River takes a step back, then runs his hand down his face. He stretches out his hands in front of him, then balls them into fists. He places them on his hips, then tips his head down to one side. He lifts his head and his pale, empty eyes look directly into mine. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was actually looking at me.
“First, we are not friends, and second, let me assure you that I do see Kate. I see not only her, but the whole picture, not some distorted, love struck, blinded view of what the hell you think is really going on in her life. I made myself perfectly clear. She will not see you anymore. I don’t care what fake relationship you think she has with your dog, you’ll keep your smelly mutt off my property, including the pool house. I know Kate better than anyone. I know what she needs, and I know what she doesn’t need. She needs more time in her new life where things aren’t confusing, complicated, and demanding. She doesn’t need you or your dog doing exactly those things. I know what makes her happy,” he fires back.
“What’s going on?” Joss questions, stopping behind Josh in the doorway.
Her eyes are red, puffy, and swollen from crying, and she has tissues gripped in each hand.
“This asshole is trying to tell me he knows more about my sister than I do,” he says to me.
“For God’s sake, I’m only trying to help you. I’m trying to make the conversation Kate is about to have with you easier for her, and for you to get that through your thick head. If you won’t listen to her, then listen to me when I tell you that if you fight her on this, I promise you, that you will lose her.”
“I have the law on my side. Do her a favor and be a man for once in your life. Ending it with her will be easier on her if you do it, rather than me, forcing her to end it,” he says.
“No, I’m pretty sure that sounds easier for you. I won’t be the one who breaks her heart, ever. But, I can promise you that I’ll be here for her to pick up the pieces when you break her heart because she’s forced to walk away from you, because you’re too much of a pig-headed bastard to see what’s right in front of your goddamned face.”
“He’s right,” Joss’s broken voice, whispers.
“I know I’m right,” River agrees with her.
“No, not you. Cooper is right, you’re wrong. I’m sorry River, but you’ve been pushing Kate way too hard and you don’t see her. You of all people should know you can’t stop two people from falling in love. It’s universally impossible. You can’t force her to make a decision like this. If you do, you’ll only lose her in the end. You’re going to push her so hard, that all you’ll end up doing is pushing her right out of your life. I love Kate like a sister, and I want her in my life. Please don’t do this,” she says.
“Stay away from Kate!” River yells at me, then slams the door in my face.
I hear River and Joss arguing behind the closed door. I hang my head, then walk back down the driveway. Kate’s talk with River is not going to go well. I don’t want Kate to have to make the decision between me and her brother. I know in my heart she’ll pick what’s best for herself, and it will destroy her to lose her brother.
I walk between the houses down to the beach to see if Kate and Sadie are still standing at the edge of the water. I really don’t want her to talk to River by herself. She needs my support. Even if she only wants me to stand outside the door, I’m not going to be more than a few feet from her. I scan the shoreline, but I don’t see them. She must be taking Sadie back to my house. I need to stress to her and make her believe that I’m here for her one hundred percent. No matter how the conversation with River goes, I’m going to be here with her every step of the way.
I start to walk toward my house, but something laying on the sand near the edge of the water catches my eye. I quickly decide to ignore it. I need to talk to Kate before she goes over there, but something deep in my gut tells me I shouldn’t ignore it. I look at my house, then back at the shoreline, and I shake my head. I stop, turn back around, and quickly jog toward it. As I get closer, I see that it’s Sadie’s pink leash with black skulls laying in the sand. Kate must have left it. I pick it up, then jog toward my back door.
I climb the steps two at a time, then open the door and call out, “Kate, I need to talk to you before you go to River’s. I really don’t think you should go alone. I’d like to come with you. I know you want to do this on your own, but let me at least wait outside the door or in the driveway.” I set the leash on the counter and it’s odd that she hasn’t answered. Maybe she’s in the bathroom. “Sadie,” I call into the house, but she doesn’t answer either.
I start to get a bad feeling. I run down the hall and find the bathroom door open. She’s not in there. I smack my hands on the doorframe, then run to my bedroom. The bathroom door is open and she’s not there either. I couldn’t have missed her when I walked between the houses. Where is she?
I run through the house shouting her name. Please God, where is she? The empty feeling in the pit of my stomach is building to the point of pain.
“Kate! Sadie! Where are you?” I shout.
My heart starts pounding in my chest and I run out the back door. I stand on the deck, then scan the beach for them again. Maybe they were playing farther down the beach and I just didn’t see them. That bad feeling in the pit of my stomach grows more and I can’t ignore it. My instincts are telling me something is wrong.
I run down the beach to River’s back steps, then knock loudly on the pool house door. Maybe she came here first. Please God, let her have come here first. I try the knob and it opens. I rush through the door, shouting their names.
“Kate! Sadie!”
No answer. I race to River’s back wall of doors. I don’t even knock. I throw one of the doors open and hear a very heated argument still going on between River and Joss. I feel bad that this has leeched into their relationship.
“Is Kate here?” I interrupt.
“What the hell kind of question is that? You just left, you know she’s not here. Who the hell do you think you are just barging into my house? Get out before I call the police!” River yells.
“No, wait!” Joss says, putting her hand on River’s chest. “Everyone just calm down for a minute. What do you mean is Kate here? Why do you think she’s here?” Joss asks with a shaky voice.
“She’s not down at the beach, neither is Sadie. I went back to my house and checked there, they aren’t there either,” I say.
“Did you try the pool house?” she questions.
“I did. They’re not there,” I say.
“Get the fuck out of my house! Now!” River roars.
“River, for the love of God! Just stop it!” Joss yells at him, giving his chest a little shove. “What exactly did she say to you the last time you saw her?” Joss asks.
“She said she was going to take a walk on the beach to cool down a little bit and do some thinking, before she came over here to talk to River. She wanted to go by herself, but I insisted she take Sadie with her. She was going to bring her back to my house, then she was going to come here and talk to River. I assumed when she said she needed to cool down she was talking about her feelings. Do you think she went swimming? There’s a nasty storm quickly moving in,” I say.
I look at Joss, but she’s looking at River. When I look at River, his entire face has turned white.
“Kate can’t swim. She wouldn’t go in the water, especially the ocean, past her ankles,” River says in an eerily calm voice.
“What do you mean Kate can’t swim? I’ve seen her swim in your pool,” Joss says.
“She’ll go in my pool, but only if I’m there and only in the shallow end. She really can’t swim,” River answers.
“River,” Joss says in a panic, then wraps her arms around him.
“Josh!” River shouts. “Call the police. Kate’s missing,” he says, then runs toward the back door.
“Nina! Help!” Joss yells up the stairs, then runs after River and takes his arm.
I quickly turn and run pas
sed River out of the house, shouting Kate and Sadie’s names at the top of my lungs.
“Kate! Sadie!” I yell.
I fly down the stairs and over the sand to the last spot where I saw Kate, where I picked up Sadie’s leash. Sadie would never leave Kate’s side. The waves are starting to get really high and the weather is starting to churn. The storm is coming in fast. I scan the choppy water, and I don’t see any sign of either of them.
Because of River’s connections, officers arrive within thirty minutes and they launch a full-scale search. A few private boats have been launched and with flashlights, they scan the surface of the choppy water. The Coast Guard is called, but there’s not much they can do. They’ve been grounded because of the storm, and won’t be able to deploy search and rescue until the storm passes in a few hours.
After an hour of running up and down the shore, shouting Kate and Sadie’s name, I’m hoarse and soaked to the bone from the pelting rain.
“You guys need to take shelter. The storm is only going to get worse before it gets better. There’s nothing we can do any more until the storm lets up. It’s too dangerous to be out here with the lightning,” an officer says.
“NO! I need to find Kate! I have to!” River yells, then stumbles through the choppy water up to his waist.
“River! No! Please!” Joss shouts at him, then runs into the water and clings to his back.
“You will all do better waiting at home. There’s a good possibility she’s not even in the water. She may be taking shelter herself and will come home when the storm passes,” the officer says.
Reluctantly we give in. The rain is coming down sideways and lightning is striking every few minutes. I look out at the angry ocean, and I silently pray that she isn’t out there.
“KATE!” River yells, clenching his fists to his chest. He takes a few more steps deeper into the dark ocean. “NO! I promised.”
“Joss, I need you!” he screams.
Joss runs to his side, waist deep in the water, and he grabs her arm.
“What do you see?” he begs. “Tell me what you see!”
She doesn’t answer.
She takes his hand and leads him toward the shore. He collapses to his knees in the water, bends forward and pounds his fists, splashing water violently in his face.
Joss kneels at his side, wraps her arms around him, then says, “She’ll come home. I just know it.”
She helps him stand, then they slowly start to walk back to their house.
I take one more look out at the stormy water, then start to walk to my house when Joss calls out to me.
“Cooper, please, come and wait with us,” she says loudly over the sound of the storm.
“No. He’s not waiting in my house,” River quips.
“It’s OK, Joss. I’ll wait in my house. She may come there first,” I tell her and start to walk in that direction.
Joss runs up to me and takes my hand.
“Please, I’m asking you to wait with us,” she says, and pulls me the other direction.
I look toward my house, and deep down I know she won’t go there first. I feel it in my gut, and I feel helpless. I feel like I should be doing more.
“Please?” Joss pleads one last time.
Grateful Joss is insisting, I walk with her back to River’s house. Nina passes out towels to everyone and we all take seats on the couch in the family room. Joss and Nina make coffee, then set it on the coffee table. River is stewing with his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face. Underneath that, I see his worst fears coming true.
“I called Stephen. He’s on his way here. I also called Maddy. I know she’ll want to be here too. Kate’s going to be alright. I just know it,” Joss says, putting her hand on my knee.
I grip my forehead in my hand and place my elbow on my knee. She just has to be alright.
Just then, Stephen barges in the front door. Joss gets up and meets him at the doorway and tells him what’s happened. Without a word, he takes a seat next to Nina with a distraught look on his face.
“Why did you say her job doesn’t make her happy?” River asks, in a calm voice.
I lift my head and look at him. Are you kidding me? That’s what he wants to ask. I don’t want to fight with him, not now. I think carefully about the words I want to say to him before I say them.
“Mason Group isn’t her true passion,” I say.
“The hell it isn’t,” he replies.
“Her passion is yoga. Did you know she’s been thinking about opening up her own studio to teach yoga?” I tell him.
“No, I didn’t,” he replies.
“Well, she is,” I confirm. “She works at Mason Group for you. Above all, she wants to make you happy. She doesn’t want to let you or your dad down. She loves and misses her dad so much,” I finish.
“Ha,” River says loudly. “She has no clue about our dear old man,” he says.
“What Kate thinks and what you know are two different things. She was so very young, and even if what you say is true, it’s wrong of you to make her believe what your version of the truth is. What good is it going to do her to destroy her memories and make her believe what you think about your dad?” I ask. “I wish you could see just how hard Kate’s been working. After your fight, I found her on the bathroom floor. I won’t lie, my first thought was that she tried to commit suicide. But, I quickly saw how wrong I was. I didn’t give her enough credit with just how far in her recovery she’s come. I won’t ever make that mistake again. Instead of always thinking that’s the first thing she’s going to do, how about giving her the benefit of the doubt? She’s never given me any reason to suspect that’s the road she’s going to head down ever again. At some point, you’re going to have to have some faith in her.”
He sighs loudly, then rubs his hand over his brow. Joss gets up and sits next to River. She places her hand on his arm, then leans her head on his shoulder.
“He’s right, River. It’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. I’ve talked to Kate, and I’ve told her she has nothing to prove to me. When she looks at me, I see a woman who was broken, but piece by broken piece, she’s putting herself back together. I see a woman with drive and purpose. I told her as long as I see those things, I have nothing to ever worry about,” she says.
River closes his eyes and looks up, then buries his head on his knees.
“What have I done?” he whispers. “I’ve been a fool. I’ve been so determined to make sure she stays on the right path, that I didn’t see she was already there. I’ve pushed her and I’ve pushed her, but all I’ve really done is push her away from me. God, please let her come home,” he says, lifting his head.
“Do you think Sadie is alright?” Joss asks me.
“I don’t know. I hope so. What I do know is that she’ll never leave Kate’s side,” I say.
River stands and walks over to me. I stand, then he extends his hand between us and I place mine in his.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “I should have never said the things I did, to Kate or you. I was wrong.”
I pull his hand in and wrap my arm around his shoulder.
“I love her,” I tell him.
“I know you do,” he replies.
“Sadie will keep her safe,” I tell him.
“I know she will,” he replies with a shaky voice
Just then I feel something cold and wet slip into my left hand. Chills race through my entire body. I pull away from River and look down at my hand.
It’s Sadie.
“How?” I say, bend down and wrap her in my arms.
“What is it?” River asks.
Joss grabs Nina’s hand and they both stand.
“Where’s Kate, Sadie?” I ask.
My lungs fill with salt water, but I feel comfort with River’s hand in mine. As I start to lose consciousness, his hand starts to slip from mine. I don’t want to do this alone. With every ounce of strength I have left, I squeeze his fingertips before they slip away. Then it�
�s nothing but darkness. It’s a familiar darkness. I’ve seen it before.
I’ve been in this darkness before.
Then I feel water rushing over my face, as my body is pulled upward, and I hear Sadie barking.
“Come on!” a voice says.
My chest is violently pushed downward, then warm lips are on mine and my lungs expand with much needed air. Sadie barks, then the pressure is back on my chest. I feel it coming up and I cough, as water erupts out of my mouth. I feel Sadie’s warm tongue on my face as she licks my lips, then she nuzzles me under my chin.
“There you go. Get it all out,” the voice says, as he turns me over on my side, then pats me firmly on my back.
I Hear...Love (A Different Road #2) Page 12