Compared to firing pottery, extracting sea salt took almost no skill. Evaporation and crystallization were among the simplest methods in chemistry. This time, they were starting with seawater instead of crude salt.All they had to do was wait for the water in the iron pot to evaporate, then add more before the salt collecting at the bottom could burn.Without a filtration system, the finished salt might not be very clean. But given their circumstances, it was far better than having no salt at all.The wait felt endless. Everyone watched the pot expectantly. It all came down to this.Then raindrops began to fall.Joseph paused. “Already?”He’d expected the rain to hold off a little longer. At least they had everything ready.“Everyone, get back to your rooms. If you spot a leak, tell me right away!”This was their first rain since arriving on the island. Joseph had no idea whether the wooden cabins they’d built would hold up. He’d prepared clay and dried banana stalks to patch any leak

The rain kept falling. Lightning struck the island again and again, sometimes frighteningly close, but no one backed down.Working together, they moved far faster than Joseph could have alone. Soon, they’d finished digging a drainage trench, diverting the runoff toward the beach on lower ground.Then Joseph remembered the kiln’s exhaust vent. It was still unprotected, and rain could flow straight into the pit through it.He piled brush over the vent and dug another trench beside it. The vent was much smaller than the kiln pit, so the work didn’t take long.“Are you trying to get yourself killed?”Joseph had barely made it back to camp when Alice rushed up and punched him in the chest. She didn’t hold back. The blow nearly knocked the wind out of him.“Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?”Touched by her concern, Joseph smiled. “I’m fine, Alice. See? Not a scratch on me.”“I don’t care. That was the last time.”Everyone’s clothes were soaked through, but they were all smiling.

Noah Diaz stood half-hidden behind a boulder not far from Joseph. The boulder jutted out from the mountainside, and Joseph had to wade through shallow seawater to reach him. He’d been here before, but what he saw now sent a rush of excitement through him.Six or seven suitcases were piled together on the beach. Several more lay scattered nearby. Kyle Lee and the others arrived at the sound of Noah Diaz’s shout.The storm and rising tide had washed them ashore. Many were badly dented, but to Joseph and the others, they were a treasure trove.Joseph opened a suitcase that had already split along one side. It was full of women’s clothes.They’d been on the island so long that most of them had only the clothes on their backs. The women had nothing to change into while washing them, and no matter how resourceful Joseph was, he couldn’t make clothes. This was exactly what they needed.A gift from the tide after the storm.He opened the second suitcase, then the third. They were packed with

Joseph didn’t care what the others thought. He was too happy.He and Alice had been married for more than three years, but only in name. Even when they shared a room, Joseph slept on the floor.Their makeshift cabins didn’t even have floors he could sleep on. And what could Alice possibly need to tell him that couldn’t wait until morning—and had to be said in her room at night? Joseph could figure that out with his eyes closed.She wanted them to sleep together!And if Alice wanted to do anything more intimate, he certainly wouldn’t object.Three and a half years. In all that time, Joseph had barely even held her hand. Since coming to the island, things had finally begun to change. Now she’d invited him to spend the night in her room. How could he not be excited? This island was practically his lucky charm.His hands were shaking.Could tonight be the night he finally stopped being a virgin? After this, he’d like to see anyone make fun of him. He was about to take a great leap forward

After a few more attempts to stop him, Alice gave up and let Joseph have his way. She relaxed a little, too, growing used to having him this close.Joseph had held himself back for so long. Surely he could indulge a little.But Alice kept her hands firmly in place, guarding herself. That was her limit.Pervert. Shameless pervert!She cursed him over and over in her head. Joseph, of course, was unbothered.“We’re married,” he said cheerfully. “How can you call me a pervert? We’ll have children someday. We’ll do a lot more than this.”“Who said I’d have children with you?”She had only just managed to calm down, and now her face was burning again. She couldn’t help imagining what he meant.Children...She wasn’t ready for that. Not now.Joseph knew better than to push his luck. Alice had stopped resisting and was lying in his arms, letting him touch her stomach. He was more than satisfied.He also knew they couldn’t go further all at once. For now, he kept testing the line between what