tropical storm. But maybe a tropical storm was what he needed in order to have a shot at turning his life around.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Six Days Later
Jackson
Back when Jackson had been on active duty in the Marines, there never seemed to be enough time. He was always busy with work and when he wasn’t, he was playing as hard as he could, determined to live hard and go to his grave with no regrets.
But since his time in prison, he’d lost awareness of the passage of time. Fueled by rage and obsession, months had faded into years without any change of heart or mind to mark them. Still if anyone had asked, he would have said his days were full. But by the start of his seventh day of his new beginning with Hannah, he had realized that before he’d met her, time had been standing still.
With her, hours were devoured in an instant, a day here and gone in the blink of an eye. It seemed he’d just awoken with her in his arms and already it was dusk and they were wandering along the beach in the sunset light, talking about their plans for tomorrow.
He’d heard that time flew when you were having fun, but it had been so long since he’d experienced anything even close to “fun” that it took a few days for him to recognize the light, pleasantly expectant feeling that filled him when he woke up each morning. Finally, sometime between picking oranges in the grove with Hannah Saturday afternoon and going for a morning sail around the island Monday morning, it hit him that he was having fun.
Simply sharing a day with her was enough to make it feel like he was on a permanent vacation from the evil in the world, and there was always something to look forward to. There was another moment in her company, another smile, another brush of her lips against his, and the touch of her hand reaching for him between cool sheets.
By Wednesday morning, he already knew he was going to need more than ten days. If time kept flying by at this rate, he might need a hundred.
It was a sobering thought, and one that made him keep to himself more than he had since the morning Hannah pulled him off the plane. He ate breakfast alone in his room and worked on answering email and paying bills until nearly ten o’clock. When he finally emerged, Hannah was nowhere to be found, but there was a note on the kitchen counter saying that she’d gone to the beach and that if he wanted to he should come join her.
Of course he wanted to. All he wanted was to be with her, but taking too much time off from work could wreck his business. If he was out of the loop for an extended period of time, his connections would find new places to buy and sell their weapons, and he would be out of a job. He had a good amount of money stored away, but not enough to continue living the way he had for the past several years.
But you don’t have to live that way anymore. Harley’s dead. You can let the detectives go, call off the hunt, and start thinking about what you want to do with what’s left of your life.
As Jackson stepped outside and started down the road to the beach, he began to imagine again what it might be like to let go, to let Hurricane Hannah finish destroying the man he had been and see what sort of creature would arise from the ashes. Maybe it wouldn’t be a monster or a man who felt uneasy when a day passed more perfectly than expected.
Maybe it would be someone new, someone who would know how to take proper care of the beautiful woman rocking back and forth in the hammock in front of him, so absorbed in her book she didn’t notice him until he leaned against the palm tree near her feet.
“Oh my God,” she said, flinching so hard her book tumbled to the ground as she started laughing. “You scared me. I was just getting to the good part.”
He knelt, picking up her paperback and shaking the sand off before glancing at the cover. “Another murder mystery?”
“Adam bought it for me yesterday when he was in Moorea.” She scooted back on the hammock
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Six Days Later
Jackson
Back when Jackson had been on active duty in the Marines, there never seemed to be enough time. He was always busy with work and when he wasn’t, he was playing as hard as he could, determined to live hard and go to his grave with no regrets.
But since his time in prison, he’d lost awareness of the passage of time. Fueled by rage and obsession, months had faded into years without any change of heart or mind to mark them. Still if anyone had asked, he would have said his days were full. But by the start of his seventh day of his new beginning with Hannah, he had realized that before he’d met her, time had been standing still.
With her, hours were devoured in an instant, a day here and gone in the blink of an eye. It seemed he’d just awoken with her in his arms and already it was dusk and they were wandering along the beach in the sunset light, talking about their plans for tomorrow.
He’d heard that time flew when you were having fun, but it had been so long since he’d experienced anything even close to “fun” that it took a few days for him to recognize the light, pleasantly expectant feeling that filled him when he woke up each morning. Finally, sometime between picking oranges in the grove with Hannah Saturday afternoon and going for a morning sail around the island Monday morning, it hit him that he was having fun.
Simply sharing a day with her was enough to make it feel like he was on a permanent vacation from the evil in the world, and there was always something to look forward to. There was another moment in her company, another smile, another brush of her lips against his, and the touch of her hand reaching for him between cool sheets.
By Wednesday morning, he already knew he was going to need more than ten days. If time kept flying by at this rate, he might need a hundred.
It was a sobering thought, and one that made him keep to himself more than he had since the morning Hannah pulled him off the plane. He ate breakfast alone in his room and worked on answering email and paying bills until nearly ten o’clock. When he finally emerged, Hannah was nowhere to be found, but there was a note on the kitchen counter saying that she’d gone to the beach and that if he wanted to he should come join her.
Of course he wanted to. All he wanted was to be with her, but taking too much time off from work could wreck his business. If he was out of the loop for an extended period of time, his connections would find new places to buy and sell their weapons, and he would be out of a job. He had a good amount of money stored away, but not enough to continue living the way he had for the past several years.
But you don’t have to live that way anymore. Harley’s dead. You can let the detectives go, call off the hunt, and start thinking about what you want to do with what’s left of your life.
As Jackson stepped outside and started down the road to the beach, he began to imagine again what it might be like to let go, to let Hurricane Hannah finish destroying the man he had been and see what sort of creature would arise from the ashes. Maybe it wouldn’t be a monster or a man who felt uneasy when a day passed more perfectly than expected.
Maybe it would be someone new, someone who would know how to take proper care of the beautiful woman rocking back and forth in the hammock in front of him, so absorbed in her book she didn’t notice him until he leaned against the palm tree near her feet.
“Oh my God,” she said, flinching so hard her book tumbled to the ground as she started laughing. “You scared me. I was just getting to the good part.”
He knelt, picking up her paperback and shaking the sand off before glancing at the cover. “Another murder mystery?”
“Adam bought it for me yesterday when he was in Moorea.” She scooted back on the hammock
Similar Books
