Chapter 22
Twenty-Two
“ I ’m going to bring the fishing gear down to the stream.” Abby jumped off the bar stool and bent to put her shoes on.
“Just bring the poles. I’ll carry everything else down. You’ve got to be careful. Sometimes the rocks can get a little slippery.”
“Yes, sir .”
She laughed at the way John’s face turned bright red.
“Don’t say that again, baby , unless you don’t want to leave this cabin. It’d be an awful shame if we didn’t catch our supper. Then I’d have to eat you for dinner.”
Fuck. Now it was her turn for heat to sear through her body.
“Outside. I’ll be outside,” she said as she forced her jelly-like legs to move towards the porch.
Grabbing their poles, a tackle box, and two folding chairs, Abby made her way down to the creek. The rainfall from the night before had found its way there, swelling the current. A small pit churned in her stomach as she thought about getting too close to the edge. John said the rocks were slippery. One wrong step and she’d be in the water.
No. That wasn’t the time or place for her intrusive thoughts. She’d just have to stay back far enough that there wasn’t a chance she’d go in.
She set up the chairs on the edge of the rocks and looked back at the cabin. No sign of John yet. That’s okay. She could just sit and enjoy the sounds of nature while gathering the courage to stand next to him when he fished.
The sun came out from behind the clouds and Abby tipped her face up to the sky, enjoying the sudden warmth that kissed her skin. When she looked back at the bank, something shining grabbed her eye. A small pile of trash, with a soda can at the center, was scattered about the ground. She pushed herself up from her chair and walked towards the mess.
Abby bent over, facing the water as she reached for the soda can. A whistle of appreciation from behind had her laughing as she plucked the trash from the dirt.
“I could get used to a view like that.” John made his way down through the trees.
“Don’t think—” Abby’s words were cut off by a loud bang. She was so startled that she flinched, immediately trying to lower herself to the ground.
That was a mistake.
Her boot slipped on the rocks, and she lost her balance, tumbling backwards into the water. Her heart pounded painfully in her chest as her body plunged into the cold.
“Abby!” John shouted her name just a second before her head dunked under the surface. She hadn’t even had enough time to take a full breath of air before she crashed into the water, and her lungs strained against the need for her next breath.
The rain had made the water turbulent and forceful. She tried desperately to flail her arms and legs in some sort of cohesive way to get to the surface, but nothing was working. Her waterlogged boots were monstrously heavy and the sweatshirt she’d been wearing wasn’t much better.
Fire burned through her body. She wanted to pull in air more than she’d ever wanted anything before in her life. Darkness tinged the edge of her vision as she tried to fight her way to the surface.
Oh, fuck.
John was running as soon as he saw Abby wobble, but he was too late. Her body fell into the water, and she was gone. He didn’t hesitate, jumping straight into the river, reaching out in front of him in hopes of brushing against her.
John surfaced for air, and saw a hand fly out of the water only about fifteen feet in front of him. He dove back down, swimming with all his might, until he felt the thick fabric of Abby’s sweatshirt. He grabbed onto it and hauled her to the surface, before throwing her up onto the river bank.
John pulled his waterlogged and exhausted body out next to her, patting her back as she sputtered and gasped, fighting for a full breath of crisp forest air.
“Baby. Come on. You’re alright. Abby? Breathe, sweetheart.”
Abby finally opened her eyes. She rolled, until she was draped across his lap and up into his arms.
“There you are. Jesus, you scared me half to death.”
“H-how do y-you t-think I f-felt?”
“Fucking hunters. Can’t believe they’d be on my property like that. So fucking brazen. If I didn’t have to dive in after you, I would have hunted them down.”
“S-Sorry I s-stopped you f-from d-doing t-that.”
“No, baby. That’s not what I meant. Fuck, you’re like ice,” he said as he took her hand in his.
“So a-are you.”
“Shh. I’m fine. I need to get you back to the cabin, though.”
He noticed her adrenaline spike must have crashed, because she let her eyelids close as John stood and swept her up into his arms.
John jogged up the cabin steps and dipped her to open the door. She kept her eyes closed as he carried her through the house, the both of them dripping water all over the floor as he did.
“Sit here for one second.” He placed her down on the lid of the toilet seat. “I’m going to get a bath running and then we need to get you out of those wet clothes.”
“Why d-didn’t you just say you w-anted to get me n-naked?”
John turned towards her, knowing there was not a drop of amusement in his gaze.
“You almost fucking drowned out there, Abby. Jesus. If I hadn’t been right there…” His hands slid up under her sweatshirt and t-shirt, pulling the sopping wet material up over her face before he tossed it on the floor and moved on to remove her shoes and pants. “I don’t know why the hell I thought it would be a good idea to fish. Jesus.”
“I guess w-we need to a-add swimming lessons t-to the self-defense o-ones. That r-romantic r-rain from last night r-really fucked us t-today, huh?”
“I’ve got half a mind to not even let you sit in the bathtub.”
“I’m f-fine.” She stilled his frantic hands, and sat back on his heels. “I’d rather breathe you in t-than the river w-water, anyway.”
John shook his head.
“I’m fine.”
“Say that one more time and as soon as your ass is warmed back up, I’m putting you over my knee. You are not fine.”
She didn’t argue as he stripped her wet clothes away. The bath water was warm, not hot, so he settled his arm under her legs and scooped her up. Abby hissed as he placed her into the water.
“Is it too hot?”
“No, it f-feels great.” Her eyes closed and she submerged more of her body.
He wanted to let her get warm, but anxiety was simmering beneath his skin. Watching her go under the water was terrifying. He needed to have her in his arms. He needed to feel her breathing against him.
“Scoot forward, Abby.”
She didn’t open her eyes, but followed his request. He slid behind her, still fully dressed. John wrapped his arms around her as she snuggled down into his chest and buried his face into her hair. She smelled like ice, crisp and clean, but also like the forest. And deep underneath that, there was the slightest bit of lemon. Those fucking lemons. That scent of hers that drove him crazy.
“That scared the life right out of me. I lost at least ten years.”
“You’re too old to be losing years like that,” she teased. He knew that as he pulled her tighter into his body she would feel the tension pouring off of him.
“I shouldn’t have been standing so close to the edge. You warned me that the rocks were slippery. I’m sorry I got distracted. And now we don’t have dinner.”
“Don’t worry about dinner. We’ll pick something up after I take you into urgent care to get checked out.”
“I don’t need to get checked out. I’m?—”
“What did I just say about telling me that?”
“My ass is feeling a lot warmer now. Maybe just put me over your leg and see if you can’t spank out the water in my lungs.”
“That’s not funny.”
“I know I certainly did not die out there, but maybe your humor did? Because that was actually quite witty.”
“You’re being awfully quiet over there.”
She’d been stubborn when John demanded she see a doctor. And in the end, that stubbornness had won out. Abby saw the tension in his eyes, and the way he watched her so intensely when she shifted around on the couch or when she cleared her throat.
“I’m worried. I don’t like that you won’t go see a doctor.”
“John, I know my body. The last thing I need is to leave this cabin to go sit in some doctor’s office for them to tell me I’m perfectly fine. I’m warm. I’m happy. I don’t want my clumsiness to ruin this weekend.”
“This weekend isn’t ruined. But it wouldn’t have even been a problem if I hadn’t insisted on pushing you to go down there. You should have stayed up on the porch, far away. It was selfish of me. I didn’t want to spend any time away from you.”
“Alright. I think that’s enough wallowing for the both of us, don’t you agree? I don’t want to spend another minute thinking about what could have happened. We took a dip in the creek and now we are cuddled up on the sofa about to watch a movie and make out. I can’t complain about that.”
“So now it’s a creek?” The corner of his mouth twitched and she knew he was finally coming around.
“You want to talk about the size of your stream or would you rather focus on the part where I said we’d turn on the TV and ignore it while making out like horny teenagers?”
“The second option please.”
Abby laughed, tucking her feet under her as she snuggled under his arm and placed the first of hopefully many hot as sin kisses on his lips.
The water was so cold. Cold and dark. She wanted to surface. Why… Why couldn’t she? She needed to breathe. Her lungs were burning. She couldn’t tell which way was up.
Open your eyes, Abby.
Open your eyes.
She tried. But all there was was darkness. So much darkness. And the water was thick. Her arms could barely move.
Come on, baby.
It’s time.
You need to open your eyes.
She knew the voice. She trusted the voice. She opened her eyes, and the scream ripped through her vocal cords.
Marco was there.
His knife cut through her throat.
“Okay. It’s okay. You’re safe. You’re safe, baby.”
“John.” His name came out as a sob, her arms tightening around his chest.
“I’ve got you, baby. You’re safe. You fell asleep on the couch. I was just about to carry you to bed.”
“He was here. In the water.”
“I’m so sorry, Abby.”
Abby’s head rested on his chest, until her breathing calmed and her tears dried.
“I need to get up.”
“To run? It’s really late, but I’ll go with you if you need to.”
“No.” She could tell he was surprised when she lifted her head off of him and smiled softly. “To pee. All that water I gulped down is just sitting in my bladder.”
He squeezed his arms around her tighter, a protective growl rumbling from his chest.
“We’ll look back on this and laugh, John. I promise. Just another time you had to jump in and save me. I’m really racking up a big debt here.”
“There’s no tally. I’m not keeping score.”
“Well, maybe one day I can return the favor. Are you afraid of dogs, by chance? Because I could definitely save you from a puppy.”
He laughed. “Let’s just focus on neither one of us needing to be saved, okay?”
“I don’t know. It seems to be woven in my DNA.”