Page 41 of Beginnings By the Sea

I opened the passenger’s side door for her and she stepped forward, throwing her arms around my neck. I could feel her heart beating against my own as I pulled her into a tight embrace, breathing in the sweet scent of her strawberry perfume that seemed to linger around her.

“What if we weren’t here?” she whispered, her breath warm and close against my neck. “Brian wouldn’t have made it.”

I ran my hand soothingly down her back, searching for the right words to assure her. “But we were. Things happen for a reason, Nyla. I have to believe we were meant to be on this road today. We saved two lives.”

Nyla’s arms slowly slid away from me and she stepped back, looking up at me with a tired smile. “How does it feel?” she said softly.

Saving people was nothing new to me; in my work as a firefighter, I had previously pulled many out of burning buildings. But Brian had no pulse when I’d started CPR; knowing his only chance lay with me had been terrifying.

“When I’m not crashing from an adrenaline rush,” I told her honestly, “I’ll let you know how it feels. But I’m sure it will feel pretty damn good.”

Nyla squeezed my arm in understanding. “It will. When I worked in the ER, it felt amazing when I saved people. But it also killed me when I couldn’t.”

And I knew that better than anyone. Sometimes she’d come home and cry in the shower when she lost one of her patients. Nyla always had too big of a heart to disassociate herself from the patients.

Nyla climbed in the car, and I pulled away from the edge of the road. The tow truck had just taken Emily and Brian’s SUV away, but there were still remnants of glass scattered across the asphalt. The sun had set, and the night sky was a deep navy blue. We drove in silence for a few minutes until I heard her stomach growl.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to cook for you?” I asked.

Nyla rolled her head back against the seat and released a yawn. “How about a rain check? I do know I could use a drink and some chocolate right about now.”

We both laughed, but hers was tinged with exhaustion. “Sounds good to me,” I replied.

We stopped at a diner on the way back into Oak Island and grabbed a to go order of cheeseburgers, waffle fries, and milkshakes. We both had our food eaten by the time we pulled into her driveway.

“Do you want me to come here in the morning to take you to get your car?”

She had left it at her office to ride with me to Wilmington, but it was late and I knew she was drained. The last thing I wanted was for her to get in an accident.

Nyla shook her head and opened her door. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure Jensen and Everleigh won’t mind stopping by here.”

Or was the other guy going to pick her up and she didn’t want to tell me? I didn’t even know his name. Maybe it was a good thing I didn’t. It almost made me believe he wasn’t even real. All I knew was that he hadn’t called her in over a day. Was that good for me? I could only hope so.

I walked Nyla up to her door and her phone started to vibrate in her purse. Jealousy threatened to wash over me because I figured it’d be the other guy, but I pushed the feelings down when I noticed the name “Everleigh” on the screen. I didn’t want to be jealous of the other guy, but it was hard not to be. While answering the call, she opened the door with one hand and gestured for me to come inside. After following her into the kitchen, she grabbed a cold beer from the refrigerator, handed it to me, and led me into the living room.

We both sat on her couch, and I listened as she told Everleigh about the car accident and everything that happened after. Apparently, we had been on several news stations. When she hung up the phone with Everleigh, it rang again almost immediately; this time, it was Autumn. She spent the next hour talking to people from the town who were full of questions, mainly wanting to know who I was. She answered truthfully, even though I knew she didn’t want everyone to know. When she hung up with the last person, she shut off her phone, and laid her head back on the couch.

“Well, it looks like the secret is out.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

She closed her eyes and breathed a deep sigh. “You and me,” she replied. “Everyone knows you’re my ex-husband. I have a feeling they’re all making their assumptions right now.”

“Does that bother you?”

Her face softened into a weary expression as she slowly opened her heavy eyelids to look at me. “No, not really. It’s just if they saw the news, I have no doubt word is going to spread even more. I didn’t want us being together to be publicized like that before I had time to—”

I held up a hand, nodding my understanding. “I get it. You don’t want your friend finding out anything before you get a chance to talk to him face-to-face.”

“Yeah,” she whispered, curling her legs onto the couch. “He deserves the truth from me, not to hear rumors from other people.” A small smile spread across her face. “One good thing about today is that you’re the town hero. Everyone is dying to meet you tomorrow. I think we should have you as the prize tomorrow for the auction instead of me.”

Her eyes started to flutter shut, and I softly ran my fingers along the curve of her jawline and gently pushed back a single strand of her bright red hair behind her ear.

“You’re much prettier than I am,” I teased. “I wouldn’t bring in nearly as much money for your charities as you can. Besides,” I said, letting my hand slide off her skin. “You’re a town hero, too. I wouldn’t have been able to calm Emily down the way you did.”

She breathed in deeply and let it out, her body relaxing into the couch. “Yeah, but you brought someone back to life. That is something special.” Her head started to droop. “You are special.”

It was only a matter of seconds before sleep completely took her. Gently, I scooped her into my arms and carried her to her bedroom. I laid her on the bed and took off her shoes, trying my best not to wake her. Once she was tucked in, I resisted the urge to kiss her and turned for the door.

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