Page 73 of What We Keep
“I just got a text from Elsa. She’s dealing with a stranded whale. The tide won’t be in for a few hours. She says she’s just north of the mudflats, so we need to get down there.”
Not for the first time, I thanked the stars for my brothers. They didn’t even hesitate to jump into action, with Asher racing to find Grady to come along as well.
We took two trucks and drove through the falling darkness.
“Do you know where she is?” Jude asked from my side. He was with me while Cole, Asher, and Grady were in Cole’s truck. We’d left Tommy home with our mom. Close enough to his bedtime, I’d known it wouldn’t be a good plan to bring him along.
“We should see her car. Cell reception isn’t great there, and I don’t want to drain her battery by calling until we find her.”
“Good point. We’ll find her.”
I added some pressure to the gas pedal.
“You okay?” he asked after silence stretched for a few moments.
“As okay as I can be.”
“You don’t seem all that okay,” Jude pointed out. His tone wasn’t even a little teasing.
“I might be freaking out,” I admitted. “I’m not going to be okay until I know Elsa’s okay.”
“You love her.” His words fell between us, quiet and low.
My heart felt lodged in my throat. “I do. She’s pissed at me because I told that Brad guy to stay the fuck away from her.”
“Ah, I see. Well, he’s an ass,” Jude offered dryly.
I chuckled. “He is an ass.”
Blessedly, Jude dropped any conversation about my feelings after that, thank fuck. I knew maybe I’d overstepped when it came to Brad, and I was still stewing a little, knowing part of what I’d done was fueled by jealousy. I knew Elsa could protect herself, but for fuck’s sake, I wanted to drive my fist into that guy’s face.
Instead, I’d have to make do with making sure he couldn’t fuck with Elsa.
It was close to dark by the time we saw Elsa’s car. Of course, dark in late summer in Alaska was after ten o’clock. Cole parked behind us, and we all tumbled out.
On our way out, we’d grabbed as many lights as we could from the resort—construction lights and large battery-powered flashlights.
“Elsa!” I called.
I was relieved when I heard her voice in return. “Over here!”
We swung the lights around until we saw her standing in the water with a whale and a bucket.
“We called the troopers, right?” Cole asked, his tone dry.
“I already did,” I replied. “They’re headed this way too. We might be here for a few hours.”
“We should ask them to bring takeout,” Grady piped up.
I chuckled, slightly relieved for the humor because my worry was spinning tight inside. I grabbed the wading gear for Elsa after I pulled on my own. She was soaked and shivering as she stood beside the whale.
“Elsa, we need to get you dry,” I said when I reached her side.
“I know. I was in a rush to leave and forgot to get my waders.” Her worried gaze met mine, and my heart twisted.
“You go get dry and change,” Jude ordered her. “We’ll keep pouring water on this whale. We can stay here all night if needed.”
“Troopers are headed down here too,” I added.
