Page 36 of Until We Break

As soon as he left the office, Carried leaned toward me. “I don’t know how to thank you, Caleb. I can call you Caleb, can’t I?”

“Of course,” I agreed. “I’m glad the kid’s doing okay. It’s a big relief. I’ve been wondering about him.”

“He is doing well. And it’s because of you. Your fast-thinking. Your action. All of what you did, saved my little boy. You are the hero that needs to be thanked.”

It was true Carrie looked different than when she ran into the hospital room, frantic to find her son. The woman in front of me was calm, certain, and younger than I had remembered. It was then I realized how much makeup she was wearing and how low-cut her tank top was beneath her blouse. I averted my eyes to one of Officer Guthrie’s sailing pictures on the wall.

“That’s nice of you, but I wasn’t a hero. All I did was answer a call and take the kid to the docks. The ambulance got him to the hospital in time. The real hero is Margot. You know she saw him from the upstairs window and raced into the water to save him. Have you seen her? She and Lucas seemed to get close in a short amount of time. All she did was make sure he was okay at every step of the way.”

It was also a jolt to my system to say Margot’s name out loud. I hadn’t called her like I promised. I wanted to say it was because I was busy with paperwork and training. I was deep into the accident report. But none of those things were the truth. I was staying away. What was the point of going back? Margot was going to sell the Blue Heron Marina. She would leave. Just like last time.

The morning we left the hospital, we went back to her place, and I had every intention of taking her to bed, but Dean Waters showed up and it cooled off everything between us.

I hadn’t gone back. It wasn’t until now that I wondered if he had. Had he been there every day since?

“Caleb?”

“Hmm.” I had zoned out on Carrie.

She waved a checkbook in front of my face. “I was saying I wanted to make this out to you. I want to cover everything. All your expense, your hard work, your dedication to Lucas’s care.”

“What?” I gawked at her scribbled signature at the bottom of the check. “No. No. You can’t do that. I can’t accept money. No.” I was firm.

“It’s not just money,” she pleaded. “It’s a thank you. There’s no way I could put a price tag on what you did for my little boy.”

“But it wasn’t me!” I pushed off from the desk. “It was Margot. Give her the money.”

“But I want to give it to you.”

It was then I saw the look in her eyes. I hadn’t noticed it before or hadn’t wanted to see it. But it was there now. Clear as the damn day is long.

“The Coast Guard pays me, Carrie,” I explained. “I don’t and won’t accept extra cash for doing my job while I was on patrol.” I shook my head. “It’s not even possible.”

She tore off the check and handed it to me. “I don’t care. You don’t know how hard it’s been since it’s been just Lucas and me. I want to do this for you. You deserve to be thanked. To know what it means to me.”

I stared at all the zeros at the end of the line. I tried to push it back into her hand, but she wouldn’t take it. She stood, grabbing her bag.

“Can I tell Lucas you’ll come to see him?”

I nodded dumbfounded. “Sure.”

She pointed to the top of the check. “That’s where we live. Over on Pointe Harbor. Come tomorrow for dinner. I promise I’m a good cook.”

“I can’t.”

“But Lucas really wants to see you. You’re basically a superhero to him. He’s been through so much, don’t let him down.”

I lowered my head. There was no way I could disappoint that kid. “Okay. I’ll be there.”

“Good!” She beamed.

Just as Officer Guthrie entered his office, Carrie sashayed out, looking triumphant and not a bit remorseful about the money she had just unloaded on me.

Officer Guthrie looked at me. “You okay, son?”

“Yes, sir. That was unusual. That’s never happened before.” I shoved the check into my pocket before he could see it.

“She seemed adamant on thanking you. Sometimes we don’t get that kind of feedback from the public. I thought it was important. We all need to know how important our jobs are from time to time.”

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