I Hear...Love (A Different Road #2) (19 page)

After an hour of running up and down the shore, shouting Kate and Sadie’s name, I’m hoarse and soaked to the bone from the pelting rain.

“You guys need to take shelter. The storm is only going to get worse before it gets better. There’s nothing we can do any more until the storm lets up. It’s too dangerous to be out here with the lightning,” an officer says.

“NO! I need to find Kate! I have to!” River yells, then stumbles through the choppy water up to his waist.

“River! No! Please!” Joss shouts at him, then runs into the water and clings to his back.

“You will all do better waiting at home. There’s a good possibility she’s not even in the water. She may be taking shelter herself and will come home when the storm passes,” the officer says.

Reluctantly we give in. The rain is coming down sideways and lightning is striking every few minutes. I look out at the angry ocean, and I silently pray that she isn’t out there.

“KATE!” River yells, clenching his fists to his chest. He takes a few more steps deeper into the dark ocean. “NO! I promised.”

“Joss, I need you!” he screams.

Joss runs to his side, waist deep in the water, and he grabs her arm.

“What do you see?” he begs. “Tell me what you see!”

She doesn’t answer.

She takes his hand and leads him toward the shore. He collapses to his knees in the water, bends forward and pounds his fists, splashing water violently in his face.

Joss kneels at his side, wraps her arms around him, then says, “She’ll come home. I just know it.”

She helps him stand, then they slowly start to walk back to their house.

I take one more look out at the stormy water, then start to walk to my house when Joss calls out to me.

“Cooper, please, come and wait with us,” she says loudly over the sound of the storm.

“No. He’s not waiting in my house,” River quips.

“It’s OK, Joss. I’ll wait in my house. She may come there first,” I tell her and start to walk in that direction.

Joss runs up to me and takes my hand.

“Please, I’m asking you to wait with us,” she says, and pulls me the other direction.

I look toward my house, and deep down I know she won’t go there first. I feel it in my gut, and I feel helpless. I feel like I should be doing more.

“Please?” Joss pleads one last time.

Grateful Joss is insisting, I walk with her back to River’s house. Nina passes out towels to everyone and we all take seats on the couch in the family room. Joss and Nina make coffee, then set it on the coffee table. River is stewing with his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face. Underneath that, I see his worst fears coming true.

“I called Stephen. He’s on his way here. I also called Maddy. I know she’ll want to be here too. Kate’s going to be alright. I just know it,” Joss says, putting her hand on my knee.

I grip my forehead in my hand and place my elbow on my knee. She just has to be alright.

Just then, Stephen barges in the front door. Joss gets up and meets him at the doorway and tells him what’s happened. Without a word, he takes a seat next to Nina with a distraught look on his face.

“Why did you say her job doesn’t make her happy?” River asks, in a calm voice.

I lift my head and look at him. Are you kidding me? That’s what he wants to ask. I don’t want to fight with him, not now. I think carefully about the words I want to say to him before I say them.

“Mason Group isn’t her true passion,” I say.

“The hell it isn’t,” he replies.

“Her passion is yoga. Did you know she’s been thinking about opening up her own studio to teach yoga?” I tell him.

“No, I didn’t,” he replies.

“Well, she is,” I confirm. “She works at Mason Group for you. Above all, she wants to make you happy. She doesn’t want to let you or your dad down. She loves and misses her dad so much,” I finish.

“Ha,” River says loudly. “She has no clue about our dear old man,” he says.

“What Kate thinks and what you know are two different things. She was so very young, and even if what you say is true, it’s wrong of you to make her believe what your version of the truth is. What good is it going to do her to destroy her memories and make her believe what you think about your dad?” I ask. “I wish you could see just how hard Kate’s been working. After your fight, I found her on the bathroom floor. I won’t lie, my first thought was that she tried to commit suicide. But, I quickly saw how wrong I was. I didn’t give her enough credit with just how far in her recovery she’s come. I won’t ever make that mistake again. Instead of always thinking that’s the first thing she’s going to do, how about giving her the benefit of the doubt? She’s never given me any reason to suspect that’s the road she’s going to head down ever again. At some point, you’re going to have to have some faith in her.”

He sighs loudly, then rubs his hand over his brow. Joss gets up and sits next to River. She places her hand on his arm, then leans her head on his shoulder.

“He’s right, River. It’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. I’ve talked to Kate, and I’ve told her she has nothing to prove to me. When she looks at me, I see a woman who was broken, but piece by broken piece, she’s putting herself back together. I see a woman with drive and purpose. I told her as long as I see those things, I have nothing to ever worry about,” she says.

River closes his eyes and looks up, then buries his head on his knees.

“What have I done?” he whispers. “I’ve been a fool. I’ve been so determined to make sure she stays on the right path, that I didn’t see she was already there. I’ve pushed her and I’ve pushed her, but all I’ve really done is push her away from me. God, please let her come home,” he says, lifting his head.

“Do you think Sadie is alright?” Joss asks me.

“I don’t know. I hope so. What I do know is that she’ll never leave Kate’s side,” I say.

River stands and walks over to me. I stand, then he extends his hand between us and I place mine in his.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “I should have never said the things I did, to Kate or you. I was wrong.”

I pull his hand in and wrap my arm around his shoulder.

“I love her,” I tell him.

“I know you do,” he replies.

“Sadie will keep her safe,” I tell him.

“I know she will,” he replies with a shaky voice

Just then I feel something cold and wet slip into my left hand. Chills race through my entire body. I pull away from River and look down at my hand.

It’s Sadie.

“How?” I say, bend down and wrap her in my arms.

“What is it?” River asks.

Joss grabs Nina’s hand and they both stand.

“Where’s Kate, Sadie?” I ask.

My lungs fill with salt water, but I feel comfort with River’s hand in mine. As I start to lose consciousness, his hand starts to slip from mine. I don’t want to do this alone. With every ounce of strength I have left, I squeeze his fingertips before they slip away. Then it’s nothing but darkness. It’s a familiar darkness. I’ve seen it before.

I’ve been in this darkness before.

Then I feel water rushing over my face, as my body is pulled upward, and I hear Sadie barking.

“Come on!” a voice says.

My chest is violently pushed downward, then warm lips are on mine and my lungs expand with much needed air. Sadie barks, then the pressure is back on my chest. I feel it coming up and I cough, as water erupts out of my mouth. I feel Sadie’s warm tongue on my face as she licks my lips, then she nuzzles me under my chin.

“There you go. Get it all out,” the voice says, as he turns me over on my side, then pats me firmly on my back.

I cough and choke, then open my eyes to see an older gentleman with a weathered face and kind eyes looking down at me. Raindrops pelt my face as the wind violently rocks the tiny boat we’re in from side to side. I continue to cough, as the man sits me up, then he places a yellow rain jacket over my shoulders. Pain sears through my shoulder, and my chest feels like my lungs have exploded. He lifts the hood of the jacket over my head, then Sadie climbs all the way into my lap, securing me in my seat.

“You’re one lucky little lady,” he says. “If it weren’t for your dog here, I never would have found you,” he finishes, as he goes to the tiny motor at the back of the boat and fights the waves back to a dock.

He helps me out of the boat, then guides me to his little, beat up pickup truck just off the dock. He takes my hand and ever so gently helps me into his vehicle.

“Up you go, girl,” he says to Sadie.

She jumps in, climbs over me and sits in the middle. She lays her two front paws on my lap and rests her head on her legs.

“I need to get you to the hospital,” he says.

“No, I just want to go home,” I say, then tell him directions on how to get me home.

“You sure I can’t take you to the hospital?” he asks. “You have a nasty gash on your head there and the way you’re holding your arm, I’d say maybe you broke your wrist or something. You were unconscious, and you swallowed quite a bit of water. Some of those cuts on your hands might need stitches too,” he says, softly.

“No. I’m fine now, thanks to you. I just really need to see my family,” I tell him.

“OK, little missy,” he says and fights the weather, as his truck is tossed side-to-side in the heavy wind and rain.

He pulls up in front of River’s house, shuts off the engine, then walks around to my door. He opens it and helps me out, then Sadie jumps down. He steadies me, and holds my good arm and hand the entire way to the door. Sadie never leaves my side, her nose is glued to the side of my leg the entire walk to the door.

I open the door and take a step inside. The picture I see before me is a sight for sore eyes. My whole family is sitting together, even Stephen and Cooper. As the cold water drips off me onto River’s floors, what I hear stops me in my tracks.

“I’m sorry,” River says to Cooper. “I should have never said the things I did, to Kate or you. I was wrong.”

Chills race up my cheeks as River extends his hand to Cooper. He places his hand in River’s outstretched hand, then pulls him in for a hug and wraps his arm around his shoulder.

“I love her,” Cooper says.

My cold skin instantly pebbles and turns warm.

“I know you do,” he replies, hugging Cooper back.

“Sadie will keep her safe,” Cooper says.

I touch Sadie on the ear and urge her to go to Cooper. She instantly knows what I’m thinking, and silently walks to Cooper and River. She places her nose in Cooper’s hand and he looks down at it.

“How?” he says, then bends down and wraps his arms around her.

“What is it?” River asks.

Joss’s eyes come to me standing in the doorway and she grabs Nina’s hand, then they both stand.

“Where’s Kate, Sadie?” Cooper asks.

“Sadie’s here?” River questions. “How did she get here?” River asks, then turns his body toward the front door. “Kate,” his shaky voice whispers as if he can sense that I’m in the room.

Cooper stands and turns his body toward the door. The second his eyes find mine, a warm, peaceful feeling fills my soul.

“Kate,” he whispers as his eyes fill with tears.