18. Ronnie
Ronnie
I scream Flint's name as I thrash in the cold water, sobbing and begging for him to come back to me.
I don’t know how long I’m in the water for or if Flint can still hear me. But I keep screaming his name until I’m lifted out of the water by strong arms. I glance up, hopeful that my rescuer is the man I love.
Instead, Ridge is staring down at me grimly. He wraps something that looks like tin foil around me, and I realize that I'm naked. My teeth are chattering, but I don’t care about the bone-deep cold.
“Flint,” I say his name over and over again like a chant. Maybe if I say it enough, he’ll show up. He has to show up. We have a baby to raise together. We have three babies to raise together, and I don’t want to do this on my own.
“We're going to get him,” Ridge answers right before he shines a flashlight in my eyes. “Did you hit your head at any point?”
“I don’t…I just…I was here and then there was water everywhere. Can you help him? Can you get to Flint?”
“Are you hurt anywhere?” Ridge’s voice sounds like it’s coming from far away.
“I need Flint,” I tell him because I don’t think he’s understanding. The love of my life was right beside me then suddenly, he wasn’t.
“Kane is searching the water right now. If anyone can find him, it will be Kane.”
“But he let go of the branch,” I sob.
“I know. We got here. We saw it happening,” Ridge answers. “The best thing we can do for Flint right now is make sure you're healthy. Are you in pain anywhere?”
“The baby. I don’t know if the baby is okay.” I stand and let go of the chip bag he’s wrapped me in. I pat my stomach. Nothing is wrong. At least, it doesn’t look like it. There are no bruises. No bones or organs sticking out. That has to mean the baby is safe.
Ridge’s face goes white. “Are you pregnant?”
“I have to see the doctor next month. I want him to hear the heartbeat.”
He isn’t listening. He’s murmuring into his radio. I'm not even sure what he's saying.
I'm just so cold, and he’s not bringing me Flint. I need to go find him. I start walking, but I only get a couple of steps before Ridge is right next to me. How does he not understand this is a crisis?
“Whoa, what are you doing here? Let’s relax and sit back down.”
“I have to find him,” I explain through tears. “If I can get him a warm towel and we can both dry off, then we can go to the eye doctor's appointment. We’re supposed to take the boys. I need my family to be whole!”
Ridge nods. “I know you’re scared, but right now, I need you to come with me.”
I look past his shoulders and see dozens of other people here now. How did they all get here so fast? How long were we in the water? Was it long? It felt like five seconds and five hours. I didn’t know time could stretch like that.
One of the guys steps forward. He’s wearing a uniform for the Courage County Fire and Rescue. I recognize him from the bar photo. “You’re Camden, right? The bull testicles guy. You rescue people! I need you to find Flint. He’s really tall, and I have a photo on my phone.”
I pat my pocket but there’s no pocket and no clothes. Where did I put my phone? Is it in the truck?
Camden glances at Ridge then back at me. “We need to go to the hospital. If you come with me, they can bring Flint right behind us, okay?”
“But I need him, and I don’t need anybody.”
Ridge is beside me, wrapping me in the chip wrapper again. “I won’t leave you until he’s back by your side. I promise.”
The next few hours are a blur. I don't remember how I got to the hospital in Asheville. It’s a big fancy one that has a good reputation for pregnant women. The first thing they do is the ultrasound to check on the baby.
Mira is by me, holding my hand.
The moment the whoosh of the baby’s heartbeat fills the room, I start crying again. Our baby is safe, but he should be here. Flint should be the one holding my hand and crying with me.
She must be reading my mind because she says, “He’ll be here soon.”
Before I can answer her, there’s a knock on the door and Ridge opens it. He’s stayed with me through everything though he kept his gaze carefully trained on the floor during my exams.
I watched his facial expressions though. He has medical training, and he hasn’t once looked alarmed while the doctors are talking. I think that means I’m okay, and the baby is okay.
My grandma rushes into the room, enveloping me in a tight hug that has tears springing to my eyes. The one person who has always been my steady rock is here, and I sob against her chest, letting all of my fear and sadness out.
“The baby?” She asks softly, and I realize what she must be thinking.
I gesture to the monitor above my bed that’s making a very quiet whooshing noise. “The baby is safe. I’m okay. The baby’s okay. I just need Flint. He’s been so brave. He loves me. Did you know that? He wants to get married. I need him to know I love him.”
I reach for the brown envelope on the side table.
At least, I try to. My grandma hands it to me and I dump out the personal effects on the blanket.
I reach for my necklace, still amazed that it stayed on my body.
It was the only thing the water didn’t rip away from me, and that alone has to be a sign.
I slip the ring off the necklace and onto my finger. “I’m an engaged woman. I’m marrying the love of my life soon.”
“Yeah, you are,” grandma agrees. “And I’m catching your bouquet and dancing the cha-cha at your reception.”
“Okay, we have a plan,” I murmur, feeling better. Flint is coming back to me. He’s coming back to me, and he’s going to marry me, and we’ll keep raising beautiful babies on the ranch.
There’s another knock and Mira says quietly, “The boys are here.”
Ridge ushers them in, and they rush to the bed, looking alarmed. “Are you sick? Did you keep barfing? Can you come home? We could make yucky chicken soup for you.”
“Come here,” I pat the bed and Mira helps the boys onto it.
They instantly cuddle up with me, and I hate this.
I know there was no way to spare them what happened today.
They don’t know what went wrong, only that something happened.
Mira said they were with the other cowboys when the call came through, and everyone sprang into action.
“Your mom is fine. She went swimming with Flint and needed to go to the doctor after,” I reassure them, trying to help them understand.
They exchange a worried look and Brock blinks. Branson nudges him and before I know it, they’re both crying. “Did Flint go on a boat?”
I blink back tears of my own. “You look at me. Your dad is not the leaving kind. He’ll be here. He fell into the water, and his friends are going to get him and bring him here. We just have to wait.”
“No boat?”
“He’s a cowboy, and everyone knows there are no horses on boats,” I point out.
They talk tearfully for a minute about boats, discussing this in-depth because no one fact-checks you like a couple of five year olds who have seen everything. I can tell when they’ve decided I’m right because both relax into me, stretching out quietly.
“When is he coming?”
“In a little while.”
Brock reaches into his pocket and produces a pack of fruit snacks. “We saved him the last one.”
“It has the grape ones in it. It’s the best,” Branson adds.
“I think he’ll really like that,” I tell them.
The nurse enters the room to check my vitals. She’s just finished doing her check-up when there’s shouting in the hallway. It’s loud and chaotic and puts the biggest grin across my face.
“What’s that?” The nurse turns toward the door.
“My future husband,” I answer. “He’s come for me and my boys.”
Flint appears in the doorway five seconds later. He sways on his feet, and he’s dressed in clothes that don’t fit. He’s got a black eye and a gash on his forehead that probably needs medical attention.
“I couldn’t stop him,” Cord says, right behind him.
“I don’t think anyone could,” Mira tells her husband.
Then Flint is rushing to the bed. The boys tackle him halfway there, and he scoops them both into his arms. “You came! You came! Mom, he’s here!”
He never breaks stride as he carries them over to me. He’s bloodied and exhausted but he’s alive. He’s here, and he’s alive.
“Flint…”
I can’t even get anything else out because then he’s kissing me like we’re the only two people in the room, maybe even the world. And every promise he’s ever made to me comes true in that moment.
I’m crying when he breaks the kiss. A shadow crosses his face as he lowers the boys onto the mattress. His voice is gritty, pained. “The baby?”
I take his hand and put it on my stomach. “So healthy.”
“Baby?” Brock and Branson ask at the same time.
“Your dad and I made a baby.” I don’t take my eyes off of Flint. I can’t.
“Like arts and crafts?”
“With popsicle sticks?”
Flint laughs. It sounds rusty and water-logged and a little bit like maybe he’s been just as terrified as me for the past few hours. “Yeah, there was a stick involved.”
“Cool. Can we see the baby?” Branson asks.
“You can see it soon,” I promise.
Something else flickers across Flint’s face and I feel his finger trace the outline of the ring on my hand. I reach for him, pulling him close. I don’t care about the audience watching or anything else in the world. “I love you.”
His whole body shudders. “I love you too.”
Then he’s kissing me again. This kiss is gentle, reminding us both that everything is right in the world. We’re okay, all three of our babies are okay, and we’re going to get married soon.
When he lifts his head again this time, he smiles. “You look beautiful.”
He’s lying, and we both know it. “And you still owe me a picnic, cowboy.”
Grandma sighs from her place in the plastic chair beside the bed. “Keep it down, love birds.” She reaches for the tv remote, turning on the old movie channel where a Sylvester movie is playing. “Some of us are trying to watch television.”