“Let’s go.” She links her arm with mine and tugs me back into the fray.
She might not have meant it, but I do. I’ll follow that woman anywhere, especially if I get to watch her lead.
Chapter 21
Junie
The days drip by even slower now that Mason and Juliette are gone; we try to savor every moment of it. New volunteers trickle in to take their places, but the sanctuary doesn’t seem to have the same spirit. Steven and I avoid talking about it, as if that will make it hurt less that I’m going to leave eventually too.
My work is going well. We’re getting a lot of new followers on TikTok and even better, donations have been pouring in. I ran a pledge drive called “Buying a beer for your turtle bud” that gained a lot of traction. Donors pledged a dollar amount for every beer bottle we pulled out of the ocean on our last cleanup dive. Everyone was blown away by the success of gamifying charity. Thomas’s eyes lit up when I shared the analytics.
The reception to my content has been so good that I’m a little worried about the team losing momentum when I leave. I’m thinking about it this afternoon, sitting in the rehabilitation room and watching Jimmy float passively around his tank.
“It’ll be weird leaving here,” I murmur, tracking him through the glass. He’s the best listener. “I bet you’re excited to go home. I wish I felt the same.”
Saying the words out loud feels like a small weight off my heart, even if I do feel pathetic for talking to a turtle. Maybe I couldkeep posting remotely after I get back. Just to ease the transition for them. Would keeping my connection to Gili Telu help or hurt when I have to return to my real life? What will Steven and I do? Long distance between New York and Indonesia just doesn’t seem realistic.
I don’t know. I feel Grannie’s hand in everything—like she truly led me here to realize what I’ve been missing.
Being with Steven is a fairytale. He still has his quiet, crabby moments, but he’s jumped into the role of my tour guide with both feet. I’ve learned more about the island and its residents, both human and marine, than I ever would have seen on my own. We eat most meals at the warung near his bungalow where Injah always ruffles his hair like a proud mother after filling us up with delicious food. We play soccer in the sand with the neighborhood kids and snuggle at bonfires on the beach. We scuba and snorkel and it continues to take my breath away. We really are living in paradise.
It sounds like he ended up in Gili Telu by chance, but thanks to Mike, it’s become a second home. He’s only hinted at whatever made him leave Australia, and I suspect there was a woman involved, but I wonder where he found the confidence to go and never look back. Without a work specialty and a job offer, I can’t stay in Indonesia very long even if I wanted to. But do I? That seems crazy to even consider.
Mason said he’d be back to visit once he got his visa sorted out and I need to extend mine as well. Mike gave my documents to an immigration service last week and I have to go in for biometrics on the mainland to get the official seal of approval for another 30 days, even if I’ll only use a few of them.
How did my romantic two week vacation with David turn into this? I wonder what Eva would think about everything. Betweenthe time difference, the bad cell service on the island, and the lack of wifi in Steven’s bungalow, we haven’t had a chance to catch up in a while.
The visa extension will mean time away from the island, away from the sad absence of our friends. It’s wild how much they’ve come to mean to me in so short a time. But then I look at my gorgeous, brown-eyed scuba instructor and it doesn’t seem so crazy after all.
That night in bed, his body is turned away from mine and I need him closer. I snuggle in, roping my arm around his waist and pulling his warm back against my chest.
He twists in my arms, wrapping himself around me instead. It happens so often, I finally have to say something.
“Do you not like being the little spoon?”
I thought he might choke. He splutters, not forming real words as my eyes rake his face in the moonlight.
“Oh my god, do you think it’s like… unmanly or something? Are you afraid of receiving affection?” I’m partly joking, but the look on his face is priceless.
“I’m not afraid of receiving affection,” he finally says. “I’ve never had a woman do that before. I’m not used to it.”
“Well, do you not like having my breasts pressed up against your back?” I’m naked, my chest bright white in the dark around the crisp triangles of my tan lines.
“Nah yeah.” He avoids my gaze, zeroing in on them instead. “I like it better when they’re in my mouth.” He licks his lips.
“Don’t deflect!” I smack him with a pillow. “You don’t like being in my arms, letting me curl myself around you?”
“Of course I like it. Your skin is so soft. I want to feel you everywhere.” He runs a hand through my hair, tucking a strand behind my ear.
“Then turn around and let me spoon you, you big oaf. It makes me feel good too.”
As I wiggle up behind him and nestle my chin in the crook of his neck, I feel another one of his walls come down. Something in my chest loosens as well. This feels like more than island fling, but soon there will be an entire world between us.
But not yet,I remind myself.Right now, you’re here. Living this moment. Feel it all.
That’s the point of meditation, right? It’s not avoidance, it’s mindfulness. It’s sucking the marrow out of every moment I get to spend here, writing the story of my life. I don’t know how a connection this intense is possible in such a short time, but I’m not going to squander it by questioning it now.
*****
