Chapter 53 #2
Ugh, Noah.
“Cassie!”
Speak of the devil. That sounded like his voice calling from the beach. He must have finished up with the dumpster and debris.
The punishing waves crashed against her thighs and sprayed into her face. Her back ached from the weight of the dolphins. Rain pummeled them from above. She had never been this wet or this cold before.
She hadn’t even thought to pack any dry clothes, so she would be soggy and shivering the whole way home. Did Targets stay open during hurricanes? Waffle House did.
They were almost there. Sea water washed over the dolphin in the carry tarp, and he started to squirm. At least the deeper water took some stress off her back.
Her hair had come undone from its ponytail. It was plastered to her face and hanging in front of her eyes. She tried to flip it out of the way as the water reached her belly button.
The current sucked them forward while the waves crashed against them. It was disorienting, frigid, and exhausting. One of her boots was definitely untied.
“Oh, shit,” one of the volunteers said as the water level suddenly dropped.
She barely had a second to look up at a horrifying wall of water before the dolphin thrashed his tail, smacking into Cassie’s head with an incredible amount of force.
She was stunned, and a gasp left her unable to catch her breath.
The dolphin slipped below the water just as the gigantic wave crashed over them.
The current dragged her feet away from the sandy bottom.
Water was everywhere. Sucking at her boots, crashing overhead. Muffled sounds came from everywhere and nowhere. Her heart pounded. Panic was starting to set in.
Which way was up?
The current was so strong. It was dark, and the saltwater stung her eyes. The water was deeper here. Her wet clothes dragged her down, and panic flared. Her lungs screamed for air.
She was going to die. All because of a stupid hurricane.
She would never open her clinic. She would never see baby Pip or her sisters again. And she’d never wake up in Noah’s bed again.
Suddenly, a strong arm caught her by the waist. Oh, thank god. She was moving, gliding toward the surface. Her arms didn’t want to work right. She tried to kick her legs to help whoever was helping her.
Finally, they broke the surface. She sucked down a wet gasp of air, welcoming the rain pattering her face. It was the sweetest thing she’d ever tasted.
She was going to live. Her rescuer dragged her through the breaking waves and carried her bridal-style away from the surf. Hang on, she recognized those tattoos.
“Are you okay?” An extremely wet Noah crouched on the sand in front of her. His eyes were wild, and his hands were shaking. His wet T-shirt and jeans clung to his body, and saltwater dripped from the tip of his beard.
“I’m fine.”
“How many others?”
“Three,” she said.
Noah scanned the beach, and Cassie turned to look too. One other volunteer had crawled to the sand, and Remelda was staggering out of the surf.
Her heart did a full somersault. Someone was missing.
“Stay,” Noah said firmly. “Please.”
Noah ran back to the edge of the shore, head swiveling. He must have seen something because he sprinted through the surf and dove beneath.
Cassie rose to her feet, heart in her throat. She staggered over to the other volunteer and collapsed to her knees next to her.
“You okay?”
The volunteer nodded, looking shell-shocked.
Remelda joined them, and Cassie scanned the waves.
Noah was an incredible swimmer. He would be okay. He had been preparing for this moment for three years. So why was she suddenly terrified she would never see him again?
She had wasted so much time being angry, hurt. Of course it was difficult for him to talk about Bobby. Being here, now, surrounded by the punishing chaos of Mother Nature, it was easy to see why he kept that memory padlocked.
She had made him tell her the truth, and then she had rejected him when he’d mustered up the courage to be vulnerable. It was unforgivable. And now she might never get the chance to apologize.
She itched to jump into the water, but she wasn’t a strong swimmer, and he had ordered her to stay.
A long minute later, Noah’s head broke the surface. Relief flooded her whole body, reenergizing her. She jumped up and ran for the water. Noah was tugging someone back to shore. She staggered in to help, pulling their other arm until they reached the edge of the surf.
The volunteer coughed and gasped, weakly trying to sit up.
Noah helped him sit and clapped a hand on his back. “Are you okay?” His eyes were frantic.
“I’m okay,” he said with another guttural cough. “Thank you.”
“That’s everyone?” Noah asked, scanning the beach.
“That’s everyone,” she confirmed.
He looked at her, chest heaving and wet hair hanging in his eyes, and emotion flooded her body. She threw herself on him, and they clung to each other in the pelting rain.
“I’m so sorry,” she said to him.
“No. I’m sorry,” he said.
She pulled back to look at him, and words tumbled out of her mouth. “You finally opened up to me and told me about something so painful for you, and I shut you down. I can’t believe I hurt you like that when you were being vulnerable. I betrayed your trust in me. I love you, Noah. I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to be sorry,” he said over the roar of the wind.
“You were right. About so many things. I know I have a lot to work on. Everyone’s been saying the same shit to me for three years—Bobby wouldn’t want me to be miserable.
For some reason, I couldn’t believe it. That day changed something in me on a cellular level.
I just wanted to keep everyone safe from me.
I couldn’t save him. And I couldn’t live with myself if I failed someone else I love. ”
“You didn’t fail. You saved Izzy, and you saved me. If you hadn’t shown up, I probably would have drowned.”
“Me too,” the other volunteer said weakly.
Right, there were other people on the beach.
Noah gathered her into his arms. “I love you, Cassie,” he said in her ear. “With everything I have. I’m going to work on myself. I hope that one day I’ll be worthy of your love.”
She pulled back to look at him. “You don’t need to earn it. You’re my person, Noah. I’ve known that since you told me what happened with Huck. You have the biggest heart hidden beneath like, 250 pounds of muscle and barbed wire.”
But there was something else.
She planted a hand on his chest. “I want to be with you. But part of the reason why I pushed you away is because I was scared. I can’t give you what I know you want. If you choose me, I—I won’t be able to give you children.”
He shook his head. “I don’t care about that. Family is so much more than blood and DNA. If we decide on kids someday, we’ll foster. Or adopt. Your ability to have children isn’t a prerequisite for being worthy of love.”
Warmth flooded her in spite of the fact that she had never been colder in her entire life.
“I know you’re always afraid that people are going to leave, Cass. But I’m not going anywhere. Especially since I live next door to you. Speaking of which, I didn’t want to tell you this until the danger was over, but a tree fell through your roof.”
“What?”
“Dr. Thompson?” Remelda called out.
She could worry about the tree later.
“Shit. I have to transport a dolphin. Come with me?”
“Anywhere. Anytime.”
Noah helped her off the ground, and in a couple of minutes, they were sitting in the back of a van with the dolphin.
She checked his vitals again, and Noah held the ultrasound screen while she used the probe. He watched her work with clear, warm eyes, helping when asked and otherwise staying silent.
Against all odds, Cassie had salvaged a beautiful new life from the wreckage of her past—a safe place to call home, her own business, an untraditional but tight-knit family, and a complicated but deeply caring partner.
Noah may have been far from perfect, but he was her match in every way that mattered. He saw her, flaws and all, and loved her anyway.
It wasn’t going to be an easy road. Nothing ever was, and apparently, now there was a tree in her house. But with Noah, her sisters, and all of Aster Hollow behind her, she could overcome anything.
Noah squeezed her knee under the gurney, and her love for him overwhelmingly flooded her body. She was exactly where she was meant to be.
THE END
Five years in the future, peek inside the chaotic Reed-Thompson household as Cassie and Noah navigate brand new titles: Mom and Dad.