Page 99 of Ardently Yours

“To prevent you from losing consciousness and because you demanded I stop what I was doing to explain what was happening.”

“They’re going to die. They could already be dead.”

He shakes his head. “Henry wouldn’t have allowed Bronnie on the boat without a life jacket. He won’t let anything happen to her. Reese has already contacted the Coast Guard and called in a private search team.”

He eases his hands away from my biceps as my breathing slows. “You’re okay?”

“Yes. Let’s go.”

Hand on my mouth, I follow him onto the porch. One of the men whose name I don’t remember passes Arden on the porch.

“Gabriel is inside. He’s your responsibility,” Arden says.

Three other team members stand in the driveway.

One of them flips his cellphone closed and places it in a holster at his waist when we join them. “CB’s are going to be more effective here. Cell service is limited.”

“Henry has Bronnie with him. Gabriel is inside,” Arden says. “We need to get more people searching.”

All business, the man nods and turns to make further arrangements. A helicopterchop chop chopsin the distance, and floodlights beam across the night sky.

Arden turns to me. “I’m taking another chopper out to join the search.”

“I’m going with you.”

He runs a hand through his hair. “Charlotte . . .” He hesitates.

“What?” I snap.

He moves his hands gently up and down my arms. “I think it would be best for you to stay here.”

“No. Don’t you dare tell me to sit still on my hands. That’s not how I work.”

“Believe me, I know. We’re leaning into our strengths, Charlotte. That’s called a partnership. If someone else finds them and brings them straight back, we need you to be waiting for them. And it’s much more likely that one of the other crews will get to them first.”

I blow out a short breath. He’s right. He has the skills and ability to do something that I can’t. I’m getting in his way. “Okay. That’s a good plan. They can’t have gotten far, right?” I ask hopefully.

One of the guys within hearing distance bobs his head side to side. “That depends on whether Henry was planning to drift for fun or if he had a destination in mind. If he’s trying to run away . . .”

The man catches Arden’s eye and trails off. “I mean, I’m sure they’re nearby, Miss Charlotte.”

“Thank you, Brock,” Arden says.

Brock peers at me in the buzz of the porch light. “Try not to worry, ma’am. It may not seem like it, but Henry is very capable of figuring things out, and he was raised around boats and water. He knows how to stay safe. The kids might give themselves a scare, but they’ll be all right.”

I reach out and squeeze Arden’s hand. He turns to face me, then draws me against his body in a tight hug.

For the first time, I notice the faint tremor in his muscles. He’s terrified too.

I Don't Want to Miss a Thing

Arden

Sunrise washes the lakein a pink and orange spill of color by the time the Coast Guard finally pulls up to our dock with a sheepish-looking Henry eyeing me warily and a disheveled Bronnie dozing in the circle of his arms.

My security team is holding the press at bay at the main road, so there’s some measure of privacy for the reunion, but a news helicopter hovers too close for comfort.

When the Coast Guard contacted the governor, and he “stopped by” to offer his public support, any chance of anonymity went up in smoke. Not that it had ever been much of a possibility.

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