“She’s right,” Nikos said. “Better with two should something happen.”
Sam nodded. “How strong of a swimmer are you?”
“Very. I swam long distance at BC.”
He knew it was a lost battle, especially seeing the determination in her green eyes. “Okay. No argument. Let’s go.”
As Dimitris and Nikos gathered Zoe between them, starting up the narrow trail along the north side of the island, he and Remi walked down to the dock, grateful that it hadn’t yet started raining in earnest. He jumped into the Lazy Krab, then reached up for Remi, holding her hand as she tried to time her jump when the boat rose. Launching wasn’t easy. Sam attached the kill switch to his wrist, hoping they’d never need it.
Remi sat next to him, bracing herself against the roll bar as he navigated over the choppy water. They both relaxed once they were out of the turbulent northern waters, then zipping south along the much calmer west side. That all changed when they rounded the southern tip of the island and neared the channel.
Sam slowed the boat as they approached, shocked to see how vastly different it was from their earlier trip. It had seemed so much wider earlier that morning. Now the three-hundred-foot space between the two islands had turned into a churning mass of white water. “Hold on!” he shouted.
Remi nodded, then wrapped her arms around the roll bar.
Sam took it slow, the boat bouncing from wave to wave. The bow raised then slammed down into the trough as the next wave rose up in front of them. At several points, the wind was so strong, it sent them hydroplaning backward, the ninety-horsepower motor not enough to keep them moving forward. They were nearly through the channel when the tip of the boat hit then breached a wave. As the trough opened beneath them a sharp gust hit beneath the hull. The bow flew upward. Suddenly, they were airborne, the boat sweeping up and around like a roller coaster, tossing them into the water. Sam surfaced to a tornado of whitecaps swirling around him.
Remi was nowhere in sight.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
Sam heard nothing but the roar of the wind in his ears as he called Remi’s name.
A wave lifted him as he treaded water, searching. He glimpsed the boat about fifteen meters away just before he dropped down into a trough. Somehow it had landed upright, and he tried swimming toward it. The current in the channel was too strong. Another wave lifted him. He glimpsed the boat flying toward him. It would likely pass him if he stayed where he was. Swimming to the right, the next wave brought him up, the boat almost on top of him. He reached for one of the handles on the side, feeling the rubber sliding beneath his fingertips. He gave one more kick, reached out with his other hand, grasping the handle. Gripping it, he swung his leg over the side, pulling himself in. The wind gusted, lifting the boat then slamming it down, tossing him into the bottom. He scrambled to the controls, realizing the motor was still propelling the boat forward. The kill switch strapped to his wrist had snapped off when he fell. Small miracle, he thought, putting the engine in neutral, searching the water for Remi, shouting her name.
“Sam!”
He heard rather than saw her. As a wave propelled the boat upward, in a flash he caught sight of something dark on the surface about a boat’s length away.
Remi.
The bow dropped into the next trough, knocking him down. He found a rope, dragged it toward him with his foot, grabbed a life preserver, tied one end of the rope to it, the other end to the roll bar, then pulled himself up on the seat back. The craft rose. He threw the life preserver in the direction he thought he’d seen Remi, losing sight of it in the storming water. The rope sank below the surface. He reached for it, figuring he’d have to make another attempt, when it suddenly went taut.
Linking his arm around the roll bar, he pulled on the rope, finally seeing Remi clinging to the preserver. He managed to get her aboard while the water roiled
around them, tossing the boat about. Exhausted, she clung to the seat as he started the boat, navigating through the channel—finally reaching the calmer waters between Thimena and Fourni. As they motored into the port at Thimena to await the others, he looked at Remi, shivering in the seat next to him. “Remind me the reason you were coming?”
“Good luck charm?”
He held up his wrist, showing her the broken kill switch. “Guess it worked,” he said, then leaned over and kissed her.
* * *
—
Thankfully, the trip from Thimena to Fourni was much less eventful, the storm holding off until after they’d reached the larger island. Once there, they took Zoe up to the clinic, where they were expecting her. By the following afternoon, the rain had lessened to a light sprinkle, barely wetting the ground. The ferries were running on schedule and life on the island seemed to be back to normal. After the harrowing afternoon the day before, Sam and Remi decided to take advantage of the break in the weather to walk into the village to meet Nikos, Denéa, and Manos for coffee at Skavos’s café. As they sat there, a number of islanders stopped by their patio table to talk to Sam, their Greek spoken too fast for him to get the gist.
“They’re thanking you,” Nikos explained. “For bringing Zoe home.”
Sam, slightly uncomfortable under the constant stream of well-wishers, began to realize exactly how tight-knit the community was. “Tell them you and Dimitris did the heavy lifting. All we did was bring the boat.”
Skavos brought their coffee, refused to take payment, then added his thanks to the list.
Remi smiled, then turned her attention to Nikos. “How’s Zoe?”
“Much better. Dimitris is with her. She wants the four of you to come up for dinner. Apparently one of her neighbors brought over enough food to last her a month.”
“She should be resting, not entertaining,” Remi said.