burst through the surface, she circled frantically. “Dev! Dev!”
The rescue boat was only yards away and Leslie thought she recognized the
woman they pulled aboard. The one Dev had been towing. Dev wasn’t there.
Dev wasn’t anywhere. No. No no no. She
circled one more time, and suddenly Dev surfaced just beyond arm’s reach. Her
face was contorted with pain and even as Leslie’s heart thrilled with elation, Dev
slid beneath the water and did not come up.
Jackkni? ng, Leslie plunged head? rst and reached her within seconds.
She grabbed Dev’s hand and dragged her up into the air.
Dev coughed and gagged as Leslie grabbed her shirt.
“You’re okay, sweetheart. You’re okay. I’ve got you,” Leslie gasped.
“That…woman…lost her,” Dev wheezed. “Need to…look.”
“She’s okay. She’s in the boat. Can you swim? Dev! Can you swim?”
Dev shook her head. “Cramp in my…hip. Can’t…”
“You hold on to me.” Leslie gripped Dev’s shirt so hard her ? ngers went
numb. “You hear me? You hold on to me, and I’ll get you to shore.”
Dev didn’t answer, but she did her best to help Leslie as Leslie swam them both
toward safety. Natalie waded out into chest-high water to meet them and
grabbed Dev around the waist.
“I’ve got her,” Natalie said.
Leslie kept swimming, her hold on Dev never loosening. She didn’t feel the cold
or the pain in her arms and legs or the burning in her lungs. All she knew was
that she would not lose Dev. Not ever again.
“Leslie,” Natalie shouted. “Let go. I’ve got her.”
Eileen joined Natalie and wrapped her arm around Leslie. “It’s all right, sweetie.
It’s all right. Let Natalie help you. Let go now.”
Natalie and Eileen dragged Dev and Leslie onto the bank.
Slumping down, shivering violently, Leslie pulled Dev into her lap.
She pressed Dev’s face to her breasts and wrapped her as tightly as she could
in her arms. Dev’s lips were blue, her face terrifyingly white.
“Dev, love, are you all right?” Leslie cried. She brushed Dev’s hair from her
face, stroked her cheek, kissed her forehead. “Dev?”
“I’m okay,” Dev gasped. “Les, I’m okay.”
Natalie draped a rescue blanket around Leslie’s shoulders and another over
Dev.
“It’ll be a while before we can get her to an ambulance,” Natalie said. “They’re
overloaded and transporting victims as fast as they can.”
“Don’t need an ambulance,” Dev said, her teeth chattering. “Just need to get
warm.”
“Go help the others, Natalie,” Leslie said, rubbing Dev’s back and arms. “I’ll
take care of her.”
Natalie smiled and brie? y touched Leslie’s cheek. “I know you will. I’ll be
back. You stay warm too.”
Leslie closed her eyes and cradled Dev, absolutely certain that there was
nothing else in the world she wanted except Dev. She closed her eyes, ? ghting
to stay awake. The sound of an engine approaching ? nally roused her. Her
father guided his motorized cart up next to them.
“Can you get her up in here, honey? I’ll take you both up to the lodge.”
Dev opened her eyes and met Leslie’s. “I can make it if you give me a hand.”
“You bet,” Leslie said, kissing Dev softly on the mouth.
“Anytime.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
As soon as her father dropped Leslie and Dev off in front of the lodge and
hurried back down the hill to help transport other injured, Leslie took Dev
upstairs, raided her parents’ closet for dry clothes, and led her into one of the
empty guestrooms.
“Let me help you get your clothes off,” Leslie said, tugging Dev’s shirt from her
jeans.
“I got it,” Dev rasped. “You get undressed too. You’re shaking.”
“At least I’m not blue,” Leslie snapped, still remembering the terror of watching
Dev slide beneath the surface of the lake. “Oh, God, I’m sorry.” She brushed a
trembling hand over her face. “I was just so scared.” She pulled Dev, wet
clothes and all, into her arms and hugged her close. “I was afraid I was going to
lose you. I couldn’t bear it, Dev.
I just couldn’t.”
“It’s okay.” Dev wrapped her arms around Leslie’s waist and rocked her.
“We’re both okay.”
Still shaky, but immeasurably comforted by Dev’s rapidly returning strength,
Leslie leaned behind her to turn on the shower, keeping one hand on Dev’s
shoulder. “Let’s get warm, and then I’ll ? nd something for us to wear.”
Wordlessly, Dev stripped off the rest of her clothes and stumbled into the
steaming water, leaving the door ajar for Leslie to follow. For long moments she
leaned against the wall, not speaking, eyes closed, her hand linked with Leslie’s.
As the heat penetrated her body, her mind cleared. With clarity came disbelief.
The events at the lake seemed like a surreal dream, a nightmare that had slid into
her consciousness, leaving indelible images of horror behind.
“I still can’t believe it,” Leslie whispered, seeming to read Dev’s mind.
“Neither can I.” Dev ? ung her hair back out of her face and met Leslie’s eyes.
“You’re amazing. I can’t even guess how many people you just saved.”
Tears brimmed in Leslie’s eyes. “No more than you.”
Dev shook her head. “I never could swim like you. I think you made two trips
to my one. Jesus, Les. Are you okay?”
“I have no idea.” Leslie’s smile was brittle. “All I know is that you’re here and
that’s all that matters.”
“I love you,” Dev said, gently drawing Leslie back into her arms.
She rested her cheek against Leslie’s hair. “And it feels so good.”
“Better than anything in the world.” Leslie kissed the base of Dev’s throat, then
her mouth.
A few minutes later, dressed in borrowed pants and sweatshirts, barefoot
except for thick socks, Dev and Leslie went back downstairs.
Leslie carried another sweatshirt under one arm.
“The sun is going down,” Dev observed as she walked to the front window.
“It’s going to get cold pretty fast. Looks like they’ve got almost everyone into
the ambulances now.”
“Can you start a ? re in the great room?” Leslie asked Dev. “I’m going to take
