If we were running a call with Chief Stanley involved, they would have told us.
Fuck.
The sudden deluge of rain had already swelled the river, turning it into a churning mass of debris-filled water. The huge tree had fallen near the far side, smashing through the guardrail and into the lower supports. It had probably bent the frame of Caroline’s car, preventing them from being able to open the doors to get out. And her car was fucking tiny to begin with. No back seat, no back doors, nowhere to go.
Christian barked orders and I took a few steps closer to the bridge entrance.
It was going to fall.
I didn’t know how I knew, but I was positive.
“Levi,” I shouted, whirling around to find him. “The bridge is going to go. It’s not going to hold.”
As if it wanted to make my point for me, the bridge supports groaned.
For a sickening second, I could see it happen. The supports failing. The car plunging into the icy cold water with Caroline and Skylar trapped inside.
Because there was no doubt in my mind it was Skylar out there.
Levi had already pulled out the jaws of life and the compressor to run the hydraulics. “Let’s go.”
I grabbed the case with the spreader and hydraulic hoses while Levi and Christian followed with the compressor. Rain pelted us, the wind driving it sideways. The bridge felt solid, but I knew it wasn’t. Between its age, the damage from the tree, the debris in the river, and the gusts of wind, it was anyone’s guess how long it had left.
When we got to the car, I forced myself to focus on the task at hand, not the condition of the vehicle or who was inside. Christian ran to the driver’s side door—there was better access there—and I could hear him speaking to Caroline, asking questions and reassuring her, while Levi and I deployed the jaws of life.
I’d done this a million times in training, and even in the field more than once. I went through the motions, connecting the hydraulic hoses to the compressor. A few more seconds, and we were ready.
My heart pounded a mad rhythm in my chest as I went to the driver’s side. The front of the car was smashed, the metal frame folding in on itself. It looked like the tree had fallen right in front of them and they’d hit it head-on.
I paused long enough to look at the passengers. Caroline’s eyes were wide, but she was calm. No sign of major injuries so far. And sure enough, Skylar was in the passenger seat. The car was partially caved in on her side, and she’d scooted closer to her mom.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “We’ve got you.”
I wedged the spreader into the crack between the door and the frame while rain pelted my face. The bridge supports groaned again and my eyes flew to Skylar. My heart raced and an overwhelming sense of urgency filled me.
The compressor roared behind me. I held the spreader while it opened, loosening the driver’s side door from the bent metal frame of the car. Christian pulled on the door, helping free it.
“Can you get your legs out?” he asked Caroline.
She nodded. “Yes.”
A few more seconds and the door broke free. Christian and I lifted it off and set it next to the car. The bridge groaned again, and this time I felt it shudder. I glanced at Levi and he nodded. He’d felt it too.
Fuck.
I took Caroline’s hands and helped her out of the vehicle. Levi took over and I went back for Skylar.
She’d already climbed across to the driver’s side. I helped her out of the car and without a word, picked her up, one arm around her back, the other supporting her legs.
“I can walk.”
I didn’t reply. I knew she could walk, but I also knew I was going to lose my mind if I didn’t get her off this fucking bridge. Now.
Carrying her in my arms, I raced to the bridge entrance. The engine was on the opposite side, but we’d get someone over here to pick us up. There was no way I was hauling my ass back over that bridge, especially not with Skylar.
Levi was on his radio updating the crew and Christian rushed off the bridge just behind me. I set Skylar down next to her mom, and Caroline threw her arms around her.
“Are you okay?” I asked, feeling strangely frantic. “Are you injured?”
“No,” Skylar said, her voice breathless. “I don’t think so.”
A huge gust of wind roared through the trees, followed by an ear-splitting crunch. The bridge lurched to one side as the broken supports failed. Caroline’s car slid sideways down the bridge deck, getting tangled in the huge tree’s branches.
Like an inevitable chain reaction, more supports failed and the bridge deck cracked. With a crash, the end broke free and crumbled into the churning water below. Caroline’s car plunged into the river with the tree practically on top of it.
Skylar launched herself into my arms, one hand covering her mouth. “Oh my god. Oh my god, we were just… We could have been in there.”
Wrapping my arms around her, I held her tight against me.
Holy fuck. If we hadn’t gotten there in time…
I couldn’t even think it.
Chief pulled up out of nowhere, skidding to a stop, and flew out of his truck. His eyes were wild as he ran to his daughter and his ex-wife.
Reluctantly, I let go of Skylar so her dad could hug her. I felt dazed, like I couldn’t focus. My usual calmness under pressure seemed to have shattered, and now I couldn’t remember what I was supposed to be doing. All I could see was the image of Caroline’s car plunging into the freezing river.
If we’d gotten here minutes later, they would have been in there. They would have gone under.
Somehow we wrapped things up at the bridge and our crew was sent back to the station. I climbed out of the engine, not quite sure how I’d gotten here. I knew Chief had taken Caroline and Skylar with him after the paramedics had cleared them. And I knew that emergency crews had already blocked off the broken bridge from both sides. As for the rest, it was mostly a blur.
I went through the motions of taking off my gear and getting it ready for the next call. It was automatic, drilled into me so deeply that I didn’t have to think about what I was doing.
I didn’t know what the fuck was wrong with me. I’d been on scarier calls than that. Once I’d literally walked into a burning building minutes away from collapse to get someone out. I’d pulled people out of wrecked cars, stopped a guy from bleeding out, performed CPR. Yeah, today had been a close call, but that was part of the job. It had never bothered me before. I’d always come back feeling energized. Like I’d triumphed. I’d won.
Now, I had no idea what I was feeling. But it wasn’t triumph. It was something else. Something that made my chest feel like I had a hundred-pound weight sitting on top of it. Like my lungs were filled with icy cold river water and I was about to drown.
Somehow I made it through the rest of the day. I held it together and did my job. I was on duty until morning, but instead of hanging out with the guys and playing cards, I hit the bunks early.
My head was still swimming, my heart beating too hard.
What if I’d lost her today?
That thought was so awful, so soul-crushing, I almost couldn’t think it.
But I did, and then I started thinking about all the ways I could lose her. All the terrible things that could happen. She could get in another accident, or get sick, and there’d be nothing I could do.
I tossed and turned, trying to go to sleep. Trying to get this shit out of my head. But I couldn’t.
It wasn’t just the thought of Skylar dying that had my palms sweating and my shoulders clenched tight. There were other ways to lose someone.
Skylar wasn’t my girlfriend. We didn’t have a real commitment to each other. When whatever we were doing ran its course, she’d move on. She’d date someone else—someone who’d probably marry her. Because who wouldn’t? Her douchebag ex aside, what guy with a brain would date Skylar and not lock it down as soon as they could? She was smart and beautiful and talented and fun
. She was quirky and shy and adorable. Sexy and so fucking incredible.
Wait.
I sat up in bed, almost hitting my forehead on the bunk above me.
Sparrow. Gram had called her Sparrow.
She knew.
Holy fuck, Gram knew before I did. But of course she did, Gram knew everything. That should have tipped me off, but like an idiot, I’d totally missed it.
Everything made sense now. And I knew exactly what I had to do.
36
Skylar
The morning after the bridge, I woke up sore. I didn’t have any major injuries, but my body felt the effects of almost being crushed by a tree and nearly drowning in a river. My back ached and my neck was painfully tight.
Dad did his best to keep me in bed all morning, bringing me coffee and breakfast, reading material, and my laptop. Anything to encourage me to lie down and rest. The accident had shaken him pretty badly.
It had shaken me too. But surprisingly, it hadn’t sent me into a tailspin of uncontrolled anxiety. I was sore and tired, but mentally calm. I even wrote the ending to a chapter because the perfect idea hit me.
I was about to get up and go downstairs—I didn’t really need to stay in bed all day—when Ginny called.
“Hey, Gin.”
“Were you really trapped in your mom’s car, and plunged into the river, and Gavin had to dive in and break the windshield with a rock to get you out before you drowned? Because when you texted me last night, you did not tell me any of those details.”
“What? No. That’s not what happened at all.”
She let out a relieved sigh. “Oh my god. Someone said the bridge broke right as you were driving over it and your mom’s car submerged in the river with you in it.”
“Haven’t you figured out that you can’t listen to people in this town? It hasn’t even been a day and they’re already exaggerating. No, I told you, a tree fell on the bridge and we hit it, or it hit us, I’m not entirely sure. We were trapped in Mom’s car, but the firefighters got us out. We were safely on land when the bridge collapsed. By the way, did you know that one out of every nine bridges in the US is structurally deficient?”
“You researched bridge collapses, didn’t you?”
“First thing this morning.”
She laughed. “Naturally. Well, I’m glad you’re okay. Was Gavin on the scene?”
“Yeah, he was. He helped get us out of Mom’s car.”
“Wow. That must have been intense for him.”
“Yeah, he seemed kind of out of it afterward. Normally it’s like nothing ruffles him, but if I didn’t know better, I’d say he was scared.”
“Of course he was. He had to rescue the girl he hasn’t admitted to being in love with yet.”
“Ginny, stop. He’s not in love with me.”
“Wanna bet?”
“No.”
“That’s because you know I’m right. Has he been over to see you?”
“No, he was on duty overnight. He texted me last night and once this morning, but that doesn’t mean he’s in love with me. It means he’s worried about a friend.”
“Yeah, well, I still say he has feelings for you. I bet he comes over today and tells you that your accident yesterday made him realize he wants to be more than friends.”
I sighed. “I don’t think so.”
She paused. “Do you want him to?”
I wasn’t sure if I was ready to admit how big my feelings for Gavin were, even to Ginny. It felt like saying it out loud was too dangerous. “I don’t know. Maybe?”
“You know what I think. If you want him, you need to be up front.”
“I know, but that’s not really fair to him. He tried to keep us from crossing the just friends line and I’m the one who said we can be friends who have sex sometimes and it won’t be a big deal.”
“Yeah, I know. Friends with benefits can get messy.”
“Well, it’s not messy now, and I’m certainly not going to let it get messy today. Gavin and I are fine. What about you and Logan? Are you guys actually dating, or…”
“Nice subject change. No, we’re not really dating. He’s a lot of fun, and he’s hot as sin, but I’m not in town much longer.”
“I’m going to miss you when you’re gone. It’s been nice having you so close.”
“It’s been a lot of fun. I’d love to find more excuses to stay, but I have to move on to the next thing.”
“I know.”
“You rest up today and let me know if you need anything, okay?”
“I will. Thanks, Ginny.”
“Talk to you soon.”
I hung up and got out of bed. I was still in a t-shirt and pajama pants, but it seemed like a pajama pants sort of day. Mom’s door was closed—which was odd. Had she slept there last night? Maybe she’d needed space after yesterday. I didn’t see Dad, so I crept downstairs to get a snack.
After I grabbed a few things out of the fridge, there was a knock at the front door. I answered it, and Gavin barreled his way inside.
“Hey, Sky. How are you feeling? Are you okay?”
I shut the door, eying him. His hair was disheveled and his eyes were a little crazed.
“I’m fine. Just a bit sore.”
He stood in front of me and gently grabbed my shoulders. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Thanks to you.”
For a second, he held my gaze, then let out a breath. “Is this a good time? Can we talk?”
“Okay, but—”
Before I could finish, he let go and headed for the kitchen.
“Are you okay?” I asked, following him.
He walked a circle around the kitchen, as if he couldn’t keep still. “I was up all night thinking.”
“All night? Thinking about what?”
He stopped and met my eyes. “About us.”
Oh my god, was Ginny right? Had yesterday made Gavin realize he wanted to be more than friends?
“What about us?”
“I think we should get married.”
I stared at him, dumbstruck. “Wait, what?”
“Hear me out.” He started pacing around the kitchen again. “We’re really good together, and I don’t just mean the sex. I mean all of it.”
“Okay, but—”
“Yesterday I realized how awful it would be to lose you. I looked at the bridge and I knew you were out there and I could see it happen. The bridge collapsing and the car sinking into the river. I’ve never felt so fucking helpless in my life. And then last night I started thinking about how you dying in an icy cold river after a bridge collapses isn’t the only way I could lose you. You could be struck by lightning or hit by a semi-truck or fall off a ladder and break your neck.”
“I don’t think any of those are likely causes of death.”
“Still. The bridge made me realize I don’t want to lose you. Ever.”
I tried to keep the tremor out of my voice, but I felt so shaky. “But Gavin, marrying me won’t keep me from dying.”
“I know it won’t. But if I don’t marry you, someone else is going to, and then I lose you that way.”
“We’re not…” I took a breath, trying to find my bearings. “This is really sudden. We’re not even dating and you want to jump to marriage because yesterday scared you?”
“No, I’m not scared.”
“Yes, you are.”
He shook his head. “It’s not fear, it’s clarity. I’m finally seeing things clearly.”
I stared at him for a long moment. That wasn’t clarity in his eyes. He looked irrational and frantic, not clear.
“Are you? You don’t seem clear to me. You seem afraid and exhausted.”
“It’s fine, I’ll sleep later. And I don’t get scared. You know this about me.”
“You don’t think you get scared, but maybe you just don’t recognize it as fear. It’s okay if yesterday scared you. It scared all of us.”
“Sky, I get it, this is out of the blue. But I can’t…” H
e trailed off, running his fingers through his hair. “I can’t lose you. I didn’t buy a ring yet, but—”
“Wait.” I held up a hand. “Slow down. I thought maybe you’d tell me you want to be more than friends and give us a real shot, but marriage?”
“Gram called you Sparrow.”
“What?”
“She calls you Sparrow. I should have realized, but I didn’t until last night. She doesn’t give everyone a nickname. It used to just be me and my brothers and Grace. But that’s the thing, she’s a fucking psychic or something. She knew Asher would marry Grace, even when they were kids. That’s why she always called her Gracie Bear. And the first time she met Fiona she called her Cricket. Look what happened, Evan married her.”
“But that doesn’t mean that you and I—”
“Sure it does.”
“Gavin, we can’t just rush in like this.”
“Why not? If you’re sure, why wait?”
“Because I don’t think you’re sure at all. I think you’re afraid and you don’t know how to handle it. You’re not asking me to marry you because you know you want to marry me. You’re asking me because you’re scared, and for some crazy reason, you think a ring on my finger is going to make the feeling go away. It won’t. That fear is still going to live inside you, and until you face it and put it in its place, it’s going to keep eating away at you. Trust me, I know all about fear. I’m scared of everything.”
He crossed his arms and his expression darkened. “Then maybe I’m not the one who’s scared, here. Did your piece of shit ex freak you out so much, you’re afraid to try again?”
“This doesn’t have anything to do with him.”
“No? Could have fooled me. You have a shitty breakup and the next guy has to pay for it.”
“The next guy?” I put my hands on my hips. “Since when are you the next guy? I think you skipped a step or five.”
“You know what, forget it. I’m sorry I had the wrong idea. I thought maybe I was more to you than warm body with a dick, but apparently I was wrong.”
“Are you kidding me right now? Of course you mean more to me than that.”
He shook his head and stomped down the hallway toward the front door.
Rushing In: A Small Town Family Romance Page 29