Jane Austen Goes to Hollywood (12 page)

“Want to come hang?” Meredith asked. It was louder now: kids drinking and dancing in every available space. She pointed to corner of the lounge where a group of surfer guys was lighting up what was most definitely not a cigarette.

“I’m good, thanks.” Hallie looked around, the room feeling cramped and too noisy. “I think I’m going to go take a look at the ocean.”

“Cool.” Meredith pulled her into a hug/double-air-kiss. “I’ll call you tomorrow. We’ll brunch!”

Hallie headed back outside and down the rickety stairs to the beach, kicking off her sandals so the sand was cool between her toes. The beach was empty, save a few amorous shadows in the distance; the ocean crashing in a soothing hum. She breathed in the night air and felt herself finally relax. Hallie usually thrived in crowds, but that was when she’d been at the center of them; tonight she was hanging on the edge of every group, trying to make an impression. Barely registering at all.

For now.

Hallie headed for the water’s edge, shaking off her loneliness. This was all just the introduction in her story, the struggles she’d look back on fondly, during her interviews, as building character and grit. “Sure, it was hard,” she’d tell the magazine journalists, “being an outsider. But I knew if I just focused on my craft, everything would work out for me.”

And it would.

She reached the ocean, squealing as the cold surf swirled around her feet. The horizon stretched in front of her, an inky shadow, and suddenly, Hallie was overcome with a wash of possibility. She was exactly where she was supposed to be; at the dawn of a new chapter in her life. She could be anyone she wanted to be; create the life she was destined for!

Hallie stripped off her cover-up and tossed it behind her onto the sand. She waded deeper into the dark ocean. This would be her baptism: washing away the old world in the cold waters of the Pacific; emerging her shining new self. Yes!

The water was freezing, but Hallie kept going, ducking under a breaking wave so she was completely submerged, and then swimming deeper. Out past the breaking point, the water shifted and rolled, and she flipped on her back to float, gazing at the sky. It seemed to stretch forever, dark and still, dotted with the faint pinprick of stars. Her sister was always droning on about the science of the universe, the mathematics and order and history, or whatever, but Hallie thought the great mysteries of the world should remain just that: mysterious. Who cared about physics when there was poetry to be had, art and emotion rather than facts and figures?

Hallie bobbed upright again. The beach looked far away now; lights from the houses disappearing with every new swell of waves. She shivered. Her skin was puckering, and the chill of the ocean had finally numbed her enthusiasm for the grand gesture. Time to get back to Uncle Auggie’s, and the miracle of the heated whirlpool tub. Hallie struck out back for shore, half hoping there were some people on the beach to watch her emerge, mermaid-style, from the water. Now, that would make a first impression!

She swam hard, but the shore didn’t seem to be any closer. Instead, it almost looked as if it were farther away. The tide pulled at her legs, and although she kicked, her limbs felt heavy and slow. For the first time, Hallie realized she was alone, at sea, in the dark. Nobody knew she was out here.

She tried not to panic.

“Hello?” she called. Her voice seemed thin, and disappeared on the breeze. “Is anyone there?”

Hallie kicked again, but her body felt like lead. It was going to be OK, she told herself. She wasn’t going to drown — she couldn’t. She was destined for great things! She was going to —

A wave broke over her, and for a moment, she was pulled under. Hallie flailed, gasping as she broke the surface. She coughed, terror gripping her fast. “Help!” she called. “Somebody, help me!”

The water was inky black, nothing but the rolling swells surrounding her. “Somebody!” she cried again. She thought she saw something in the water — a shadow, maybe — before another wave broke hard overhead. This time, she spun underwater for what seemed like hours, until her lungs burned and she wasn’t sure if she was kicking toward the surface or even farther down.

Then there were arms locked tight around her, and a warm body dragging her to the surface. Hallie spluttered, gasping for air, dizzy. She flailed, but her rescuer held on tight.

“It’s OK,” he told her, already kicking back toward the shore with powerful strokes. “I’ve got you now. Everything’s going to be OK.”

Hallie caught a glimpse of dark eyes, and sharp-angled cheekbones. He was beautiful. An angel, she thought faintly. A saint, come to rescue her from certain death.

And then everything was black.

His name was Dakota. Dakota Kane. He was nineteen years old, a musician and a poet, and by the time the ER doctor had cleared Hallie with nothing more than a case of mild hypothermia, she knew with utter certainty — he was the man she’d been waiting for her whole life.

“You saved me,” Hallie breathed, wincing slightly as a nurse pulled out her IV. “I would have drowned!”

“Don’t think like that.” Dakota squeezed her hand. His hair hung damp in long dark strands almost level with his chin, shirt clinging to his torso under his leather jacket. And those eyes. . . . Hallie gazed at him happily. God, he was beautiful.

“Are you sure she’s OK to leave?” Dakota asked the nurse. “Is there anything we need to do?”

We.
Hallie thrilled at the word.

“Just take it easy for a few days, keep warm.” The nurse gave Hallie a thin-lipped look. “No more midnight swimming.”

“I promise!” Hallie clasped her hands fervently. “I’m so sorry for all the trouble!”

The nurse moved off. Dakota turned to Hallie with concern. “How are you feeling?” he asked gently. “Do you need me to get you anything?”

“I’m OK,” she said, shivering slightly. They’d taken her wet clothes, and given her baggy hospital scrubs to wear. She just hoped she looked good in aqua.

Dakota whipped off his jacket and slung it around her shoulders. “Is there anyone you need to call?”

Hallie blinked. “Oh, my God, Grace!” She’d been so caught up in the romance of her dramatic rescue that she’d forgotten all about the people waiting for her, back at the party. “My sister,” she explained hurriedly. “She won’t know where I am.”

Dakota offered her his cell phone. Hallie dialed, then hesitated. “She’ll be really mad. . . .”

“I’ll handle it, don’t worry.” Dakota took the phone back. “Hey, is this Grace?” He gave Hallie a reassuring smile, and then retreated to the hallway to talk.

Hallie waited until he was out of sight and then leaped up, dashing to the tiny bathroom. Dear Lord. She blinked in horror at her bedraggled reflection. This was her destiny out there, and she was looking like a drowned stray cat! She spun into action: finger-combing her no-longer-so-relaxed hair and swiping under her eyes to clear the streaks of mascara.

“Hallie?”

She gave her hair a final pat with the paper towels and reemerged. “I told her what happened,” Dakota said, tucking his phone away. “I said I’d take you home.”

“Thank you. I mean, for everything. If you hadn’t been there . . .” The thought of those cruel, insistent waves, and how close she’d come to death, was overwhelming. She felt her legs buckle. In an instant, Dakota was by her side.

“Everything’s going to be OK,” he promised, holding her upright. “I’ve got you.”

Hallie sank against him, banishing the dark thoughts to the very back of her mind. It was over now, the darkness before the dawn. Her pain had served its purpose, and brought him into her life.

Destiny.

“So I’ve got to ask,” Dakota said as they headed toward the exit — Hallie leaning close against the warmth of his body. “What were you doing out there?”

“You’ll think I’m crazy.” Hallie blushed.

“Never. Go on, tell me.” His face was open, curious, and in that moment, Hallie was flooded with a strange sense of reassurance — like she could tell him anything and he’d understand.

“I was doing a kind of ritual,” Hallie explained. “Like a baptism, to start my new life here.”

She waited for the laugh of derision, but instead, Dakota gave her a conspiratorial smile. “Venus rising from the ocean . . .”

“Exactly!”

Dakota led her through the main doors, then paused a moment on the asphalt, as if he were deciding something. “I burned it,” he told her finally. “I drove cross-country, moving out here, and when I reached the ocean, I burned the map.”

“Because it didn’t matter how you got here,” Hallie said, understanding completely.

“A fresh start,” Dakota finished. Their eyes met. The fluorescent lights overhead cast sharp shadows across the angle of his cheekbones; his hair dried in a halo of dark curls. Hallie had to stifle a sigh of pure longing.

“I better get you home,” Dakota said, and Hallie could almost convince herself that was regret she heard in his voice. “Come on.”

She followed him to his beat-up Camry. She would have followed him anywhere. It was past two a.m. by the time Dakota pulled up in front of Uncle Auggie’s. Inside, every light was blazing. “I’m sorry.” Hallie braced herself for what was to come.

“For what?” Dakota helped her out of the car.

“You’ll see.”

They hadn’t even stepped more than a foot inside before Hallie’s mom raced out to meet them in the front hall; Amber hurrying behind.

“My baby!” Her mom clutched her in a frenzied hug. “What happened? Are you OK? If I lost you too . . .”

“Grace called and said you were missing,” Amber added, wide-eyed. She was wearing a tiny pink negligee, her curves barely concealed under a sheer white robe. “We didn’t know what to think. Auggie’s on the phone with the police now. He was about to have them send divers out!”

“You should have told someone before you wandered off.” Grace’s voice came from behind them. She was loitering at the back of the hall with Brandon, glaring at Hallie accusingly. “Didn’t you stop to think for one moment we would worry?”

“Are you OK?” Brandon asked, moving to her side. He looked at her with bloodshot eyes, clearly exhausted. “We searched the party for hours.”

“She’s fine,” Dakota told them as Hallie detached herself from the anxious hugs. “The doctor checked her out, everything’s OK. She just needs rest and recovery.”

They all turned.

“This is Dakota,” Hallie announced, beaming. “He saved me.”

Dakota gave a self-deprecating shrug. “Anyone would have helped, it was just lucky I heard her —”

“Nonsense!” Uncle Auggie came bursting through the crowd. He clasped Dakota in a hug, slapping his back enthusiastically. “You’re the hero of the hour! We owe you.”

“No, really, it’s nothing.” Dakota turned to look at Hallie. “It’s enough that she’s OK.”

Hallie felt her legs buckle again. This time, it had nothing to do with her ordeal, and everything to do with the intensity of his expression. “Do you want to stay?” Hallie asked hopefully. “Have some coffee, maybe, or —”

“It’s been a long night,” he cut her off, with a gentle smile. “You should get some rest.”

Her mom must have seen Hallie’s disappointment, because she blocked Dakota’s path to the exit. “Tomorrow, then,” Valerie declared. “She’ll be rested then. You can come by anytime.”

For once, Hallie didn’t care about her mom’s interference, because Dakota smiled at Hallie. “Definitely.” He turned to the rest of them with a polite nod. “Good night.”

The door closed behind him. There was a pause, and then Hallie was smothered in an avalanche of voices.

“My poor baby!”

“Isn’t he cute?”

“God, could you be any more self-centered? We were all worried sick!”

Hallie ignored them all, gazing after Dakota. “I’m going to bed,” she said dreamily. His jacket was still draped around her shoulders, smelling faintly of smoke and spices and
him.
“See you all in the morning.”

“Hallie!” Grace squawked in annoyance.

“The doctor said I need to rest.” She wandered back through the house, leaving the crowd of chatter behind. Let them be dramatic and have their big scene, she had more important things to think about.

Like the new love of her life.

As promised, Dakota dropped by to see her the next morning, and found Hallie reclining on a shaded lounge chair by the pool in her best sundress, her hair painstakingly straightened into a glossy sheet. She’d been there since nine, just to be safe — arranged at what she hoped was a pretty angle, clutching her copy of
Another Bullshit Night in Suck City,
but too excited to focus on a single sentence. Every time the gate clattered open, she couldn’t help but whip her head around to check. Since it was Julio’s day to prune the roses, Hallie’s neck ached by the time Dakota finally strolled up the garden path, but just the sight of him — black jeans and a V-neck shirt, hair ruffled in windswept curls — made her forget even the minor tendon ache.

“He’s here!” she breathed. Grace — seated beside her, stealing mango from her restorative fruit platter — rolled her eyes.

“You don’t say.”

Hallie ignored her. “Hi!” she called as he sauntered closer. “I completely forgot you were coming over.”