She went back to flipping the pages of her sketchbook, and her pulse quickened at a sketch of Brant Remington. Too hot and charming for his own good, the dimple-cheeked, flirtatious man had been hitting on her since the day they’d met, when she’d first come to the island. He made her feel things she’d never felt before, like the butterflies currently taking flight in her stomach at the mere thought of him. She quickly turned the pages to shut those buggers down, stopping on a drawing she’d been working on of Aiden proposing to Abby the day she and Cait had won the Best of the Island Restaurant Competition. He’d proposed in front of everyone at the award ceremony, like he couldn’t hold back a second longer. Cait couldn’t imagine being loved that much. Abby and Aiden were getting married in the fall, and she planned to give them the picture as a wedding present.
As she began working on the sketch of Abby, wide-eyed and teary, and Aiden down on one knee, looking at her like she was all he ever wanted, Cait filled with longing to be as openhearted as they were. She was anything but open, especially toward men.
A high-pitched yelp cut through the silence, bringing Cait to her feet. She brushed the sand from the backs of her legs, trying to figure out where the noise had come from. Splashing sounds and strangled cries sent chills down her spine. She hurried to the water’s edge as more cries rang out, and her eyes caught on ripples coming from the right. She ran along the shore, searching the water with her heart in her throat, and spotted an animal’s tiny snout poking through the surface. It yelped again and went under the water. Oh no! What was that? A cat? She couldn’t let it drown.
“I’m coming!”
Scrambling to untie her boots as fast as she could, she looked around to be sure she was alone and pulled off her top and shorts. She hurried into the water, her feet sinking into the muck at the bottom. When the water hit her waist, she held her arms out to her sides, telling herself she was fine, fine, fine. The cold, murky water inched up her stomach, and the animal’s head bobbed a few yards away, its tiny yelps tearing at her. Her next step met emptiness, and she sank, screaming as she went under and was swallowed by darkness. She fought her way back up toward the surface and gasped for air. Arms flailing, legs kicking, she lunged for the animal—and missed—sinking beneath the surface again. She’d only just found her sisters, and now she was going to drown in the marsh, and nobody would ever find her or the animal she was trying to save! She hadn’t survived the horror of her father just to die in this muck. She fought her way up to the surface and grabbed the tiny beast with one hand, holding its frail body up above her head as she sank again despite her frantic efforts, taking the animal down with her.
Nononono!
She clutched the animal to her chest, holding her breath, one arm grasping for the surface, legs kicking frantically. Something thick and strong circled her waist, hauling her back against something hard. She fought to free herself, clutching the animal she was trying to save. Were there man-eating octopuses or maniacal anacondas on Silver Island? Oh God! Suddenly she was thrust to the surface, and she gasped a breath just as her foot connected with whatever held her, and a deep male voice shouted, “Cait! It’s me!”
Clutching the tiny animal, she looked over her shoulder, catching a glimpse of electric-blue eyes as she sank beneath the surface again…
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