I know, it's been a while. I am so sorry for the delay in posting. I hope you still like the story. All mistakes are mine. Most characters belong to Janet.

Chapter 12 – Day 5 on the boat

Ranger's POV

My shift had started about an hour before sunrise. I was watching the horizon and checking for boats and other possible threats. So far, so good, but I was not going to let my guard down. Getting to Stephanie has taken long enough.

When the sun started to rise, I saw movement from the corner of my eye. I knew it was Tank. I didn't let him know I was aware of him. Instead, I took a few moments to watch the sun break the horizon. In my life I never took time to appreciate the sunrise or sunset, but I will from now on. Almost losing Stephanie is an eye-opening experience. Not that I haven't almost lost my life, but now that I have Stephanie, I don't know how I'd survive without her.

It's time to wake Santos and get the boat moving. As I was walking towards below decks, Tank was walking towards me with two cups of coffee. He handed me one as he stepped aside for me to pass.

"Thank you. I was just about to wake Santos." I said.

"I figured, so I got a jump on the morning. Did you enjoy watching the sunrise?" Tank asked with an I know your secret look and gave me a smirk.

"As a matter of fact, I did. How about you? You think I didn't know you were there watching it too?" I replied.

Tank has a great blank face, but it broke for a split second. "It was a sight to see. I don't think I've ever watched one from the moment it breaks the horizon." He said.

Nodding my head in understanding, I said, "Let's go wake Santos. I want to get moving. We've been here long enough."

Stephanie's POV

The water slide was fun. After the first ride down we walked and searched for food and the bungalow houses. We walked around the area for a while and found the kitchen to the restaurant for that part of the island. The freezer and refrigerators were the big industrial walk-in type. I could hear the fans blowing indicating they were in working order and the temperature gauges were reading below zero for the freezer and 35 degrees for the refrigerator. I tried to open the refrigerator door and to my surprise, it opened. I was happy to see all the food neatly arranged. There was an assortment drinks and other sealed items that would last in a refrigerator, but no fresh vegetables, cheese or eggs. While Chet and Alicia were looking over the ovens and stove and walked to the freezer door and opened it. There were some frozen items; steaks, burgers, hot dogs, chicken and more. Not an overwhelming amount of food, but enough to feed us for at least a week. I called Chet over and he grabbed steaks for dinner, some frozen potatoes and vegetables to make us dinner. He even put some chicken on the refrigerator to thaw overnight so we can have something different tomorrow. As long as I didn't have to cook, I didn't care what we ate. I was even going to eat my vegetables without complaining.

Ranger's POV

Finally, we are moving again. We aren't far as a straight line, but unfortunately we have to go around to the other side of the island to get to the boat launching and docking area. It only took Santos until mid-morning to get us going again, but we've finally started moving. If all goes well, we should be docking around midnight.

Stephanie's POV

"Wow, Chet, you really know how to cook a great steak. That was delicious. I even ate all my vegetables." I said with a smile. "Thank you for cooking. Lula and I will clean up since you and Alicia cooked. Why don't you two head to the waterfall and take a break. Lula and I will clean up and so some exploring in this area. We'll meet back at the beach camp before it gets dark. How does that sound?"

"Thank you Steph, that sounds great. Come on Alicia. I don't want to give them time to change their minds." Chet said with a wink. And off they went.

"OK, girlfriend, what was that about? Chet doesn't know you as well as I do. You have something up your sleeve. Spill! What is going on in that head of yours?" Lula asked.

"I'm not sure, but my spidey senses are going crazy, like we're close to something. I don't know. But it doesn't matter. Chet and Alicia needed some time to themselves. We've been together this entire week and I just wanted to give them some space." I said. "Let's get the dishes clean and put away so we can explore."

"Sounds good to me. Hey, do you think there is any alcohol on this island? A margarita sounds really good right now." Lula said.

"I hope so. We'll check after we're done here." I said

After we cleaned the kitchen and put away the dishes, we started looking in the cabinets and behind the doors. This kitchen was huge. We found the stock room of the dry goods and to the right was the liquor store-room. It was even climate controlled. There was also wine cellar room and a walk-in cooler fully stocked with beer and alcohol.

"Lula, it's margarita time!" I told her with a smile.

We grabbed everything we would need and brought down to the beach with us. By the time Chet and Alicia got back, we had just finished pouring our glasses. We poured two more for them and toasted to the beautiful evening.

Although we were stranded on this island, it was a great day. If I had to be lost somewhere, this is the place I wanted to be. If Ranger was here, then it would have been perfect.

I fell asleep with a smile on my face and having sweet dreams of Ranger.

Ranger's POV

"Santos, bring us in slow and steady. Visibility is very limited." I said. Finally we made it. Docking on the opposite side of where Stephanie was sleeping, but still, we are finally here. I can't wait to see my Babe.

After securing the boat, taking our gear with us, we walked to the control room. After showering, Tank and I grabbed keys to the bungalows and headed out to see Stephanie and Lula.

Santos and Brown stayed in the dorm rooms to sleep and get the control room started up in the morning. I asked them to call Rangeman and Frank Plum in the morning to give them a status update. We are now off-line for the next week, if not longer.

Just as Tank and I rounded the corner, I saw Stephanie reach up and rub her neck in her sleep. Tank went to Lula and held her close. Lula just snuggled closer to Tank and kept on sleeping.

I picked up my Babe and walked to the Bungalow house. As I stripped her of her clothes and mine, I pulled her to me and finally relaxed, breathing a contented sigh that she was ok.

A few minutes later she took a deep breath through her nose and moaned happily.

"Ranger?" she whispered. "Is it really you or am I dreaming? If I'm dreaming, I don't want to wake up yet. Please don't wake me."

"Babe, it's me. I know you'll want to be awake for what I plan to do to you." I said.

"Sounds perfect. Show me how much you've missed me." Stephanie said. And show her I did.