Read Online For Better, for Worse, Forever by Lurlene McDaniel - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Lurlene McDaniel
Tags: Romance
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mask, its bright blue lips making silent statements no human could understand. Startled, she flapped an arm, and the fish zipped away to the safety of the reef below. Brandon tapped her shoulder again, and she turned in time to spot a sea turtle, large as a rock but as buoyant in the water as Styrofoam, swimming downward. The world beneath the sea captivated April, and when Brandon pointed toward the shore, she didn’t want to go.
“I loved it!” she squealed once they were back under the tent. “I had no idea it was so beautiful down there.”
“Scuba diving’s even more fun. But you need a tank and some lessons first,” he said with a laugh. Bringing her pleasure, seeing her happy, made his heart swell. The girls who’d grown up on St. Croix were unimpressed by such sights, but showing it to April was like seeing it for the first time himself.
“Will you take me scuba diving?”
He laughed at her childlike enthusiasm. “I told you, this is your summer to do anything you want—” He stopped in midsentence. Suddenly April had lain back on the towel, her eyes squeezed shut, her face pale and pinched. Beads of sweat popped out on her forehead. The towel was wadded in her fists, as if she were trying to hold herself in place on the ground. “April! What’s wrong? What’s happening to you?”
10
F ear ripped through Brandon.
“Dizzy …,” April mumbled. “Very dizzy.”
He tore the lid off the cooler, grabbed a handful of ice, and pressed it to her temples and throat. “Sit up. Maybe you’re hyperventilating.”
He helped her sit, but a wave of nausea made her groan.
“Take deep breaths,” he said, pressing more ice against the back of her neck.
Nothing was helping. April couldn’t stop the world from spinning. She sagged, folded against him, clung for dear life. He stroked her hair, held her in his lap, soothed her skin with a damp towel. “Breathing through yourmouth for so long probably made you dizzy,” he said, trying to comfort both of them.
With all her heart, she wanted to believe him, but she knew it wasn’t so. She was sick and experiencing vertigo and there was only one explanation. “It’ll pass,” she said weakly, all the while praying,
Please make it go away. Don’t let me be sick in front of him
.
“I’m really sorry, April. I wanted today to be fun.”
She should have known her medical problem would catch up with her sooner or later. Why,
why
couldn’t it have done so later? Tears squeezed from behind her closed eyelids. “It isn’t your fault.” She knew she should tell him the truth about herself, but all she remembered in the darkness behind her closed eyes was the expression on his face when he’d told her about his mother’s suicide. How could she wound him again? Wouldn’t it be better to simply let him think she was sick from some other cause? Anything—except the truth? “I—I think I ate some bad fish at supper last night. I wasn’t feeling all that great when I got up this morning, but I wanted to come so badly thatI made myself feel better. I guess it’s finally caught up with me. So much for the power of positive thinking.”
“Let me pack up and get you home,” he said. “Lying out here in the heat isn’t helping you any.”
She agreed, but she didn’t want to go. She wanted to stay on this sandy strip of island and be with him. She wanted to feel the warmth of the sun. She wanted to hear the gentle sloshing of the sea against the shoreline. She wanted to remain in paradise. A headache crept up the back of her neck and settled around her head like a vise. The pain turned her skin clammy.
She heard him moving around and concentrated on the sounds he made, trying not to think about the mounting pain of the headache. He took the tent down last, after gently carrying her to the boat. The swaying of the boat caused her to totally lose her equilibrium. She felt like a matchstick tossed on a sea of waves, unable to get her bearings.
“I
“I loved it!” she squealed once they were back under the tent. “I had no idea it was so beautiful down there.”
“Scuba diving’s even more fun. But you need a tank and some lessons first,” he said with a laugh. Bringing her pleasure, seeing her happy, made his heart swell. The girls who’d grown up on St. Croix were unimpressed by such sights, but showing it to April was like seeing it for the first time himself.
“Will you take me scuba diving?”
He laughed at her childlike enthusiasm. “I told you, this is your summer to do anything you want—” He stopped in midsentence. Suddenly April had lain back on the towel, her eyes squeezed shut, her face pale and pinched. Beads of sweat popped out on her forehead. The towel was wadded in her fists, as if she were trying to hold herself in place on the ground. “April! What’s wrong? What’s happening to you?”
10
F ear ripped through Brandon.
“Dizzy …,” April mumbled. “Very dizzy.”
He tore the lid off the cooler, grabbed a handful of ice, and pressed it to her temples and throat. “Sit up. Maybe you’re hyperventilating.”
He helped her sit, but a wave of nausea made her groan.
“Take deep breaths,” he said, pressing more ice against the back of her neck.
Nothing was helping. April couldn’t stop the world from spinning. She sagged, folded against him, clung for dear life. He stroked her hair, held her in his lap, soothed her skin with a damp towel. “Breathing through yourmouth for so long probably made you dizzy,” he said, trying to comfort both of them.
With all her heart, she wanted to believe him, but she knew it wasn’t so. She was sick and experiencing vertigo and there was only one explanation. “It’ll pass,” she said weakly, all the while praying,
Please make it go away. Don’t let me be sick in front of him
.
“I’m really sorry, April. I wanted today to be fun.”
She should have known her medical problem would catch up with her sooner or later. Why,
why
couldn’t it have done so later? Tears squeezed from behind her closed eyelids. “It isn’t your fault.” She knew she should tell him the truth about herself, but all she remembered in the darkness behind her closed eyes was the expression on his face when he’d told her about his mother’s suicide. How could she wound him again? Wouldn’t it be better to simply let him think she was sick from some other cause? Anything—except the truth? “I—I think I ate some bad fish at supper last night. I wasn’t feeling all that great when I got up this morning, but I wanted to come so badly thatI made myself feel better. I guess it’s finally caught up with me. So much for the power of positive thinking.”
“Let me pack up and get you home,” he said. “Lying out here in the heat isn’t helping you any.”
She agreed, but she didn’t want to go. She wanted to stay on this sandy strip of island and be with him. She wanted to feel the warmth of the sun. She wanted to hear the gentle sloshing of the sea against the shoreline. She wanted to remain in paradise. A headache crept up the back of her neck and settled around her head like a vise. The pain turned her skin clammy.
She heard him moving around and concentrated on the sounds he made, trying not to think about the mounting pain of the headache. He took the tent down last, after gently carrying her to the boat. The swaying of the boat caused her to totally lose her equilibrium. She felt like a matchstick tossed on a sea of waves, unable to get her bearings.
“I
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