One Tiny Lie – Jennifer Youngblood Page 0,22

Luna countered, and she meant it.

“Thanks,” Hudson said. “I’m glad somebody appreciates it.” He cut his eyes at Dustin whose teeth were too busy sawing away on the chicken to notice.

“For someone who was so critical, he certainly seems to be enjoying it,” Luna said.

Hudson chuckled dryly. “You’ve got that right.”

Dustin paused mid-bite. “Huh?”

Margot’s eyes narrowed to slits as she glared at Luna. “Are you making fun of my date?”

Luna didn’t so much as blink. “Just making an observation.”

Margot scoffed as she turned her attention back to her plate and began eating, her expression sullen.

Hudson shot Luna a questioning look, but she only smiled and shook her head.

Luna felt the first drop of rain on her forehead before more began falling. A second later, a gust of wind ripped through the boat, picking up the extra napkins on the table and scattering them. “Oops,” Luna said as she put her plate down beside her and hurried to retrieve them. She caught all that she could but three escaped, floating up into the air, dancing and tumbling, before being discarded into the ocean.

Hudson scraped the last of his beans onto his fork and placed them in his mouth. “Lunch is over,” he said as he folded his empty plate in on itself and moved to throw it away.

Margot shrieked as rain started pelting down, pinging them like swarms of cold bees. Waves started thrashing against the boat, like someone had suddenly turned on the jets of a hot tub. Luna jumped into motion, wrapping up the leftover food and putting it back into the basket. She looked over at Margot, who was sitting in her seat and hugging her arms, as if that could somehow protect her from the rain. “A little help would be nice,” she grumbled.

Margot gave her a snarky look in response.

The hair on the back of Luna’s neck rose. “You’re such a diva,” she muttered under her breath, but loud enough for Margot to hear.

Lightning flashed in the sky, followed by a boom of thunder. Luna gasped, nearly jumping out of her skin. The storm had come on so suddenly. Alarm raced through her veins when she saw the waves rising up in swells around them. The boat was now rocking so furiously that Luna could hardly stand up. Her stomach pitched with all the food she’d just eaten. Uh oh. Maybe she’d been overly confident about not getting seasick. She tried to swallow down the bile rising in her throat. She guessed she was more like Ava than she realized. Why hadn’t she taken the Dramamine?

“Ava and Margot, get down below,” Hudson yelled over the wind and rain. That’s all the prompting Margot needed. She jumped up and scampered to get to the stairs.

“We need to get these sails down,” Hudson said to Dustin.

“I’m on it,” Dustin said.

“We’ll need to lash them down. The regular ties won’t hold.”

Waves crashed over the deck. The boat dipped, causing Luna to lose her balance. She caught hold of the railing to keep from falling.

“Ava, get down below,” Hudson yelled.

She nodded. Her stomach roiled. Holding onto the rail, she leaned over and vomited. The bow of the boat went down into the water and pitched the boat to the left. Luna let out a cry as she held onto the railing for dear life. Then, a metal arm came flying across the boat and hit her in the back with brute force, knocking her overboard.

Panic raced through her veins as her brain tried to grapple with what was happening. She sucked in a breath, taking in saltwater with the air as she gurgled and coughed. Her hands batted against the water as she struggled to stay afloat. Rain was beating down from above like endless needles. She was sinking into a cold, black pit of nothingness. Instinctively, she began treading water, her body bobbing up and down with the motion of the waves.

“Hang on!”

She looked up and saw Hudson. He tossed her a life preserver.

“Oh, no,” she heard Hudson say.

“I’m doing okay,” she sputtered. “Just cold,” she said through clattering teeth. Then, she looked to her side. Terror as she’d never experienced before engulfed her when she saw the black fist of the wave rising in the distance.

It slammed on top of her with the force of concrete and she felt herself going down, down, down. Her lungs burned for air, her tears mixing with the endless water around her.

Just when she was about to abandon all hope and give