“Gabe! Oh my God, I thought… I thought you were swept away.” She was running toward him, and now that he was out of the roar of the water, he could hear the sloshing noises from her shoes and drenched jacket. She was soaked, completely. Water streamed from her hair and off her clothes. She didn’t stop running until she reached him and all but jumped into his arms. “Oh my God, I thought you were gone.”

She was shaking wildly. Gabe allowed his arms to lock around her waist. He held her against him as he caught his breath. The life vest acted as a blockade above the navel, making her hips and thighs and arms stand out more acutely as they pressed against him, enticing and yielding, the only seemingly real thing in the world for too short a time.

She pulled away half a minute later, swiping at the tears running down her cheeks as if they were the only wet parts of her. “Are you hurt?”

As the adrenaline wore off, the scratches on his back were burning, and his spine felt somewhere between hot and numb from the direct smack by the branch. He’d probably feel it even more tomorrow than he did now. “I’m fine,” he said aloud. “Thanks to that tree. What about the dog? Did he make it out?”

She nodded. “He’s okay. Thanks to you. But he came out too far away for us to catch him. When we saw you coming out of the water over here, the kids left to try to chase him down. He ran in the direction of the river access, and unless he runs back into the water, he won’t be able to go far.”

Gabe followed her as she wove through the strip of trees and over sloshy ground. Water was falling off him in sheets. When they reached open grass, he closed his palm over the small of her back. “Let’s get to my truck. I’ve got some dry clothes in back. They may not be the best fit, but they’ll feel better than what you’re wearing. And Samson can help us find that dog.”

Chapter 6

Maybe she’d never realized it before, but there were few things in life more rewarding than a good heater when you needed it. Especially the ones that blew from dashboard vents onto your face and hands with the strength of a blow-dryer set to medium.