“You know,” I said softly, “I’ve been watching you for years. Since that first day I came to town.” I smoothed a strand of hair from her forehead. “You were unloading boxes at the bakery, laughing with Helen about something, with flour on your forehead.”
The memory was so clear—the way the sunlight had caught in her hair, how she’d stooped to help Nora tie her shoelace before continuing with the boxes. I’d stood across the street, transfixed.
“I wanted to talk to you then. Every day after that, too.” My voice dropped lower, meant only for her, though I knew Declan could hear. “But I was afraid. Afraid you’d see right through me, see all the broken pieces I’ve been trying to hide.”
Declan’s eyes met mine briefly in the mirror, but he remained silent, focused on navigating the icy roads at dangerous speeds.
“The morning Scout chased that rabbit into my pasture—I’d seen you walking him every day for weeks. I’d check the fenceline every damn day in hopes of getting a glimpse of you.” I laughed softly, the sound catching in my throat. “Pathetic, right? A grown man arranging his day around the chance the woman next door would wave at me just so that I could ignore her.”
I held her closer, feeling the shallow rise and fall of her chest against mine. “And then there was the summer festival last year. You wore that blue dress with the little flowers. Nora was running around with sparklers, and you were watching her with this look on your face—like she was the entire world wrapped up in one small person.”
The truck hit a pothole, and I tightened my grip, shielding Ella from the jolt.
“Sorry,” Declan muttered, the first word he’d spoken since we’d started driving.
I barely heard him. “I should have told you sooner how I felt before all this happened. Before Mikhail came back.” My voice broke on his name. “But I kept thinking I wasn’t ready, wasn’t whole enough for someone like you.”
Her eyelids fluttered, and for a moment I thought she might wake. But they remained closed, her breathing still shallow and uneven.
“The truth is, I’ve been falling for you since that first day. Not just because you’re beautiful—thoughGod knows you are—but because of how fiercely you love Nora. How you face each day with a smile and this quiet strength that amazes me.”
I pressed my lips to her forehead, feeling the coldness of her skin. “I need you to fight, Ella. Not just for Nora, not just for yourself. For us. For what we could have been together.”
Despite knowing that she and Mikhail would likely get back together even for just the sake of Nora, I needed her here.
Declan cleared his throat. “Ten minutes out,” he said, eyes meeting mine in the mirror again. There was no judgment there, just quiet understanding.
I nodded, grateful for his discretion. “Hear that, Ella? Almost there. Just stay with me a little longer.”
The lights of the small hospital came into view, a beacon in the darkness. Declan pulled up directly to the emergency entrance, left the engine running, and jumped out to alert the staff. Within moments, the doors burst open, and medical personnel rushed toward us with a gurney.
“Hypothermia, possible drowning,” Declan was explaining as I slid out of the truck with Ella still in my arms. “She was underwater for at least a minute before we got her out. We performed CPR on scene.”
A doctor—young, with tired eyes but a focused expression—directed me to place her on the gurney. “How long has she been unconscious?”
“Since shortly after we revived her,” I said, reluctantly letting go as they began to wheel her inside. “Maybe twenty minutes.”
“And you?” He glanced at my still-damp hair, the way I was shivering despite the dry clothes.
“I’m fine,” I insisted, following the gurney. “Just help her.”
Inside, the bright fluorescent lights revealed how truly awful Ella looked—her skin gray-blue, lips still tinged with purple despite our warming efforts. The medical team moved with practiced efficiency, cutting away the clothes we’d dressed her in, attaching monitors, and inserting an IV.
“Core temperature 92.3,” a nurse called out. “Moderate hypothermia.”
“Start warm saline,” the doctor ordered. “Warming blankets, and I want heated oxygen.”
I stood frozen at the edge of the treatment area, watching as they worked to save her. Someone draped a blanket over my shoulders, but I barely felt it.
“Sir, we need to check you too,” a voice said at my elbow.
I shook my head. “I’m staying with her.”
“Jake.” Declan’s hand landed on my shoulder, firm but gentle. “Let them do their job. You need to get checked out.”
“I can’t leave her,” I said, my voice cracking. “I promised Nora.”
“You’re not leaving her,” he assured me. “You’re just giving the doctors room to work. Come on.”
