Chapter 14
1965
Maddy stood up from the blanket in the hot summer sun and whipped her towel at Peter. “I want to go in for a swim,” she begged. “Come with me.”
He put down his guitar. “I want to watch you go in. I love watching you.” He stretched his head up toward her.
She leaned down and kissed him. “Okay, but you’re going to miss some great waves.” She smiled and dropped her towel over his head.
Peter pulled the towel off and watched her run.
Maddy jumped fearlessly into the water, the waves slammed her, and he laughed out loud when she had to stop to adjust her bikini top.
He picked up his guitar and began picking a melody. He must have been playing for only a few minutes when he realized he couldn’t see her anymore. He looked up and out, but she was nowhere in sight. He set down his guitar and stood. He still couldn’t see her. Had she come out, and he hadn’t noticed? He ran into the water and called at the top of his lungs. His heart began beating against his ribs.
He dove, and as soon as he lifted his head he saw her, waving her arms frantically. Four butterfly strokes, and he had her.
She gasped for air, crying.
“You’re okay, Maddy. I got you. You’re safe.”
He swam powerfully to shore, carrying her. Before their feet touched the sand, he had her tight in his arms, kissing her head and face, holding her close.
“I was fine. I was.” She managed a few words as she cried. “Then I felt the waves pulling me—I’d never felt that before. I tried to swim out, but the undertow kept dragging me under. I swallowed water and couldn’t scream. Peter, I was so scared!”
“I’m so sorry, Maddy.” He kissed her forehead, her cheeks and lips, and tears. She leaned into his chest and sobbed, and he took her face in his hands. “The idea of something happening to you makes me insane.”
She gasped for breath. “I thought I was never going to see you again. I’ve never been so terrified in my entire life. I couldn’t get to you, and you couldn’t hear me.”
“I’ll never let anything bad happen to you. I promise. Do you hear me?”
“You can’t promise that. Things happen. My grandmother died of heart disease when she was only sixty. She didn’t even know she had it. I was so close to my grandmother. She was too young to die. Peter, I’m scared. What if something ever happens to one of us?”
He wrapped her closer into his arms, and they stood without speaking. Then he pulled back so she could see his face and he could see hers.
She looked up and tried to smile, her face was wet.
His eyes filled with tears. “Maddy, my soul has been waiting for you. We were meant for one another—I believe that with all my heart—we were destined to be together. Nothing can tear us apart.”
She reached up and touched his face with her fingers as though she couldn’t see him, tracing his nose, the line of his jaw, his eyelids. When she came to the shape of his lips, he leaned down and kissed her deeply, while the wind blew their hair around their heads and the tide came in.