Coast Guard Sweetheart by Lisa Carter Page B

the inlet seemed ages ago. He had to be exhausted.
    â€œI’ll find them, Max.” Sawyer unclamped Max’s arms and legs from his torso. “I promised you. And I keep my promises.”
    His gaze shot to hers as if he expected her to argue. “Only way I could get Max to leave the cabin. The dogs are stuck underneath the lattice under the cabin porch.”
    She pulled at her nephew. “Let him go, Max. You’re wasting time Blackie and Ajax may need.”
    Max reattached his stranglehold to her. She reeled. Sawyer’s arms went around her and steadied her from toppling off the porch.
    Caught between them, Max’s body quivered with cold. She found herself inches from Sawyer’s face. The closest in three years to the man who’d never stopped haunting her dreams.
    And when he looked at her that way... Her mouth went dry. As if he still...
    â€œI—I wish you wouldn’t go back out there. I don’t want anything to happen to the dogs. But...” Her heart pounded with fear. “I don’t want anything to happen to you, either.”
    His arms tightened around her and Max. Something raw, something stark, eased in his expression. His lips brushed across her forehead.
    She drew a quick indrawn breath.
    â€œI’m tougher than I look.” He smiled at his deliberate mimicry of her earlier words. “Take care of Max. Okay?”
    Mute, she watched him trudge down what used to be the steps and through the water toward the woods. Her heart torn in two, she forced herself to retreat inside the house. She carried Max upstairs and busied herself by getting him out of his wet clothes and into dry ones. Max insisted on getting into Mimi’s bed where he snuggled his cheek against Amelia’s pillowcase.
    She rummaged through the cardboard box of kitchen supplies she’d carried upstairs before Sawyer arrived. From the thermos of hot water, she fixed a cup of hot chocolate for Max. He practically inhaled the stale Long John donuts left over from breakfast yesterday when the lodge’s last guests departed.
    Every few moments, however, she rushed to the window, scanning the darkening landscape for signs of Sawyer. He should have returned by now. What was taking so long?
    Nightmare scenarios erupted in her mind. Sawyer trapped under the wooden planks of the porch with the dogs. The water rising. The pocket of air diminishing. Sawyer gasping for breath. Going under. Not coming up—
    Something yellow bobbed in the fading light. Sawyer... Floundering. His strength giving out. It was a long way to swim. A river of oceanic tide separated him from the house. Two small canine heads dog-paddled beside him.
    Honey sucked in a breath and bounded down the stairs. Sloshing through the knee-deep water, she wrenched open the door. “God, please, help him!” The wind snatched her words away.
    She edged as far as she dared on the porch. Two lines tethered the dogs to Sawyer’s chest. If one of the dogs were to get snagged on the swirling mass of debris floating past the house, they’d go under and drag Sawyer with them.
    â€œYou crazy, stupid man. Let go of them,” she hollered into the wind, knowing he couldn’t hear.
    What was he trying to prove? Risking his life for Max’s dogs. Her fear and anger rose. If he didn’t drown, she was going to kill Sawyer for scaring her like this.
    She clenched her fists. Her head throbbed. His long strokes faltered. Two strokes forward, the wall of water pushed him back three. He was losing ground. He’d never make it.
    A shutter tore free from the corner of the porch and flew across the expanse. It smacked Sawyer broadside before careening into the wind. He went under.
    Without stopping to think, she dove into the water. She cupped her palms, forcing her body through the churning water. She dodged a lawn chair. She narrowly avoided smashing her head against the battering ram of a downed tree.
    She reached