Карен Кингсбери - A Distant Shore [calibre]

She couldn’t take it, couldn’t stand the thought that he was telling the truth. He had lost his brother because of her, and if he’d only turned back… if he’d gone after Shane instead of her… they would all be so much better off today.

Her tears came and she dropped to her knees. She fell forward and wept like she’d never done in all her life. It was her fault Jack had lost his brother. How could she face him now? And if it was true… why hadn’t he told her?

Eliza could feel his presence even before he touched her. He didn’t say a word, just knelt beside her and wrapped his arms around her. He waited until her crying eased, until her quiet sobs were all that remained. Then he whispered the words that would stay with her the rest of her life.

“I was supposed to save you that day, Eliza.” He pressed her head gently against his chest. “We’ll never… never understand God’s plans. But…” He took hold of her shoulders. “You’re here, Eliza. And I’m here.”

She hung her head and fresh tears streamed down her face. “Your brother…”

“He’s fine.” Jack’s eyes welled up. He could hear Beck’s voice again. “My brother is completely whole… my parents are with him.”

“No.” She leaned into him and slid her arms around his neck. “I’m sorry… it was my fault. I swam out too far and… I didn’t want to come back to the beach.” She shook her head. “I didn’t want you to rescue me.”

He held her so close, like they were one person, not two. Until finally he helped her to her feet and pulled her into his arms. Minutes passed and the ocean air dried her cheeks. Still she stayed in his embrace. “How can I look at you, Jack?” She stared at the sea. “How? When I’ve cost you so much?”

His answer didn’t come right away. He stroked her hair and her back and finally he stepped away enough so he could see her. “What if… I was supposed to save you? For this?”

In that same moment, the two men appeared again on the beach, walking toward them, looking at them. Without hesitating Jack’s hands were on her face, in her hair, and in a single breathless instant he was kissing her.

And she was kissing him.

His kiss was warm and safe and everything she’d never dreamed. She had never wanted to know a man’s love, she hadn’t believed in such a thing. And yet here, with his lips on hers, and her heart in his hands, Eliza knew.

Jack loved her. He did.

And no matter how terrible their past, no matter how great the losses they’d both suffered, she didn’t want to go a day without him. Not as long as she lived. Her tears came again and as the men walked past them, she searched his eyes. “It was really you? You saved me?”

“I did.” His eyes were clear now. “You were so little. I thought… I thought you needed me.”

Of course. How could he have known that she didn’t want to wake up in the Palace the next day or that the awful woman on the shore wasn’t her mother? She sniffed and closed her eyes for a long moment; when she opened them she noticed something. There was no regret or condemnation in Jack’s eyes.

He had chosen to save her. And now… now it was up to her to accept the fact. To be thankful for it and believe that maybe Jack was right. Maybe he was supposed to save her. So that at the end of her nightmare he might rescue her again.

“Don’t run from me, Eliza.” He looked deep into her soul. “You’re all I have on earth.”

His words touched her and healed her from the very great grief of knowing the truth. “And you… I have no one but you, Jack.”

And then, without either of them saying another word, they walked back to their hotel suite.

He kissed her forehead. Because neither of them could kiss here, the way they’d kissed down at the beach. Not with the fire between them. Jack touched her cheek. “Call me. If you need me.”

They said good night and went to their separate rooms. Work would come tomorrow, and they would do the surveillance. But for now they had this day.

A day of honesty and heartbreak and new beginnings.

ELIZA SAT ON her balcony alone until after midnight, staring at the water, replaying the scene in her mind again and again. Her little legs being dragged under and Betsy screaming at her from the shore.

The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want…

And there were Jack and his family on vacation. Playing football on the beach. Eliza had seen them, like any wonderful family. Like the family she had lost. Laughing and running on the sand, all of time ahead of them. Jack and Shane, two best friends.

She could see it all, like it was happening for the first time. Jack spotting her, seeing that she was drowning and running across the beach toward her. And his brother chasing after him. Because not another soul on the beach had done anything about it. Not cruel Betsy or some other tourist. Not the armed guards on the hillside.

Only Jack and Shane.

Again and again she played the scene over until she had no more tears, until the image of that teenage Jack became the man. The one who had baptized her and run after her and held her in his strong, safe arms. The one she loved.

And finally, fully, her sadness lifted and she accepted the truth.

Jack was right. God hadn’t made some colossal mistake when Eliza was rescued from the ocean that day. God had ordained Jack to save her. For the work she was doing to bring down trafficking rings, for such a time as this, and for the life she had yet to live. And for the man she would love as long as she drew breath. The one who had rescued her not once but twice, along a distant shore.

Jack Ryder.

THE SURVEILLANCE MISSION was more difficult than either of them had expected, but Eliza wasn’t worried. God was with them. He had brought them to this point. He wasn’t going to abandon them now.

They walked hand in hand along a tourist street just off the strip and after a few minutes Eliza recognized the men. The same ones who had walked by them on the beach. God had given her eyes to see, and she was thankful for the chance to use them.

“The men on the corner up ahead. They were on the beach yesterday.” She smiled at Jack, as if she hadn’t a care in the world. “That building behind them. I think they’re operating from there.”

“Have I told you how beautiful you are, my love?” Jack was playing the part. But he wasn’t, all at the same time. She could see that in his eyes. He pulled his phone from his shorts pocket. “Let me take your picture. With those trees in the background.”

Of course, it wasn’t the trees he wanted, but the men on the corner. The building behind them. Eliza kicked up one heel and smiled while Jack snapped the shot. “What should we do now?” Eliza walked past the surly-looking men and straight up to the door of the building. She tugged on it a few times.

Immediately one of the men turned around. “Get away from there!” He took a few sharp steps toward her, but Jack stepped in front of her.

“Back off.” Jack was taller than the guy. Obviously stronger. “We’re shopping, okay?”

The man retreated, but his scowl remained. “That’s not a store.”

Eliza pretended that was all she needed to hear. “Sorry.” She tugged on Jack’s hand. “Come on. Let’s find some ice cream.”

Jack didn’t look away from the guy until they were a few feet down the sidewalk. The next shop on the strip read “Sweet Treats.” Eliza was laughing again by the time they ducked inside.

“Go out the back door.” Jack stayed behind her. In case the guy on the corner followed them. Then with an ease she’d learned these past two years, Eliza hurried past the ice cream counter, down a narrow hallway and out the back door.