Lighthouse Way (Huckleberry Bay 1)

“Shit. Shit, shit, shit.”

Wolfe is almost to the bottom, and it looks like he’s slumped over.

“The tide’s coming in. Oh, God. JUNE! JUUUUUNE!!!!”

I scream June’s name until I see her come running out of the B&B.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“Wolfe.” I point over the cliff. “He’s down there, and the tide’s coming in. If he’s passed out, I won’t be able to get him up.”

“I’m calling the police,” she says, immediately reaching for her phone. “I’m all over it, Luna.”

“I’m going down there. Tell them to hurry!”

The rocks are slippery from last night’s rain, so I have to move much slower than I want to. It feels like it takes me hours to reach him, and when I do, I almost have a panic attack.

He’s definitely passed out.

“Did you fall?” I ask, looking around him. “There’s no blood on your head. I don’t think you fell. Shit, a migraine? Damn it, Wolfe, wake up and tell me what to do!”

I cup his face and realize that the water is lapping at my feet.

“The water’s rising, Wolfe. Come on, baby, I need you to wake up.”

His eyes flutter open, but he moans and slumps again.

“No. Damn it, we’re not doing this today. You’re not leaving me like this. Also, this is the last time you walk down here.”

I blow out a breath and look down. My knees are wet now.

“Why does the water seem to rise so quickly? And it’s damn cold.”

“LUNA!”

I look up and see several people looking down at us. There are men in uniform, and they’re securing ropes of some kind.

“Help is here,” I tell Wolfe. “But it would be better if you could wake up and help me. I have to keep your head above the water, and it’s coming in fast. The waves are going to wash up to us in a minute.”

Terror has me in its icy grip as I watch two men hurry, carefully making their way down the rocks to us.

“We’re getting a board secured to bring down for him,” Cullen says to me. “What happened?”

“I’m not sure, but I think it’s a migraine. They hit hard and fast and take him out.”

Cullen’s face is grim as he turns to his coworker.

“He’s out of it. We need the board. Let’s get them out of this water.”

The next twenty minutes feel like hours as they secure Wolfe to the board. He opens his eyes briefly and winces when he’s touched, but we’re soon climbing back up to the top. They transfer Wolfe to a gurney for the ambulance.

“You scared me,” I say as I press my face to Wolfe’s once we’re in the rig and racing to the hospital about thirty minutes away.

“Luna?” Wolfe asks and squeezes his hand over mine.

“You’re going to be okay.” I kiss his cheek. “Damn it, we can live wherever you want as long as you don’t leave me.”

He licks his lips. “Not going anywhere. Fucking headaches.”

The EMTs get fluids going and monitor his vital signs.

“Slightly hypothermic,” one mutters. “Temp is ninety-six-point-one.”

“How is that even possible?” I demand. “He wasn’t in the water that long.”

“Wind,” the same one says briskly. “The cliffs are cold, and he’s not wearing a coat. That water is frigid, and every minute counts in moments like that. He’s damn lucky you found him when you did.”

My throat closes. Dear God, I could have lost him.

“I’ll warm him up.” I snuggle up to him and press my body to his as best as I can on the narrow cot. “I’m sorry if this hurts you, but we have to warm you up, Wolfe.”

“’s okay.”

When we finally arrive at the hospital, they take Wolfe to a room and move him to a bed, covered in a warming blanket. Amaryllis Lovejoy hurries into the room.

“I got the call that he was on his way in,” she says as she quickly examines him. “What happened?”

“I don’t know for sure—”

“Fucking migraine,” Wolfe says weakly. “Hit out of the blue. Knocked me out. That’s never happened before.”

“He’d just climbed down the cliff to the beach. He didn’t know that the tide was coming in.”

Amaryllis’s blue eyes go wide in fear.

“Oh, God.”

“Exactly.”

“Stop hovering,” Wolfe says. “I’ll be fine. Just get rid of this bitch of a headache.”

With her mouth set grimly, Amaryllis shakes her head. “I can’t. I wish I could.”

Several hours later, once Wolfe’s warm and the worst of the headache is gone, they discharge him from the hospital.

Apollo and June are waiting to drive us home.

“You came…together?” I ask in surprise.

“You couldn’t keep either of us away,” June says and hurries over to hug me. “That was damn scary.”

“Let’s not do it again,” Apollo agrees. “Come on, let’s go home.”

“I’m sorry,” Wolfe says a few hours later. We’re settled in at the house, sitting by the fire and just trying to calm our nerves after what happened this morning.