Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 83368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
And now here they were in what felt like the dead of night, and she thought it was a good idea to go surfing on the biggest waves he’d ever seen? If anything happened to her, it would be his fault for putting her in the position where she felt she needed to surf. If he’d learned anything about Mila, it was that she worked out her problems on the water.
He really wanted to talk her out of this terrible idea of swimming out and meeting those huge, dark, soul-sucking waves. “Why don’t we go get breakfast?” he suggested. “We could come back later when it’s light.”
Her answer was to laugh at him. “Give me an hour, then I’ll go for breakfast with you.”
“Okay,” he said quietly. She put her mug in the sand for later and would have headed into the surf, but he pulled her to him and kissed her swiftly. “Be careful,” he said.
She smiled that gorgeous smile of hers. “Don’t worry. I’ve got this.” And then she was off.
He knew that she worked things out surfing and that he’d given her a biggie to ponder, but he’d never seen her like this. She was swimming out toward those big, dark waves as though she wanted to dance with danger.
His heart was in his throat. He couldn’t even sit down. He stood, walked to the edge of the water, and just watched. She was a dark shape against dark waves, and then the sun began to rise, casting a deep pink glow. She popped up on her board as easily and lightly as a ballerina leaping onto a stage and began to ride the waves. She was glorious, so beautiful it made his heart ache, and he watched her coming in toward him, so grateful she was safe. But she didn’t come all the way in. He realized with dread that she wasn’t finished.
She jumped off her board while she was still pretty far from shore and swam back out again. Half a dozen times, he waited for her to come all the way in, and each time she went back out for another ride.
Day was dawning, and he couldn’t take much more of this tension. He could see her more clearly now, and it seemed to him that she was barely in control of her board. Yet, when he was certain a wave would toss her, she somehow managed to stay on its back and ride.
Now he watched helplessly as she rode a big one, one of those that always scared him, where it curled right over like a big mouth trying to gobble her up. He could hardly bear to watch, yet he couldn’t tear his eyes away.
She seemed so small and defenseless in the curl of the wave. “Come on, come on,” he said aloud, his heart pounding. “Come out of there.”
And as she did, his worst fear was realized. The greedy mouth of the wave snapped its jaws shut.
And she disappeared.
A few seconds later, he watched her board pop up, but she wasn’t on it.
He didn’t even think. He dropped his coffee and sprinted into the water, calling her name.
Back when he’d been an Ironman, the swimming was the strongest leg of the event for him. His muscles remembered exactly how it felt to drag himself through the water with efficient strokes and at high speed. He kicked with all his strength, dragged himself forward with his arms, panting with the effort, half blinded by the waves, choking on seawater. Not knowing what else to do, he headed for her surfboard, where he could still see it bobbing. He was nearly there when a head popped up.
“Mila!” he yelled.
She looked slightly disoriented as she turned toward him. “Hersch?” And then she yelled again, “Hersch! You did it. You’re swimming!”
He didn’t even know what she was talking about. “I thought I’d lost you.”
And then they reached each other, and she threw her arms around him, and he threw his arms around her. He kissed her cold lips.
She was trembling.
He was trembling.
He kissed her again, and they clung to each other.
She said, “You’ll never lose me. I love you.”
And then they both grabbed at her board, and it supported them as they wrapped their arms around each other and kissed with the kind of deep love they’d never dared to express before.
He took another deep breath and said, “I love you too. I never should have said it last night. I wanted to make a big romantic thing of telling you, but the words just slipped out.”
“I liked hearing it,” she admitted. “But you startled me. I already knew I loved you. I was just scared to tell you.”
In that moment, Hersch realized they were still in deep water, and panic began to set in. His teeth were chattering, and the beach seemed a long way away. “Can we go in now?” he asked.