Page 59 of One Sweet Day I Found You

The date had been his idea. It was also his first day off in a week. Why would he just leave her hanging like this?

She hadn’t imagined his interest in her, had she?

Of course, not.Don’t be silly.

She dialed his number. It rang and finally went through to voicemail. She hung up without leaving a message. He would see that she called and call her back. It’s what they usually did.

She was starting to get irritated. But maybe she should be worried, instead? Was something wrong? She chewed on a nail, trying to imagine the most likely scenario. It had to be a search-and-rescue call, right?

Just then her phone buzzed with a text from Kira. She shook off the irritation that it wasn’t from Nick.

Hey girl, what are you doing tonight? I finished another round of hotel photos so I’m going out to celebrate. Meet me at The Anchor at 9 for a girls’ night out?

Well, that was tempting. It sounded like fun. But Courtney hesitated. Was Nick ever going to answer her text today, or call her back? Why hadn’t she heard from him? She checked the time on her phone. It was already four.

She’d better cut her losses and move on. She huffed, tapping at the phone.

Thanks, Kira. I’ll be there.

How hard would it have been for him to send a text?

Courtney stood and shook the sand off her towel, rolled it up, and squeezed it back into her duffel bag. She could definitely use a girls’ night out.

* * *

Nick satat a red light tapping his fingers anxiously on the steering wheel. Out on the lake, it seemed that several inexperienced kayakers had caught a dangerous current and drifted too far offshore. Nick had received the call from the dispatch center, jumped in his Jeep, and sped out of the shop’s parking lot as fast as he could without breaking the law.

The kayakers were now stranded in very deep waters where small vessels like kayaks were not supposed to be.

It was reported that the six individuals, each in a separate canoe, were now in danger of a collision with a larger vessel. They’d also created a situation in which larger vessels might collide with one another to avoid hitting them.

Shoot. This was not good.

And apparently, the wind was kicking up as the afternoon wore on. The water would be choppy.

The coast guard was heading out to do the search-and-rescue, so Nick and Tom had been called in to act as medics. The other members of the volunteer crew hadn’t been able to take this particular call—one of their crew was already out on another—so Nick had agreed, despite his plans with Courtney. It just wasn’t a situation in which he could say no.

The red light finally changed to green and he laid on the gas.

The call had come in about forty minutes before Nick’s shift ended, but the guys at the shop had said they’d be fine without him. The coast guard station was about a fifteen-minute drive. He would text Courtney as soon as he arrived.

There were reports that one member of the party might be passed out in her rig, not moving. Another kayaker was doing his best to stay next to her.

Nick guessed that too much sun and a lack of experience had probably played the biggest roles in creating the predicament in which these people now found themselves. He hoped it hadn’t been alcohol, too.

Nick swore under his breath. Sure, anyone could paddle a canoe, but there were rules and guidelines to follow. Obviously, the people had ignored at least some of those things, or they wouldn’t be in that situation.

If Nick could make it in time, he’d be on the forty-five-foot response boat deployed by the coast guard.

Nick slowed at another stop sign. He waited impatiently as a mother and her two children dawdled across the street in front of him.

He knew the drill for this sort of operation. Upon contact, the team would extract each of the boaters from the water. A second boat would follow to tie up the kayaks so they could be brought back to the marina.

All parties would be checked out and lifesaving measures would be taken, if needed. But if he didn’t make the boat in time, he’d be left to wait on shore.

He really didn’t like the scenario where he’d have to wait on shore. For one, there could be other unexpected medical issues that Tom couldn’t easily handle alone.

Two, things always went more smoothly when the medics had access to the victims at the earliest possible moment.

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