Gil’s gaze doesn’t waver. ‘Really?’
‘Reallywhat?’
He pushes his wet hair out of his eyes. ‘You think I’d do that? On our honeymoon? Just to get revenge or something?’
He has a point. Even though I’ve never particularly liked Gil, now I think about it, I’m not sure he would stoop that low to score a point over me.
‘I don’t know why I bother,’ he says, pushing backwards in the water but still facing me. ‘I only came to tell you we’re moving on to the next snorkelling spot in a few minutes. You’ve drifted quite a way from the boat.’
I quickly check the coastline and realize he’s right. It’s a complete rookie mistake and I should know better. We’re floating closer to the rocky headland than we were earlier. I am grateful that he came to find me. If I were him, I probably wouldn’t have bothered.
I don’t know why I react to him the way I do. I’m like a puffer fish, inflating hard, poking out my spines every time he’s close, and especially if I sense any hint of judgement or displeasure in him.
I have no sensible response for him, and if we’re going to be leaving this spot soon, I need to put the shell back where it belongs. When I dip my face in the water, I can’t see the two rock formations I found it in any longer – we must have drifted while we were arguing –so I pick the nearest patch of suitable sand and deliver it there.
I’m surprised to see Gil’s legs treading water as I near the surface on my return. I hadn’t expected him to wait for me, but then I see he’s cleaning his mask before we swim back to the boat, and realize maybe he didn’t.
I look past his head, scanning the waves between us and the beach, and then, frowning harder, I spin in a slow circle, my eyes searching the horizon. When I come face to face with him again, my stomach feels as if someone just dropped a lead weight inside it.
‘Gil …’ I croak, hardly able to get his name out.
He looks warily at me. ‘What?’
‘Where’s the boat?’
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Present Day
Gil twists to look behind him, then paddles frantically to check the opposite direction. ‘What …? Where …?’ He turns back to face me, eyes wide. I’ve never seen Gil scared before, not even on that horrible night, and my heart pounds even harder.
He treads water in a circle. ‘It can’t have just …’
But I think it has. It’s just that neither of us wants to say it. The boat is gone. It’s nowhere to be seen.
Gil swears creatively and at length, describing just what kind of idiots the boat captain, the tour organizers and anyone on St Lucia involved in the planning and execution of this snorkelling adventure are. And then he turns to look at me.
‘You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?’
My arms stop moving while my legs kick underneath me. ‘What?’
He fixes me with one of his intense and uncomfortable stares. ‘Super-independent Erin … Can’t possibly stay with the group and snorkel. You have to go off on your own …’
‘You arenotturning this around on me! I could still see the boat. I kept checking regularly, and even if you’re right,they should have done a head count before they left. Standard procedure. It’s not my fault the boat left without us.’
Gil says nothing, but the fire leaves his eyes. I suspect he knows I’m right.
But then I have another thought … I pause as a larger wave rolls past us and close my mouth so it doesn’t end up full of salt water before carrying on. ‘Someone has to realize we’re missing, don’t they? Even if it’s your friend in the white bikini!’
‘I told you … She’s not—’
‘Okay. Whatever. Thegirlin the white bikini. Better?’
Gil gives a grudging nod and then we both turn and look in the direction the boat came from to deposit us at this location, even though neither of us is sure that’s the way it departed.
‘So we just need to stay here,’ I say, a tiny bubble of hope inflating inside my chest. ‘We need to stay by the reef so they’ll know where to find us.’
Gil glances towards the shore, which is visible but quite some distance away. ‘I’d guess it’s about a mile back to the beach. And we have no way of knowing if the tide is working with us or against us, or if there are currents that will tire us out before we get there.’
