you. If you really want Nora and you really love her, then you have to fight for her.”
The following day, I headed out to Otter Cove Harbor with Nathan Winters on a silver salmon fishing jaunt. When I told Daphne he’d texted me about the open spot on the boat, she was delighted and already planning what she might cook with the fresh salmon.
The gravel crunched under my feet as I walked across the parking area. I paused at the top of the docks, looking beyond the harbor into Kachemak Bay. I knew for a fact there were postcards of this view because I’d sent one to my sister just last summer.
It wasn’t long before we were headed out into the bay. After Elias’s wedding and all the fucking feelings it’d brought up for me, I was relieved to be out on the water. There was a light breeze today, and the crisp, salt-tinged air was refreshing. The group caught their limit pretty quickly, and we were on our way back when we heard a mayday call over the radio. Nathan glanced at me. “We’re about fifteen minutes from those coordinates.”
“Let’s head over that way. The Coast Guard will come too, right?”
“Oh, yeah,” he replied quickly. “They’ll send out a rescue team right away. It’s just we’re closer than they are.”
We hightailed it over there. It was hard to tell what happened, but the boat was well on its way to sinking. A group of passengers huddled in a lifeboat, and Nathan cut his speed down to no-wake. We reached the group and quickly got everyone on board.
“What happened?” I asked one of the guys once he was off the lifeboat and onto ours.
He looked distressed. “I’m not sure,” he said, his teeth chattering. “We started taking on water, so I’m guessing we hit a rock underwater or something.”
We were on the far side of the bay now, and there were rocks underwater in the shallower areas. Anyone traveling by boat in this area needed to use caution. Nathan was using his sonar to watch for them, but the unexpected still happened.
“Gabriel,” Nathan called quickly.
When I glanced his way, he gestured to the cabin below. “We’ve got towels and dry clothes down there. Can you get everyone down there? Also, two people didn’t make it onto the lifeboat. I couldn’t see them before, but I’m going to move closer while you get everyone below.”
“Got it.” I beat feet into the cabin and quickly got everybody situated with towels and dry clothing before hurrying back up to check with Nathan. Considering Nathan and his brothers guided trips for a living, the boat was stocked with enough dry clothing for everyone to change into.
By the time I returned to the deck only moments later, Nathan had gotten close enough for us to see the two remaining passengers. They were clinging to the sinking boat on the far side from where we’d approached. We needed to move fast to get them to safety before gravity took over and pulled the boat underwater. By this point, it was listing heavily to one side.
I glanced at Nathan. “If you can bring the boat over that way”—I gestured to the closest corner where the passengers were clinging to the side—“I think we can probably get the throw ring to them.”
Nathan nodded. “Let’s do it.”
We had no time to waste, and he motored over as quickly as he could without creating a wake to add to the situation. A teenage boy and a young woman were both clearly distressed but staying calm.
“Here’s the plan,” I called over. “I’m going to toss the ring as close as I can. We need you to do this one at a time. As soon as the throw ring hits the water, jump off, swim to it, and we’ll get you on the boat. We have two throw rings, so I’m going to toss them out one after the other. We need to do this quickly, okay?”
The teenage boy called over, “She needs to go first. She’s more tired than I am.”
The woman opened her mouth to argue, and the teenager shook his head firmly. “I can hang on.”
“We’re going to try to get both of you at the same time. I’m gonna toss one this way and one the other.” I gestured in two directions.
The boy made it quickly to the throw ring, but the woman started to struggle in the water. I called back to Nathan. “I’m gonna dive in