Page 72 of Once Upon a Summer Night

Next up the stairs came the chief, grumbling that no one had better joke about his needing to sit and scoot on his butt backward, moving up step by step. Hannah was below him, helping to hold his casted leg from getting jostled during his ascent. All the while, her gaze remained carefully averted from Chase’s. Yep, there would be plenty of groveling in his future. Rather than be disheartened by the idea, Chase grinned, confident he was up for the challenge. He helped the chief out from the cellar and onto his feet. The chief then took his crutches from an awaiting Faye. Soft cursing rang out as Stephen took in the view and warned Noah to stay close.

Chase turned to offer a hand to Hannah, but she was already out of the cellar and rushing forward to circle her arms around his waist. “Thank you for coming to check on us.”

“Of course.” Chase held her tight, the weight of the day and all his worries suddenly crashing down on him. He could have lost her today. Could have lost Noah, too. And he never, ever wanted to feel that way again. “I’m so glad you’re okay,” he whispered.

She hugged him tighter. “You, too. I was worried sick.”

“You were?”

“Of course, I was.” Hannah met his gaze and nodded. “You were right.”

“About?”

“All of it. Me being scared to acknowledge my feelings. Me being too damned stubborn to admit that I love you.” She smirked. “I do, by the way. But, again, you already knew that.”

He chuckled. “I’m glad you finally came around to accepting the truth. Only took you about twenty years to catch up.”

“You’ve been in love with me for twenty years?”

Chase brushed a cluster of stray hairs back from her face. “Angel, I fell in love with you the day we met. One smile and I was a goner.”

“Sorry you had to wait so long for me to wake up and see my once-in-a-lifetime guy was right here all along.”

“I would have waited a lifetime, if that’s what it took.”

She stretched on her toes to kiss him, and Chase held her close, reveling in the moment. The kiss was short-lived, though, as Chase’s cell phone buzzed in his pocket. He drew back to check the incoming text message.

“Afraid we’re going to have to continue our make-up make-out session tomorrow. Joey dropped me off when we saw the tree down so he could go and check on your neighbors. He’s headed back now—”

“Noah, get back here!”

At the chief’s shout, Chase and Hannah turned to spy Noah running toward the mangled barn.Oh no.

“Noah!” they called out in unison.

“But it’s Sunny! He’s hurt!”

Up ahead, at the center of the barn’s foundation, a small line of ducks were making their way out of the building through a hole that must have formed when the trees crushed its upper level. Sure enough, Noah’s baby duck was moving slower than the rest and struggling to stay upright.

A fresh gust of wind kicked up, jostling the damaged structure. One of the barn’s dislodged rafter beams and affixed planks dangled precariously above the place where Noah was headed. No time to argue, Chase set off in a full sprint. He called for Noah to stay back, but another gust of wind swept through the area, washing away his warning. The boy continued on, intent on his rescue mission. Noah slowed, scooped up Sunny, and turned back to show the others that he’d saved him.

“Noah, get away from there!” Hannah yelled, running toward him as well.

Chase was nearly to the boy when an angry snarl rang out from the broken beam overhead. Noah looked up as a plank broke loose, a cry of terror escaping him. Chase dove forward and grabbed Noah, praying his momentum would launch them beyond the drop zone. Pain shot through his right ankle, and then they were on the ground, rolling, Chase curled around Noah to take the brunt of the jostling. When they finally came to a stop, Chase was on his back—arms circled around Noah, heart pounding, and ankle on fire.

He lifted his head to find Noah curled around a yellow ball of fluff. A quack sounded, followed by a sniffle. Noah met Chase’s gaze. “Y-you helped me save Sunny.”

“Anytime, kiddo.” Chase let his head fall to the ground, ready for the world to stop spinning. “Actually, maybe let’s not do this again, okay?”

“Okay.” Noah sat up, shifted Sunny in his grasp, and wrinkled his nose. “Eww, he pooped on me.”

Chuckling, Chase pushed himself up to a seat position.

“Oh, my sweet, sweet boys!” Hannah cried, dropping to her knees beside them. “Are you okay?”

Noah nodded, tears falling now. “Chase saved us both, Hannah.”

“I know he did, sweetheart. And I’ll never be able to thank him enough.”

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