Arlo’s eyes opened. Jacqueline shivered again as he looked at her, the touch of his gaze like slipping into a warm bath.
“You’re still here,” he murmured, sliding one hand along her waist. Jacqueline laughed.
“What was I going to do, swim away?”
“I mean…” Arlo’s eyebrows drew together. “You’re here. You’re real. The last two days weren’t a dream.”
Jacqueline’s stomach lurched. Two days? Was that all? And she was already—
Arlo pushed himself up on his elbows. “Jacqueline? Are you all right?”
Damn it. Whatever she was feeling, and she wasn’t even sure herself what that was, must have shown on her face. She reached for his shoulder and pulled herself to sit up beside him.
How could she explain how quickly she was falling for him, without sounding like a complete psycho?
“It’s nothing. Just—”
Arlo suddenly doubled over. He clutched at his head with a strangled shout of pain.
“What’s wrong?” Jacqueline wrapped one arm around his shoulder to support him. His muscles were so tense it was like holding onto a knotted tree trunk. “Arlo, what is it?”
“Head,” he managed to grunt. “Voices.”
“The kids?” Terror knotted in Jacqueline’s stomach.
Arlo nodded and winced in pain again.
“We have to get to them.” Jacqueline scrambled out of bed and grabbed her clothes from the floor. She pulled them on quickly.
Arlo was following suit, his face taut with pain. He swayed sideways, almost hitting his head on the ladder, and Jacqueline pulled him back to his feet. She wrapped both arms around his waist and held him steady, staring into his eyes.
He let his forehead rest against hers. This close she could tell he was actually trembling.
“Come on,” she whispered, her breath shaking. “Let’s go get them.”
“I can’t—” Arlo grimaced, squeezing his eyes tight. “It hurts too much. I can hardly see.”
“I’ll do the seeing for both of us. You make the boat move, and I’ll tell you where to go.” Jacqueline put her hands either side of his head. “Trust me. We can do this together.”
“I trust you.” The words came out on a breath so heavy Jacqueline was only half-sure what he’d said. She pressed her lips against his and felt him shiver.
“Then let’s go.”
The sun was still low, but Arlo swore under his breath as he climbed up on deck. He made his way to the skipper’s seat with one arm up over his eyes. Jacqueline followed on his heels although it was clear he knew where he was going by memory alone.
Arlo collapsed on the seat. “Anchor,” he growled, and started to stand up again. Jacqueline put a hand on his chest.
“I’ll handle it,” she said.
He grasped her hand and held it tight for a moment before letting go. “Thank you,” he said, his voice ragged. “It’s never been this bad before.”
Their eyes met, and a jagged moment of shared realization thundered between them. Jacqueline gulped. If it’s never been this bad before—what’s happened?
Arlo unfurled the sails by feel and they were off the moment the anchor was out of the water. With Jacqueline directing him, Arlo sailed for the tiny beach at the base of the cliff with the lighthouse on top of it.
“I’ve got Harrison,” he groaned, motioning to his temple. “Here. They’ll meet us on the beach.”
They didn’t get that far.