Love Lift Me by Synthia St. Claire Page B

Kat.”
    “You
brought back my locket?” I looked up into his radiant, forceful eyes and began crying
all over again, but this time, the tears were tears of joy and relief. “I
thought I’d never see it, or you – again. What happened? Where were you?”
    I
quickly pulled my feet out of the water and stood before him on the pier. That
was when I noticed the wide scar that extended down one side of his neck and
under his shirt. The smooth, tanned flesh there had been seared by fire. Shane
noticed and quickly pulled up his collar to hide the injury.
    He
took a slight step backwards and said, “Chapel Hill. After they transported me
there by helicopter, that is. I was discharged about a week ago and I came here
for the case, which got delayed on account of the accident, and so that I could
bring that back to you.”
    “I
don’t know how to thank you,” I said, sobbing and barely able to say anything
at all, and wrapped my arms tightly around him. He looked a little taken aback
by the embrace but gladly accepted it. “You saved my life, Shane.”
    “You
would have done the same for me if you could, no question in my mind.”
    “I
watched the news but they never said your name. Then they stopped reporting on
it. I was so worried that you didn’t make it, after…what happened.”
    “No
way. How could I check out without coming here to see this place…and you?”
    I
laughed into his chest while he held me, caressing my back with his hand in
small circles. There I found the vague hint of his cologne, the same
intoxicating scent that I remembered on the day we met, and the drab little
Watauga bus station with the handsome stranger coming to sit down beside me
filled my mind. He really was here, wasn’t he? I could feel him breathe,
and hear his voice in my ears. Finally sure that he wasn’t a figment of my
imagination, I sniffled and released him to dry my eyes.
    “How did you find me, anyway? I kind of doubt Stokes Pond is something you
can find on a GPS,” I said.
    “You
might be surprised. But no, I made a few calls. Turns out there aren’t a lot of
Atwaters in Kirkland. When I drove up to the address I’d been given, your
father told me you might be out riding. I was just about to give up and come
back tomorrow when I saw this big guy-” Shane thumbed towards Zip, who had
climbed to the top of the footpath in search of grass to eat, and must have
just been visible from the dirt road, “-and I stumbled upon you, and the pier
you told me about on the bus.”
    I
opened the locket and ran a finger over the picture inside. It was thankfully
undamaged. The bloodstains I could faintly remember being wiped across the back
were gone and the silver seemed to gleam with a renewed brilliance.
    “Oh,
I took the liberty of having that cleaned and polished for you,” Shane said.
“It looked like it could use it.”
    “You’re
amazing. Thank you, Shane…for everything.” With a snap, I closed the locket and
let it hang heavily by the chain. In the distance, the last rays of the sun
were drowning in the still reflections of the pond.
    “You
don’t have to thank me, Kat. Just doing what’s right.”
    We
were standing so close. It felt wrong not to be holding onto him. I could tell
by the way he was shuffling his feet that he felt uncomfortable in the same
way.
    “It’ll
be dark soon. You should come up to the house. Have dinner and meet my family,”
I offered.
    “I really wish I could,” he said, and toed a loose plank with his shoe.
“The rest of my team is waiting in Wilmington right now for me, though.
Tomorrow is a huge day and I’m already running late getting prepared for it.”
    “Oh.”
I felt my smile fade a bit, and then he touched my arm.
    “Hey,
I’m serious, Kat. I really do want to. You remember what I asked you on the
bus? Right before?”
    I
nodded. “I never did answer you, did I?”
    Shane
looked down and then back up at me, returning with that wonderful smirk I was
beginning to know