Chapter 3: Adjusting to beach life
Jack approached Juliet who was doing her laundry in her own water trough she used for washing. In his arms, was a sleeping Megan. Looking up, Juliet acknowledged him.
"Where's Kate?"
Gesturing back towards the tent they both shared, he answered.
"I took the baby so she could get some more sleep. I never really got the chance to thank you Juliet. This is a healthy baby you brought into the world. I hope with time; the others will see that too."
Juliet gave a small smile and dunked another shirt into the soapy water before taking it out again.
"I really appreciate that Jack, and it was my pleasure. By every right though Jack, the other survivors have reason to fear me. I've done awful things. Awful things just so that I could survive."
Jack shifted Megan in his arms and put a hand on her forearm as she put a shirt on top of a rock to scrub it.
"We all make mistakes Juliet. But that doesn't mean you can't be forgiven for them. It took me years to get over the things my father told me, but I finally learned to let it all go. You know what? I feel like a better person because of it. I've also noticed for the past couple of months, when you're not looking, Sawyer keeps staring at you."
Juliet went about scrubbing her blue shirt against the rock and rolled her eyes.
"What? You think he has a crush on me? Yeah, well he's wasting his time. I'm not interested."
Jack waited for Juliet to look back at him.
"Juliet, I know how hard this has been for you."
A layered and invisible wall went up between Juliet and Jack.
"Thanks for the pep-talk Jack. I should be getting back to work."
Jack saw Juliet smile down at Megan.
"I'll let you get back to work Juliet."
Leaving Juliet with her laundry, Jack made his way back to the tent where Kate now sat, wide awake. Entering, he noticed she looked worried.
"What's wrong?"
Kate turned her frown into a smile and reached for her baby.
"There's my little tumble bug. Did you have a nice walk with daddy?"
Megan gurgled and grabbed a strand of Kate's long dark brown hair. Jack ran a finger over Megan's tiny left foot.
"There's a storm coming in. We should make sure the tent is secured to the tree. Last time it almost went flying away."
Thunder and lightning sounded overhead and then driving rain began to pour down from the sky. Juliet was trying to catch the rope that was whipping around in the wind. Sawyer noticed and came to help. Any excuse to be charming.
"We gotta tie this down or it's gonna blow away! Get that end!"
Juliet tightened another rope around a tree while Sawyer did his best to hammer the stake into the ground to keep it intact. The wind was now ripping holes in the blue tarp.
"This isn't going to hold! You need to get somewhere dry! Come on!"
Reluctantly following Sawyer to his tent, she sat just at the entrance and watched the rain.
"This isn't necessary James. I would've fixed my tent."
Sawyer shook his head and sat down on his bed. Juliet avoided eye contact with him.
"Yeah you would've fixed your tent, but ya woulda had holes in the tarp. Wouldn't have been very dry."
Nodding, she had to agree that it was much drier here than in her own tent.
"How did you get so lucky to have your tent shielded by two different palm trees? I've got that flimsy lean-to."
James sat silently as the rain finally started to die down. Juliet stood and exited his tent.
"Thanks for letting me stay somewhere dry."
James followed her out into the open and called out to her.
"Hey wait a minute. Let's find something to fix your tent. It's the least I can do."
Juliet rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"You do this for all the girls you flirt with?"
James looked away and went towards the plane wreckage. There was still plenty of tarp in there left for storage. They could use that to fix her tent.
To Be Continued…