Page 64 of Waves

We left the islands right after. Mary kept quiet for most of the ride back to the marina. Before we parted ways to our separate vehicles, she reached out and hugged me.

“I’m sorry I didn’t believe you,” she whispered.

“Please, like I would’ve believed you.” I laughed and rolled my eyes.

“No hard feelings?”

“None, so long as he can be my plus one at your wedding.”

Mary grinned and squeezed my shoulders. “I don’t want to see anyone else with you.”

That had been this morning, with the sun peeking up over the horizon. Now, here I sat, the same lonely sun dipping in the sky while awaiting Kai’s return to the beach where we first met.

Being without Kai had always been hard, but only because I missed him. I wouldn’t fault him for not coming back on time, especially after being away for so long. The last sliver of the sun disappeared over the edge of the ocean, but the dusky haze of the sunset stubbornly illuminated the sky. I rested my head against my hand and glanced at my glowing phone screen to check the time, the roaring waves in the distance filling my ears.

Ishmael softly growled and sat up beside me, so I looked back at the dark water while my heartbeat drowned out the sounds of the waves crashing on the shore. I frantically scanned the water, and then I spotted him, walking toward the beach like the first time I saw him.

“How long?” Kai called, moving as fast as he could in waist-deep water.

“Less than twelve hours!” I exuberantly yelled before I scrambled to my feet.

Kai smiled; his laugh triumphant while he raced toward me. He couldn’t run through the water, but I could on the sand. And did I ever run. Down the beach until I hit the hard, wet shore. Into the crashing waves of the incoming tide, where I got past my knees before I even realized I stood in the black water. All I focused on was him and jumping into his arms to greet him. Everything else melted away when Kai was with me, and I smiled when he tapped his forehead to mine.

I don’t think I was ever afraid of the ocean. He is the ocean.

The End