Kiss Across Chaos (Kiss Across Time #10) - Tracy Cooper-Posey Page 0,22

“Ready? One…two…”

Jesse got her arms up and around Aran and felt his weight tip toward her.

“Three!” Marit finished.

Chapter Six

Neither sister was interested in watching over Aran while he recovered from his self-induced helpless state, so Jesse volunteered to keep an eye on him and make sure he only suffered the normal amount while he sobered.

Marit had jumped them to the beach where she had been picking mullet fish, arriving only a few minutes after she had left. Her bucket and crowbar that she had been using to pry them from the reef were still sitting in the sand.

A hand-made pergola of rough timbers with inexpertly thatched gum tree foliage for a roof was the only sign of human presence on the beach, despite the heat.

“This beach can’t be reached by car or on foot,” Marit explained, pointing at the escarpment a hundred meters inland. “At least, no one has found a way down from the top yet. So I have this place all to myself.”

That explained the amateur construction of the pergola. There was a folding bed beneath it, and a folding chair. They dumped Aran on the bed and Alannah stood looking down at him with her arms crossed. “Idiot,” she said, sounding vexed.

“Ditto,” Marit breathed. “Well, he’ll be out for hours now. Toss the stuff in the bucket back into the water, Jesse. He’ll probably need the bucket before he’s sober.”

“Fantastic,” Alannah breathed. She glanced at the water and the headland at the end of the bay. “Where is this, Marit?”

“Cape Naturaliste.” Marit checked her phone. “Gotta go. I’ve got work in two hours. Jesse, call me if you need anything.” With a small movement of her knees, she lifted herself up into a jump and disappeared.

Jesse could write anywhere, even without a laptop, but Alannah removed the need to ask for a pen and a notepad by jumping back to the house, packing up Jesse’s writing gear and bringing it back to the beach where Marit had brought them. “When you go back, I’ll take you back to the moment after we left there,” she told Jesse as she handed over the backpack. “Then you won’t be deserting the house at all.”

“Thanks,” Jesse said gratefully, for it had been weighing on her mind. “And you should get back to your party, shouldn’t you?”

“That thing,” Alannah said dryly. She glanced at Aran, who had not moved a muscle since they dumped him on the bed. “I’ve lost all desire for another drink,” she added, with a small grin. “When he’s sober, make him feel guilty for messing up our days, huh?”

She jumped away, leaving Jesse with nothing but the soft sound of the wind, the rhythmic swish and hiss of the waves, and a warmth that made her strip off the cardigan and her shoes. The dry rasp of beach sand lingered in her nostrils.

She rolled up her jeans and retrieved the bucket, emptied it and rinsed it out, then parked it next to the bed.

He phone had reconnected with the network and showed local time and date. At this time, Jesse and Alannah were still standing in Aran’s empty kitchen, trying to figure out where he was.

Jesse sent Taylor a text to tell her Aran was fine—dealing with a minor issue—but fine and he’d call her in a day or two.

Taylor answered instantly. Thank YOU!!! Talk soon.

After that, there was nothing to do but watch the waves or write and wonder why Aran thought diving into a bottle was a good idea.

Jesse had seen plenty of soldiers go through deep binges and recoveries and knew it could take a good couple of days for Aran to sober up to the point where he could go back to his life. She had nowhere to go herself and could afford to be patient.

Besides, she was working. Even battery life wasn’t an issue. She had bought a solar recharger years ago. It lived in a pocket of her backpack. She planted it in the sand just beyond the shade of the pergola. The Australian sun was steady and strong, there were no computer networks within reach of her laptop, so no Internet to distract her. She could write as long as her attention held.

Marit arrived an hour later with a small Esky in her arms, that she planted in the sand next to Jesse. She wore a smart business suit in a lightweight polished cotton, and sunglasses. Her hair was piled on her head in a messy bun. “Food, and