Finders Keepers Read online

  “I needed some fixing up when I was a kid.” Linda’s face was turned away, her expression as closed as Marissa had seen it thus far.

  Marissa didn’t want to pry but saying nothing seemed unfeeling. “Better now?”

  “Finished now. And have been for some time.”

  “I’m glad then. I think I have some work to do on me. Not that I aspire to climb up a treacherous cliff on a daily basis, but I wasn’t sure . . .” She couldn’t quite make herself admit she had been certain she was about to die.

  “You were amazing. That was a tough climb. I’ve had lots of practice so of course it was easier for me but you did it.”

  “I wouldn’t have made it without you all helping and that’s the truth.”

  “I’ve seen fit grown men balk over walls half that height.”

  “Were they facing certain death as the alternative? Because let me tell you, that was motivating.”

  Linda chuckled and the stiffness left her shoulders. “I’ll remember that, next time I do a climbing course.”

  “Do you teach?”

  “From time to time.”

  Marissa nodded. “I can see you being very good at it. You’re patient and very positive.” In her mind’s eye, she could easily visu-alize the Finders Keepers Personal Inventory Questionnaire com-39

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  plete with check boxes appearing next to attributes for Linda’s profile. What kind of mate would be the perfect match? What kind of woman really attracted someone so strong, good-looking and life-loving?

  The hotel manager, with a grinning Gregorio to one side, explained in careful French-accented English that the authorities had been notified and they would all stay at the hotel for at least the night, until flights were arranged out of Fare Town.

  “If you will all please put your name and city on this list, we can give it to the cruise lines. You are the last group to be found and there was no loss of life.”

  A ripple of relief went through all of them and Marissa realized while she’d not thought about her cabin-mate since she’d last seen her, she’d been worried, and worried for the people she’d met at dinner. It was such good news.

  The manager explained that there was no Internet available on the island and only a few phones, but each of them would get a few minutes soon to call family. Meanwhile, if they could pair off to share rooms and bungalows the hotel could accommodate everyone.

  Marissa glanced at Linda, who gave a “Wanna share?” sort of shrug. Marissa nodded and after they both carefully wrote out their names, the manager gave Marissa a key.

  “A shower,” Marissa breathed. “That is going to be just about orgasmic.”

  “I feel that way about the swimming pool I can see out the back door. And look at that beach.”

  Marissa followed Linda’s line of sight. “I don’t quite see things at the same height as you.”

  “Step over here.”

  She sidled to where Linda was standing and her breath caught.

  The pool sparkled bright blue and beyond that a white sand beach dotted with hammock-draped palms gave way to the deep turquoise of the white-capped ocean. “It’s like something off of a postcard.”

  “My camera’s gone,” Linda said quietly. “I could have taken a shot of you in paradise.”

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  “I’d ruin the scenery.” Marissa turned toward the path that led to their bungalow.

  “Not in a silver lamé dress. Or, better yet, a teal green swimsuit that shows off the curves and your eyes.”

  Marissa could feel herself blushing for the remainder of the short walk, all the way until she unlatched the door to their room.

  She wasn’t used to anyone looking at her with such approval. She felt . . . what was the right word?

  Something unfamiliar, but welcome.

  Attractive. She felt attractive.

  “This is cozy,” Linda observed as she set her pack down on the nearest of two narrow beds.

  “It’s larger than the cabins on the ship, plus there’s solid ground outside.” She was willing to believe that Linda was perhaps a natural flirt. Some women were. It was certainly fun to be on the receiving end. Alone in a romantic bungalow, though, she’d have to take everything Linda implied with a big grain of salt. It was fun and that was all.

  “I like the solid ground thing at the moment.” Linda opened one of the French doors and quiet sounds Marissa hadn’t noticed before—distant surf, low voices, sleepy insects and birds—flowed into the room.

  “I’ll just use the facilities.” Taking her backpack with her, Marissa slipped into the bathroom.

  For a second after she switched on the light, she thought someone else was in the bathroom with her. Startled, she drew back, then realized she was facing a full-length mirror. She didn’t know what she had expected to see but it wasn’t a grimy, sweat-crusted, tangle-haired woman with a double chin, a button-up shirt that gapped enough to show her bra and pants that cut a round belly in two.

  Frozen in place, she stared. There was no slinky sexpot, no paradise beauty.

  The woman in the mirror couldn’t be her. Nothing she felt deep inside showed.

  When did this happen to me?

  She didn’t want to look at that reflection but couldn’t look away either. She studied the only familiar thing, the wide blue eyes.

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  From someplace painful and raw she thought, as Linda had said, that the story of their shipwreck would be worth telling for years. But everyone else would have the amusing anecdote about the fat chick who couldn’t climb the cliff by herself. They wouldn’t mention the sexy Ginger Linda had planted in Marissa’s head nor the attractive woman she’d felt like just a few minutes ago. For the rest of their lives she’d be the helpless fat chick.

  I don’t want to be a helpless fat chick for the rest of my life.

  Feeling numb, she called, “Is it okay if I take a shower?”

  “Sure, go ahead. The beds are really soft.”

  The image of Linda on the bed ought to have sparked something in her hyperactive imagination but something else was churning inside, grinding in a place just behind her heart, too hard to be ignored. The hot spray eased her tight chest and the hotel soap and shampoo washed away the grime and sweat of the night.

  What was it that had been in Linda’s eyes that had made her think she was in some way . . . desirable? She looked worse than usual and yet Linda seemed to think there was a reason to look at her. She liked herself as Linda saw her. But that wasn’t the woman in the mirror. Linda didn’t know the real her.

  It was harder to look at her body wrapped in an inadequate towel, but this time she made herself take in every bulge and fold.

  Weren’t they accidents of nature, baggage some unseen demon had hung on her, appearing out of thin air?

  I don’t want to be a helpless fat chick for the rest of my life.

  She emptied her backpack and was grateful for the comb but ecstatic that most of the things in it were a little damp but had survived. Her mother had advised her to carry fresh underwear, a T-shirt and socks in her carry-on luggage in case her big suitcase went missing and for once Marissa vowed to tell her mother she’d been right.

  She felt human when she left the bathroom. But she did not look in the mirror again.

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  Chapter 4

  “This is the life.” Linda’s head lolled back on the pool steps as a soft breeze wafted over them both.

  Marissa couldn’t help but study the half-submerged body—she hadn’t thought much about what sculpted meant but she was pon-dering it now. It wasn’t just the aesthetic beauty that kept her gaze on Linda, but the way Linda seemed to give herself to the water, as if all the anxiety of the last day was seeping out of her, never to return.

  “You got t
hat right.” Marissa sat on the edge of the pool, legs dangling in the clear water and wished for some of the calm that Linda seemed to find so easily. Her call home had been distressing and it was taking a little time to shake it off. “I am so glad I bought trip insurance. The lost books alone were worth a fortune.”

  “A woman who can read,” Linda commented. “They’re all too rare.”

  “There’s routines I’ll set up for the servers to run and while 43

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  they do that, I read.” Marissa shrugged. “Might as well learn something or have a brief escape.”

  “When I was backpacking through parts of the Alps I read the same book fourteen times.”

  “Was it a good book?”

  “I don’t remember. Some straight romance.” Linda grinned at Marissa’s shout of laughter. “Which probably says a lot about me.”

  “More likely about the book.”

  “So your mom was relieved?” Linda pushed away from the steps and Marissa again watched her body sink in the clear water until her feet touched the bottom. Okay, if she was being honest, Linda was more graceful and elegant than most of the models pouting on the covers of magazines.

  “She hadn’t heard about the shipwreck, so my call was a big surprise.” Marissa smoothed the cotton shorts she’d acquired from the hotel gift shop. “I was scolded for waking her up for the first few minutes then she seemed glad to hear I was okay. I had to hang up when we started on topic du jour.”

  “Your mom does that too?” Linda’s arms windmilled in the water as she slowly pirouetted in place. “What was today’s topic?”

  Marissa looked away. “Boring stuff.” She wasn’t about to unload her mother on Linda. Only Ocky had any clue about how narcissistic her mother was. “But she did want pictures to show her friends of the shipwreck.”

  “Fodder for the social circle but in a good way?”

  Marissa couldn’t help but arch her eyebrows. “Yeah, that’s about the size of it. How’d you know?”

  Linda launched into a slow backstroke. “You’re not the only one with a mother.” The little smile of pleasure told Marissa how much Linda was enjoying the gentle kiss of the water. The smile, the way Linda let the water flow over her shoulders, the habit of touching surfaces with just the pads of her fingers all spoke of an appreciation for sensation.

  I shouldn’t be thinking like that, Marissa told herself. She’s gorgeous, okay, but this is not real. She tipped her head back to study 44

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  the incredible sky. Unmarred by clouds and with the sun finally approaching the western horizon, it was a rich, endless blue like nothing she’d ever seen before.

  For a moment she heard the Abandon Ship announcement again. She fought off the little shiver that accompanied it. It could have been worse, so much worse, she told herself. They could have been in the lifeboats for days or capsized during the waning hours of the storm. There might have been people who didn’t get off the ship in time. She could have been stuck with people not nearly so pleasant as a brave, strong, attractive woman with a great sense of humor and a fantastic laugh. There was no point to wanting even more good to come from the bad.

  “Come on in,” Linda called to Marissa.

  “These are the only clothes I’ve got—I don’t want to get them wet.”

  Linda’s lips twisted in a suggestive smile and Marissa found herself blushing. She was certain she could guess a few topics Linda could bring up at that moment.

  “Flirting with you is fun,” Linda said, as she waded toward Marissa. Stopping a polite distance away, she added, “You rise to the occasion, even when you’re blushing.”

  Feeling as if her ears were on fire, Marissa could only think that she wouldn’t mind being stuck here for several days. Weeks, even.

  “Want to walk on the beach?”

  Marissa nodded and heaved herself to her feet. “Might not get another chance if transport arrives on time.”

  “On Time means different things to different people. I’m hoping it takes a day or two to arrange the flights back to Papeete.”

  “I like it here too.” Marissa made a little noise of pleasure as her feet sank into the sand at the end of the short walk from the pool.

  “But the cruise line is paying for the flight back to Papeete, so—”

  “Let’s stay anyway.” Linda scampered past Marissa, then circled behind her again, kicking up a flurry of sand in her wake.

  “I couldn’t afford this place.”

  Linda shrugged. “I’ll pay.”

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  Marissa looked over her shoulder at Linda, eyebrows arched as high as they would go. “Are you independently wealthy?”

  “Something like that.”

  “Well, thank you, but I couldn’t.”

  “Why not? It’ll be such fun.”

  Marissa turned to parallel the shore, close enough for the occasional wave to run up over her feet. She watched the breeze lift Linda’s long hair from her back. How would it look worn up, like a princess? How would it look spread out on a pillow? “I couldn’t—my mother would have a fit, me accepting that kind of gift from a stranger.”

  Linda scurried into Marissa’s path. “Your mother sounds uptight.”

  “She is, believe me.” Marissa broke their gaze and looked down. Together they watched the surf slowly bury their feet with sand. “But there are social rules, you know.”

  “Screw that. Stay. You could claim fate led you here and, hell, it might be the truth. I promise I’ll have you back in Papeete in time for your journey home. Stay.”

  Marissa tried not to answer Linda’s eager grin with one of her own. “It’s not right . . . gifts from strangers . . .”

  Linda seized Marissa’s shoulders, kissed her soundly, then let her go. “There. Now we’re not strangers.”

  “You’re crazy.” Breathe, Marissa thought, you have to breathe.

  “Something like that. Stay.”

  With a voice suddenly soft, Marissa heard herself say, “Okay.”

  “You’ve really improved in just three days.”

  Linda’s scrutiny as Marissa adjusted her snorkel mask made Marissa feel clumsy. It was hard to get the thing on while treading water. “Yeah, it took four minutes instead of three for me to nearly drown. You’d think I’d be better at floating.”

  “You saw the baby squid, didn’t you?”

  “Oh yeah, it was great. And the tiny purple fish in that school.

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  The angel fish—wow.” She grinned. “They were way better than the screen saver.”

  Linda looked outraged. “I should hope. One more dive?”

  “I think I can do one more.” Marissa wanted to stay out all day but the sun and rolling water was starting to make her feel lightheaded. Thank goodness it was only two hundred feet or so to shore and most of that could be traversed by wading.

  “Knew you could,” Linda answered before fitting her snorkel into her mouth again. Moments later she had slipped easily beneath the surface.

  After inhaling deeply, Marissa executed a less elegant dive but kicked strongly toward the ocean floor. The bright sunlight illuminated the pale sand and volcanic rock formations. A magenta squarespot flitted between tendrils of purple anemones. Her floating hair obscured her view for a moment then a tug on her ankle brought her attention around to Linda, who was pointing out a longfin bannerfish.

  They shared broad grins then both kicked toward the surface.

  Marissa blew her snorkel out and snatched it out of her mouth so she could spit out the sea water.

  “I wish I could do this all day but I think I have to stop. I’m so thirsty and my lips feel like they’re going to peel off.”

  Linda, who looked like a sea goddess with wet, red lips and gleaming expressive eyes, said eagerly, “Oh, w
e can’t have that! Sea water is dehydrating. Let’s get something to drink.”

  They were only a few hundred feet from their bungalow, and Marissa waded out of the gentle surf first, her fins dangling from her fingertips. She abandoned them on their porch. “I’m positively craving a Coke.”

  “Welcome to a retreat from the modern world. I think it’s time for a coconut rum with banana, all blended up with ice.”

  “Sounds heavenly. I just want to towel off.” Inside the bungalow Marissa quickly brushed her hair after slipping out of her swimsuit. A dry T-shirt and pair of shorts was nothing she’d ever take for granted again. The open market in Fare Town had pro-47

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  vided all the basics, true, but at a hefty price tag. Worth every penny.

  She emerged into the sunshine again saying, “I must be getting old to appreciate clean clothes so much. When I was a kid I could stay gritty and grimy for days and not even think about it.”

  “If you don’t mind me asking, how old are you?”

  Marissa arched an eyebrow. “How old do you think?”

  Linda rolled her eyes. “Oh please, let’s not play that game. I’m thirty-one. I’m thinking you’re about that.”

  “Oh. Thirty-four, just. I thought you were older. Not that you look older, you look about twenty-five. But you’re wise and knowl-edgeable about so many things, and traveled so much. So I was thinking thirty-five at least, to have seen all you’ve seen.”

  “I started early on the living thing.” Linda had an odd expression on her face but before Marissa could ask further, she said,

  “The ocean, fresh bread and a blended drink. What more is there to life?”

  They ordered their drinks at the thatch-roofed bar, Linda making a few odd comments in French to the bartender along the way.

  “I can think of a few things,” Marissa answered finally, as she carried her drink to the open-air table under the awning. She took a quick peek for sand fleas—they seemed to like her a lot—and saw none. “Chocolate and sex.”

  “Yes, to both.” Linda winked and Marissa’s heart started beating hard again. It wasn’t fair that Linda could get such a response, and so easily.