Page 5 of Kissing in the Rain
She wasn’t sure how long she held on, breathing and floating up prayers, when she heard a horn honking at her. Blinking through the rain, Jillian opened her eyes and struggled to see lights. The sky was black as night now, even though it couldn’t have been any later than six or sevenp.m.
The lights were coming toward her. She was being rescued! In an hour’s time, she’d be back at Lorelai’s house and maybe having a tea party with Kimberly.Yes.That sounded wonderful. A steaming cup of hot tea and a chatty seven-year-old.
“Over here!” she screamed. The motor boat was moving slow due to the choppy waters, but definitely heading in her direction. “Over here!” She stood and waved her arms in the air excitedly. She wasn’t going to die today and that was maybe the best news of herlife.
Then lightning ripped open the dark sky, and a wave capsized her tiny sailboat, tossing her into the ice-cold waterbelow.
Shit.
Gabe reached for a life preserver and ran to the stern of his boat to toss it to Jillian. That meant abandoning his steering wheel, which left his own boat to rock wildly in the currents. He should’ve taken one of his cousins with him. Jack, Noah, or Sam would’ve been available. He’d been in a hurry to get to Jillian, though. He’d underestimated the size of the storm from shore. He’d moved through one storm cell already to get here, and it appeared they were in the direct line of severalmore.
Turning on his flashlight, he shined it over the water where Jillian had fallen in. He didn’t see her, which struck terror inside him. “Jillian!” he called, hoping like hell she could swim. Had she been wearing a life vest? Jonathan was new at the rec center and might not have offered her one. “Jillian!”
Her pale skin popped up on the surface of the water, and one arm flailed wildly athim.
Gabe exhaled. “Jillian!” he called out to her. “Grab the lifepreserver!”
She reached for it and missed. Then she dunked under a wave and popped back up a few seconds later. Gabe cursed under his breath. She reached out again and grabbed hold of the floatation device this time. Pulling the rope it was attached to, he reeled her toward his boat. He wasn’t one to get seasick, but with these choppy currents, even he was feeling slightly nauseated at the moment.And unfortunately, the storm didn’t seem to have any end insight.
When Jillian reached the side of his boat, he let go of the rope in order to grab her by the arms and pull her over the side. In one quick yank, he had her on the floor of the boat. The scant sundress she was wearing underneath her vest clung to her body like a second skin. He didn’t see any sign of injury, which was a positive. At least no outward injuries. But she’d been out here in the soaking rain for over an hour. She was wet and shivering uncontrollably. Even though it was summer, rainwater was freezing. Hypothermia would start setting in if he didn’t get her warmsoon.
“You okay?” he asked, crouching down next to her, yelling to be heard above the roar of the ocean and thestorm.
Her gaze flitted up to meet his. “Yeah,” she said through chattering teeth. “I think so. I’ll be a lotbetter when you get me back to themainland.”
Gabe frowned. That was a lot easier said than done. He had come this far with the wind at his backand a lot of close calls. Protocol said to stay put and wait it out. But there was no shelter on his boat, and he needed to get Jillian warm sooner thanlater.
He wrapped his arm around her to keep her warm. “We can’t go back to the mainland just yet. It’s too far away.”And we might not makeit.
She turned to look at him with wideeyes.
“We can’t stay hereeither. Bear Island is about a quarter mile up. We should try to take shelter there after the next storm cell passes and before the next one begins. It’s the safestplan.”
She hesitated, then nodded. “Okay.”
Returning to the steering wheel, Gabe put the boat back in gear, moving slow and steady. He was careful to hit each wave just right so that neither of them went flying forward. It took the good part of ten minutes to make it to the island. He’d driven the boat here many timesbefore to go fishing on his own. It was a good spot and usually landed him a cooler full of flounder and red drum. He drove the boat almost to the sandy shore and threw the anchor in. After cutting off the motor, he directed his attention to Jillian, who had her knees curled up to herchest.
“I have a tent on the boat. It’s part of my just-in-case kit. I also have matches, some nonperishable food, and a jug of water.That’ll last us until tomorrowmorning.”
“Tomorrow morning?” Now she lookedup.
Gabe reached for her hand. “It’s dark, and it’s already pretty late. It will be safest to waituntilsunrise.”
“You’re kidding,right?”
“’Fraid not, sweetheart,” he said, pulling her tostand.
“What about a search party?” she called through therain.
He hadn’t radioed in because this wasn’t an emergency situation yet. And asking crews to come out right now would be putting their lives in unnecessary risk. He was trained to survive in conditions like this. Jonathan and Lorelei knew where they were. As long as he and Jillian were smart, they’d be fine. “Iamthe search party,” he said. “Now let’s getmoving.”
3
Jillian steppedout of the boat and swayed right. Then left. She was cold and tired, and couldn’t seem to get her bearings without the light of the sun ormoon.
“I got you,” Gabe said. His warm hand curled around hers, and she climbed to the edge of the boat, fully expecting to have to wade through the knee-deep water up to the shore. Instead, Gabe put one arm under her bottom and lifted her off her feet, pulling her body against him. “You don’t need to get any wetter than you already are,” he said, his mouth next to herear.
It was dark, and if she tried hard enough, she could pretend he was someone other than the guy she’d had a massive and painful crush on when she was younger. It felt nice to be in his arms, and he wasreallywarm. She allowed herself to rest her head on his shoulder as he half jogged through the shallow water, holding her againsthim.
