a bit of writing in.”

“It is the perfect spot. Thanks for bringing me here, Jake.” Maggie tilted her head back. He stood over her, his face serious as he gave her instructions not to wander too far out in the water. She wasn’t a child but understood his concerns. She could live with being pampered by this ‘hunk’ her Mother gifted her with. Then she enjoyed the view as he once again headed towards the water, his muscles flexing as he made his way onto the boat. More like a yacht, she thought. She heard the engines start and felt kind of sad that he was leaving, even if it was for just a few hours.

Maggie was in heaven. The rustle of the wind, the small shifting of the water all around her, the sandy beach and the sun peeking from the clouds was the perfect setting in which to write. It was as if her writer’s block had disappeared as quickly as it came. Maggie felt free and she typed for a few hours, her head down and her mind working rapidly as she put ideas together. The feeling of freedom at being able to let go and write was incredible and so necessary. When she finally got up to take a break, her leg had fallen asleep. Shaking off the numbness and dancing on her toes for a moment, she took a quick dip in the water. Maggie wondered how long Jake would be gone. It had to have been a few hours already, but he didn’t exactly say when he’d be back. She sure didn’t want to be stranded here, alone on a deserted island.

In the distance a boat came into view as it worked it’s way towards the little island. Maggie jumped up and down waving her hand, then treaded through the water to meet it, but when it got closer she realized it wasn’t Jake. “Hi there,” an older man’s friendly voiced yelled out to her. He wore a captain’s hat and a button down shirt with the words Captain emblazoned on the front pocket. “I spotted you out here alone. Where’s your boat?”

“Oh Jake just ran an errand. He is on his way back.” She was a bit leery giving out any information to a stranger but he did seem friendly enough, although she didn’t think Jake would leave her here if it was dangerous, would he?

“Did you say Jake? You mean Hatfield? Oh yeah, he spends a lot of time out here, not sure what he does on that computer of his, but if he says he’ll be back, his word is good. I’m Rob, retired Army. Nice to meet you.”

“Thanks, nice to meet you too. I’m Maggie.”

Rob started to turn his boat towards the open water when he turned and shouted. “Sometimes we get storms out of the blue. If that happens while your here, there’s a little area over yonder where you’ll be out of the storm.” She followed his direction and waved as he left. He seemed to have confidence in Jake’s ability so she wouldn’t worry yet. She had some other ideas and wanted to get them down quickly so she found her way back to her spot on the beach, relishing in the peaceful quiet.

<>

Checking the time on her computer once again, Maggie realized it would be dark in another hour. Where was he? There was no way to leave here except on a boat, and the last one had been gone for a few hours. Maggie was starting to doubt Jake and wondered if she were going to be stuck on a deserted island about the size of a football field. She certainly couldn’t swim to shore, it was too far away and who knew what was in the water. What if something had happened to Jake? Rob was the only other person who knew where she was and he had been under the impression Jake was coming right back. She didn’t know whether to worry that Jake was okay or be furious that he may have lost track of time and forgotten her.

She closed her laptop and put it in the waterproof pouch after trying unsuccessfully to get on line. Her phone had no service either. She tried to text her Mom to see if she could get through but it just kept telling her it would send it when she was in an available area. Maggie slid the phone in the pouch with the laptop and paced back and forth along the sandy white beach. Looking out over the water, only a few sail boats lingered in the distance, way to far to get anyone’s attention. She couldn’t even start a fire without matches or a lighter. She sat back down frustrated. She opened the cooler, reached in and pulled out a water, then slammed the lid. Then the rain started. Fast and furious it came down surprising her because she never even noticed any rain clouds!

Maggie jumped up, snatched up the chair and the cooler and headed for the trees where Rob said there was a safe place to go in a storm. The sun was starting to fade and she had no idea if she would even be able to find this shelter until she noticed the bright yellow arrows that pointed to a little cave like entrance. Someone had been smart enough to make a little tree house in the brush and guide strangers like her by way of bright arrows.. It was pretty ingenious actually. She had to bend down to get in but the leaves and brush surrounded her enough that it was like a big old umbrella hiding her from the elements. She felt like a bear in a cave.

She could hear the pelting rain against the brush but so far the ground around her was dry. Luckily, Rob had told her about this hiding place. What had she been thinking to trust Jake so much? She sat on the ground, her knees hugging her chest as she wrapped her arms around them. She was getting scared. Maggie McCoy never was afraid of anything. She was always in control but this moment took her back to her younger days when things were not so good.

She grew up with a single Mom, living in a trailer during the early days when Kate McCoy was building her business. A lot of the other kids made fun of her, called her trailer trash because they all lived in cookie cutter houses in developments. They told Maggie that her Dad didn’t want to be trailer trash that’s why he left her Mom. Kids were so cruel and she’d rather stay home and read borrowed library books than hang around them. It was a lonely childhood but perhaps they did her a favor because she was laughing all the way to the bank now. She was proud of what she accomplished. She was proud of her Mom too. Kate was the best example of a single mother accomplishing the impossible.

Maggie hugged herself tighter. Many times she thought about showing the world who was behind those best sellers just so she could show those old childhood schoolmates that she wasn’t trash. But then she realized they were just kids too back then and her privacy meant more to Maggie than anything else. She was happy doing what she loved. She shivered. She’d be happier if Jake would come rescue her. He was going to owe her big time for this!

Chapter Five

“Maggie! Maggie!” She heard the deep voice shouting her name before she even heard the sound of the boat. Finally! He was out there somewhere calling for her. Maggie crawled to the entrance on her knees and peeked out of her little safe house, the rain still coming down in droves. She slung the bag that held her laptop over her shoulder but left the other things behind and started running toward the beach. The rain felt like pelts hitting her but she didn’t care, she was getting off this island! It was darker now and she could see the beam of light he was waving around.

“Jake,” she shouted. “Jake!” She ran towards the light. “Where have you been, I’ve been scared to death!”

“I’m so sorry Maggie.” He wrapped his arm around her and squeezed tight and then drug her towards his boat, trying to shield her from the pellets of rain crashing against them. “Come on, let’s get out of here.” Maggie let him guide her to the boat, she couldn’t breath, couldn’t think, just put one step in front of the other treading water, letting Jake guide the way. In what seemed like forever and yet in reality not more than a few moments, she found the first step and hoisted herself on board, Jake right behind.

He led her towards the steps and ordered, “Go on below and dry off. There’s a bathroom down there. I’m going to get us back.” He was gasping for air but pushed her forward. Maggie didn’t argue, she went down into the lower part of the boat through a tiny door to find a dry area where she could finally see. The lower deck was all lit up so she made her way past a leather couch and small kitchen area to the bathroom where she opened the cabinet to find a few towels. The boat juked a bit and then seemed to rock back and forth as Jake headed towards the mainland. They weren’t that far from land, just far enough away that she had been stranded. She was so grateful to soon be back to her little bungalow. Jake Hatfield was not going to get away with treating her this way!

She dried off her face and rubbed her hair dry, then noticed blood on her shirt where Jake had hugged her? What in the world? Then her gaze rested on a pile of bloody towels on the floor. “What is this?” Bending down, she noticed Jake’s white t shirt he had worn earlier today. He was hurt? He was driving the boat and he could be hurt! She turned and flung the towel into the sink as she raced back up to the deck.

“Jake, what’s wrong? I saw...Oh Jake, what happened?” She gasped at the site of him, steering the boat into the canal with one hand holding his side while blood seeped through his shirt. His whole right side was covered in blood. It suddenly occurred to her that Jake came back for her when he had been hurt all along. They were so intent on getting off the island that she hadn’t noticed.

She ran to his side because he looked like he was ready to topple over. “Let me help you, Jake, please!” she cried. He looked at her with desolate smoky eyes and grinned the best he could. He looked exhausted.

“OK Maggie, I’m bringing the rig in. When I do, grab the rope over there and tie it around the post at the dock. There’s another one at the bottom end, tie that one too,” he ordered, his voice ragged. It took him so long to give the orders, she was worried about him passing out.