Heavy: A Contemporary Romance

by Mells, J. C.

Before he could answer I lowered us both quickly and sort of jump-fell back into the water, holding us both below the surface for a few seconds, the black bag and the life vest the only things keeping me afloat.

  Thaddeus bucked and struggled, the shock of the cold causing him to scream underwater. I clutched the bag as he wrestled instinctively against me. I raised my head above water and my own breath sucked right out of my lungs from the icy chill.

  Thaddeus stopped struggling once he got his head above water, his coughing quelling his screams.

  “Take a deep breath, angel,” I said, treading water frantically while watching the lights of the boat move farther and farther away from us into the night.

  Thaddeus began to tremble violently and my body was doing the same. I needed to get him out of this water now.

  Can you keep still for me, Thad? I need to get our raft inflated.”

  He didn’t respond and I hurried to complete my next task.

  I hadn’t quite thought this part all the way through, unfortunately. The choppy waves, the debilitating cold water, the fact I had a body strapped to mine, didn’t exactly make it easy to untie the life raft from my waist. In the end, I couldn’t. My fingers were just too numb. I was, however, able to remove the folded plastic from its bag.

  “Try and move around to my back if you can, Thad,” I gasped, struggling to keep us both afloat now. “Try and be as still as you can.”

  He seemed incapable of speech, but the terrified little boy made a valiant move to get behind me.

  I pulled the cord on the life raft, and it began to expand and take shape.

  Once it was inflated, getting the garbage bag into it was more challenging than I thought.

  “Thad…deus,” I stuttered, my teeth chattering so violently it affected my speech. “Try and… climb up… my back and… into the boat.”

  “I… can’t, Cali,” he stammered back.

  “Yes you can, baby. I know you can do it. You’re a ninja, just like Daddy, aren’t you? I’ll push you, too, okay?”

  Thaddeus gave me a weak nod and somehow we managed to get him into the boat, his whole body convulsing in a terrifying manner.

  Without his weight around me, I was able to get the garbage bag in behind him, but struggled for a few minutes before I got myself up there, too. It was without a doubt the most exhausting thing I’d ever done in my life. All the while, I was keeping an eye on the receding lights of the Jones’ boat as it moved away into the distance.

  With shaky hands, I pulled the handcuff keys out of my bra and freed Thaddeus’s wrists. His lips were blue and his breath was coming in short pants. I rubbed his arms and legs vigorously before tearing open the black bag and grabbing a towel. I scrubbed his entire body, pulling off his underwear. His eyes were closed and I wasn’t even sure he was completely conscious at that moment. I hastily got him dressed in his jeans and T-shirt, placed the towel down to sop up some of the water in the boat, then wrapped him tightly in a blanket.

  “We’re going to be okay, little man. You hear me? We’re going to be okay. I promise.” The statement might have been more convincing had my teeth not been chattering as much.

  “I’m so cold, Cali,” his little voice peeped up.

  I was so relieved that he was not unconscious; I grabbed him to me and held him tight.

  “I have to get back in the water, angel. I have to pull the boat to shore. You stay under the blankets and everything is going to be all right.”

  I was terrified the Joneses were going to come back to look for us, and drifting around directionless wasn’t going to keep us out of their evil clutches.

  Thaddeus nodded at me and closed his eyes. I strapped him into the raft with shaky fingers and then slipped back into the icy water before I could chicken out and change my mind.

  I gasped as the cold water enveloped my body once again. Moving my arms and legs rapidly to keep my blood flowing as much as to stay afloat, I looked in every direction to see if I could locate a shoreline.

  The waves were not as rough or uneven as they had been when I’d first inflated the raft. This was good news as Thaddeus was not heavy enough to keep the life raft balanced. There was no sight of land in any direction through the ink-black of the cloudy night and, while my body began to numb to the cold, my next fear was that it was going to start to rain at any moment.

  So, I randomly picked a direction and did what my body had grown accustomed and trained to do over the last month or so. I swam.

  {35}

  Thatch

  “We’ve found a place called Sam’s Boat Repair and Marina on the Southeast side of Lake Mead,” Bernie shouted into his headset to be heard over the sound of the propellers. “I’m pretty sure the police will be starting their search from that location, too.”

  I nodded at him, as the helicopter they’d rented from God knows where began to make it’s descent on a landing pad near the large body of water.

  A few minutes later and we were in a Town Car heading towards the place Bernie had mentioned. Over the lake and to our left, we could see a couple of helicopters with floodlights and several boats, searching the lake.

  “What are we going to do when we get there?” I asked, my knuckles white as I gripped the door handle.

  “I honestly don’t know how effective it would be to get a boat and conduct our own search,” Brock answered. “I can have a boat here within the hour, but nothing equipped with the search equipment the police are using now.”

  “My suggestion,” Bernie added, “is that we stick as close to the search mission control as we can. At least we’ll get any news as they do.”

  “Anything’s better than sitting at home doing nothing,” I said in response.

  Brock looked at me and sighed. “If that was meant as a jab for the way I handled Cali’s last kidnapping, point made – and noted. I handled it badly and I might never get over my shame. I’m trying to make up for it now.”

  Our car came to a stop outside the gates of Sam’s Marina and there were about ten police cars both inside the entrance and parked just outside the gates.

  “I’m sorry, police only,” one of the uniformed cops said to us as we hurried up to the gates.

  “It’s okay, let them through,” Detective Johnson said, appearing from our right. “I guess it was too much to hope that you’d all stay at home quietly,” he added as he motioned for us to follow him into the boat yard.

  There were several police vans parked near the docks, their doors open and men sitting inside monitoring computers and other such equipment.

  “You got here pretty fast,” Bernie said to him as we came to a stop next to one of the vans.

  “Helicopter,” Johnson answered. “Same as you, I assume.”

  “Have there been any updates?” I interrupted. I didn’t give a fuck how the man got here; I just wanted to know where my loved ones were.

  “We found the Joneses about five minutes ago and have them in custody. Your son and girlfriend were not on board.”

  My heart leapt and sank all at the same time. I almost threw up.

  “What does that mean?” I asked hoarsely.

  “From what I’ve been able to gather from the unit currently holding them, the Joneses reached their intended destination, but when they went down to fetch your son, he was gone. At this point, my guess is that your daughter,” he turned to Brock, “somehow managed to stow away on their boat and get the boy off. We are currently sweeping the lake for a sign of them.”

  “How long will they have been in the water if that is, in fact, where they are?” Brock asked in a concerned voice.

  “About forty minutes. All hope is not lost yet though, sir. According to the man who rented them the vessel, there was definitely a life raft on board and, according to the search party, no raft was found on board.”

  “I think we’ve found them, sir,” one of the men in the back of the van exclaimed excitedly. “Chopper Two is reporting they’re picking up a child and woman now. Sir,�
� the man added, his voice switching from excited to serious, “they’re heading straight to Lake Mead General. One of them is in pretty bad shape.”

  “Let’s go,” Brock said, already heading towards the car. “You’re welcome to come with us, Detective.”

  “I’ll meet you there,” Johnson replied. “I’m going to wait for the Joneses to be brought in first.”

  “Which one was in bad shape?” I asked in a quiet monotone.

  “It’s not clear, sir, sorry.”

  I nodded to him then hurried back to the waiting Town Car.

  {36}

  Cali

  I came to slowly, my head feeling like it was stuffed with cotton wool and my entire body ached. It also felt like it was on fire. This was almost welcome given the fact the last thing I remembered feeling was numb from cold.

  Wait… where was I?

  I opened my eyes and blinked against the low lights of what I immediately understood to be a hospital room.

  It then all came flashing back to me. Unbelievably cold water, my muscles about to give out, the helicopter searchlight finding us, the overwhelming relief at being rescued… then… that was it. I passed out as soon as I saw Thaddeus safely in a rescuer’s arms.

  “Hey,” a voice said.

  I turned my head slowly, wincing against the pain shooting through it from the motion, and saw Thatch lying next to me, squished up close to my side on the twin bed.

  “Hey,” I smiled back. Or tried to. Every movement I made, including facial expressions, hurt.

  The deep warmth that trickled through me at the sight of the man I loved suddenly stopped mid-flow as I remembered about Thaddeus.

  “Thaddeus!” I said in a louder voice, struggling to sit up. My head throbbed loudly causing the room to rotate and blur.

  “Shh, calm down. He’s okay, Cali,” Thatch whispered, urging me to lie back next to him. “He’s in the bed over there. He just fell asleep ten minutes ago. He’s fine, thanks to you.”

  I looked over in the direction he was pointing and once my vision cleared, I saw the little boy fast asleep in the neighboring bed. His faced looked flushed and pink, and not anything like the blueish-grey it had been last time I’d seen him.

  My eyes brimmed over with tears as I thought about how close we’d come to losing him.

  “If you start crying now, it’s going to ruin your cool new image as heroic superhero-rescuer extraordinaire,” Thatch whispered, kissing me gently on the neck and snuggling in closer to me.

  “I’m a super… hero…?” I asked in a weak, sob-choked voice.

  “Thad is thinking about making you a cape in school next week,” Thatch teased.

  “He... is?” I sniffled.

  “You saved his life, California,” Thatch added in a more serious tone. “You’re not only his hero, you’re mine, too. And your dad’s, and Bernie’s, and I think even the police detective in charge is a little in awe of you,” he chuckled.

  “My dad and Bernie… are here?”

  “They went to get something to eat. They’ll be back soon.”

  Thatch handed me a tissue from the stand next to his side of the bed. I wiped my eyes and then blew my nose.

  “So, do you think we can get Thad to make a tiara to go with that cape then?” I joked, feeling so relieved he was okay.

  “I think Hayley’s been put in charge of tiaras,” Thatch smirked.

  “How long have I been out of it?”

  “You’ve been asleep for about sixteen hours. You had a mild concussion and after almost an hour in freezing cold water, it’s amazing you’re not more badly injured.”

  “Do I still have all my toes?”

  “Yes,” Thatch laughed. “You still have every wonderful, cute, and adorable part of you fully attached and good to go. But, let me tell you, California,” he began, his voice going all serious again, “if you ever give me a heart attack like that again, I’m going to kill you. I still can’t wrap my head around the fact I almost lost you two. I love you both so much it nearly ended me.”

  “Wait, did you just say you loved me?” I asked in wonder. How bad was my concussion? Had I really just heard that?

  “Yes. Yes, I think I did,” he replied.

  “If you only ‘think’ you did, maybe you should just say it one more time so that we can both be certain. I do have a concussion you know.”

  Despite my teasing tone, Thatch’s face remained serious and his voice low and earnest.

  “If I wasn’t such a fucking idiot, I would have admitted that I’ve been in love with you since that hotel room when we met.”

  “It was all because I called you James Dean, right?” I teased. I knew he was being serious, but I needed to see his smile. His smile did things to me that I could never fully put into words. I needed to see it.

  Thatch smiled and every one of my internal organs melted into a soggy pile of goo.

  “It was somewhere between James Dean and when you were watching me tattoo Max,” he said.

  “The painting,” I murmured. “Bell was right about that painting.”

  “My dad has been right about a lot of things lately,” Thatch replied. He pulled me in even closer and held me just a little bit tighter. My bruised limbs protested against his firm hold, and I loved every scream and ache they gave.

  “You’re the bravest person I’ve ever met, California,” he continued, resting his head on the pillow next to mine, his unwavering gaze burning straight into me. “I don’t mean because you risked your life to save my son, although that was pretty fucking brave… not gonna lie. I mean that you were courageous enough to come to Vegas and find me. To put yourself out there for me – vulnerable, and raw, and fearless – facing potential rejection.”

  “Potential? You did reject me, if I remember correctly.”

  “Let’s not forget you have a concussion, my love,” Thatch said.

  I smiled and he pressed his lips gently against mine.

  “I’m being serious, California,” he whispered tenderly. “You did what I should’ve done months earlier. It should’ve been me that came to find you.”

  “Female stalkers can get away with more, though…”

  “And thank God for that. All joking aside, you really are the most fearless individual I’ve ever known. I’m completely mesmerized by you, California. I can’t imagine my life without you in it, and I know Thad feels the same way, too.”

  “Good, because I wasn’t planning on going anywhere.”

  EPILOGUE

  Cali

  Three years later…

  I woke up slowly and stretched out in the bed. I could hear the sound of activity coming from the kitchen – the low noise of the T.V. on, the chink of breakfast bowls, and the soft chatter of Thatch and Thaddeus as father and son got the eight-year-old ready for school.

  The now familiar warm and fuzzy, happy feeling seeped into me and I curled up under the comforter with a huge grin on my face. I loved the sound of my life. I loved my life, period.

  I rolled over onto my side and snuggled deeper into our warm and cozy bed. I rubbed the almost unnoticeable bump of my belly and smiled again at the thought of the baby girl I carried inside me. Thatch’s baby girl, and future little sister for Thaddeus. As I lay there, I kept my eye on the door, as Thatch always came in to kiss me goodbye before he left for the day and sometimes, depending on his schedule, I might get a little more than a kiss. I loved those days.

  My cell phone on the bedside table gave a little beep to alert me that I had a couple of text messages, and I lazily reached out to read them.

  The first was from Ruby.

  Ruby: Congratulations on making the N.Y. Times Best Sellers List, girlfriend! Call me later so we can talk business!

  I’d written and published a tell-all book about my struggles with bulimia and, with ABAS sponsoring me, it had become an overnight success.

  The second message was from my father.

  Dad: So damn proud of you, California. Congrats again
on graduating and on the success of your book. I look forward to seeing you guys next weekend to celebrate. Tell Thad that Vera and I will definitely be there for his swim meet on Friday, too! Love you! B. H.

  The fact my father signed his texts with his initials always made me smile. He was practically a changed man from the one he’d been three years ago. His divorce from Tallulah had been messy and public, and it had helped take some of the spotlight off me, which I think my dad was pretty happy about. A year ago, my father had started dating Vera Malitzis, a stuntwoman he met on set. She was everything Tallulah was not: athletic, strong, funny, charming, and down-to-earth. She sort of brought the genuine out in my dad, and we loved her for it. Although fifteen years his junior, they had some sort of strange connection that seemed to work for both of them. Like Thaddeus and myself, she was a serious swimmer, and the three of us has bonded through our shared love of the sport.

  Tallulah had quickly gone on to re-marry. This time, it was to an Arab billionaire who owned a chain of luxury hotels. She and Lake had moved to Dubai, his base of operations, and I seldom saw Lake in the tabloid press these days. I think it had less to do with any potential taming of her wild side and more to do with being financially supported by someone with strict, or even harsh, values. Apparently, even Westernized Arab hotel moguls frowned upon women in their family drinking in public and, when she visited her dad, he was almost as strict with her nowadays. Okay, so it wasn’t that much of a comeuppance as comeuppances go. She was living a life of luxury in the five-star hotel in Dubai. But, I didn’t think it was really the life Lake wanted for herself.

  “Well, you look very happy this morning, Mrs. Reston,” Thatch said from the doorway to our room. He was in low-slung sweatpants, a tight T-shirt, and his feet were bare. Yummy.

  “I’d be a lot happier if you were a just a little closer, Mr. Reston,” I said batting my eyelashes at him.

  He laughed and took a flying leap at the bed, landing both next to me and around me, his mouth immediately covering mine in a heart-melting kiss.