Dust and Obey by Christy Barritt Page A

guess. But at least we had a location to anchor us. We could do this.
    “I’m ready,” I finally said.
    “Let’s climb out. We can flip the kayak and use it to give us some buoyancy for as long as we can. It will help keep us from being completely immersed in the water.”
    “Are there sharks out here?” Last summer, a fifty-year-old man had lost his leg because of a shark attack in Virginia Beach. Why, oh, why, did I have to remember that now? My mental jukebox began playing the theme song from Jaws . I kept trying to switch tunes, but it didn’t work.
    “Sharks aren’t going to mess with us,” he said.
    “How do you know?” I was already looking for fins circling us.
    I straddled the kayak long enough to glance back at Riley. His eyes held assurance. He could always calm me like no one else could.
    “I’m declaring that in faith.” His firm statement comforted me.
    That’s right. Faith. I had to trust that God was in control right now.
    With a touch of hesitance, I carefully placed my legs over the side. I gave Riley one last glance before propelling myself into the water. Icy-cold liquid surrounded me, so frigid that it took my breath away.
    Riley followed behind me. We turned and grabbed the plastic boat. I pulled myself up as much as I could, desperate to stay warm.
    “No matter what, we stick together, right?” Riley glanced at me, made sure I had eye contact and that I nodded. “Let’s start swimming toward the shore.”
    “Aye-aye, Captain.”
    We began kicking. Our movements seemed slow, but at least we were moving. Moving gave me hope. As did Riley’s muscles with his arms stretched taut over the kayak. Really, there was no one else I’d rather be stuck out here with.
    “Look over there!” I pointed in the distance. It was a boat. Captain Leroy’s maybe? “De boat! De boat!”
    “What?”
    I tried to shrug, but my life jacket concealed the action. “ Fantasy Island , except with a boat instead of a plane.”
    “Well, at least you can maintain your sense of humor and your pop-culture references.”
    “Sometimes humor and pop-culture references are all you have. And God,” I quickly added.
    “Amen to that.”
    With urgency, I began waving my arms and yelling. Riley did also.
    But the boat continued in the opposite direction. Water flew up behind the motor, and a steady hum filled the air.
    “What’s he doing?” I grumbled, frustration rising in me.
    “Who knows?”
    “He’s going back to the shore for some reason. You’d think he’d look for the couples in the process in case something like this happened.” I held on to the kayak and continued to kick my legs.
    “You okay?” Riley asked.
    I nodded, despite my chattering teeth. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
    “We had an interesting discussion in the men’s suite last night. It was about roles in marriage.”
    “Oh yeah. What was so interesting?”
    “Most of the guys here feel very strongly about women’s roles and men’s roles. Women do the housework and cooking. Men do the yard work and bring in a paycheck.”
    I knew what Riley was doing. He was trying to keep me distracted from thoughts of being surrounded by nothing but water. It was working. “And how do you feel about those things?”
    “I feel like a husband and wife should be partners,” he said. “Share the responsibilities. If you can replace your wife with a maid and cook, then there’s a problem.”
    “Really?” His answer surprised me. I just saw him as having a more traditional viewpoint of those things.
    “Why do you sound surprised? Did you think I was the type who wanted my woman barefoot and pregnant?”
    “I’m not sure what I expected. I mean, we didn’t really talk about stuff like that when we were . . .”
    “Engaged?” he finished.
    I wasn’t sure why the words wouldn’t leave my mouth. “That’s right. Engaged.” There. I’d said it.
    “You don’t have to be afraid to talk about it, Gabby.”
    “Afraid? Don’t be ridiculous.