Is It Any Wonder (Nantucket Love Story #2) - Courtney Walsh Page 0,3
had to steady his own thoughts when it came to the ocean.
But then there would also always be a part of him that was filled with rage when it came to these watery depths. A part that refused to let them win.
The seaman at his side tugged the flotation device in and tried again, but the brutal waves poured over the woman’s head, and the weight of the water pulled her under. Her hand slipped off the paddleboard, and she struggled to hold on.
The woman went under again, and after another wave, only her paddleboard surfaced.
Cody hadn’t been promoted to executive petty officer because he was impulsive. Quite the opposite. He was levelheaded. Calm in the face of danger. He prided himself on it.
Maybe it was Nantucket that had cast a spell on him, stealing away all the work he’d done these twelve years to overcome what the ocean had stolen from him. What other explanation could there be for his grabbing a pair of goggles and diving into the angry water, determined not to let this woman drown?
Determined not to let this ocean win.
He glided through the water, the strength of the storm doing little to slow him down. He’d trained for this. He lived for this. To keep the sea from stealing souls—that was the goal. And he didn’t like to lose.
The water wasn’t going to get this woman, no matter how remiss she’d been to go out without checking the forecast. Not today, ocean. If you want her, you’re gonna have to go through me.
He grabbed the floater that was attached to the ship as the woman bobbed up out of the water a few yards away—possibly thrown out by an angry wave. She didn’t appear to be swimming anymore. Cody barreled toward her, catching her under the arms as a wave pounded into both their bodies.
He held on to the life preserver as two seamen pulled them in. They reached the boat, and the men on the deck helped get them on board.
Quickly they sprang into action. Cody tore the goggles off his face and checked to see if she was breathing. Her body had gone limp and her pulse was faint.
“Let me help, sir,” one of the men said, and only then did Cody realize he was doing the job of the entire crew—something he’d likely have to answer for later.
He didn’t care. Maybe he had something to prove. Maybe it was this ocean and this island that needed to be reminded that it couldn’t beat him anymore.
One-two-three, he counted in his head as he administered rescue breaths. No response.
Not a great way to start out his sentence on Nantucket. Back after all these years only to lose one his first day out? That couldn’t happen.
He closed his mouth over hers again. One-two-three.
“We were too late,” one of the seamen said.
Cody shook his head, and just then the woman’s eyes opened, she coughed up a bucket of water, and he turned her over.
Another rescue boat pulled alongside theirs, and Cody’s entire body sighed in relief. Thank you, God.
The woman coughed again, then tried to sit up. She wasn’t small or frail—she was muscular and athletic, the kind of person who made activity a part of her daily life. Would she be ticked off to find out she’d required saving? Lots of women were these days.
But as she shifted and brought her intense blue eyes to his, it wasn’t anger or irritation he found there. It was recognition.
“Cody?”
He leaned back on his heels and studied her face—freckles that trailed across the bridge of her nose, hair darkened by the sea, and familiar eyes as bright as the sky.
“Louisa?” Her name escaped his lips, almost a whisper.
“You two know each other?” Jessup knelt beside him.
She hadn’t looked away since she’d said his name.
Was their entire history flashing through her mind too? Was she wondering where he’d been? Whom he’d loved? Why he was back? Why he never called? Did she want to know how he and his family had survived after they left the island? Or maybe, just maybe, she was thinking of that stupid pact they’d made all those years ago. Back when things were simple and it seemed like there would never be a day they wouldn’t be in each other’s lives.
Of course, it was possible she was thinking none of those things. Maybe she was simply thinking that he was a jerk for saying the things he did.