Chapter 10
Ten
After the kick in the teeth from Kara to start Dan’s day, things had improved with a satisfying resolution to Tiffany Sturgil’s latest go-round with her ex-husband, who’d tried to have her evicted from her store.
The landlord had agreed to allow Tiffany to give him another check for the rent to replace the one that had bounced when funds were deposited into the wrong account.
“I took it upon myself to give Jim a call to let him know how much I’m enjoying life on Gansett and how I’m thinking about permanently relocating, since there seems to be a pressing need for a second attorney on the island.”
Tiffany snorted with laughter. “Oh, that’s fabulous! He must’ve totally freaked out.”
“To say the least,” Dan said with a chuckle. “I told him that after seeing him in action a few times, how happy I’d be to run him right off the island by hanging out my own shingle.”
Tiffany laughed again. “There’s nothing you could’ve said that would frighten him more than threatening his monopoly on the island’s legal work.”
“That’s what I figured. I gotta say, it was fun to give him a taste of his own medicine. I told him to leave you alone, or we’d file defamation charges, which would really do wonders for his practice. I don’t think you’ll be hearing from him again, except where it concerns Ashleigh.”
The other guys were razzing him for being on the phone. He held up a finger to say he needed one more minute.
“Thank you so much.”
“It was completely my pleasure.”
“Send me a bill for your time.”
“No way. I haven’t had that much fun in years. It’s on the house.”
“Well, if you’re ever in need of a gift for a special lady, come by the store, and I’ll hook you up.”
“You got a deal. Talk to you soon.”
Her offer made him wonder if he’d ever see his special lady again. Dan stashed the phone in his backpack in the cabin and returned to the cockpit where the other guys were discussing the thick fog that’d appeared somewhat suddenly.
“Is the race still on?” Dan asked Steve, the captain.
“We’re waiting to hear what they’re going to do, but I may call it. Fog freaks me out.”
Dan was glad to hear him say that because fog freaked him out, too, and he was dying to get back to the island to see if he could fix things with Kara.
Grant, who was seated next to him, nudged him with his shoulder. “How was the date with Kara?”
“Great, until this morning when she told me it was a one-night thing, and she doesn’t want anything else from me.”
“Wait… You were still with her this morning?”
“Focus on the other part, where she told me to get lost.”
“She came right out and said that?”
“In so many words.”
He’d had actual punches to the gut hurt less than the word nothing had coming from her.
He needed to fix things with her, and he couldn’t wait until later.
He could tell he’d surprised Grant when he got up quickly, went into the cabin to retrieve his phone and returned to the deck, where he’d have better reception.
He planned to call the marina to ask for her number.
Grant gave him an inquisitive look. “What’re you going to—”
A massive crash cut off Grant’s words and sent them all flying.
The right side of Dan’s body connected with something hard, sending searing agony through him that knocked him out for a second.
He ended up underwater, struggling to find the surface.
Once he broke through, he gasped for air and cried out from the sharp pain in his side and arm that nearly dragged him into unconsciousness again.
He couldn’t flake out. He’d drown if he did, and he couldn’t do that to his parents and sisters after they’d already lost Dylan.
He had to stay alive for them—and for Kara.
They weren’t done, no matter what she’d said.
“Dan!”
Grant’s voice was the best thing Dan had heard in his entire life.
“Here,” he managed to say as a wave hit him in the face, sending salt water into his lungs, which made him gag and choke as he tried to stay above the surface.
The coughing was the most painful thing ever.
His right arm was badly broken and of no use to him as he fought to stay afloat.
He glanced to his left and saw Grant struggling with something and tried to move closer to him, but his ribs were on fire. Every movement made him feel like he was dying. Maybe he was.
“Stay with me, Steve!”
The sharp cry from Grant made Dan aware that Steve was gravely injured, and Grant was trying to save him.
Despite an intense effort, Dan slipped below the surface again.
He tried to kick his way back up, but the pain was so intense, it was easier not to move.
Then an arm came around him and dragged him painfully to the surface.
Dan shrieked from the agony coming from his ribs and arm.
“Easy.” Grant was out of breath and battling to keep them both afloat. “I’ve got you.”
“Steve…”
“I don’t know.” Was Grant crying? Dan couldn’t tell.
“Your brothers.”
“Don’t know that either. I called for them, but they didn’t answer.”
Grant’s voice broke as he said that. He screamed for his brothers until he was hoarse, but no one answered.
It was too much to comprehend, that Mac, Evan and Steve might’ve been killed by the impact from whatever had hit them.
What if there were other boats or ships coming toward them?
The thought was terrifying, but the pain required his full attention.
“Cold,” Dan said.
“I know. Me, too.”
“Grant…”
“I’m right here, buddy. I’ve got you.”
The fog was as thick as Kara had seen it yet on Gansett. Big Mac had told her that late spring was fog season, as the air warmed faster than the water. Fog rolled in just about every afternoon until late June, he’d said.
But today’s fog was something else altogether, and she didn’t feel safe on the water.
She headed back to the marina from her first launch run of the morning, planning to cancel service for the rest of the day or until the fog lifted.
As she approached, she caught the glare of emergency lights coming from the parking lot. In the fog, the red and blue lights gave off an eerie glow that only added to her apprehension. What had happened?
She tied up the boat and dashed up the ramp to the main dock, jogging toward the restaurant, where a large group had gathered.
“What’s going on?” she asked, noting that Big Mac was holding Stephanie as she wept.
The older man looked stricken.
Stephanie pulled back from him and reached out a hand to Kara. “The boat the guys were on was hit by a ship.”
Her words struck Kara like a knife to the heart as her last moments with Dan roared to the forefront of her mind.
“Oh my God.” Kara sank into a chair when her legs gave out under her. “I was just with Dan. I saw him this morning. He was fine. He has to be fine, right?”
Stephanie, who’d sat next to Kara, squeezed her hand.
“I’ve got to call Linc back with the names of who was on the boat, and then I’ll go find Mrs. McCarthy in town,” Blaine Taylor, the chief of police, said to Luke.
“I’ll be here with them,” Luke said.
Blaine looked to Big Mac, who stared blankly into the fog. “No matter what, don’t let him go out on the water.”
“I won’t.”
“Blaine.”
The single word from Stephanie stopped him. “Someone needs to tell Grace and Maddie.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“Thank you.”
“What do we do?” Kara asked. “There has to be something we can do.” There’s no way that awful scene from this morning could be her last moments with Dan. “I can take the launch out.”
“No, Kara.” Stephanie’s warm hand again covered hers, making her realize how cold she was. “It wouldn’t be safe for you out there. We have to stay here and… We have to pray for them to come home to us.”
“That’s not enough.” She’d never forgive herself if he died before she was able to tell him… What would she tell him if she could? That he was remarkable, and she was feeling things for him that scared her, so much so she’d acted like an ass. “I messed it all up this morning.”
“What do you mean?”
“We… Things happened last night, and I… I was a jerk to him afterward. But I didn’t mean it.” Kara wiped away tears that had broken loose despite her resolve to maintain her composure. “I didn’t mean it.”
“You’ll have the chance to tell him that. I’m sure of it.”
“How do you know?”
Stephanie rubbed her stomach. “I feel like I’d know if Grant was dead. I’d feel it here, you know?”
Kara nodded as she clung to Stephanie’s assurances. “I’m not sure I’d feel it if Dan was gone.”
“You would. You’d know it in your bones. That may sound crazy, but I believe it.”
She would take whatever assurances she could get as she prayed as hard as she had for anything—ever. If she didn’t get the chance to tell him she hadn’t meant what she’d said earlier, she wasn’t sure how she’d go on.
Dan was delirious with pain and trembling uncontrollably from the cold, which only added to the agony as he faded in and out of consciousness.
Every time he came to, Grant was there, reassuring him that they would be okay. He’d found something to cling to. Dan wasn’t sure what it was.
“They’re looking for us. I’m sure my dad and the others have the entire Coast Guard out searching.”
Dan feared if it took much longer, he wouldn’t be alive to celebrate being found.
He wanted to comfort Grant, who had to be reeling over his missing brothers. They’d been on the same boat. Why couldn’t they find one another? Were Mac and Evan dead? And if they were, how would Grant survive such a thing? And what about Steve? Where was he?
The pain dragged him under, so deep he felt like he was hallucinating when he saw Kara watching over him. She’d said she wanted nothing with him, but he thought she might’ve been lying. He said so to her, muttering nonsensical words that made sense to him.
He was falling in love with her. Hell, he’d already fallen, maybe that first night in Luke Harris’s kitchen.
Visions of her in the red dress played through his mind like a movie.