Page 163 of The Love Haters

When he reached me, he signaled up for a sling.

“No basket?” I asked.

“No time,” Hutch said. “We’ve gotta RTB.”

I knew that term: return to base.

The sling lowered but the wind blew it around, and it took Hutch a minute to catch it. “Come on,” he said, positioning me inside it and pulling it taut. He had a harness on, too, and he clipped it to the wire so we were face-to-face—and then he gave the thumbs-up forreadyto the flight mechanic.

With that, we jerked up out of the water—the helicopter above already shifting into forward motion—and we dangled behind it, trailing through the air.

This was not, shall we say, the gentle and loving hoist that George Bailey had received. And I’ll tell you something else—those harnesses cinch tight under your arms.

“What the hell?” I asked Hutch.

“Told you,” he said, with that half-smile of his. “We’ve gotta go.”

And so the helicopter rose into the sky like that as the hoist cable towed us through the air, behind and below the helicopter, the two of us chest to chest as the wind thrashed all around us.

The closest thing I can compare it to is those chair rides at carnivals, where you spin around loose in the air with only one flimsy lap chain to hold you in.

In another setting, it might’ve been exhilarating.

But I’d had enough exhilaration for one day.

I didn’t look around, or take in the sight of it, or make a memory to marvel at later.

Instead, I leaned forward to press my head against Hutch’s chest.

He found my chin to tilt my face up.

“You’re okay,” he said, over the wind, as I met his eyes. “It’s all okay now.”

And here’s the funny thing: despite everything, I believed him.

“I’m so sorry about theRue the Day,” I said.

Hutch looked down at the water.

I went on. “I’m so sorry abouteverything. I never meant to lie toyou. But I have to tell you something. I didn’t know Cole had lied to you until he showed up here on the night of the conga line. And then I couldn’t tell you the truth because I had to protect Rue. I know that doesn’t make any sense, and I can’t explain why, but—”

“I know,” Hutch said.

“You know?”

“Cole called the air station in Miami. And so did Rue. And they both explained everything. Twice.”

Okay, this was better. “So, yes, I did lie to you—but I swear I never meant to.”

“You didn’t lie to me,” Hutch said.

“I didn’t?”

“You got caught in Cole’s lie. That’s different.”

“But I didn’t correct it.”

“You were looking out for Rue.”

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