They’d have no way to call out for help otherwise.
“Kallie?”
“Yeah?”
“I have to go back up,” Ash said.
“No, no, no. Please stay. Don’t go back up there.”
“I have to. I have to keep trying to contact the authorities.”
“Ash. Please,” she said with a whisper.
Her plea broke his heart, but he had to do something. He had to find a way to get her out of this.
“I promise I’ll be back soon,” he said.
Then he kissed her lips heatedly before slipping over her body.
Kallie grabbed his hand, but he released his fingers from hers. It ached him to leave her. He could see the mounting terror in her eyes. He threw the door open and allowed the rain to pour in momentarily as he climbed the stairs. The storm was howling. Crying out its anger as he emerged from below deck. He shut the door behind him so the cold wouldn’t creep down to Kallie, then made his way back to the helm.
His eyes gazed out toward the horizon and there was the smallest glimmer of hope. He wasn’t sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him, but he could’ve sworn he saw light glowing. The sky was dark. Pitch black, even though the sun was supposed to be suspended in the air. The waves wer
e rolling underneath them as the tips of their peaks sloshed onto the yacht’s deck. Ash grabbed the radio at his side and pressed the button, trying to hold the wheel with his knee while he tried to scan through radio signals.
“Mayday. Mayday. This is US Yacht Worthington. Can anybody read me? Over.”
“Mayday. Mayday. This is US Yacht Worthington. If anyone copies, I’m stranded in the storm headed north-northeast away from the island of St. Barts. Over.”
“Mayday. Mayday. This is US Yacht Worthington. We’re taking on heavy water. Does anyone copy? Over.”
Ash slammed the radio receiver down as the waves started to roll.
The yacht nosedived and sputtered up until even he was getting seasick. He tried to field the waves as best as he could, making sure to never fully overcorrect. All he had to do was sail toward the light. Toward the glowing yellow aura on the horizon that signaled the breaking of the storm clouds. The good news was that hurricane potential tidal waves were out of the question.
The bad news was the comforting yellow glow was still at least ten miles out.
“I’m a fucking idiot,” he said with a murmur.
Then his hands gripped the wheel tighter as his legs braced for the crashing of the waves.
Chapter 24
Kallie
The storm was terrible. Kallie was battling her seasickness and trying her best not to follow Ash out onto the deck. She curled up into the bed below deck and closed her eyes, demanding her stomach stay calm. Silent tears brewed in her eyes before spilling onto the pillow even though she tried to be strong. Tried to be brave. Tried to be supportive of Ash and his decisions. But every time he came down below deck to check on her, she threw herself at him. Clung to him. Was grateful to him for coming back.
And she cursed him every time he left.
She wanted it all to be a terrible nightmare. Every time she fell asleep against the rocking of the boat, her eyes would flutter open and she would pray it was over. But every time she woke up, something else had gone wrong. Whether it was the boat taking a dive into a wave and Kallie crashing to the floor, or whether it was the electricity going out and having to survive on electric lanterns, there was always something.
And Kallie knew that without electricity, they couldn’t radio out for help.
Her stomach felt as if it were trying to kill itself. During a break in the storm’s fury, she had managed to get to the kitchen and grab a Sprite. But the second she opened it a wave caught the side of the yacht, sending her and the soda into the wall. She was drenched in the sticky liquid, and stumbling on her feet, and she threw herself at the sink so her body could get its personal fiasco over with.
It wasn’t until Ash’s hands were pulling her hair back that she felt relief flood her veins again.
She did eventually fall asleep in Ash’s arms. He held her tightly until she’d drifted off, but she woke back up without him. Kallie’s head was pounding from her sickness and her body felt as if it were floating in the middle of a lake full of Jell-O. It was hard to breathe. Hard to see. Hard to fathom when the storm was ever going to end.