“I saw her in that navy blue dress with the white polka dots,” he said with his eyes getting distant and misty as he was transported back into that magical moment. “Her brown hair was done up and she had a white bow in it. Time stopped when we looked at each other. In the entire universe, time halted, just for us.”
I could feel my heart aching for my own magical moment. I realized I hadn’t really been putting myself out there. That I haven’t been trying to find the one for me.
“Find her, Ethan,” he said as he gently tapped my hand. “Find the one for you and nothing else will matter.”
Now that I finally know what I want, what will finally make me whole, it’s too late. I’ll probably be at the bottom of this ocean before the sun sets.
“Land!” I gasp when I see a speck on the horizon. It’s a tiny island in the middle of the vast ocean, but it’s there. Maybe it has a gas station. Maybe it has an airport and I can fly home in a real plane!
My excitement starts to fade the closer I get to it. It’s uninhabited. Just a long beach on one side and a mountain in the middle surrounded by thick lush jungle.
The gas light comes on and the old plane starts to beep in warning.
That uninhabited island is about to be habited by one pilot who’s a little too reckless for his own good.
I have enough altitude that I can get there easily. The landing isn’t going to be a problem. It’s taking off again that I’m worried about. It’s never going to happen unless I get some gas.
A sudden heaviness hits me when I fly over the island and realize how fucked I am. It’s completely deserted. Just lush rainforest, a few small rivers that run down the mountain into a lagoon, and a gorgeous white sand beach that leads into the turquoise water. It’s absolutely stunning, but I’m not interested in stunning right now. I’d prefer it if it was just an ugly concrete slab with a gas station in the middle.
I can feel my heartbeat in my throat as I line up the plane next to the beach and touch down on the water, bouncing along it like a skipping stone until I come to a full stop.
The engine conks out on me at the last possible second, which makes me think that Gramps is somehow up there giving me a helping hand. It’s the least he could do for putting me in this awful situation in the first place.
It’s silence except for my pounding heart and the water smacking into the floats. This is bad. This is so freaking bad.
I open the door and get hit by a wallop of fresh salty ocean breeze.
Seagulls are squawking nearby, which makes me feel a little bit better. At least, I’m not totally alone.
I jump into the waist-high water and start pulling the plane to shore.
It’s hard work and my chest, shoulders, and arms are jacked by the time I pull it onto the beach, dragging it through the white sand until I’m satisfied that it’s securely on land and not going anywhere.
I drop onto my ass, sinking into the powdery sand as I stare out at the ocean. It’s endless. Fucking endless.
How the hell am I going to get out of here? What the hell am I supposed to do?
No one can track this plane and I can’t get it into the air without a gas station. I’m fucked. So fucked.
I hear something on the rocks behind me and I turn around with my pulse racing.
“Stay right there,” the most beautiful voice I’ve ever heard shouts at me.
I slowly look up tanned muscular legs to the spear pointed right at my head.
A wild woman wearing a grass skirt and a black bikini top is standing on the rocks with a fierce look in her eyes. Her brown hair is an untamed beast flowing in the wind around her.
My heart thumps out of control when I see her stunning face. Her unrestrained beauty.
She’s an Amazonian princess. A wild woman. A goddess in the flesh.
I look at her in awe…
…and time stops.
CHAPTERTWO
Wendy