“Can you hold Grizzly in your lap so he doesn’t have to swim all the time?”
“The dog?”
“Yes, my mongrel,” he teased and grew serious. “I need your help because Grizzly has already been working a lot today and I don’t want to lose my best friend. That is why I was carrying him earlier. He’s my partner.”
“Cade, I don’t mind and I’d be honored to help.”
“I just can’t lose him in the waters if he gets tired.”
“You don’t have to explain,” she whispered, laying her hand on his on the raft. “There should be plenty of room for the three of us if we scoot closely together.”
“No. Just you and Grizzly.”
“Why?”
“Sweet Caroline - I will steer the raft so I don’t lose you to the Mississippi. All this water is funneling somewhere, and if we get swept away, we could end up capsized or in the waterways of the basin. My goal is to get us to high ground, to safety, and then to take off to help the next person.”
“You aren’t getting in?”
“I can’t,” he mumbled. “I can’t take a chance with you both.”
Caroline looked down at him and saw the water was getting deeper. It was nearing his ribs, and Cade looked to be struggling to hold the raft. She nodded quickly and hesitated. Her hero was standing there, in the rain and water, bravely, his face etched with concern for them.
She leaned over the edge of the raft and kissed him. She felt him start for just a moment before relaxing into it. The feeling of his lips, the taste of the rainwater, and something keenly him, was incredible. He deepened the kiss, and she was shell-shocked by the feelings it created in her. She dearly wanted to know more about this man and couldn’t wait for them to get to safety. Breaking the kiss, she hesitated and felt his breath on her lips.
“What was that for?” he whispered.
“I figured since you were saving me and had seen my panties, we might as well hit first base too,” she teased, hearing the nervous hitch in her words. This was so out of character for her, but felt so right.
“Does that mean it’s a date?”
“As long as I don’t turn into fish food and you like etouffee?”
“Ahhh a girl after my own heart,” he said tenderly, caressing her cheek. “I will do everything in my power to make sure we get our date, sweet Caroline.”
“Then let’s get Grizzly and make for the high ground, my hero.”
“As you wish.”
Caroline turned away from his smiling face and reached for the dog that was almost even with the water level. Grizzly seemed to sense that he was being helped and went to her without argument. The large dog curled into her lap, taking a good expanse of the raft as she made room for him. She petted him to keep him calm as they drifted forward suddenly.
She glanced at Cade and saw he’d wrapped both his hands into the nylon cording repeatedly, tying it around his wrists. He met her eyes and nodded silently. She knew somehow that he would not let the raft go without a fight. They drifted along for a ways and the raft was picking up speed. She saw a hill off in the distance that had several people standing huddled together on it.
“That’s our stop,” he grunted with effort.
Caroline looked at him in alarm to see that the water was careening over his shoulders in a breakneck speed. She realized that he was trying to dig his feet into the ground to stop the movement of the raft so they could make their way to the hill without passing it by.
“Cade! Are you all right?”
“It’s a little deep here,” he sputtered, and she saw that he was indeed starting to bob under as he was trying to stop the raft. His hat floated off his head and was quickly swept past the raft.
“Cade!”
Glancing around them, she saw they were nearing the hill and several men were winding up a rope to throw their way.
“Cade! You have to breathe!” she screamed in alarm as he wasn’t coming up and they were continuing to slow down and drift towards the hill. Caroline felt tears prick her eyes as she turned in alarm to the onlookers.
“Throw the rope! Just throw it!” she hollered. “He will drown!”
She reached upwards and saw the rope hit near the raft. She started paddling for it with both arms, half her torso was leaning precariously over the raft. As she grasped it, she took the other arm and grabbed a handful of Cade’s hair, yanking unapologetically, to get his head above water.
The bluish tint to his lips told her that the timing had been right as he painfully gulped in air. Her body strained to hold the rope, and she felt it burning as it slid along her arm.
“Cade! Grab it, please, and help me,” she bit out, releasing him and clenching the rope. That was their lifeline to the dry land, and she wasn’t about to let go without a fight. Cade’s hands brushed hers as they both held onto the rope, pulling themselves forward. As they got close, she felt a start as Grizzly leapt forward onto the drier ground before them.
“C’mon Caroline,” he said in exhaustion, pulling her from the raft and tugging her bodily up the embankment. He collapsed beside her, their legs in the water still as the rain continued to fall. They watched silently as the bright yellow raft was quickly washed away, disappearing in the distance among the trees and rooftops.
“Are you okay?” she whispered painfully as they were helped up.
“I was just about to ask you the same thing.”
Caroline threw herself into his arms and kissed him again. This time, it was like he expected it. He enveloped her in an embrace, tasting her lips, and whispering to her.
“I’m so glad you are okay, ma belle fille,” he breathed.
“I’m relieved you are too,” she admitted, hugging him as he held her.
Epilogue
One year later
A white flag hung from the rooftop of the makeshift chapel on the field of battle. The battleground had grown quiet as the re-enactors took a moment to celebrate the marriage of one of their infantrymen to a southern belle that had been rescued.
Caroline had eagerly volunteered to be the southern belle as it reminded her of when Cade had saved her life during the floods that hit the area last year. The past twelve months had been utterly blissful and she couldn’t wish for a more perfect union of souls than what they shared. She took a position nearby as a researcher just so she could be close to him. They spent every moment they could together and when he’d proposed, there had been no hesitation in her answer or in her mind.
Yes.
Today, she watched her soulmate step forward in his uniform and was glad for the special effects makeup that signified a head wound her infantryman had ‘received’ on the battlefield. They were surrounded by smiling faces, wearing blue and grey, as their friends joined them for their marriage.
The field was covered with tents. Cook fires, the smell of grass, horses, gunpowder filled the air, and Caroline couldn’t think of a more perfect setting than right now.
“One of our own brothers has merged his family with a Yankee’s in order to foster love between our two countries,” the pastor started, causing Cade and Caroline to look at each other and smile. That sneak had told the pastor that she was originally from Chicago—and she loved him all the more for it.
“Do you, Cade Aaron Richards, take this lovely woman to be your lawfully wedded wife during these serious times of war?”
“I certainly do, sir.”
“… And do you Caroline Dubois Dawson, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband? Do you promise to love, honor, and cherish him for so long as you both shall live?” he asked, before leaning forward and smiling at her.
“Think long about this question. His side is about to lose the battle and you are going to be considered a defector or traitor after this point on. There’s no going back to the other side once we marry you two.”
“The only side I’ve ever been on is my husband’s,” she said happily, lacing her fingers with his. “Please continue, pastor.”
“Of course.”
Caroline listened as he droned on about ‘brother fighting brother’ and how ‘love brought them all together’. She smiled at Cade as he brought her hand up to his mouth, kissing her fingertips.
He was her hero, her rescuer, her southern charmer that swept her right off her feet… minus the ripped bodice of her romance novels. As a wedding present and a reminder of their first meeting, she’d bought him some red polka-dot boxers that were embroidered with the words ‘home run’ on the seam of one leg.
Meeting him, as strange as it was, was one for the ages.
Cade was everything she could have ever dreamed of, and instead of looking back so fondly at the past, she was excited to look towards a future with them together.
“I now pronounce you, man and wife. You may kiss your bride, sir.”
Cade pulled her into his arms, kissing her with all the passion and emotion that she knew she felt as well. This was their moment of joy, their single victory held this very afternoon, as she also knew as well that their side would lose the day. It didn’t matter in the slightest at all because that was all a glimpse of the past and she held her future in her arms.
She’d already had won it all.
“I love you.”
“And I you, sweet wife,” he whispered. “… Now it’s time to go get my tail whipped by the Yankees.”
“I’ll be waiting, sweetheart.”
She saw his broad grin as he kicked up his heels and let out a holler of joy, before running back onto the field with the other men. Laughing, she saw them take up their arms and the mock-battle recommenced. She saw him wave just before he disappeared into the fray. She tied on an apron over her skirts and nodded to another woman.
“It’s almost time to drag the wounded off the field.”
“… And that means dragging my husband home,” Caroline said with a grin.
Afterword
Thank you for taking the time to read The Rising River Rescue. If you enjoyed it, please consider telling your friends or posting a short review. Doesn’t have to be much, just a simple rating and a few kind words work wonders. Your thoughts, opinions and feedback are much appreciated.
Sincerely,
Ginny
The Disaster City Search and Rescue Series
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Get your copy of Remember Love
Ava Richardson is a new mother with a child she never expected. When a nightmare event rips her from a fairytale life, she’s devastated and frightened to move on. What she never expected was to find solace in a pen-pal, pouring out her feelings to a stranger halfway across the world.
Colin Wilkes is a weary, reckless soldier in Afghanistan. Saddled with guilt at causing his best friend to lose his leg, he awaits whatever fate he has coming. Unexpectedly receiving an email from a strange woman looking for anything to help her get through the day- he can’t help but feel intrigued and sympathetic to her pleas.
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Copyright © 2020 by Ginny Sterling
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About the Author
Ginny Sterling is a Texas transplant living in Kentucky. She spends her free time (Ha!) writing, quilting, and spending time with her husband and two children. Ginny can be reached on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or via email at [email protected]
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