Alaska Reunion

by Jennifer Snow

  Callum took another swig of his beer as he stared at Ellie laughing and enjoying the water with the others.

  Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one. Brent was watching her intently, as well. Mitch’s words echoed in his brain, and his gut tightened.

  What was happening between him and Ellie? He needed to find out before it was too late.

  * * *

  ELLIE CLIMBED THE metal stairs back onto the boat and scanned it for Callum.

  “I think he went down below,” Brent said, coming up behind her with a towel. His gaze swept over her, and she quickly wrapped the towel around her body.

  “Oh okay.”

  “Yeah, I think he wasn’t feeling great.” He lowered his voice. “A little tipsy maybe.”

  Tipsy? She’d been in the water less than an hour. He’d been drinking water with her. Had he started drinking beer with the other men? Callum didn’t like beer. But there was a distinct scent of the alcohol coming from Brent, so maybe they had all indulged. “Maybe I should go check on him.”

  Brent laughed. “Are you his fiancée or his mother?”

  Ellie’s spine stiffened.

  “I’m just kidding,” Brent said, then his gaze dropped. “Sorry, that was a jerk comment. Jealousy’s getting the better of me.”

  So he was jealous of her and Callum.

  She wasn’t sure how she felt about it, but she wasn’t completely hating it. For years, she’d pined over Brent, longed for an opportunity to see him again and see if there was still something between them. She’d had to endure countless photos of him with other women on social media... If it was his turn to feel that, then so be it.

  Unfortunately, she didn’t know how far the jealousy should go. Did she want Brent to make a play for her still? Or was it enough to know that maybe he was regretting his decision years ago to let her go? A validation she really shouldn’t need so badly.

  “I have to admit, Ellie, it’s not easy seeing you with someone else.”

  Of course, he’d never had to before. But what did that mean? Was jealousy a strong enough basis to think there might be another chance for them? Did she want him to want her just because he thought he couldn’t have her?

  “But I guess that’s on me,” he said in her silence. “Hey, what do you say we take a ride on the Sea-Doo while Callum sleeps off the day drinking?”

  There was no malice in his tone, and Ellie was irritated that Callum would actually drink so much that he’d need to take a nap. Just when she thought her feelings for him were developing... She wasn’t sure that was the kind of relationship she wanted.

  It was unlike him though. Maybe it was more the combination of the drinks, the sway of the boat and the hot sun that had him not feeling so great.

  “Um...” She eyed the Sea-Doo as Cheryl and Mitch pulled up to the boat, their ride on it done. It did look like fun.

  Brent eyed her. “I know that look. Come on, you know you want to.”

  She offered a small smile and glanced around again. Callum was still downstairs. She’d rather go with him, but... “Okay, sure, why not?”

  Brent smiled as he took her hand and led the way to the back of the boat. She tried to pull her hand back, but he held tight. “We’re next!”

  Cheryl frowned, looking slightly concerned. “You’re going with Brent?” she asked her.

  Ellie nodded casually. “Callum won’t mind.”

  “Yeah, no of course not,” Cheryl said, removing her life jacket and handing it to Ellie. “This might be a little big on you.” The concern was back in her tone.

  Ellie slid into it, but even pulled tight, it was far too big for her. “It’s not fitting...”

  “Sorry, Ellie, we don’t have anything smaller,” Mitch said, checking the life jacket supply on the boat.

  Brent waved a hand as he buckled into his own. “It will be fine.” He climbed onto the Sea-Doo. “We’re not planning on falling in.”

  She nodded. He was right. And she could swim.

  “You sure, Ellie?” Cheryl asked.

  “Positive,” she said, but her gut twisted. She moved past Cheryl, and Mitch extended a hand to help her climb down the boat ladder and throw her leg over the Sea-Doo behind Brent.

  “Hold on to me,” Brent said.

  Her arms wrapped around his waist, her thighs clenching his legs, Ellie forced several deep breaths. Now that she was on the machine, her confidence wavered slightly. The machine vibrated on the surface of the water and the waves out on the lake looked a little rockier than they had from the boat.

  This was going to be fine. Fun.

  Brent had asked her to go for the ride. That meant he wanted to spend time with her. Be alone with her. He was jealous of her relationship with Callum. This was all good. It was what she’d wanted from the week, right?

  Callum’s touch as he retied her bikini and his lust-filled gaze when he’d watched her swim in the water flashed in her mind and she desperately pushed them aside.

  She tapped Brent on the shoulder. “Hey, were you drinking too?”

  “I only had a couple.”

  She swallowed hard. Alcohol and motorized water sports didn’t mix. Maybe this was a bad idea.

  No, Brent was fine. He seemed completely in control. Still, “Don’t go too fast, okay?”

  He grinned as he glanced back at her. “Hold on tight.”

  There were other ways she’d envisioned having her arms around him over the years, but she wanted to show him that she wasn’t a complete wimp. And this would be fun.

  He started the machine and waved to the others on the boat deck as they pulled away. Ellie glanced back over her shoulder in time to see Callum return to the upper deck. Her gaze met his briefly, before the water spray coming from the back of the Sea-Doo blocked her view and they picked up speed.

  The wind blew her wet hair away from her face as she held on to Brent’s life jacket and they cruised along the lake, farther away from the boat. They hit the waves hard and Ellie’s butt lifted off the seat with each crested wave. She smiled as the breeze and lake spray cooled her hot skin.

  She’d forgotten how fun being out on the lake was.

  Brent glanced at her over his shoulder and they shared a smile. Her heart twisted slightly and she remembered why she’d gone through all this trouble in the first place. Brent was the man she’d always loved. And it must have been just all the tense situations they’d found themselves in that week that had Ellie thinking that maybe she had real feelings for Callum.

  That was crazy. If she’d been interested in Callum, wouldn’t her feelings have developed before now?

  They picked up speed, and Ellie gripped Brent tighter, struggling to get traction on the wet life jacket. “Maybe slow down a little,” she yelled over the noise of the machine’s engine.

  He either didn’t hear her or he ignored her as the Sea-Doo whipped over the lake.

  He was going too fast. Ellie struggled to hold on as they hit the water harder and faster. Her laughter died and she shut her eyes tight. It wasn’t fun anymore. “Brent, slow down!” she called over the wind. The water spray hitting her face and the wind whipping past almost stole her breath, her words getting swept away on the wind.

  Brent went faster. Ellie glanced back toward the boat fading in the distance and saw Callum and the others waving frantically. They were telling them to slow down. Unfortunately, Brent wasn’t paying any attention.

  Her heart pounded in her chest as the machine seemed to catch even more air and Brent lost all control.

  Callum’s face miles away was the last thing Ellie saw before she was flying backward into the air and then crashing hard into the cold lake.

  * * *

  HE DIDN’T EVEN stop to think. Removing his shirt and glasses quickly, Callum dived into the water.

  “Callum! Wait!” Alisha’s voice fade
d as he plunged under the water and swam as fast as he could toward the last place he’d seen Ellie floating before she’d disappeared.

  The image of the Sea-Doo flying over the waves, Brent losing control and Ellie flying off the back and crashing into the lake had terrified him. The impact of the hit alone could have knocked her out or winded her enough that she would be unable to catch a breath even when she did resurface.

  He swam hard against the waves, coming up for air, then going below again to peer through the murky water. He heard the motor of the Sea-Doo before he saw it bobbing on its side on the lake a few feet away. It had stalled, as Brent had fallen off, releasing the key from the ignition.

  He looked around the surface, but he didn’t see either of them.

  A life jacket floating on the water had his heart falling deep into his gut. Cheryl had mentioned that Ellie’s life jacket had been too big.

  Damn it! Why the hell had she gotten on that thing with Brent? The guy wasn’t exactly responsible at the best of times, let alone when he’d consumed half a dozen beers in two hours.

  Taking a deep breath, Callum dived beneath the surface again and scanned frantically. Where was she?

  The sound of the boat’s motor drew closer, and he resurfaced and saw the others scanning the waters, as well, from different positions on the deck. His gaze met Mitch’s but the other guy shook his head. He inhaled as much air as possible and dived again.

  This time he saw her. Ten feet away, she was slowly sinking deeper, lower into the water. Her arms outstretched, her hair billowing out all around her, her legs limp, he knew she was knocked out.

  He reached her in record time and, wrapping one arm around her waist, he started the trek to the surface, moving upward, painfully slowly through the water. His legs were jelly and his lungs were desperate for air as he lifted Ellie’s body to the surface and raised his own head seconds later.

  He inhaled and a quick glance in both directions revealed he was closer to the shore than the boat, so ignoring the calls from the others on the boat he swam toward the safety of land.

  * * *

  ELLIE’S EYES OPENED and she knew two things. She was safely on land and the bright sun was trying to do what the lake hadn’t as the piercing light made her head throb with such intensity, she thought it might explode.

  She felt a heavy push on her sternum and water nearly choked her as it resurfaced out of her lungs and she started coughing.

  Immediately Callum’s face was above hers and he was lifting her head and turning her body to the side. “Oh thank God,” she heard him say as he helped her evacuate the remaining water.

  Had she swallowed the entire lake? She sputtered and coughed for what felt like forever, until she finally was able to take in a huge breath of air.

  “You’re okay,” Callum said, rubbing her arms. “You’re okay. Just relax and try to breathe in and out.”

  She didn’t feel okay. She felt like she’d been hit by a freight train. Her arms and legs were numb and achy, her chest and rib cage felt bruised. Even her ass hurt beneath her.

  She rolled onto her back, and Callum helped her into a sitting position. “Don’t lie down,” he said.

  She tried to scan her surroundings, but the motion made her head throb. A wave of dizziness had her mouth filling with saliva and she fought to control the bile rising in the back of her throat. “The boat?”

  He shook his head. “We’re on the side of the lake. It was faster,” he said, taking her face between his hands and staring into her eyes. Looking for a sign of concussion? He sighed heavily. “God, I thought I’d lost you.”

  Her eyes filled with tears as she stared at the unconcealed concern in his. It had been a close call. His devastated expression told her just how close it had been. “He was going too fast,” she said, her voice sounding hoarse. That was the last thing she remembered. Begging him to slow down. Holding on tight...not tight enough. Soaring through the air and hitting the surface of the lake so hard it felt like hitting concrete.

  Then darkness.

  Callum ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “He should never have been driving. He’d had far too much to drink. What were you thinking getting on that thing with him?”

  She blinked. This was her fault? “You were drinking too.”

  “That what he told you?” he asked, sounding a lot annoyed and not the least bit drunk. Ellie swallowed hard as she nodded. Maybe Brent had gotten his story wrong. Callum looked completely sober now.

  She looked around but didn’t see him. “Where is he?”

  “On the boat,” Callum said, his voice hard as he released her face and collapsed onto the ground next to her. “The others were able to get him. His life jacket stayed on.”

  Hers had been too big. Callum had dived in to save her. She’d been knocked out by the impact. There was no way she would have been able to save herself. What if the others hadn’t been able to get to them? What if he hadn’t been there?

  She saw his hands trembling as he draped his arms over his bent knees and he lowered his head, taking long, deep breaths. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  He raised his pained gaze toward her, and she could hear his heart pounding in his chest. Or was it hers?

  “I’d never let anything happen to you,” he said softly, and she heard the conviction in his voice.

  She was going to need to figure out the conflicting emotions raging through her and fast. She couldn’t continue to expect Callum to keep saving her from herself and her decisions.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  ONCE THE INITIAL shock and fear subsided, a new adrenaline coursed through Callum. Climbing back onto the boat, he helped Ellie to a comfortable safe spot, then he advanced on Brent in the downstairs bedroom.

  “What the hell were you doing out there?” he demanded.

  The others shrank away, giving the two men space to hash this out.

  “Just having some fun, man, relax,” Brent said. He winced as he touched the bandage on his head that Alisha had just finished applying. The guy was going to have more than just a head gash to deal with if he didn’t take this seriously.

  “Relax? You could have killed both of you. If you want to take risks like that with your own life, go ahead, but not with Ellie’s.” He couldn’t remember ever feeling the intensity of the rage flowing through him now. His hands clenched at his sides, and he might not be showing so much mercy and restraint if the guy hadn’t almost drowned.

  “Stop exaggerating. It was an accident.”

  Was the guy fucking with him right now? Could he really not see the danger he’d put them in? His reckless behavior? “Ellie’s life jacket wasn’t on her and she was knocked out,” he said through clenched teeth.

  The others sent Brent varying degrees of disapproving stares, and finally the guy had the decency to look remorseful. He looked past Callum. “I’m so sorry, Ellie.”

  “Callum, I’m okay,” Ellie said, joining them, her voice still scratchy.

  She was okay, but it had been a close one. If it had taken even a few minutes more to reach her, the day could have turned out a lot different. He could have lost her.

  “Look, in hindsight, I shouldn’t have been driving,” Brent said. “I’m sorry, man.” He extended his hand and Callum ignored it as he left the room under the boat and took the stairs two at a time to the upper deck.

  If he didn’t put some distance there, he was going to lose it. No one, besides his brother, had ever meant as much to him before. Ellie was everything. He’d always known the extent of his feelings for her, but that day had only confirmed it even further. He hated the idea of her with someone else. He wasn’t sure if he was imagining their connection, but he felt closer to her that week than ever before, and he couldn’t keep pretending that he was okay with just being her friend.

  If he’d lost her today...

  D
ownstairs, he could hear Alisha checking her out, asking a series of questions to ensure that she was okay.

  His hands still shook as he leaned against the railing, staring out at the lake that wasn’t so breathtakingly majestic anymore.

  He ran a hand through his hair as he sighed, feeling every muscle in his body contract. He’d been operating on pure adrenaline before, and now that he was coming down off of the high, his body ached.

  A long moment later, he felt Ellie’s hand on his shoulder. “Hey, you okay?” she asked softly.

  She’d nearly drowned and she was asking if he was okay. “He put your life at risk,” he said, gruffly. That was the guy she wanted to be with? A reckless, careless guy who’d let her down far too many times?

  “And thank God you were there,” she said softly, caressing his cheek. Her touch was gentle, her words loaded with so many emotions.

  Love? Was there love in there, as well, or was it simply gratitude?

  * * *

  CONFLICTED, HER HEAD still slightly woozy, Ellie descended the stairs to the lower deck as they approached the dock an hour later.

  Callum had saved her life. Alisha’s account of his actions had only multiplied Ellie’s gratitude tenfold. He’d dived in and swum to her. He’d searched underwater until he’d found her and then he’d swum the crazy distance to shore, making sure she stayed safely above the water the entire way. And then his quick actions and knowledge of CPR had saved her life. She’d almost died. She shivered at the thought. Because of Brent’s recklessness and her own lack of judgment she’d been in danger.

  She swallowed hard as she went to sit next to Brent. He still looked a light shade of blue, and the gash on his forehead from hitting some rocks had obviously reopened, because the blood seeping through the bandage around his head made her wince.

  Alisha would definitely need to stitch him up once she got the first aid kit back at the cottages. She’d done what she could with the limited first aid kit on board the boat. Looking at him was a grim reminder that the enjoyable day had gone south quickly. They’d all been having a great time, and then they’d ruined the day for everyone. No one had any interest going out on the Sea-Doo after they’d had their accident and the machine had been retrieved from the middle of the lake. The somber mood on the boat as they’d turned back early was really depressing. It was made even worse by the blistering sun in the cloudless sky that seemed to mock them for being so careless.