Page 35 of There’s Trouble Brewing

Debris littered the roadside, a trail of scattered belongings half-drowned in muddy water. He knelt to grab a shirt, his heart in his throat. Everything pointed to the impossible truth that she’d left it all behind. She was still out there, stumbling around in the storm, possibly hurt.

He knew she must be seeking refuge from the chaos that surrounded her. The relentless storm that mirrored the turmoil in her heart, the ex-boyfriend who still lingered like a shadow, and even him—the man who stupidly drove her out of town. Every breath felt raw with urgency, an ache that matched the relentless downpour.

The creeping fear clawed at him. What if she’d already gotten into trouble? What if this time, he wouldn’t be able to rescue the person he cared about most? He shoved the troubling thoughts back with stubborn determination. No, not this time. He would do whatever it took to get to her and make sure she was safe.

Mark stood, rain-slicked and desperate, looking for anything that might lead him to her. That’s when he saw the footprints, muddy trails leading straight to a swelling stream. Panic and hope warred within him as he followed them, knowing they had to be hers. Every step pounded with the urgency that gripped him tighter than any fear.

And then he saw her, and his chest nearly shattered with relief and dread all at once. Emily. So close and so far at the same time, marooned on a tiny flood-made island with nothing but raging water all around.

All through him was the familiar swell of determination to save the woman he cared about. “Emily,” heshouted, a wave of emotion stronger than the current that threatened to take her away at any moment.

She turned, the shock in her eyes giving way to something he could almost touch. A connection across the tumultuous water. Maybe even the barest flicker of hope. He couldn’t let Emily down or let her see how scared he really was.

Images of a rescue gone wrong flashed through his mind, the old injury that never let him forget he was human. That he could fail. But this wasn’t just some random victim. This was Emily. He wouldn’t lose her, wouldn’t let fear and hesitation cost him the woman he knew that he loved.

And just like that, without a thought for himself, he waded into the icy water, its chill and force almost unbearable. But he’d been in water like this before and had always fought through it. This time was no different, except that it was to help the most important person in his life. He swam with the urgency of love, of fear, his muscular frame cutting through the current with every ounce of strength he had. He ignored the pain in his leg, pushing himself to get to her no matter what it cost him.

The stream—now a raging river—roared around him, a living thing that tried to pull him under, to drag him away from Emily. It got stronger with every moment, stronger than anything he’d faced since the last time he’d been on the job. But the sight of her waiting for him to rescue her was stronger still. He pushed harder and blinked away the water that blurred his vision.

Mark heard her voice above the surge, a rallying cry just for him. She called his name, and it filled him with a fierce clarity. Their eyes locked, and their connection was like an anchor that pulled him through the chaos, urging him to swim as if he were unstoppable.

Another chunk of debris floated by, almost hitting him, but he moved out of the way just in time. “Emily...I’m almost there,” he yelled, his hand stretching toward her as he got close. The fear that he might miss her, lose her, fueled his final stretch.

Suddenly, he was there, grasping her fingers and holding on firmly as they both clung to each other with all their might. He swam back with her, each stroke bringing them closer to safety, closer to the shore.

They tumbled onto the bank, soaking wet and shivering, but together. The muddy ground was solid under their bodies but not as solid as the relief that coursed through him. He pulled her near, grateful she was all right. “I love you,” he professed. “I should have said it when you came to my apartment, but I was scared,” he admitted between gulps of breath.

Emily’s eyes fluttered for several seconds as she tried to focus on his face.

When she didn’t say anything back, he begged, “Come on, Emily. I need you. Stay with me.”

She coughed a couple of times and looked at him, raw and real. “You found me.”

“Always,” he whispered as the rain poured down, mingling with the heat between them, with the fire of every feeling they’d kept locked up for so long.

The kiss broke over them, enveloping them with an intensity that mirrored the raging storm around them. The love surged between them like a tidal wave, sweeping away all hesitation and doubt. The air crackled with electricity as if the very atmosphere was charged with the energy of their connection, leaving them breathless and consumed by the moment.

He laughed, incredulous and overwhelmed, then wrapped her tighter in his arms, the two of them drenchedwith emotion and rain. They sat there, lost in the aftermath of the rescue, letting it all wash over and through them.

“You can’t get rid of me that easy,” Emily said, breathless and teasing, her smile everything he’d been missing and more.

“And I never want to,” he told her, giving her a kiss again and again, their joy making everything else irrelevant but the love that existed there in the moment between them. And Mark held Emily, knowing that their future spread before them—wide and open, just like his heart.

Chapter Thirteen

Emily’s hand and wrist ached, and every inch of her skin was a raised welt, a testament to the water’s violence against her body. She could have hugged the doctor when he said she’d be fine and could have kissed Mark when he stood in the hospital room doorway, soaking wet but with warm, relieved eyes.

“Hi, Officer,” she said, giving him a smile that felt strange on her own face. She thought for a half-second he might cry, and she was sure for a full second that she might cry too. Instead, she laughed. The nurse thought they were crazy when she saw both of them sitting there, laughing on the hospital bed.

“Are you really all right?” he asked, then touched her wrist as if that touch would give him the answer.

“Yep, no internal bleeding, no broken bones. Not bad for being swept away in a raging flood. They don’t make women like me anywhere else.”

“They sure don’t.” He gently squeezed her hand and dried his face off with the shoulder of his wet shirt.

“How about you? I noticed when you helped me to the car you were limping. Are you okay?”

Mark shifted slightly, the hint of a grimace passing over his features. “Oh, it’s nothing serious. My injury just flared up when I got in a fight with your ex,” he admitted sheepishly.

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