We finished dinner and helped Butch and Buttercup ready the house for the storm. Butch and Josh covered the larger windows with plywood and Buttercup and I collected any loose articles from outside and placed them in the spare bedroom. Once we had helped them do as much as we could, Josh and I headed out to check on the last nest of turtles.
As Josh drove, our hands sat inches away from each other, waiting for one of us to budge. Feeling silly over how ridiculously slow we were moving, I threw caution to the wind and placed my hand on his. He flipped his hand over and laced his fingers through mine without taking his eyes from the road.
It was only handholding, but it felt like much more. It was a comfortable step that would further our relationship. My heart raced with giddy excitement.
The late hour and approaching storm had the area looking deserted since all the h
ouses were boarded up.
"It's kinda creepy," I expressed as we walked hand in hand down to the sand.
"Are you scared?" he asked.
"Heck no. Of course, if you came at me with a big butcher's knife, I might change my mind," I said, taking an exaggerated step back like that was a possibility.
"Nah, not enough suspense. Plus, there are no woods for you to run off into," he teased.
"True story," I laughed, liking that we had the same sense of humor.
We stared at one another for a moment and I thought he might kiss me until a sudden gust of wind whipped across our faces. "We better hurry and check on the nest," he said.
"Okay," I said, swallowing my disappointment.
We walked side by side through the sand until we reached the bright orange netting.
"You're in luck," he whispered, sinking down in the sand to study the nest.
"They're going to hatch?" I asked, unable to hide my excitement.
"They've already hatched. See how it looks like the sand has been sifted?" he said, pointing a flashlight with a red lens down into the hole.
I nodded.
"That's how they get out. They pull the sand down around them and use it to climb to the surface. Now that the sun has gone down and the sand cooled off a little, they'll start to climb out," he said, sounding almost as excited as I was.
We sat quietly for several minutes when Josh tapped my arm and shined the light on the sand in front of us. At first, I didn't see anything except that the sand seemed to be moving. I had to stifle my gasp when the first tiny head broke through the surface. I watched in amazement as its little shelled body quickly followed. Within moments, three more poked through the sand until finally several baby sea turtles were instinctively making their way toward the water. Josh followed their progress with the beam of the flashlight before swinging it back on the nest as more turtles climbed to the surface. He was careful not to touch any of them and only intervened when one of the newborn turtles strayed off course and was detoured by a small piece of driftwood.
Watching Josh gingerly remove the piece of wood while taking care not to disturb the little hatchling made my heart ache a little. I could now see why he had gone ape-crazy over the nest on that first day we met. I could easily picture how detrimental a beach full of litter would have been to the survival of a nest of turtles. Struggling to get to the sea around the trash would have made them easy pickings by birds. My resentment over being punished no longer seemed just. I deserved what I got. The fact that Evan and his crew had gotten away with it left a bitter taste in my mouth.
"Pretty crazy, huh?" Josh asked, breaking the silence.
I looked at him in confusion for a moment, wondering how he knew what I was thinking until I realized he was talking about the turtles.
"It's amazing. I see now why you were so passionate about the trash."
"Yep, even something as insignificant as a candy wrapper is a big deal. When you're as tiny as these little guys, that can be the difference between life and death," he said, pointing the flashlight at the last stragglers making their way to the water's edge. As small as they looked against the incoming tide, the baby sea turtles disappeared into the water as naturally as a baby bird leaving the nest to fly for the first time.
I nodded my head. No words were necessary.
During the drive home I continued to think about the turtles and the way they instinctively knew to head toward the water. I was dying to jot it down as a story in my journals. I'd never had the desire to write a kids' book, but at that moment, I had a perfect story worked out in my head.
"You're awfully quiet," Josh said, turning down my street. He steered the vehicle around some palm fronds that had blown off one of the many trees on my street. The tops of the tall palm trees swayed back and forth in the night sky as the wind continued to whip around.
"I was just thinking about the turtles. It was truly amazing to see that. Thank you for taking me with you," I answered as he parked in my driveway. "I'm so glad you shared it with me," I added, trying to convey how special the moment had been for me without coming across as a total cheesehead. I noticed he had a knack for making me do that.
"I'm glad you came," he said. "Tomorrow is going to be a crazy day. Make sure you stay safe. If Mitch tells you to leave, you listen to him," he said sternly, making me giggle.
"What?" he asked, confused by my laughter.