Saved by Love (Willow Valley Book 3)(33)

The pain was still there. It probably always would be. But she was starting to think she could live with it more easily now. Ethan had brought a breath of fresh air into her life and she had a reason to get out there and live it again. She tucked her memories of Derek back into the corner of her heart, knowing he’d always be part of who she was, but she was ready to move forward.

Pushing herself up from her beach towel, Abby made her way to the shoreline, shading her eyes as she watched the surfers. Ethan was incredible. He navigated the waves like a pro.

She noticed a flurry of movement to the left of him and looked over to see Braden and the other guys waving wildly, trying to get Ethan’s attention. Just then, a huge wave swelled behind him and he positioned his board. The guys waved their arms even bigger, but Ethan didn’t seem to notice. He got right up on the wave as it began to crest and looked as if he was going to ride it all the way to the end, but then he caught sight of the guys and jerked his head around, losing his balance.

He fell off the board and the wave came crashing down on top of him. Abby waited for him to resurface, and after a few seconds when she didn’t see him she began to panic. Why wasn’t he coming to the surface?

His board popped up out of the water, the ankle strap flying high into the air.

Not attached to Ethan.

Abby began seeing white spots in her vision, pricking at her eyelids as she squeezed them closed, willing Ethan to be there when she reopened them. But when she peeked again, he wasn’t there.

“Ethan!” she screamed over and over again, her throat feeling raw.

She started to rush into the water, not even sure what she planned on doing, just knowing that she had to do something. Someone caught her by the arm and she spun around.

Braden shook his head at her, his grip like a vise on her arm. “You can’t go in there,” he said roughly, his eyes scanning the surface of the sea.

“Where is he? What happened? I can’t just stand here.” She knew she was screaming at him, but she couldn’t help it. Fear gripped her and wouldn’t let go.

“Bryce is making the call.” He nodded toward his brother, who had run up to their stuff on the beach and was on his phone.

“Call? What call?” Abby was in full-fledged panic mode now. She struggled against Braden’s hold on her arm, but it was useless. He wasn’t letting her go.

“Nine-one-one.” Abby’s chest seized up at his next words and she couldn’t breathe. “There’s an undertow out there and I think I spotted a shark.”

She didn’t hear anything he said next because her legs felt numb. The last thing she said as she collapsed on the sand, her vision blinking out, was, “Please, God, not again.”





CHAPTER ELEVEN





“I think she’s coming around.”

A flurry of voices was sounding at the edge of Ethan’s consciousness, but he was too focused on Abby to worry about what anyone was saying. She was lying on her back in the sand just a few feet from the water’s edge where Braden had carried her when he said she’d passed out.

“Abby! Abby, can you hear me?” Please let her be okay. His friends said she’d been out for only a few minutes, and he’d only just arrived on the scene. “Abby!” He cradled her head, rubbing her cheek and praying she’d wake up soon.

He felt a pull on his shoulder and glanced up to find Braden staring down at him. He had to focus to listen to what he was saying. “Dude, you have to get checked out. Let the paramedics take care of her. She’ll be fine. You’re the one I’m worried about.”

“I’m fine,” Ethan said tersely. He turned his attention back to Abby. When he’d been knocked off his board, a strong current had started to pull him under, but he’d been doing this long enough to know what to do. Fighting it only made things worse. He’d relaxed until he the current eased up enough for him to swim parallel to the shore and get out of it. By the time he made it up to the beach, everyone on the beach who wasn’t frantically looking for him was crowded around Abby. He was tired, but other than some strained muscles he was fine.

Abby moaned and started flailing her arms around, groggily trying to sit up. “Where is he?” she yelled. Or tried to. Her voice was really hoarse. “Derek? Did you find him?”

Derek? Ethan tried to pull her into his arms and murmur soothing words to her, hoping to calm her down so he could make sure she was okay. The paramedics had just arrived and were now clearing people away and getting down on the sand in front of Abby. They tried to get him to move aside, but he refused. He wasn’t leaving her for a second.

She pushed against his grasp on her, struggling to push herself up. “Where is Derek?” Her eyes were confused and she seemed disoriented as she looked first at the paramedics, then at the beach around her, and finally at him. “Ethan?” she asked, confusion evident in her expression. “Wait, what happened?”

She put her head in her hands and rubbed her face, then looked back at him, a little more lucid. “Ethan, oh my God, you’re here. You’re alive. Are you okay?” She flung her arms around him as a sob escaped, her body shaking violently against his.

“Get her a blanket,” he ordered the paramedics. “I think she may be going into shock.” He’d seen it plenty of times at the scene of an accident. He stroked her hair, trying to comfort her. “Shh, it’s okay, baby.”