Page 23 of Erik's Redemption
“I’m okay.” She sniffed. “I might go to the bathroom and touch up my makeup.”
“I’ll come with you.”
Brigid was shaking her head before Hannah had finished speaking. “No, it’s okay. I could use a moment alone.”
Hannah’s heart hurt as she watched her friend move toward the house.
With a heavy sigh, she pulled her phone from her bag to see there was no caller ID. She pressed the phone to her ear. “Hello, Hannah Jacobs speaking.”
Whatever the person said was lost in the sounds of the crowd around her. It was too loud. She blocked her other ear and moved toward the side of the house. “Hello? Can you hear me?”
The person responded, but all she heard was a muffled male voice.
Damn. It was still too loud. She jogged to the side of the house, rounding the building. “Hello? Can you hear me now?”
She was walking beside the long lap pool when the snap of a stick cracking sounded behind her. Before she could turn, a hard shove to the shoulder had her arms swinging wide and air rushing at her face.
The phone fell from her fingers, and a scream ripped from her chest moments before her body hit the water and she sank below the surface.
Erik noddedas his father explained the work they were doing on the guesthouse at the back of their property. It was extensive, and there was no part of Erik that thought his father should be working on it.
“You’re getting contractors in though, aren’t you? You’re not trying to do any of the work yourself? Not with your arrythmia.”
There was a small whitening of his father’s knuckles on his glass. His dad hated that he couldn’t do as much as he used to. “Don’t worry, your mother has made sure we use contractors.”
Good. That made him feel better. Because what Jennifer Hunter wanted, she got.
Erik’s gaze returned to the spot where Hannah had been. Even though he wasn’t with her, he’d had eyes on her all night. She’d been with Brigid at a table, then the two women had been hugging, but now she was gone.
Fuck, where’d she go? To the bathroom? He scanned the dance floor, spotting Henry but not Hannah.
He clenched his father’s shoulder. “Sorry, Dad, I need to check on Hannah.”
“You go, son.”
Erik was moving toward the doors to the house when his mother touched his arm. “Darling, where are you off to?”
“I’m looking for Hannah. Have you seen her?”
His mother’s brows rose. “Actually, yes. She was on the phone and walking around the side of the house.”
“Thank you.”
He’d just started moving in that direction when a scream sounded. It was faint below the music and the chatter of guests, but it was there.
When he heard the distant splash of water, his blood ran cold.
Hannah couldn’t swim…
His heart jumped into his throat. Praying it wasn’t her, Erik sprinted toward the side of the house, passing Andi and Nate, ignoring their questioning gazes.
He rounded the corner to see Hannah in the pool, her arms flailing, head bobbing in and out of the water.
He didn’t think. He threw off his jacket and dove into the pool. The second she was within reaching distance, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to the surface. Immediately, her arms wrapped around his neck, her legs around his waist.
“Erik!” she sputtered, latching onto him so tightly, she almost choked him. Her breaths moved quickly, but she wasn’t coughing. And at least the water was warm.
He cupped her cheek and studied her pale features. “Are you okay?”
