Page 101 of Beauty and the Bayou

Sawyer kept casting looks in Juliet’s direction.She met his gaze and gave him a wobbly smile a couple of times.For the most part she seemed…resigned.She wasn’t delighted or thrilled.That was clear.Even Cooper seemed more interested in the whole thing than she was.But she wasn’t hyperventilating.Or vomiting.

Maybe he shouldn’t have brought her out here.

The thought floated through his mind.

She didn’tneedto be out here.He’d needed her.She made him feel better.But was that really fair if it madeherfeel anxious?

Sawyer frowned.

She was out on a fucking airboat, on water, far from solid ground, surrounded—whether they could see them or not—by alligators, snapping turtles, snakes, spiders, and more.Seeing her sitting there with her life jacket on, long sleeves to protect from sun and bugs, and the steel-toed boots that would actuallynotbe great in the water, made him realize that she truly was facing her fears here today.For him.

“Juliet—” He started, stepping toward her.

Just then a huge drop of water hit the floor of the boat in front of him.Another hit him on the cheek.He looked up as a rumble of thunder rolled through the clouds overhead.It had been overcast all day, but that just meant it had been slightly cooler.That morning it had occurred to him that maybe they’d get a little shower at some point, but…he also hadn’t looked at the weather forecast.

He’d been distracted.Chase’s party last night and send-off that morning had thrown their usual Saturday routine off, and then he’d been preoccupied with the idea of seeing Gabe and the guys and kids again.What if a storm rolled in while they were out todaywasn’t something he’d prepared for.That was unusual.But he’d been excited about this group coming down, and his preparation had only gone as far asget them here and hold your shit together.

The raindrops started falling faster, and Gabe looked up as another, louder, rumble of thunder sounded.Juliet didn’t hear a thing since she still had her headset on, but she definitely noticed the rain falling.She looked up with a frown and pulled her headset off.

“It’s raining, Daddy,” Stella said, lunging for Gabe’s hand, her expression worried.

Gabe nodded, drawing her close.“It is.”

It was sprinkling, actually.But Sawyer didn’t correct them.Darker clouds were rolling closer from the west and he knew it was going to be real rain real soon.

“Is this a hurricane?”Cooper asked, also moving close to Gabe and grabbing his father’s belt.

“No, buddy, not a hurricane.Just some rain,” Gabe said, in a calm, reassuring voice.

In spite of not looking at the forecast, a hurricane warning wasn’t something Sawyer could have missed.Everyone in Autre would have been talking about it, as a storm like that affected everyone from the fishermen to the roughnecks.But a hard afternoon shower could make the bayou tours much less pleasant and even dangerous.

Dammit.

“But it could have lightning,” Cooper said.“Lightning comes with thunderstorms andlotsof people die from lightning while out boating.”

“Okay,” Gabe said quickly over the top of his son.“We don’t need to talk about that right now.”

But it was too late.Stella had heard him.

Gabe loved to talk about his kids, and Sawyer knew that Stella had a fear of storms.Sawyer hated the idea of Stella out on the boat on the bayou in one.His injury hadn’t made her scared of the bayou but being caught in a storm out here really could.

But it was more than just Stella’s fear of storms that had his heart pounding now.Cooper was right.Thunderstorms came with lightning and the people most often struck were those outside on the water.

“Okay, everyone back in their seats,” Sawyer said, clapping his hands.“We’re heading in.”

The rain was picking up, making the bottom of the metal boat slippery, and he grabbed the backs of the benches as he made his way to his seat.He glanced at Juliet.She was still exactly where she’d started, still buckled tight into her life jacket, but now her face was white.He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.She turned to look at him as if she’d been lost in thought.

“You okay?”he asked.

She read his lips and nodded.

He didn’t really believe her.He shouldn’t have brought her out here.Not only was she out on the water, no doubt realizing how far away from the safety of shore they really were, but now it was storming.Stella wasn’t the only one he was worried about here.

But he wasn’t sure how to fix it for Juliet.He wanted to pull her into his arms and tell her it would be okay.There were two things wrong with that, however.One, he had to drive the boat back to the dock.Two, he couldn’t tell her that.She knew better than anyone that no matter how prepared you were, things could still go wrong.Knees still got scraped, bats still got caught in nets, splinters still got stuck in fingers.No, telling Juliet Dawson “it will all be okay” was never going to be an adequate approach.

He was just going to have toshowher.

“You wanna help me drive, Stell?”Sawyer asked as he straightened.“We can go extra fast with two drivers.”That wasn’t true, but he was hoping he could get her thinking about something else.

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