I got up from the sand and walked towards the water, Alex following behind.

“Besides the coma, a couple of bruises, and a fractured knee, I lost complete control in my right arm due to severe nerve damage. After surgery, I spent a year in rehab, trying to regain use of it again. The doctors said I only had a twenty percent chance of it ever fully recovering and that I needed to get used to doing things with one arm.”

“But you did recover,” Alex softly spoke as we walked along the water.

“I did because of Emily. Swimming was our life and we trained in the pool every day since we were seven years old. Our parents didn’t know we were training; they only knew how much we loved the water. Emily had her heart set on becoming an Olympic swimmer. She wanted nothing more than to make the USA Olympic team. My goal wasn’t that big. But I trained with her anyway because it meant so much to her. Before the accident happened, she was training for the national swim meet for our high school. She was on her way to the top and everyone had their eye on her.”

“What about you?”

“I was on the team too, but it was her dream. Not mine. So I pulled back to let her have the spotlight.”

“That was very admirable of you.” He smiled.

“Thanks. There was nothing we wouldn’t do for each other.”

I stopped walking and stared out into the ocean. Alex stopped beside me and brushed a strand of my hair from my face. I took his hand and held it.

“I’m so sorry for leaving you at the hospital.”

“Please, don’t apologize. You have nothing to be sorry for. I completely understand why you had to get out of there.”

I let go of his hand as I gave him a small smile.

“So how did you become a national swim champion?” he asked.

“Since it was Emily’s dream, I decided that I was going to try and win it for her. Rehab helped. They exercised my arm to try and rebuild my strength in it. I swam every single day, sometimes for four to five hours and practiced only using one arm. The coach didn’t want to let me back on the team at first because she didn’t think I would be a good asset with only being able to use one arm. But I showed her. I got into that pool and swam my heart out, beating out my teammates who could swim with both arms. Our team made it to the nationals and suddenly I wasn’t sure if I could do it. Anxiety started to set in because I was so afraid of letting Emily down. Doubt started to fill my mind and I began to question why I was even there. I remember sitting in the locker room on the bench. The rest of the team had already headed to the pool. I begged Emily to give me the strength to go through with it. I met my team out on the benches by the pool and, all of a sudden, a white dove came out of nowhere and landed by me. I knew that was the sign from Emily. I swam that day like I never swam before, breaking three national records.”

Alex took hold of both my hands, bringing them up to his lips. “Congratulations. I’m very proud of you.”

“Thank you.”

****

Alex

Listening to her story was heartbreaking, yet fulfilling. Emerson James was a phenomenal woman and, apparently, I didn’t give her enough credit. I had no clue that she had lost her parents and twin sister and my heart ached for her. My heart never ached for anything or anyone. But for her, it did.

“So after Nationals, what did you do?” I asked as I continued to hold her hands.

“After high school, I packed up and left California. This is the first time I’ve been back since I was eighteen years old.”

“I’m surprised colleges didn’t offer you scholarships.”

“They did.” She smiled. “I didn’t want to go to college. As much as I loved to swim, it wasn’t my dream. I only did it for Emily. I had other plans. I wanted to travel the world just like me and Emily planned to do.”

“I’m surprised Adam let you.”

I laughed. “He didn’t have a choice, plus I had already been a burden on him since the accident. He was still in college and had to take care of me. That wasn’t in his life plan and I hated that he put his life on hold for me.”

“How did you have the money to travel?” I asked out of curiosity.

“My parents were wealthy. Not like you wealthy. But they led a comfortable life. After they were killed, Adam sold our childhood home. Between that money and all the investments that my parents had and their savings, we had a lot of money to split between us. The only way Adam agreed to me traveling was if he kept control of my finances, since that was his specialty. I agreed and then left. When I was running low on money, I would call him and he would send some more.”

“Did you ever work?”

“Yeah. I took on odd jobs here and there. When I was in Texas, I worked at Billy’s ranch, taking care of the horses. That’s how we met.”

“Why did you leave Texas?”

“I had been there just under six months and it was time to move on to the next adventure.”

“I still don’t understand why you had to come back to California.”

“Apparently, my money is almost gone, which I can’t understand since I was very careful, and Adam said that I need to settle down in one place. He wouldn’t send me any more money until after we talked. So, I’m waiting for him to come back so we can have our conversation and I can get on with my life. Are you hungry?”

“Yeah. Actually, I am.” I smiled.

“Then let’s go cook some dinner. There’s a couple of steaks in the refrigerator.”

“Sounds good. You can cook and I’ll get another bottle of wine ready.” I winked.

As we headed up to the house, I couldn’t help but think how much her life had changed in the blink of an eye. She was such a beautiful and courageous woman and she had touched my life like no one ever had before. I was starting to see things differently through her eyes and, to be honest, it scared me.

Chapter 13

Emerson

After seasoning the steaks, I threw them on the grill and started to cut up some vegetables.

“So where are you off to next?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I’ll have to look at my map.”

“Your map?” His brow arched.

I told him that I’d be right back and I went to my room and took my map from underneath the bed. Bringing it back to the kitchen, I laid it out on the counter.

“See these red circles? Those are the places I already visited. The ones in black are where I still have to go.”

“You and your sister did this?”

“Yep. We had been working on this map since we were ten years old, circling all the places we were going to visit. It hung on our bedroom wall and whenever we had an idea or thought of a place, we’d circle it on the map.”

He looked at me and smiled. “That was a great idea the two of you had, but I still don’t understand why you have to visit all these places now. Why not spread them over your lifetime?”

“Because, Alex, you never know when your time is going to be up. Never stay in one place too long. There’s too much beauty in the world to see.”

“Well, it looks like you’re going to have to slow down since your money is running out,” he spoke as he poured the wine.

“I’ll find a way.” I smiled.

I made the salad and took the steaks off the grill. Alex shocked me by setting the table on the patio.

“I didn’t think you knew how to set the table.”

“I’m not that incapable of things. I do run a multi-billion-dollar company, after all.”

He still was in his sweatpants and no shirt. Staring at his rock hard chest and eight pack was getting to be unbearable. The ache between my legs was getting out of control knowing what the man could do to me.

“I think what you’re wearing is inappropriate and you should go change.”

He gave me a blank stare. “What?”

“You have no shirt on and it’s inappropriate. Please go put on a shirt before we sit down and eat.”