Falling In (15 page)

“You
know I really am sorry, right?  I never wanted to hurt you.”

“I
know,” he said and leaned down, tickling her nose with his loose hair.  “Just
promise that you won’t do it again.”

“I
promise,” she replied as his head sank down into the warm nook of her
shoulder.  “I just didn’t know what I wanted until now.”

Liam
looked up and peered through the hair in his face.

“And
what’s that?”

“You,”
she said and closed her eyes as he began to kiss the side of her neck.  “Just
you.”

---

Audrey
rolled over, yet again, on the squishy floor of Atsena Otie Key.  This time,
however, the old mill was gone.

She
pulled herself off of the ground and looked up, where the impressive eye of the
hurricane sat.  Like before, there was only silence as the whirling circle of
black formed a ring around the island.  All of the infamous cedar trees sat,
completely unscathed, as if the storm didn’t pass by at all.  But as she looked
around at the flashes of lightning that surrounded the area, Audrey knew that
the worst was yet to come.

She
turned around and scanned the empty space where the mill once stood.  There was
no wreckage, no piles of fallen wood and rusting pipes.  Instead, an empty,
leafy void stared back at her.

“Hello?”

There
is it again
, she
thought.

A
familiar sensation of fear began to well up in her stomach.  She sensed him out
there as he watched her every move.  Audrey glanced up to the tree line, where
she was sure that Max was hiding just as he did before.

The
still silence that surrounded was interrupted by the crunching of leaves
underfoot.

“I know
you’re out there, Max,” she called to him.  “I can feel you.”

Though
she was just as afraid as the last time, Audrey pushed herself toward the sound
instead of running away.  She gained ground on it slowly, but gained none the
less.  But even as she closed in--it sounded like he was only a few feet
away--there was no sight of him.

She
paused on the edge of the tree line that circled the empty clearing and looked
up.  There was a clear division in the skies that showed where the eye ended
and the killer winds began.  She watched as clouds near the base were whipped
up and carried to the top in a matter of seconds, along with thousands of
leaves and branches.  From the heavens, she followed the distinct line down
through the trees.  Between the twisting cedar trunks, the place on the ground
where the storm waited was visible, too.

Without
thinking, Audrey started toward it.  She was so struck by the scene: it looked
like a fan blade was chopping through the trees while, on her side, the leaves
hardly rustled.  As she inched closer, the air around stayed still and silent. 
Before her eyes, the landscape on the other side of the invisible wall was torn
to shreds.

She
inched up to the barrier and extended a hand, but chickened out and pulled back
at the last second.

Max’s
arm burst through the division and grabbed her.  Like someone threw a switch,
her peaceful place in the storm’s eye was gone.  Instead, she stood amidst the snapping
trees and howling wind and tried in vain to pull her arm away.

He
looked thinner than she remembered but his face seemed much older as an ugly
sneer spread over it and wrinkled the skin around his deep-set eyes.  His teeth
were yellowed and crooked and his hair had started to fill back in where he
usually shaved it.

“You
can’t do this to me anymore,” she screamed over the noise at him.

He
pulled her in by the wrist and yanked it up over his head.

“Maybe
not,” he growled as his face changed into Liam’s again, “but I can.”

Audrey
swallowed the lump in her throat as her hair whipped around her face,
collecting leaves and debris.

“No you
can’t,” she screamed and thrust a fist forward.

Audrey’s
knuckles shattered the mask’s glass nose before they smashed all the way
through.  When they did, Max’s grip on her released and the empty, broken face
began to spill out white sand.  It poured faster and faster, surrounding
Audrey’s feet as the storm clouds wrapped in on themselves and were sucked back
up into the sky.

In a
flash, she was back on the warm sand near the island’s dock.  But instead of a
raging storm waiting to greet her, Liam’s red kayak sat peacefully by the
water.  Nearby, a single paddle was stuck in a small mound of sand.  Audrey
reached out and grabbed the handle as she closed her eyes and took a deep
breath of the salty, warm air.

As the
storm raged just beyond the home’s walls, Audrey sleepily entangled her fingers
in Liam’s and sighed.  Though she was still gripped by the profound feeling of
lightness that came from the dream world, both the paddle and his hand were
like a lifeline.  With them, the storm waiting when she woke didn’t seem so
bad.

Not as
long as Liam was by her side.

Chapter
12

Audrey
woke up just as Liam slipped out of bed.  He let go of her limp fingers, but
not before he let them brush past his lips in a gentle kind of kiss.  They felt
like feathers that tickled her rough cuticles.

“Where’re
you going?”  She asked without opening her eyes.

“I’m
going to let some light back in this place,” he responded softly.  “The worst
of it’s passed.”

Audrey
stretched her arms over her head and finally lifted her lids.  Because of the
storm shudders, it was just about as dark as when she fell asleep.  It was,
however, a whole lot quieter.

“I’ll go
with you.”

“You
don’t have to.”

“I want
to,” she said and pushed herself up onto her elbows.  It wasn’t until the
comforter fell down and exposed her breasts that she remembered being naked.

Liam
took off the shirt that he wore and tossed it to her.

“Your
clothes are still wet.  They’re in the dryer, but the power just came back on
30 minutes ago.”

Audrey
climbed out of bed and pulled the shirt on.  It wasn’t too long--it barely came
to the top of her thigh--but she didn’t think that they would have much company
for a while.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t
mention it.”

Liam led
the way as they cut a straight line for the front door.  Outside, the dramatic
change in view took Audrey’s breath away.

Trees
and clumps of grass had been ripped up and strewn about like toothpicks. 
Around the back, where Liam’s patio looked out at the angry sea, piles of
debris were stacked at in one corner.  In it, leaves, sticks, plastic, glass
and even seaweed were tangled together like the kind of stuff nightmares are
made of.

“It looks
like the storm wasn’t as bad as they thought,” Liam said and unlatched the
first of over a dozen storm shudders.  It rolled back up with a clatter and
snapped loudly into place.  Scattered breaks in the clouds let just enough
light onto the Earth for Audrey to get a good look at the ocean.

The
waves had foamy tops as for as far as she could see and their movements were
chaotic.  Here and there, chunks of the timber that made Cedar Key famous
bobbed around on the surf.

“I hope
nobody got hurt.”

“Me
too,” Liam said and unlatched another shudder.  “We should probably head to
Arthur’s place now.”

Audrey
was confused and a little concerned.

“Why?”

“Oh,
that’s where people tend to congregate after anything happens around here. 
It’s something these folks have been doing for years just to check up on each
other.”

A gust
of wind rushed by and blew Audrey’s shirt up over her waist.  She shoved it
back down and asked, “Can we wait for my clothes to dry?  I can’t really go out
in this.”

Liam
stopped what he was doing and looked over to her.

“Not
into town, you can’t.”  He stood up from where he was kneeled and walked over. 
“But you can go back into my room.”

Audrey
didn’t resist as he swept her up into his arms and carried her inside, leaving
the rest of the shudders to be raised another time.

---

The
historic homes of Cedar Key survived Hurricane Margaret relatively unscathed,
though Audrey could see tons of torn-down awnings and boards as Liam carefully
weaved his motorcycle through the empty streets that led to the Island Hotel.

When
they rolled up to the building, its flags were already back out and three men
were busy removing boards from the lower level.  Audrey could see people
lingering near the front door, with many more likely inside.  Tons of bicycles
were leaned up against the facade, giving a small indication of just how much
of the town showed up.

“See,”
Liam said as he parked near the front door.  “It’s a little tradition of ours.”

Inside,
the sheer number of people made the whole space warm and toasty.

“Audrey! 
Liam!”  Kim called to them through the crowd, “Over here.”

They
wandered closer to the bar, where they found her seated at a table with two
more people that Audrey didn’t know but faintly recognized.  Kim hopped up from
her spot and hugged her.

“I was
worried about you last night, but I can see that you were in good hands.”

“Only
the best hands,” Liam interjected playfully.  “Is everyone okay?”

“That’s
the word on the street.  The Williams house lost its roof, but nobody was
home.  How did your place make out?”

Liam
rubbed the back of his neck and glanced over to Audrey.

“I
didn’t get a chance to really check it out, but it seemed okay.  What about
yours?”

“Just
fine, Liam.”  She took a drink of water out of a glass in front of her and
added, “By the way, old man Zelecki wanted to talk to you about the cleanup
effort tomorrow.  He’s over playing poker with the guys.”

“Of
course he is.”  He turned to Audrey and said, “I’m going to go talk to him. 
I’ll be right back.”

“Sure.  No
problem.”

Liam
pecked her on the cheek before he disappeared into the crowd.

“I see
things went well for you,” Kim said with a laugh.

“Uh,”
Audrey stammered, “yeah I guess so.”

Kim
grabbed her arm and gave it a little squeeze.

“Seriously. 
I’m happy for you.  He’s a really great guy.”

Though
she was grateful for her friend’s approval, their conversation obviously danced
around another issue that still had some loose ends.  Before anyone could ask,
Audrey answered the obvious question.

“If Max
doesn’t file by tomorrow, then I will.”

“Good. 
You deserve so much more than him,” Kim said.  “And it seems like you may have
already found it.”

“Maybe I
have.”  Audrey looked around, but Liam was still out of sight.  “Hey, where’s
Arthur?”

“Oh,
he’s at the bar giving out drinks.”

“It’s
not even noon yet!”

Kim--and
the two other people at her table--laughed.

“You
have much to learn, my friend.  Good luck getting to him.”

Audrey
thanked her and went on her way.  She tried her best to navigate through the
crowd and, as predicted, it took her a few minutes to get through to the
hotel’s owner.

“Arthur. 
Hey Arthur!”

He
looked up from the drink that he was preparing.  Next to him, his loyal
employee Susan helped out doing the same thing.

“Well,
well, well.  Look what the cat dragged in.  Excuse me, fellas,” he said to the
line of old men sitting at the bar.  “I need to talk to the lady, here.”

A few of
them nodded as he slipped out from behind it and gave her a tight hug.

“How did
your first hurricane treat you?”

Audrey
thought back to her passionate romp with Liam as the winds howled.

“Pretty
well, actually.”  She looked up to the painting over the bar and was still
shocked at her work.  “How did you know that I could fix that painting,
Arthur?”

He
thought about it for a moment before he answered, “I didn’t.”

“Excuse
me?”

“That
first day that you came into my bar, you had a look that I’ve seen a few times
in my life.”

She
leaned against the rich, shining wood and asked, “What look is that?”

“The
look of someone so beat down that they doubt every good thing they have,
whether it’s talent or something else.  You didn’t need to say anything.”

“I don’t
understand.”

“If
nobody ever took a chance on anyone, that painting wouldn’t be there in the
first place.  This world is still full of a lot of good, talented people, but you
might never know if you don’t give them an opportunity to shine.”  He looked
over to her work again and continued, “And boy, did you shine.  I’m proud of
you.”

His
words were so flattering that Audrey couldn’t stop herself from giving him
another quick hug.

“Thank
you,” she whispered into his ear and tried to hold back tears, “for taking a
chance on me.  It was everything that I needed.”

Arthur
patted her shoulder and replied, “Well, almost everything.  Here comes the
rest.”

Liam
emerged from the tightly-packed mass of people with a wave.

“You’re
awful popular around these parts,” Audrey called to him.

He
smirked and flicked the hair out of his face.

“And
you’re just figuring this out?”

Audrey
elbowed his side and responded, “You’re the worst.”

“Not at
everything, right?”

Considering
that they weren’t even close to being alone, his comment made her cheeks feel
hot.  It didn’t come from a place of embarrassment but, rather, the sinful
memories of the things he did to her.

“No,”
she pulled the hair away from her heated neck.  “Not everything.”

Audrey
felt his hand slip down to cover one ass cheek, which he gave a tempting
squeeze.

“You
wanna go outside and get some fresh air?”

“That
would be great.”  She turned to Arthur and said, “I’ll catch you later.”

The two
of them weaved through the stuffy bar and lobby, which teemed with residents
who looked relatively happy.  Most of them sat in circles where they laughed
and told stories just as they did at the BBQ.  Though it happened not too long
before, it felt like ancient history to Audrey, who was the first one to push
through the back door at the end of the hall.  She was immediately greeted by a
blast of damp air that tore the door from her grip and slammed it against the
wall.

“Holy
shit,” she exclaimed and put her hands out just in time to stop it from
whipping back into her face.

Liam
held the door and playfully pushed her out by her rear, then turned around and
closed it carefully.  When the wind wasn’t gusting, the thick air that lay over
the town was actually quite still, allowing the lighter debris that was sucked
in by the storm to start to fall back to earth, only to be kicked back up again
by the next passing wave of air.  Small pieces of paper, paint, wood and all
kinds of scrap fluttered up and down like snowflakes under the cloud-cover,
which already started to break apart.

“I’ve
never seen a view quite like this.”

“Me
either,” Liam answered and came up behind her as he wrapped both hands around
her waist.

The wet
sand under their feet crackled as he spun Audrey around and pulled her up for a
deep, passionate kiss.  From not too far away, the Island Hotel’s door slammed
open again and a voice from Audrey’s nightmares pierced right through their
perfect moment.

“What
the hell is this?”

Audrey
snapped around and was relieved that Liam kept his hands clamped onto her hips
from behind when she saw her ex.  Max angrily stood and pinned the door open
with a hand that was still wrapped in a bandage.

“Oh no,”
she lamented and pushed up against Liam.  “You can’t be here.”

Max
repeated himself and took another step forward, “What the hell
is
this?”

“This is
none of your business, guy,” Liam said and moved to stand next to her.  “I
assume you’re Max?”

“And who
the fuck’s asking?”

Liam put
a hand on Audrey’s stomach and gave her the faintest nudge back as Max let go
of the door and let it slam shut behind him.

“Look,”
he said and put a hand out, “I suggest you get out of here before there’s
trouble.”

“Not
before I talk to her,” he said and pointed to Audrey.

Liam
started to say something, but Audrey squeezed his hand and cut in.

“We
don’t have anything else to talk about, Max.  You and I are through.”

“Audrey,”
he said with a softer tone that made her suspicious.  “You can come back home
with me right now and we can work this out.  We can take some vacation days
from work and go somewhere nice.”

“Work?” 
She realized that she never even got a chance to tell him about being laid off,
which only made her angrier.  “I got fired right before dinner that night,
Max.  You never even gave me a chance and now I’m returning the favor.   I want
you to leave.”

“No,” he
said and moved toward her.  “Not yet.  Not without you.”

Liam
stepped in front of her again and responded, “You don’t have to go anywhere,
Audrey.”

Max clenched
his jaw and just stood there.  She watched from behind Liam, sure that he was
about to explode just like before.  Even with the strong man standing in front
of her, the prospect of seeing him like that again made her skin crawl.

After a
few moments, Liam pulled her out from behind him and put both hands on her
shoulders.  With an eye still locked on Max, who wasn’t too far away, he told
her, “That night on the beach.  Yankeetown, remember?”