Love Me One More Time by Laura Burton
Chapter 15
Ifind my mom and Carter’s aunties setting up bunting by the pool, and catch a glimpse of the table of cakes and sweet treats waiting for me. My heart sinks at the sight of everyone happily making preparations.
“There you are! We’re almost ready for your bridal shower––” my mom begins. One look at me wipes the smile off her face. “What’s wrong?” she asks, alarmed. It still marvels me how easily my mom can sense when something isn’t right with me.
I want to tell her what happened with Carter’s mom, but I’m worried it’ll only end up in a full-blown attack of the in-laws. No one needs that drama.
“I just need to speak to Carter,” I say, pasting on a smile. My mom gives me an unimpressed look that tells me she’s not buying it.
“What do you need?” she asks, and I’m taken aback. I was prepared to fight her trying to force the truth out of me. She’s always trying to fix my problems. Her asking me what I need is, ironically, exactly what I need right now.
“Do you know where he is?”
My mom nods. “They took a boat out… I heard George say something about swimming with sharks.”
I shield my eyes and squint into the sunlight. There’s a big white yacht heading for open waters. I have to move fast if I’m going to catch up.
My mom pulls me in for a quick hug. “I don’t know what you’re planning, but be safe,” she says into my hair.
There’s no time to change, so I yank off my shirt and run in my shorts and tank top toward the sea. Sea foam clings to my legs as I splash into the ocean. I throw myself into the water in a dive and swim as fast as my arms and legs will allow.
After the initial shock, the cold sea is invigorating to my senses. I swim harder than ever. With every greedy gulp of air, I glance at the yacht. It looks no closer than it was ten minutes ago... Fifteen minutes ago. If they’re still sailing out to sea, I’ll never catch up.
Foolish. It turns out being in my thirties doesn’t mean I’m all wise and grown up just yet. I still make rash decisions. Stupid, life-threatening ones too.
I glance back to the shore; it’s further away from me than the yacht, so I’m committed now.
My arms and legs scream at me in protest as I try my best to power through the ocean. I’m swallowing more than a healthy amount of saltwater.
Slowly, the yacht grows in size. After several painful minutes of what feels like splashing, I start to hear the engines of the yacht.
“Carter!” I try to shout. But I gag on more water when the waves crash over my head. I drag a hand over my face and try again. “Carter Black!”
When I reach the back of the yacht, a group of men come into view. They’re standing over a cage, lowering it into the water.
Carter’s face appears and he pushes through to see me properly. He looks ready to jump into the ocean himself “Zoe! Good grief. What are you doing out this far?”
I don’t know. That’s the truth. After getting so riled up by his mom, I went on pure instinct and it led me here. Now I have a stomach ache, sore limbs, and an acute sense of humiliation.
“I need to talk to you,” I say.
“Zoe, these are shark infested waters. You need to get out,” Carter jumps onto the cage and it rattles. “Whoa! Steady. She’s not designed to be jumped on,” George says. He looks from me to Carter with wide eyes. He’s probably wondering which one of us is crazier.
Carter squats and holds onto the cage with one hand while offering me the other one. “Come on, let’s get you up to safety,” he says.
A question tumbles out of my mouth; completely insensitive to the urgency of the moment.
“Your mother gave me a pre-nup just now, is that what you want?” I ask, studying Carter’s face carefully.
The truth is, there’s no way I’d sign a pre-nup that only protects Carter, leaving my own assets and wealth vulnerable. But then, I’ve never felt that we’d need one. It’s Carter for crying out loud.
“She did what?” To my relief, he looks horrified.
“She sat me down, shoved this pre-nup in my face, and told me that it was inevitable we would end up getting a divorce.”
Carter shakes his head and reaches for me. “That’s crazy.”
I lurch back, offended. “Are you calling me crazy?”
Carter scowls and makes a sound of frustration as he reaches out for me again, but I cannot take his hand until I know what he’s thinking.
“Zoe, if I thought that we’d ever get divorced, I would not marry you,” Carter says. The statement somehow manages to sound like a declaration of love.
“Then why does your mother keep trying to scare me off?” I ask, exasperated. Carter’s gaze leaves mine and turns panic stricken. I sense movement to my right.
“Zoe,” he says, keeping his voice low and steady. “Swim very slowly to me and climb onto the cage.”
I ignore his concern and the pleas of my rational mind. Irritation is rising in me. “Why is your mother handing me papers to sign, Carter?” I press.
“Zoe, there’s a shark swimming right for you. Please, get on the cage. Now.”
I’m having none of it. There could be five sharks circling me right now and I wouldn’t care. Carter’s mom struck a raw nerve, and the worst part is, some of the points she made were not wrong. We haven’t talked about our future. Maybe we’re being naive. I know my lawyers will freak out when they discover I went and got married without any legal advice.
But this isn’t a summer fling. This is Carter. I’d trust him with my life.
The group of men on the yacht start pacing and arguing with each other. Redford is grumbling something about not having a gun.
“Zoe, please!” he says, his voice strained. I follow his line of sight and the ripple of water to my left is much closer now. My heartbeat picks up speed, what have I done?
There’s a sudden splash and Carter’s head appears in the water beside me. He grabs my hand. “We’ll talk on the boat. Come on…”
He yanks on my arm. We’re both in trouble if we don’t get out fast.
What follows is a frantic blur of splashing and swimming.
A new emotion rises from the depths. Carter’s mom springs to mind. Every snide remark and repulsed look fuels my resolve to live. I swivel and duck under the water just as Carter cries out my name. A rush of bubbles obscures my vision and a silver gray snout comes into full view. A set of jagged pointed teeth grow bigger as the shark approaches.
My fear has evaporated. I had heard this happens when death is near. Besides, fear isn’t going to help me now.
The strangest thing happens then. The shark’s face morphs into the face of Carter’s mom. I’m thinking of all the times I’ve wanted to give her a piece of my mind and didn’t. All the times she hurt me and never once offered an apology. She drove me away from the love of my life once, and there’s no way I’m letting her drive me away from him for good. Pure adrenaline is coursing through my veins, when I close my hand into a tight fist and pull back. Then, just as the shark reaches me…. SMACK.
I punch the shark right on the nose with so much force, I hear my shoulder crack. A hot searing pain claws up my arm.
Ignoring the sensation, I watch the shark thrash about and swim off. Then someone wraps their arm around my body and I’m lifted upward.
My face crashes through the surface and I take a giant breath, gulping in sweet, salty air like I’ve just been reborn. I glance down at the dark depths of the sea beneath me and it’s like I’ve left a part of me below. The dark, bitter Zoe, burdened with guilt and regrets, is gone.
“Wow, Zoe,” George says, looking at me in awe. “Did you just punch a shark?”
“What a way to crash a bachelor party!” Eddie adds, chuckling.
Redford studies me with concern. “Your shoulder is dislocated, let me help you.”
He moves to help me, but I shake my head and turn away to help Carter up out of the water. He pulls me in for a tight hug, then pushes me back and gives me a good shake. “Zoe, what were you thinking? I thought I’d lost you. Don’t you ever scare me like that again!”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me. I promise I’ll never do anything like that again.” I take a deep breath. “And just forget what I said about your mom. None of it matters anymore. What matters is that we want to be together, and we’ll figure everything else out.”
We break apart to look at each other. Carter’s relief quickly turns to horror. “Zoe… You’re bleeding.”
Confused, I look down at my hand. Blood is dripping onto the deck, but I can’t figure out where it’s coming from. I try to rotate my arm to see the underside but my shoulder burns and I let out a yelp.
I can hear my mom’s voice in my head.
See, I told you, no swimming!
When she said swimming would be dangerous, I joked about her watching Jaws.
I definitely didn’t expect that joke to literally come back and bite me. Turns out, I owe my mom an apology.
“Hold her up, Carter. We’re losing her.” Redford’s voice sounds far away.
I’m just about to insist I’m fine when all of my limbs grow limp and my vision goes black.