Mac woke up later and could still hear it raining but it seemed to be slacker than it was. He yawned as he sat up. He looked at Jo who was still sleeping. He hoped they could get off this island and enjoy some sort of life together. He supposed he should be glad they were together now but he did not want to stay here forever. He sat up and rubbed his neck. A rock did not make a good bed. He moved over to his vines that he had collected that day and took the knife out of the sheath.

Mac split the vines open from one end to the other and found the fibers inside which he could make into rope. He had never made rope like this but he knew how because he had been taught how by his father. He pulled the fibers from the vines. Alone, the fibers were not much but when they were woven together, they were strong as a rope and the vines were long so he could make a pretty long rope. He tied the fiber ends together on one end and began his braiding. He heard it thunder outside. He could not sleep right now so he would work on the rope. He looked at Jo as he was braiding and thought of their time together tonight. He wondered what she would say when she woke up. He thought that was why he could not sleep. He had pulled away again. He hoped she would not be angry at him. He wondered if he was angry at himself. He could not help but remember what happened between himself and Melinda. He did not want it to be that way with Jo.

Mac braided the fibers until his hands were sore but he kept going and he finally got sleepy. He leaned against the wall and kept braiding until he thought he was braiding them in his sleep.

Jo woke up the next morning feeling rested. She realized Mac was not lying beside her and she saw him sitting against the wall asleep. She smiled at him as she remembered the night before. She knew he respected her and she knew he loved her. She crawled over to him and saw the rope he had been braiding. She picked it up and looked at it. She stared at Mac wondering how he knew how to do all this. She moved on over to him and kissed him.

Mac started to wake up as he felt Jo's kiss. "Morning," he said without opening his eyes.

"I see you've been busy," Jo said.

Mac nodded slightly. Jo wondered how long he had been up working but from the looks of the rope, she thought it must have been a long time because he had woven about twenty feet of rope. "Mac, wake up," Jo said.

Mac took a deep breath. "I don't want to," he said.

"The rain has stopped."

Mac opened his eyes and looked at her. "So it has."

Jo moved even closer to him. "I enjoyed last night," she said.

Mac looked down at his hands. "I'm sorry about that," he said.

"Why? You shouldn't go against your feelings."

"I don't want to do with you what I did with Melinda. I love you and I don't want to just give in to lust."

Jo touched his face. "I don't either but I want to give in to love one of these days."

Mac kissed her hand. "We will."

Jo looked at the rope. "Where did you learn to do this?" she asked.

"My father taught me."

"You're amazing."

Mac smiled. "I don't know about that but I try to survive. I didn't go get anything to eat this morning." He looked at his watch and it was late in the morning now. He looked at the coconuts which were still inside their green shells. He supposed he needed to open those up if he could. He remembered what kind of knife people used to open a coconut. He had nothing like that but he would use what he had. He also wanted to finish his rope. He looked at Jo. "I suppose we could go and see if some of the mangos fell in the storm."

"Wonderful. I would love that."

Mac put his white shirt back on but did not button it and Jo put her light blue one on. "I sure am glad we had these on," Jo said.

Mac picked up one of the coconuts. "We'll get one of these open when we get back," he said. "I watched a guy open one of these online once."

"I'm sure we can figure it out."

They climbed down out of the cave and found that the storm had made the ground very soggy and had blown some leaves and things onto the ground. "It's so humid," Jo said.

"I guess we could have left the shirts off."

Jo smiled at him. "I don't mind seeing you without a shirt."

"I wouldn't want to get anything from any of these plants."

They walked out into the jungle and found the mango tree again. They searched the ground and found a few mangos. They put them into the backpack and walked on. "Those have to be delicious," Jo said.

"I agree." Mac shifted the backpack on his back. "They're pretty heavy though."

When they came to the beach, the sun was shining bright on the sand again. "I'm going to find some more seafood to eat," Mac said.

"Watch out for those lobsters," Jo replied with a smile.

Mac looked at her. "I will, Josephine."

"Watch it, Lulu."

"Where are you going?"

"Just over here for a few minutes."

"Alright."

Mac went on over to the rocks and searched for some more muscles and found more this time than there were the day before. He thought they must have collected there during the storm. "You fellas just stay here," he said. "We'll need you soon."

As he looked around more, he found a bunch of young crabs but they were not ready to eat yet. He found some larger ones and even some clams. He wrinkled his nose at those. He had never liked clams. It was like eating rubber.

Just then, Mac heard Jo scream. He jumped up and ran toward where she was. She was over behind some rocks. As Mac approached, he heard her say, "You little devil. I'll eat you for that."

Mac peeped around the rocks and his eyes got wide as he saw that Jo was naked. He moved back around the rock but then he peeped again and realized that she was washing. He swallowed hard as he was filled with desire. He backed around the rocks and rolled his eyes at himself. "What do you think you're doing?" he whispered to himself. He walked back down to where he had been searching. He collected a few more muscles and found two more crabs. He thought maybe he could use some freshening up himself. After all, there were no razors and there was no deodorant. He thought he might use that knife to shave with before he would grow a long, thick beard. He was already growing some stubble, of course because they had been here two nights and a day.

Mac stripped down and jumped into the water. He had not wanted to get into the water after that long swim they had to get here. He made sure to pay attention to important areas as he cleaned himself. He did not want to smell like a pole cat. He floated on the water a minute while the sun shone on him. It was warm and felt good. He did not want to stay in there too long because he knew Jo would be coming and looking for him. He finished washing and then washed his clothes as well. He laid them on a rock to dry as he sat on one to dry himself. He looked out across the ocean at the small island in the distance. He knew it could be much further away than it looked because of the curve of the earth. He sighed as he looked at it. He wondered if there were people over there and he wondered if anyone had noticed that they were missing yet.

"Mac!"

Mac was startled. He grabbed his shirt and put it over him just as Jo came around the rocks. She almost gasped. "I'm sorry," she said and backed up. "How long before you're ready to go?"

"I was just letting my clothes dry," Mac said.

"I guess that's a little easier for me, isn't it? I guess I'll go back down here."

Mac wondered what she would think if she knew he had seen her naked. Jo walked back down the beach. She put her hands on her face thinking that it must be red. She had not known he was sitting over there naked. She was wearing her bikini but he did not have any kind of bathing suit or anything. She strolled back down the beach as she thought about Mac. She thought if there was one man in the world that she could spend the rest of her life with, it would be him and here she was stranded on an island with him. She folded her arms thinking of how much she would like for him to make love to her but she certainly would not push him. She knew one day he would take her in his arms and love her.

Mac leaned back on the rocks and thought about what it would be like if they had to be here a long time. He remembered watching a movie something like this where a boy and girl were stranded on an island together. He did not even know if Jo could get pregnant anymore. He could not imagine going through something like that here on this island alone with no help at all. Of course, they were two scientists…surely they could figure it out if it came to that. Mac shook his head. What was he thinking? He did not want it to come to that…but he knew what was stirring between them and if they started something like that, there would be nothing to prevent what follows it. He thought maybe that was what made him so apprehensive about it and maybe he just used that situation with Melinda as an excuse. He certainly did not want to discuss this with Jo. It would be an awkward conversation to say the least.

Jo sat down on the rocks and let the wind blow through her hair and dry it. She thought of how long they could be here as she looked out toward the other island. She rubbed her legs. She supposed she would have to lose some of her pride since there would be no way to get rid of hair. She had noticed Mac's stubble already growing. She wondered how long his beard would get and she wondered if he could shave it with the knife. She would not have too big a problem with that because now that she was older, the hair on her legs did not grow as fast anyway and not as thick. She supposed that was one good thing about getting older. She wondered what Mac would think of that. He was not used to seeing women who were not well-groomed.

Jo folded her arms. She hoped they would be rescued before she became a cave woman. She felt of her clothes which were still damp but were drying quickly on those hot rocks with the wind blowing on them and the sun shining down. She decided to walk down the beach further so she put her sandals back on. She certainly did not want to step on anything. She was glad these sandals were new. Maybe they would last until they got off this island.

Jo looked toward the bunch of rocks that Mac was sitting on. She could not see him from where she was. She walked that way, letting her curiosity get the best of her. She stopped when she was halfway there and put her hands on her hips. "What is wrong with you, Jo Danville?" she asked herself. "What do they call a female peeping-tom? A peeping kitty?" She looked toward the rocks that Mac was hiding behind and walked a little closer. She wondered if he was swimming. She finally reached the rocks and eased around the side.

Just as Jo was about to peep around the corner of the rock, Mac was coming around the rock. Jo screamed as she was startled. Mac almost dropped the backpack. "What are you doing?" he asked.

Jo stared at him a moment trying to get her breath back. "Nothing," she said. "Are you ready to go?"

Mac looked down at himself. "I guess so. I'm dressed…although my clothes are a little damp."

Jo folded her arms as she was still in her bikini. "I guess I better go and get mine," she said.

"I'll wait for you."

Mac watched her walk down the beach as a smile spread across his face. He knew what she had been about to do…the same thing he had done. Jo looked around at him. "What is so funny?" she asked.

"Nothing," Mac said, trying to use the same inflection she had used on the word.

"OH you!"

Mac laughed as Jo stomped off. He knew she was going to be mad at him for that but he did not care. She was trying to sneak around and see him…although he had done the same thing. He walked over to the edge of the jungle and waited for her. Jo soon came back to him. "I know what you're thinking," she said.

"Do you?" Mac asked. "What am I thinking?"

"You know what you're thinking."

Mac smiled as Jo went on into the jungle. He followed her as he got the backpack onto his back. "You think I was trying to see you naked," Jo said.

"I never said that," Mac replied.

"But that's what you think."

Mac laughed. "Well, weren't you?"

Jo stopped and looked at him. "You would just love that, wouldn't you?"

Mac could hardly keep his composure. "Don't get mad at me. I can't help it because you're curious about the male form."

Jo's mouth dropped open. "Why you! May I remind you that we're on a deserted island? If I hurt you, nobody will know it!"

Mac was laughing. "Okay, now, just relax."

"Don't tell me to relax! How do I know that you didn't peep at me?"

Mac's smile faded. "Do you think I'm that kind of man?"

Jo stared at him a moment. "You scoundrel! You did!"

"I didn't! I heard you scream and I came down there to see what was wrong. I didn't know you were bathing."

"That is some excuse."

"I'm sorry."

"So what did you see?" Jo asked.

Mac stared at her a moment. "I saw…a beautiful woman."

"Good answer, Casanova."

"I am not a Casanova."

Jo rolled her eyes. "Let's go."

Mac followed her. "By the way, what were you screaming about?" he asked.

"A crab pinched me!" Jo said.

Mac almost laughed. "And I heard you say, 'I'm going to eat you for that'."

Jo gave him a fake glare. "And I would have if he hadn't gotten away."

"You're going to eat him just because he pinched your toe?"

"He didn't pinch my toe!"

Mac looked at her back as she was moving again. "What did he pinch?"

"Oh, wouldn't you like to know!"

Mac could not help but laugh. "What did you do, sit on it?"

"Shut up!"

Mac laughed out loud then and had to stop. "You're an adventure all rolled into one person, woman."

"You'll see what kind of adventure I am when I get hold of you, man."

Mac could not see Jo now but he could hear her. He went on after her. He thought this was going to be a very interesting time on this island…