Going All In (31 page)

She swiped her hands across her cheeks, sweeping away the tears, then shot to her feet and back into action. She’d been vaguely aware of the activity around her—it was hard to miss a helicopter circling overhead, creating a mini-hurricane—but the coast guard had taken over the care of Tyler and Alex, leaving Wade as her only concern.

She grabbed the wool blanket Alex left lying on the bench as the coast guard crewman prepared him for liftoff, and draped it around Wade’s shoulders. “Get out of that suit, and I’ll get your clothes. They’re a little damp, but they have to be better than the cold, wet suit.”

“Callie, I’m fine.” He tried to grab her arm to bring her back to him, but she shook him off and charged toward the front of the boat and his clothes.

“I know you’re fine.” Reciting her mantra in the face of this new concern grounded her, so she kept it going. “You’re all going to be fine. Perfectly fine. But you need to get into dry clothes.” A tinge of hysteria crept into her voice, but she couldn’t keep it out. She was barely keeping herself together, and any thoughts of something else going awry would topple her into never-never land.

“Callie, please…”

She saw Wade studying her from the corner of her eye, but conversation wasn’t getting him warm, and she refused to answer. When it became obvious she wasn’t going to respond to his plea, he began stripping off the rest of his gear. Alex had already been hoisted into the helicopter, and while one of the crewmen readied Tyler, the other evaluated Wade.

Even though everyone agreed he had mild hypothermia, he refused to be transported to the hospital. He assured the coast guard he would stay wrapped up in blankets, use Callie’s body heat to supplement his own, and go easy on the return trip to keep jarring to a minimum.

She had no idea how he planned to get through the inlet without being beaten to pieces, but she kept her mouth shut and didn’t argue.

As soon as the helicopter lifted away and the fishermen who’d boarded the dive boat made their way back to their own vessel, Wade grabbed Callie and wrapped her in a desperate, nearly suffocating hug.

“I’m so fucking glad to see you.” The words were broken and filled with emotion as he buried his face in her hair.

Returning the hug with equal intensity, she allowed a shiver to run through her as she considered how badly things could’ve ended, but she refused to break down again. “I’ve never been so scared in my life. God, I knew you wouldn’t come back up without him—” Her voice broke on the crest of a sob, so she cut off the words and focused on the tight, strong arms wrapped around her and the solid mass of his body pressed against hers.

They clung to each for what seemed like forever, afraid of letting go for fear the other would slip away—for good this time. After a while, when his trembling subsided and her nervous jitters waned, he leaned back and brushed her hair away from her eyes.

Pressing his forehead to hers, he said, “I could stand here and hold you like this forever. But we need to get going before the weather gets us and we have to deal with that too.”

Wade planned to meet up with the boat owner at the dock, turn over the keys and gear, then get in his truck and drive to Charleston. She, however, had different plans, and as soon as her phone picked up a cellular tower, she sent Jen a text.

Emergency. Need Raul to drive us to Roper Hospital in Charleston. K?

Thirty seconds later, she received a text back:

OMG! Of course! R u ok? Where do u need him 2 b?

Through a series of texts, she gave Jen the location of the marina, briefly explained the situation, and asked Jen not to tell anyone else so Wade wouldn’t have additional drama to deal with. For all of her faults, Jen was fantastic at discretion and keeping secrets… probably because she had so many of her own.

When they pulled into the marina, Wade glanced at the shiny black car, then did a double take as Jen started waving. He didn’t say anything about the unexpected welcoming committee, but the muscle in his jaw jumped a few times, indicating he had some pretty strong thoughts on the subject—none of them good. While he met with the boat owner, she grabbed their blankets, towels, and coats, then made her way to the parking lot.

Raul was serious, as usual, and silently nodded in greeting from his post by the driver’s door. Jen was even more serious, definitely not the usual, as she gave Callie an appraising look, then charged and threw her hands around Callie’s neck, nearly knocking her off her feet.

“Thank God you’re okay.” She stepped back and checked Callie again from head to toe, then pulled her into another quick hug. “Do you want me to go with you to Charleston?”

Callie’s brain had a difficult time processing Jen’s question, since she was normally bossy and overbearing and never asked Callie what she wanted, but instead usually took control of every situation and told Callie how things would go.

After a moment, Callie said, “I don’t know how long we’ll be, and we’ll be bringing Alex and Tyler back with us.” Plus, if Wade felt up to it, she had some life-affirming activities planned for the back of the car, and privacy was a must. “I’d rather go alone, if you don’t mind.”

She held her breath and waited for Jen’s reaction to the rejection, but rather than getting ugly, she smiled and grabbed Callie’s hand, then gave her another hug. “I’ve never seen you like this over anyone.” She glanced to Wade, who was walking to his truck with his gear. “Not even Gavin. I don’t get it, but you obviously care a lot about him, so I’m glad he’s okay.” She returned her attention to Callie and grinned. “I can’t believe you called the coast guard and saved the freaking day.”

Callie opened her mouth to clarify she’d just made the call; the coast guard and fishermen had saved the day, but Jen stopped the flow of words by adding, “My little girl is growing up.”

Speechless and unable to respond, Callie stood with her mouth open, staring at her friend. She never realized Jen saw her as being little or small and incapable of handling herself, but that certainly explained a lot. Like why Jen always felt the need to direct Callie, even when Callie didn’t want or need Jen’s overbearing mothering.

Maybe something good had come from the day’s horrible events and they’d finally be able to find some kind of equal footing. It would be nice to leave the constant tension between them in the past.

Wade stepped up behind Callie and pressed a hand to the small of her back. “I need to get going. Are you staying here?”

“Hell no.” She took a deep breath and made eye contact with Jen, warning her to stay out of the impending discussion, then turned to Wade with a smile. “And you’re not driving. Raul is.”

His eyebrow rose a notch and he blinked a few times, but other than that, his face remained a blank mask. Realizing he didn’t know Raul and might even think the car and driver were hers, she quickly added, “Raul is Jen’s driver, and he’s here to take us to Charleston. You’ve been through a lot today, and you have to be tired. I would imagine you’re going to have an adrenaline crash, and the hypothermia will leave you tired as well.”

As his eyebrow notched a little higher, she held up her phone and smiled.

“Google. As soon as we got back into cell range, I checked the symptoms and researched what to do to help you. Let Raul drive us so you can rest. Depending on how long we have to wait for Tyler and Alex, we might even need the car for naps. When they’re ready to come home, we can bring them back with us in this, which will be a much smoother ride than your bouncy truck.”

He still didn’t look convinced, so she gave him a sassy smile, stood on tiptoes to whisper in his ear, and pulled out the big guns of persuasion. “I’ve never had limo sex. Have you?”

His eyes narrowed and his shoulders stiffened as a little choking cough escaped his throat. “You don’t fight fair.”

She shrugged apologetically. “Did it work?”

He looked intrigued, but not entirely convinced, so this time she appealed to his emotional side. Framing his face with her hands, she held his head and his gaze. “Please let him drive so you can ride in the back with me. I want to hold you all the way there to reassure myself you’re really okay.”

The muscle in his jaw tensed, then he pressed his lips together and shifted his gaze to the car. It wasn’t a full capitulation, but the tide was turning, so before he flat-out refused again, she tossed her keys to Jen and said, “Take my car home. I’ll get it from you when I get back to town. I’ll keep you posted on what’s happening and when we’ll be back. Thanks for letting Raul help us.”

“Of course. What’s mine is yours. You know that.” Another quick hug and then a hurried, “I love you,” left Callie speechless for the second time in five minutes.

As Jen rushed off to Callie’s car, Raul came around to the passenger side and opened the door. Speaking to Wade, he said, “I’ve contacted DAN for an update on your friends. They’re in chambers and doing well. I have directions to the hospital and will take you directly to them.”

Everything about Wade’s demeanor softened and relaxed. He seemed surprised and a little overcome as he extended his hand to Raul for a shake. “Thank you.” Emotion cracked the words, so he cleared his throat and nodded once, then motioned for Callie to get into the car ahead of him.

The car was neither super-stretch nor over-the-top fancy, but it worked well for Jen and her friends and would be great for today’s needs. A single seat ran along the left side, then wrapped around the front, backing up to the driver. A short seat ran along the ride side, and a bar was sandwiched between the end of the seat and the door.

The privacy glass was already raised, which was incredibly convenient because Callie probably would’ve been too nervous and backed out—or fumbled around and made a mess of things trying to raise it herself. Not to mention never being able to make eye contact with Raul again.

Callie set her bag and the stack of blankets and jackets on the floor, then sat on the long seat and waited for Wade to join her. “Do you know Raul?” she asked once the door was shut and they were closed in together.

Wade glanced at her, then continued his perusal of the interior of the car. “Do I look like the kind of guy who knows limo drivers?”

Ignoring his cranky tone, she said, “Then how does he know your friend, Dan?”

He stretched his long legs out in front of him, rested his arm across the back of the seat, and laid his head back, showing for the first time his exhaustion and the toll the day had taken. “DAN stands for Divers Alert Network. They coordinate with the coast guard when there are diving accidents. He must dive himself or has friends who do.”

Callie tried to imagine Raul diving but had a hard time envisioning him doing anything but driving a car. He’d worked for Jen’s father for years, but like so many people in her life, Callie realized she didn’t know anything about him personally.

Taking Wade’s outstretched arm as an invitation to curl up against his side, she grabbed the heavy wool blanket and sidled up next to him. A wave of contentment rushed through her and escaped on a sigh when he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her tight.

Resting her head on his chest, she stretched her arm around his side and squeezed. “They’re going to be okay, right?”

“Yeah, they’ll be fine now that they’re in the decompression chamber. Alex would’ve been fine eventually. Although his life would’ve been hell for a while. But Tyler was down there a long time.” He scrubbed his hand over his face and stared at the ceiling. Speaking quietly, and more to himself than her, he said, “He was so close to being out of air. There wasn’t any way to do safety stops, so the bends would’ve hit quickly. He’d have been in deep shit without the chamber.”

She shivered against the chill of his words as well as the cooler-than-normal temperature radiating from his body. She’d stayed wrapped around him all the way back into shore, like she was riding on the back of a motorcycle, and thought she’d helped warm him a little. His body temperature, however, still seemed well below normal.

Snuggling closer, she asked, “What about you? Do you need the chamber?”

“No, I’m fine. I wasn’t down long enough to get into trouble.”

“What about the hypothermia? Are you warming up at all?”

He tipped his head to the side and looked at her through the fringe of his lashes while flexing his arm to tighten his grip on her. “Oh, yeah. You always heat me up.” Her pulse fluttered as his eyes softened and he swallowed deeply. “You’re incredible, you know that?”

Warmth spread through her at the pride radiating from him… and with the pride she had in herself for handling the situation so much better than anyone—including herself—would’ve expected. She didn’t ever want to go through anything like that again, but she’d proved she could handle stressful, life-threatening situations if necessary, and she was damned proud.

“Hey.” Wade tipped up her chin and swiped his thumb across her cheek, gathering a stream of tears she didn’t even realize were falling. “Don’t cry, baby. It’s all over now, and everyone, including you, is fine.”

She bit her lip to fight off the tremble as her mind broke loose and she lost control of her emotions again. “I wasn’t worried about me. You could’ve died down there. You
would
have if you hadn’t found him.”

She didn’t pose it as a question. She didn’t need to. She knew the deal as well as him, and the tic in his jaw, along with the raw intensity radiating from his eyes, was further confirmation.

“But I did find him. And thanks to you, the coast guard was waiting and now they’re getting the treatment they need.”

“I was scared.”

He closed his eyes and wrapped his other arm around her to pull her onto his lap. “So was I, baby. But it’s over now, and I’m damn glad that’s not the way the story… our story… ended.”

They sat in silence, curled together, each lost to their own thoughts. After a moment, she said, “Wade?”

“Hmmm?”

“I’m ready.”

He cracked his eyes open and caught her gaze. “Ready for what, baby?”

“For you to make love to me.”