Bearly Breathing (Werebears of New Hampshire #1)(12)

Rebecca was struggling to control her kayak when the first wave hit her. Her body jerked forward and the paddle went flying out of her hands.

Connor paddled as hard as he could. He reached her kayak just in time and grabbed it as it was about to flip over.

He glanced up the river. Sidney was in the water clutching onto Angie’s kayak. The tail of his kayak was sticking out of the water and sinking, along with all of the supplies. It looked like they’d be sleeping in the rain tonight.

Grace screamed as her kayak flipped over and she plunged under the water. Edwin flew over to her and reached under the water. He pulled Grace out with one hand and pulled her onto his kayak. He held her up with his arm around her. She was coughing and drenched but she was okay.

Connor’s pulse raced as he turned and saw bigger waves coming around the bend. They smashed into the kayakers with force. The wind and rain slashed into them and the current was speeding up and getting out of control. Angie’s kayak disappeared down the river traveling at an incredible speed.

Connor held onto Rebecca’s kayak so hard that his knuckles burned and then went numb. There was a fork in the river up ahead. Edwin struggled to keep his kayak left but couldn’t steer properly with Grace on his lap. Their kayak veered right and disappeared out of view.

Connor tried to follow them but it was hard steering two kayaks with only one hand. A large wave smashed into them and they both flipped over. Connor released the kayaks and swam to the surface. He looked around frantically for Rebecca. He couldn’t find her. The rain was pelting into his face, making it hard to see. He was flying down the fast current.

He started to panic when she still didn’t surface. “Rebecca!” he screamed. Their kayaks were far down the river, way out of reach.

He whipped his head around looking for a sign of her when he saw a flash of pink rise to the surface of the water. He swam as fast as he could, cutting into the water with frantic strokes. She was being held down by the strong current.

He grabbed her under the arms and yanked her above the water. She desperately gasped for air. Her eyes were wide open and she breathed in quick, violent breaths. Her chest was heaving. She wrapped her arms around Connor’s neck as a flash of lightning lit up the sky, quickly followed by deafening thunder.

The current was taking them down the river fast. Connor held onto Rebecca tight and kicked towards the river bank. They had traveled another hundred yards by the time that he reached the land. They stumbled out of the water and both collapsed on the wet grass.

They took in deep, heavy breaths and stared at the dark cloud moving away overhead. The late evening sun peeked out as the river calmed back down.

“What the hell was that?” Rebecca asked, sitting up.

“Flash flood,” Connor said. The clouds were passing and the sky was clearing up again. “That was so weird. I’ve never seen anything like that before.”


Rebecca looked down the river. “I hope the others are okay.”

“I’m sure they are,” Connor said. “Sidney and Edwin are experts.” He bit his lip.

Rebecca looked at him and smiled. Her sunglasses were long gone somewhere at the bottom of the river. He could see her stunning brown eyes. “I guess it’s just us for the night.”

Connor looked up. The sun was beginning to set. Light streaks of pink painted the sky. The universe had given him a chance.

He had one night.





CONNOR AND REBECCA





seven





Rebecca wrung out her wet tank top on the ground and glanced back at the river. That was close. She was held under the water a little too long.

Her throat was on fire. Her lungs desperate for breath. She could see the surface of the river and was kicking with all her might but the current kept holding her down. Her reflex was just about to kick in and she was about to inhale a lungful of water when strong arms wrapped around her and lifted her up.

Nothing had been so glorious as that breath of air.

Connor was beside her on the river bank in his bathing suit, bare chested, wringing out his shirt. His hard arms flexed and tightened as he twisted on the fabric.

Well almost nothing as glorious.

“Can we walk back?” Rebecca asked him.

“No,” he said, running his hand through his wavy hair. “It’s going to be dark in about half an hour. We’ll have to camp here for the night.”

“We have no stuff.” The thought of sleeping on the ground covered in ants and spiders wasn’t too appealing.

“We’ll walk around. Find something for shelter. I’ll find some food.”

“You’re just going to find some food?” she asked, with a chuckle. “Like a granola bar tree or something.”

He flashed his dimples. “Something like that.”

They walked for awhile as it started to get dark. They chatted lightly about her work. She told him about her kids in her kindergarten class, how much she loved them, how much she loved not seeing them all summer even more. He listened attentively and asked pointed questions. He stopped every few minutes and picked at a plant.

“These are ostrich ferns,” he said, pulling up a handful of the small plants with the tightly curled heads. “They’re a bit bitter raw but you can eat them.” He wrapped them in his shirt and they kept walking. He stopped at another bush and waited for her to finish what she was saying. “This is a Jerusalem artichoke.” He pulled up the plant and there was a long root underneath that looked like a potato. “We’ll cook this up. It will be great.” He stuffed it into his already overflowing shirt.