CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
And he’d kissed her back.
He shouldn’t have done it. He should have been stronger.
Greg continued to mentally admonish himself. Because as much as he’d enjoyed that kiss, it shouldn’t have happened. He should have been stronger.
But Summer had been so scared. He’d wanted to do whatever it took to comfort her. And then she’d kissed him. What was he supposed to do in that moment? Push her away? That was never going to happen.
Because even though it was the wise thing to keep Summer at arm’s length, when she kissed him, he couldn’t deny how much he’d enjoyed it—how much he’d wanted it to go on and on. He wanted to think that this could be a new start for them. But was he ready to take that chance?
Greg didn’t have a chance to answer that question as the storm had jerked them apart. And then before they could talk about what had happened with the kiss, their rescuers had arrived. There was no time to think about anything but getting off the boat and back on solid ground. A Coast Guard helicopter had lifted them from the dark turbulent ocean.
He’d made sure they lifted Summer first. He was worried about her. She’d taken quite a blow to the head. He wondered if that combined with her fear of the storm was what had prompted the kiss.
When they made it back to the mainland, there was an ambulance awaiting them. It was to escort Summer to the hospital. He hung back and sorted out everything with the Coast Guard.
It seemed like forever until he was able to make it to the hospital. And now he was seated in the waiting room while Summer was taken to radiology. He just couldn’t sit still. He paced inside the hospital, and then he moved outside and paced some more. By then the storm had moved on and left behind nothing but rain puddles. You couldn’t tell that not long ago such a fierce storm had threatened to dump them into the ocean.
He had to admit that Summer wasn’t the only one who had worried about whether they’d make it out of that harrowing experience or not. But she’d needed him to be strong, and so he’d tried to do that for her.
He turned and paced along the sidewalk outside the emergency room. His gaze moved to the glass double-doors. He wanted to go in there and be with Summer, but he also respected that she needed her privacy while they examined her.
He needed to know that she was all right. The woman at the information desk wasn’t any help. The longer he waited for Summer, the more concerned he became about her condition. What if her head injury was more severe than either of them imagined?
The evening was dragging out. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could wait around without any information. With determined steps, he headed for the entrance. He was going to go see her. He couldn’t take this waiting and wondering any longer.
The glass doors automatically slid open, and he stepped inside to find Summer headed toward him. She had a bandage on her forehead, and her right arm was wrapped. She was wearing a set of scrubs that were too big for her. In her good hand she had a plastic bag with her wet clothes.
He rushed up to her. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Her injured arm hung limp at her side, but her good arm slipped around his waist, holding him tightly.
For just a moment, all was right in the world. He finally felt as though he could take an easy breath. Sure, there were still issues to deal with, but in this moment, the most important thing was holding a healthy Summer in his arms.
When she pulled away, he regretfully lowered his arms. His gaze met hers. “How are you?”
“Tired.” Her worried gaze moved over his face. “How are you?”
“I’m fine. Just worried about you.”
“Well, I’ve been all checked out, and now I’m ready to go home.”
“What about your head?”
“I have a concussion and stitches. They told me what symptoms to watch out for.”
“You should have stayed in the hospital so they could keep an eye on you.” He didn’t like the thought of her going home and having complications.
She shook her head. “I’m not staying. It’s what I told the doctor. I don’t like hospitals.”
He was pretty certain her dislike of hospitals had something to do with her father’s heart attack. He could understand her sentiment, but he still wasn’t comfortable with her going home.
“What about your arm?” he asked.
“It’s pretty banged up, but nothing is broken.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Now let’s get going. I am so tired and hungry.”
He pulled out his phone to summon a car to take them to the pier. And then he paused. “Are you sure you want to go back to the island tonight?”
She nodded. “I want to sleep in my own bed.”
He wasn’t sure he should mention this or not, but better now than later. “You do realize that we have to take the ferry to the island, right?”
“Of course. How else would we get there?” She said it so matter-of-factly that he wondered if she’d momentarily put their horrific time on his boat out of her mind.
“I just wanted to make sure you were all right going back out on the water so soon. I mean, I could get us a room here on the mainland.”
She shook her head. “I need to go home…even if it means going by boat. I live on an island, I can’t be afraid to go out on the water.”
He had a feeling it wouldn’t be that easy for her. And that even if she conquered riding on the ferry that she wouldn’t be sailing for pleasure any time soon.
The last thing she wanted to do was set sail again.
But that was exactly what she did.
Summer’s fingers were entwined with Greg’s as they made their way onto the ferry. Her stomach was tied up in a big knot as the ferry shuttled them to Bluestar Island. She tried not to let on to Greg, but he must have figured it out as he gave her hand a reassuring squeeze and assured her that it wouldn’t be much longer.
It felt so good to have him by her side. She’d have never made it through this day without him. They were always better together than they were apart. He was the yin to her yang.
Thankfully, the ferry ride was smooth. They made their way out onto the deck. It was dark out, but it was a warm evening, and now that the storm had moved off, the moon was out. By looking at the sky now, it was hard to imagine that not that many hours ago, they’d been caught up in a horrific storm out on the ocean.
“You must be anxious to get your boat back,” she said, breaking the peaceful silence.
“I guess.” He sighed.
“Why do you say it like that?”
He raked his fingers through his hair. “Because if it wasn’t for the boat breaking down, you wouldn’t be injured now.”
“You can’t blame yourself. Nothing you did caused this to happen.”
“That’s not true. I shouldn’t have suggested taking my boat to Maine. It was just back from being repaired, and I hadn’t even taken it out for a test ride.”
She didn’t want him blaming himself. It wasn’t his fault. He was just being a good friend to her. “And if I had stayed in Maine for a day or two longer like I wanted, you would have left earlier today and hopefully avoided the storm. So I guess you could say that I was to blame.”
He turned to her. “You wanted to stay?”
She nodded. “I just wanted make sure my father was okay. I feel so bad about being so far away. I keep wondering if I made the right decision by setting up my business here on the island because I feel like I should be in Maine.”
Bwaa… Bwaa…
The prolonged blasts of the ferry whistle announced their arrival. At last she was almost home. She had never been so happy to be back on Bluestar Island.
She glanced over at Greg, who didn’t make any attempt to stand. He gazed straight ahead as though he were lost in his thoughts. He was probably exhausted from their adventures that day.
She wanted to move to Maine.
It was what Greg heard in between Summer’s other words. But the blast of the ferry whistle caused the rest of her words to get drowned out. Had they fought their way back to being friends? Then the memory of their kiss flashed in his mind. Perhaps they’d found something more.
He also recalled her mentioning her desire to move to Maine. He didn’t think he could put his heart out there only to have her pack up and leave. Again.
And so he withdrew his hand from hers. He had to put some distance between them. Yet he knew someone needed to keep an eye on her since she had a head injury.
“I have to make a call.” He stepped over to the rail and phoned Josie. Once he made arrangements for Josie to meet them at the dock, he returned to Summer.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
He nodded. “I was just making sure you had a ride home. After the day you’ve had, the last thing you need to do is walk across the island.”
“That was very thoughtful of you.” She smiled up at him.
He didn’t return the smile. He remembered what happened when he let himself get caught up in his feelings for her—he would forget his common sense—he would forget how it felt to get left behind.
“It won’t be long until we can get off. Do you want to get in line? Or would you rather sit here and rest until most of the people get off?”
“I can sit here if you want to wait with me.”
He didn’t want to sit with her, because if he did, it would be so tempting to reach out and touch her in some manner, whether it was to take her hand back in his or to drape his arm over her shoulders and pull her close.
“I’m just going to check on the line and see how long it is.” He walked away.
The ferry wasn’t very full at that time of the evening. He knew all of this before he’d gone to check, but he just needed a moment to gather his thoughts. They’d shared a very special moment on his boat, but that had been when both of them hadn’t been sure they’d live to see land again. Would they have said or done those things if it wasn’t for their dire consequences? He didn’t think so.
When he returned to Summer, she looked expectantly at him. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes. There aren’t many people.”
She studied him for a moment. “I mean with you. Your gaze won’t even meet mine.”
He forced his gaze to meet hers. “We should get going. I’m sure you want to get home.”
She stepped closer to him. “I do but I need to know what happens next.”
He raked his fingers through his hair. “Next I get my boat towed back to the island. Or maybe I should have it towed to the mainland. I’m not sure what sort of condition it’s going to be in after the storm.”
“No. I mean what happens next with you and me.”
He knew that was what she’d meant, but he was trying to avoid this conversation. He swallowed hard. “I go back to my life, and you’re going back to yours.”
Surprise reflected in her eyes. “But what about us? What about what we shared on the boat?”
The muscles in his neck bunched up. He didn’t want to have to say the words. He didn’t want to push her away, but he knew it was the best thing for both of them. “It wasn’t real.”
“Of course it was. We said things. Important things that should have been said long ago. And what about the kiss? I know it meant something to you, just like it meant something to me.” Her eyes pleaded with him to agree.
“I can’t do this. We aren’t meant to be any more than friends.” He lowered his gaze, unable to take the pain he was causing her. He reassured himself that in the end, it was the right thing to do. Eventually, she’d see that, wouldn’t she?
“I don’t believe that. I refuse to accept your answer.” She went to cross her arms, but the bandage and sling made it impossible. With a huff, she lowered her arms to her sides once more. “Why are you doing this?”
“It’s the way it has to be.” His heart was heavy—so very heavy. “I have to go. Josie will be waiting for you.”
“So that’s it? You’re just going to walk away?”
“I am. You’ll see, it’s for the best.” He turned away. It was one of the hardest things he’d ever had to do. His feet felt as though they weighed fifty pounds each, and yet he somehow continued to put one foot in front of the other.
In the end, he didn’t want to be the reason she remained on Bluestar Island. She needed to do what she felt was right for her. And he couldn’t bear to be left behind for a second time.