by Lisa Carter
She tugged at his hand. “Let’s try the woods.”
Only a few yards in, the forest closed around them, darker, gloomier than the billowing clouds looming over the marsh. Leaves carpeted the ground.
The thick air was saturated with a musky, earthy scent. Beads of perspiration trickled between Darcy’s shoulder blades, leaving her shirt clinging to her back. The heat was stifling.
She batted away a swarm of gnats. A strange sense of heaviness hung in the air, covering her like a shroud. It felt as if the world was waiting for something to happen...
First, plinking sounds, as raindrops bounced off the leaves of the trees. Feeling cold against her skin. The precipitation became more rapid.
She plunged deeper into the woods after Jax, following his lead without question. It was far too easy to become disoriented inside the forest, with familiar landmarks like the sky and water obscured. If confusing for them, how much more for Brody? But now was not the time for pessimism.
Jax found the small, red dump truck lying haphazardly among the pine needles.
“We’re on the right track. We’ll find him soon, Jax.”
He exhaled. “I need to stop thinking like a father and start thinking like the tracker I was trained to be. Let’s walk ten feet apart. Look for any signs that he passed this way.”
She fanned out. “What kind of signs?”
Head bent, he stalked the path with long strides. “A clump of mud. Scuffled leaves. A twisted blade of grass.”
Going still, he crouched beside a gulley filled with brackish water. “Here’s something.”
Seeing the imprint of five little toes, she swallowed. “We’re going to find him, Jax. We’re getting closer.” She kept her eyes fastened on the leaf-strewn deer trail.
They emerged from the shelter of the overhanging tree canopy to the stinging pelt of rain. Lightning flashed. She flinched.
She gasped as the clouds released a deluge upon them, further obscuring their line of sight. Drenching them. Soaking their clothes within minutes.
Darcy shivered. Brody must be so cold and frightened.
Jax grabbed her hand. “Let’s try this way.”
They plodded on. The rain flowed down their cheeks, stung their eyes. Water filled her mouth every time she called Brody’s name.
Above the pounding noise of the torrential rain, their voices grew louder, their calls more frantic.
His hair plastered to his head, Jax caught Darcy’s arm when she slipped in the mud. Then stepping over a fallen log, she lost her flip-flop, but didn’t bother to stop. Driven by the need to hurry before the storm grew worse, she kicked off the other one. Her bare feet were better for running.
The trail abruptly stopped at the edge of the water. Jax’s face paled. A flash flood had carved out a small, tree-covered island midstream. The mighty rush of water whirled, separating them not only from the island, but also blocking them from reaching the rest of the forest.
He lifted his face to the pelting rain. “Show us where to look, God. Help us find Brody. Please.”
Whistling, the wind lashed the trees on the small island into violent gyrations. The creek water spilled over its banks, lapping at her feet.
Thunder boomed. They both jolted. Lightning sizzled the air. The hairs on Darcy’s arms stood up. An electrical discharge of ozone pinched her nostrils.
Over the wail of the wind, she heard a faint cry. She strained to pinpoint the source of the sound.
Jax’s gaze flicked to her. “What?”
At the base of two trees on the island, something yellow moved. Not a color naturally found in the arboreal forest of the maritime Eastern Shore.
“Brody!” she screamed.
“Where?”
She pointed.
“Brody!” Jax yelled, waving his arms. “Brody!”
The child took a step toward the surging water.
“No!” she and Jax shouted simultaneously. “Stay there.”
Across the watery divide from them, his little face puckered.
Darcy raised both palms to shoulder height. “Don’t get in the water, sweetie. Stay right where you are.”
With the cloud-to-ground lightning, he was only marginally safer in the trees. But if he got in the water, he’d be swept away.
“Do what Darcy says, son.”
She couldn’t tell if the wetness on Brody’s cheeks came from tears or the rain. Probably both.
Brody’s lips quavered. “Hey, Dawcy.”
“Hey, Brody.” Her throat closed.
“Daddy is coming to get you, son. Stay where you are.” He took a deep breath. “I’ll come in the kayak. Okay?”
“It’ll take the both of us fighting the current to reach him, Jax.”
He raked his fingers through his rain-slicked hair. “I can’t let you—”
“Just try and stop me.” She glared.
“Okay,” he rasped.
His jawline hardened as he raised his voice again. “Brody, we’re going to get the kayak, but don’t go anywhere. We’ll be back quick as we can.”
Brody’s head bobbed. “’Kay, Daddy. Me wait fow you.”
The unquestioning trust in his voice caused Darcy’s eyes to brim with tears.
“Daddy’s coming. I promise,” Jax called across the water.
She hated leaving Brody stranded on the island. But every second counted. They ran as if their lives depended on it. Brody’s life did. If anything happened to him...
The loss of a child. Nothing was worse. She couldn’t let what had happened to her father happen to Jax. Not if it took every bit of strength she possessed. Not while she still had breath in her body.
Chapter Sixteen
On Jax’s heels, she raced through the brambles. Branches slapped her cheeks. Thorns tore at her clothing. She was panting by the time they reached the floating dock on the creek bank.
“We’ll take the tandem kayak.” His fingers trembled as he wrestled with the knots. “Less stable, but we’ll need the extra space for the three of us.” He clenched his teeth, his gaze fierce. “Because three of us will be coming home.”
The normally placid tidal creek had become a maelstrom of raging currents. They didn’t have the proper kayak or gear for conditions resembling white-water rapids. But the clock was ticking. The island could be swamped at any moment by the flash flood.
“I’ll get the paddles.” She ran to the storage shed.
She grabbed two adult PFDs and Brody’s smaller one. She quickly donned and buckled her own life vest. After inserting her hand through the armholes of the other PFDs, she seized two paddles.
Jax had freed the kayak, shoving it to the edge of the water. She held a life vest out to him. He shook his head.
“Put it on, Jax. If we roll, you drowning isn’t going to help me rescue Brody.”
Grimacing, he strapped on the vest and held the kayak for her to scramble inside. Stuffing Brody’s PFD into the space at her feet, she settled into the bow. She stuck her paddle into the creek bed, stabilizing the boat as best she could for Jax.
In one lithe motion, he leaped aboard, and they pushed off. Like a cork bobbing topsy-turvy in the tempestuous current, they battled the water, trying to gain a semblance of control. Lightning crackled, splitting the sky overhead. They maneuvered the kayak around floating debris. Downed branches scraped against the craft.
As lookout, she did her best to identify obstacles in their route and course correct, dodging the rocks in the rushing creek. But there were too many hazards to steer around completely. They banged from one rock to the next like a silver ball in a pinball machine.
They kept the kayak at an angle as they approached a wave. Riding the swell, Darcy laid her paddle across her lap. Once the kayak dropped, they paddled in harmony, broad, strong strokes. The blades sliced through
the water, eating up the distance.
A moment too late, she spotted a submerged boulder portside. “Ten o’clock. Watch—” The kayak tipped at an impossible angle. They threw their weight to the other side, but it was too late.
“Hold on!” Jax yelled.
She reinforced her grip on the paddle, maintaining the set-up position. There was a surreal sensation as the sky tilted and everything went upside down. The water closed over her head, the sudden chill a shock.
But she held on to the paddle and didn’t panic. Three seconds was what they practiced. She ticked off the seconds in her head, willing Jax to have recovered enough to implement the plan.
One, two, three, Elvis.
She flicked her hip to the right and reached for the sky. The kayak tipped.
Water streamed off her body and the paddle. Keeping her head tucked, she dared not check on Jax. For a heartbeat, gravity held them in its grip, but then the kayak flipped upright again.
“Darcy...”
“I’m okay!” Hunching, she took up the cadence of the stroke once more. She put the strength of her core into it.
Up ahead, the island appeared. And the familiar, altogether wonderful sight of a little boy in yellow. He waved from the rapidly diminishing beachhead. Darcy and Jax drove the kayak as far up onto the land as they could.
“I’ll hold it. You—”
But she was already out of the kayak, the paddle stowed. Their efforts in unison. Thinking alike. One in purpose and plan.
Splashing through the calf-deep water, she reached for Brody, his life jacket threaded on her forearm. He jumped into her arms.
“Dawcy...” He buried his small, cold face into the hollow of her neck.
She got him into the PFD. “This time me do.” She snapped the buckles herself. Sweeping him into her arms again, she turned toward the water.
Jax’s face was contorted with the effort to keep the kayak from being torn from the beach. “I can’t hold it much...” He gritted his teeth.
Placing Brody near the bow, she slipped inside. Once in her seat, she wrapped her legs around Brody’s quivering body and took up her paddle.
Shoving off, Jax let the plunging current take them. The paddles were useless now, except to keep the kayak from ricocheting off water hazards and capsizing.
The kayak hurtled downstream. There’d be no chance to pilot it onto Jax’s land. There was only one way to exit the out-of-control water ride. Split-second coordination was essential before the flood swept them out to sea.
Glancing over her shoulder, Darcy locked gazes with Jax. He gave her a barely perceptible nod, but she knew what he was thinking. Because she knew him so well. And he knew her.
Timing, like in life, was everything. They had one chance and only one to get this right the first time. She let go of her paddle. It churned before disappearing beneath the rolling water.
She pulled Brody onto her lap. “Remember how to do a wet exit, Brody?”
His brown eyes large, he nodded.
“I need you to hold on to me and don’t let go, monkey boy.” She gulped. “No matter what happens, don’t let go. Okay?”
He twined his arms around her neck. “’Kay, Dawcy.”
She gave Jax a tremulous smile. “We’re ready.”
“Darcy, I...” He shook the rain out of his eyes. “Later. One...”
“Hold your breath like we practiced, Brody,” she whispered into his ear.
Jax let go of his paddle. “Two...”
She tensed.
“Three...”
Hurling themselves out of the kayak, they plunged into the stream. She and Brody sank, the water closing over their heads. The powerful force of the current sucked him out of her arms. She flailed, reaching for something of him to grasp on to.
God... Help—
A small, round head banged into her chest. She found the loop at the back of Brody’s PFD.
Never letting go of her grip on him, she scissors kicked and stretched upward. They erupted above the water. Choking, sputtering, she dog-paddled, fighting to keep from being washed farther downstream, where the channel widened.
There was no sign of Jax. Had he become entangled underwater? Her instinct was to scream his name, but she couldn’t give in to her fear. She had no time to search for him, with Brody’s life at stake.
Rotating the little boy onto his back, she towed him toward shore. He kicked his legs in the water, keeping himself buoyant.
Only when her feet scraped bottom did she realize she’d made it. She hauled Brody out of the water to higher ground, glancing about frantically for Jax.
At the top of the bank, they flopped onto the wet grass, clutching each other. Shaking from more than the cold. She peered through the trees, trying to get her bearings. Maybe they were somewhere near the Savage farm?
Brody’s lips puckered. “Daddy?”
She leaped to her feet. If she could spot any sign of him, she’d go back into the water. Brody needed his daddy. She bit back a sob. She needed Brody’s daddy.
But there was nothing. Only dark water. The rain had stopped. As had the thunder and lightning. The storm had moved out to sea.
Was Jax—
She cut off the thought.
Brody clung to her thigh. “Daddy?”
The brush rustled as several men in neon orange burst into the clearing. The volunteer water-rescue team. Ethan and Luke Savage. Sawyer Kole. Weston Clark.
Hoisting Brody into her arms, she stumbled toward them. “Jax’s still in the water.” There was a rising note of hysteria in her voice. “You have to find him.”
The radio on Luke Savage’s shoulder crackled. He paused as the other men swept toward her. Weston pulled off his jacket, draping it around her and Brody.
But she shrugged out of his coat, brushing aside his attempt to take the little boy from her. Brody whimpered, tightening his legs around her torso.
She’d fight them if she had to. She wasn’t letting go of Brody, and she wasn’t going to let them stand here doing nothing while Jax drowned.
They had to do something now. Before it was too late. If it wasn’t already too late. Nausea roiled in her stomach.
“I’m fine. We’re fine. But not Jax. You have to—”
“They found him, Darcy.” Luke released the mic on his shoulder. “Farther downstream.”
She blinked. “They found him. Is he...?”
“Cuts, bruises. Same as you, I expect.” Luke studied her. “But you need to let us examine you and the boy to be sure.”
“Daddy!” Brody wailed.
Luke patted his arm. Brody shrank against Darcy. “Your daddy’s okay. He’s on his way with your uncle Charlie.”
Her arms sagged. “He’s okay? He’s coming?”
Ethan touched her hand. “Darcy, let us help you. Please.”
She allowed him to lead her into the open pasture beyond the trees. In the distance, the metal roof of the Savage garden center glimmered. But she didn’t let go of Brody, and Brody didn’t let go of her.
Lights strobing, an ambulance waited, alongside several SUVs and pickup trucks.
Her limbs shook as the adrenaline exited her body. “H-how did you find us?”
Ethan propelled her toward the open doors of the ambulance. She sat on the tailgate.
“It was too turbulent to get a boat in the water to look for you.” Ethan propped his work boot on the fender. “But your dad had everyone between Kiptohanock and Accomac searching seaside.”
Her father, the Reverend Harold Parks. There were advantages in being a preacher’s kid, she realized. How blessed she was to be the daughter of Harold and Agnes Parks.
Ethan handed her a towel so she could wipe Brody’s face. “Sawyer Kole spotted the three of you in the kayak and called it in.” An Accomack County patrol c
ruiser barreled up the farm road toward them. “Speaking of Jax.”
Before Deputy Charlie Pruitt could bring the cruiser to a standstill, Jax threw himself out. He ran the remaining distance, bridging the gap between them.
She let go of Brody, who scrambled down. Tears coursing down his face, Jax embraced his son.
The ex–Green Beret soldier buried his face in the wet strands of Brody’s hair. Darcy’s throat constricted. Jax’s shoulders shook.
As he clutched Brody to his chest, Jax’s gaze found hers. They shared a long look. His eyes swam with gratitude. A gratitude for so much more than just today. Then Charlie stepped into her line of sight, breaking their visual connection.
Just like that, she knew it was time to go. Jax—and Brody—would be okay without her. For her, the summer had come to an end. It was time to move on to what else God had for her.
The life He had for her elsewhere. A life without Jax and his son. She could almost feel the momentum of the pendulum slowing. Her cue to go before things got awkward. Before the embarrassing, post-climatic pulling back began. Her time with Jax was over.
An unbreachable chasm yawned between them. Despite the longing surging through her heart, she had to walk away. She’d fulfilled her purpose in their lives this summer, bringing them both to a place of healing. Freeing Jax to pursue a new life with his son. One day, maybe finding love. But with someone else.
Stringing things out only prolonged the inevitable ending she’d seen coming months ago. History had proved she wasn’t the kind of woman Jax went for. And she didn’t think she could stand by and watch him fall in love with someone else. Or see them make a family with Brody.
Darcy hopped off the ambulance. “Would you take me home, Ethan?”
His blue eyes narrowed. “But what about—”
“Please, Ethan...”
At the pleading note in her voice, he nodded.
She cast one final glance at Jax and Brody, surrounded by the paramedics. Ethan steered her toward his waiting truck.
All those years ago, Jax had been right about not saying goodbye. Darcy didn’t know where to even begin saying goodbye to them. So she wouldn’t. As she climbed into Ethan’s truck, her eyes blurred with unshed tears. It was better this way.
