Page 36 of Anchored to the Storm

Removing my hands, I opened my eyes when I heard him jogging.

He was off the Lagoon’s top and running around the edge. “There’s more!” He trotted down wide steps that compared to a resort’s pool-step lounging area. “We planned on finishing the sides and steps with river rock, but your dad wanted you to pick them out. Come on!”

Without question, I darted down the stairs to follow him across the bottom, toward a side section of the pool. I jerked to a stop when I saw a very long underground tunnel, about four feet wide and tall. It pointed directly under my room, yet I couldn’t see the end of it. “Wait a minute. Does this lead to the ocean?”

Styx’s smile was so big it was contagious. “Ya didn’t think we would cage her in, did ya? A bunch of freedom riders?”

My jaw hung half-crooked with a smile. “She can come and go as she pleases?”

His head bobbed. “Well, not yet. You and I have to finish⁠—”

I had him in an embrace that screamed gratitude. No, the tunnel wasn’t complete, and the Lagoon needed some finishing touches, and some tunnel security issues worked out, but now I had a chance at this crazy life. Now, there was a possibility that I could be happy, seeing my girl whenever she wanted me.

I whispered through incredible emotions, “Thank you.”

Grandfatherly arms held me as if this embrace was long overdue. “You’re welcome.”

Sitting at the bottom of the pool, backs leaning against a wall, legs lying straight in front of us, each with a beer in hand, we faced the tunnel, sighing. So much pain brought us to this point, but also an immense amount of love—the immeasurable kind.

Styx, starting to sound tired, kept filling me in. “We’ll design a way for her to control her entering and exiting. We had thrown around ideas to make sure no one, or nothing, else could enter. Technology keeps advancing, so we could even have some sort of eye scanner or some crazy shit for club and Saleeni security.”

The fact that he considered a separate entity spoke volumes to me. The trust I now had in him, unbelievably, kept growing. “Yeah, I’m confident you will figure it out.” Feeling peaceful, something foreign to me, I asked, “If you have the energy, can you tell me about seeing Saleeni for the first time?”

His head resting back against the wall, he studied me. “You have the strength to stay calm?”

Oh. I wasn’t sure. Do I? “Is she safe?”

“I promised not to lie to you. So, that answer is I don’t know for sure how, but she has stayed alive for all these years you were gone.” He dared a grin. “And from what I’ve seen since you’ve been back, you are the one in danger.”

Proudly, I admitted, “Kind of a badass, ain’t she?”

“For sure.” Styx’s phone vibrated. After reading it, he happily proclaimed, “Pie is here!”

As he left the bare Lagoon, I harassed him, “Should we truly be letting people know we’ve returned by having pizza delivered?”

His voice echoed throughout the room as he reminded me, “Nothing is as it seems.”

Too buzzed from guzzled beers, I let the old coot handle security and went back to staring into the dark tunnel. Imagining her swimming toward me, I had a smile plastered to my face. I love you, Saleeni. Within seconds, I heard a distant high-pitched note that was beautiful music to my soul. “Hi, baby.”

Styx was coming back down the stairs with a pizza box in hand, saying, “Hello to you, too, big fellow.”

“Asshole.” Laughing, I rolled an empty bottle in his direction. “Not you. Just answering her back.” He may not have heard River sing, but the same didn’t apply to me with Saleeni.

He stepped over the beer and continued returning to me. “Gotta say, that is some freaky shit.” He plopped back down with a couple of grandpa groans. “Kinda jealous. I wanna be psychic with someone.”

Thinking of all the times in the last hours he’d already been there for me, I complimented, “You tend to read me like a book, librarian.”

He stopped opening the box that was between us. “Librarian.” His jaw muscle tightened. “Dear God, I miss her.”

“For real.” After opening a To-Go container of anchovies, I scooted it closer to him and grumbled, “Gross,” then grabbed a piece of pizza. “I dare you to tell me you two didn’t have a freaky connection.” I took a bite and talked around it. “Now I know when she wa’ dancin’ to Morrison, it wa’ all for you.”

“Mmm, her dancing.” Styx grabbed a slice and then laid a single piece of disgusting fish on top of it. “Those hips of hers used to rock my⁠—”

“Aaand this conversation is over.”

Laughter had him choking on the food in his mouth. “Not sorry. She was the hottest grandma ever!”

I threw a napkin at him. “Shut up!” I took another huge bite. “Back to Saleeni.” Then something occurred to me. “Hey, she doesn’t speak English. How did she tell you her name?”