Gabe scoured several eastern-shore coves at their end of the long, tapering lake, but didn’t see Corinne’s boat.
Would Tee have had sense enough to seek the far shore as the storm rolled in? Or would she try to make it back home?
She’d aim for home, he decided. Mostly because she’d get in huge trouble for taking the boat out on her own, but also because she was Tee. If it looked like a challenge, she was the first one on board.
He gunned the engine, heading south, binoculars raised. The wind sliced across the lake, bearing straight east. The drop in temperature was record-setting, even for Central New York. Pete would call him if Tee showed up back home, but as the first snowflakes began to fall, Gabe understood the seriousness of the worsening conditions. He needed to find her soon and get her home, warm, safe and dry.
He headed east, then slowed the engine.
Tee loved boating. More than that she loved fishing. She’d fished with Corinne’s grandfather when he was alive, so maybe taking the boat out wasn’t so much of a joy ride as it was a way to remember those special times with her great-grandpa.
He turned southwest, aiming for Caldecott Beach. Fish liked to hang out in the warmer, shallower waters a quarter mile out of the rocky cove marking the hotel’s sandy beach. Buoys marked the dredged channel, allowing boats to tie up at the Caldecott Hotel docks, but with the rising chop and snow, the buoys wouldn’t be visible. That meant Tee had nowhere to go but home, and that was a long ride north in these conditions.
He thought he’d see the rescue boats manning the waters from multiple directions.
He saw nothing as visibility and temperature dropped moment to moment.
He used his navigation system to guide him toward Caldecott. If he drifted too near the shore, he’d hit those rocks himself. If he stayed too far out, he might miss Tee altogether, if she was here. He could only pray that if she wasn’t here, that one of the other boats would find her and haul her into safety.
He slowed the motor just enough to churn through the water and called Drew. “I’m at Caldecott. Where are you guys?”
“South of you, Meyering’s Cove, heading east.”
“Anything?”
“No. And with the decreasing visibility, we’re flying blind.”
“I’m moving slow. Chop’s increasing.”
“Watch those rocks.”
“Roger.” He hung up the phone, scanning as best he could.
He thought he’d hear her motor.
He heard nothing over the slap of waves and the increasing wind. Visibility had gone minimal, but his location system had him coasting into the fishing nook area. He dulled the engine and yelled, “Tee! Can you hear me?”
Nothing.
He crept forward, praying with every passing moment, then again yelled, “Tee! Tee, can you hear me?”
Still nothing.
He started to turn, then paused, feeling stupid.
The horn. He hit the horn three times, quickly. He paused, waiting. Just as he was about to turn outward, he heard something ahead and to the right. Near the rocky outcroppings. Three short beeps. Three long. Three short. They were faint, but they were audible.
S.O.S.
He answered with three short beeps again, and edged her way, praying she’d repeat the signal.
She did, and it was louder this time, which meant he was getting closer.
“Tee!” He yelled her name repeatedly, wanting to see her. To grab hold of her and take care of her and return her to her mother, safe and sound. He hit the horn again, and when she replied with the S.O.S. signal, Corinne’s boat appeared before him almost instantly, off to his right. “I’ve got you, honey. Grab hold of this.” He threw her a rope. “Tie it down so I can come alongside.”
She was scared, soaked and cold. He watched her try to maneuver the rope to no avail. Time for plan B. “Are you anchored?” He raised his anchor to help her understand the question over the sound of the wind and water slapping waves against her boat.
She frowned, then nodded.
“Okay.” He couldn’t command two boats back to safety. He knew his vessel better, but he couldn’t risk getting Tee on board, even with her life jacket on. If someone needed to switch up boats, it was him, and it was now. He stuffed his cell phone and his waterproof flashlight into the coat pocket of an old extra coat he kept stowed in the boat hatch. He threw the coat to her, then did the same with his jacket. He kicked off his shoes, anchored his boat and jumped into the water.
Weight pulled him down. The cold water made him suck a breath. He pushed back up, spitting and sputtering, spotted Tee’s boat and swam her way. The wind and waves doubled his work.
He cut the angle, finally got alongside and reached up. Now he needed to board her boat without tipping them—and the boat—into the water.
She reached out a hand with such a look of determination, he grabbed hold, and with her balance and his effort, he heaved himself up and in.
He stared up at her for a few seconds, then flashed her a grin. “Catch any fish?”
“Oh, Coach.” She threw herself at him as he scrambled up. “I’m so dumb! I just wanted to...” Uncontrolled shivering stole her words away, but he got the gist.
“Put that coat on and sit right there. We’re going to get back to safety. Grab my torchlight and aim it toward the water in front of the boat, to the right side.”
She tugged the coat on. He helped her zip it when her hands refused to work, and then she held the strong, waterproof flashlight as steady as she could with chilled hands while he pulled his jacket back on.
He aimed for the hotel.
He’d fished out here several times over the years, but not often enough to remember the channel buoys. He turned the boat into the snow but lost his bearings instantly and rethought his choices.
He couldn’t chance it. He was more familiar with the northern end. He’d have to make the wild ride back there and pray them to safety. He turned about, increased the motor and pointed north. “We’re going home, kid.”
She nodded, too cold to talk.
He headed north, praying silently, hoping for just enough of a break in the snow that he could spot houses, lights or a spot to pull up. He watched the speedometer and the gas gauge. It was tipping to the left, getting dangerously low. He tried to reach Drew.
Nothing.
He couldn’t text and drive the boat at the same time.
He tried Corinne’s number, and she answered immediately. “Gabe? Where are you?”
“I’ve got her.” He had the phone tucked against his shoulder. “We’re low on fuel, we’re heading your way, alert Drew and all law enforcement, whoever you can contact. I’m snow-blind, but I should be getting close. I think.”
“We lit a fire.”
“You what?” He couldn’t have heard that right.
“On the shore. We lit a fire on the beach to help guide you in. Grandpa taught me that. Watch for it, Gabe. It’s pretty big.”
She’d no more than said the words when he spotted an orange haze behind them, to his left. He’d gone past their beach, and if his call hadn’t gone through, he’d still be searching. “I’ve got it. Coming about. We’re not going to try to dock. I’m running aground.”
“I’m praying you in safely.”
Those words. The gentleness in her tone.
He couldn’t think about that, or let it mean too much. She’d made herself clear, and he had a lot of his own reckoning to manage. Nothing like a near-death experience to reevaluate just about everything there was in life that matters.
“Hunker down, Tee, just in case we bump hard.” She followed his shouted direction, peering at the fire ahead.
The wind didn’t allow the luxury of coasting in. He’d have to go aground swift and hard, then cut the engine, and that’s exactly what he did.
He pitched forward. His head took a nasty shot from the windshield, but Tee stayed tucked between the seats without a scratch from their hard landing.
People streamed forth.
EMTs helped them from the boat. Tee’s legs buckled the moment she tried to stand. They called for a stretcher, but she’d been cold too long already.
Gabe rounded the hull, lifted her up and carried her to the waiting ambulance. Corinne raced to them. She gripped Tee’s hand. “Come on, sweetness, let’s get you warmed up, okay?”
Tee blinked up at her mother. Her eyes mixed sorrow and joy. “I’m s-sorry, M-Mom.” Shivers grabbed hold as she tried to speak again.
“We’ll save the apologies for later, okay?” Corinne climbed into the ambulance as the medics took over. “Right now let’s just get you warmed up.”
He backed away, letting mother and daughter have their moment.
Corinne turned and put a hand out. “Gabe.”
She wanted to thank him.
He saw it in her face, her gaze.
He didn’t need thanks. He’d done exactly what he had to do, answering the pledge he’d made long years before.
He lifted his hand. “I’ll see you later. I want to make sure everyone gets in all right. And you.” He leaned in far enough so Tee could see him. “Drag me along on your next fishing trip, okay? I guarantee we’ll have better luck together than you do on your own.”
She tried to smile as silent tears rolled down her chilled white cheeks. “Okay.”
He moved back and closed the rescue wagon doors.
Tee needed warmth and time with her mother. A trip to Grace Haven Memorial would give her both.
He scrubbed a hand to his face.
Pete called to him from inside, but he couldn’t face questions right now. When Drew called in the “all clear” that all units had made it out of the water, Gabe trudged back to his house.
Pete and Callan had doused the fire with the garden hose and sand while reporters snapped pictures left and right.
Medics wanted to take Gabe in and check him out.
He refused.
He was fine, or would be once he got out of the frigid wet clothes. His long, cold boat ride had given him time to assess a few things. Now he needed enough faith and courage to see those things through.
* * *
“Mom, I am so sorry.” It was after ten when a very contrite Tee appeared on the stairs facing the kitchen on Thanksgiving morning.
Relief flooded Corinne the moment she spotted her beautiful girl. Tee looked so much better than she had fifteen hours before.
Fear had struck an arrow into Corinne’s heart yesterday, a sharp piercing of how quickly life could change, a lesson she’d thought she’d learned a long time ago. But life hadn’t changed because Gabe Cutler was brave enough to rush to a kid’s rescue when needed.
She hated herself for thinking his raw courage could be a bad thing after the car accident.
If Gabe wasn’t strong and brave and true, she might not have a daughter today. She owed Gabe an apology at the very least, and maybe...just maybe...he’d give her the second chance to be the brave woman she’d claimed to be long years ago.
“Is that apple pie I smell?”
“It is.” Corinne pointed to the island behind her. “I made a little one, just for you, for breakfast.”
“Pie for breakfast?” That thought relieved Tee’s features quickly. “With ice cream?”
“If you’d like.” She finished grinding the cranberries and nodded to the oranges. “I’m going to have you finish this up for me, okay? And then we’ll talk about how I’m going to lock you in your room for four or five years until common sense prevails. But I’ll save that lecture until after the cranberry-orange relish is ready.”
Tee crossed the room and hugged her tight. “I will never do something that stupid again. I was so mad that we live on the water and almost never take the boat out. I felt like I never get to just sit and fish since Great-Grandpa died. And the weather was so beautiful.” She sighed and laid her head against Corinne’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Mom. You can lock me away. I deserve it.”
“How come I get All-County in baseball and you get the newspaper headlines?” Callan pretended to be insulted as he came in with an armload of firewood and the daily paper. “You’re all over the news, Tee. Well. You and Coach.”
“We’re in the paper?” She squealed softly, then shifted gears again, total Tee. “I have to thank Coach. He knew where to come because we talked about it before, and he sacrificed his boat. I’ve got to pay him back, somehow. I can’t believe he did that for me, Mom.” She raised her gaze to Corinne’s. “He didn’t even hesitate, he just jumped into the water, came aboard and brought me home.”
“Well, that’s how Coach is,” Callan offered. He slung his arm around Tee and gave her a sideways hug. “He always puts the other guy first. That’s where I learned it from.” He shrugged. “Glad you’re okay.” He tipped his gaze down to Tee. “But try not to do anything stupid again. At least for a while. Okay?”
“Deal. And I’ll figure things out with Coach at Grandma’s today. Should I save him some of my pie?” She looked back at Corinne, and Corinne shook her head.
“I made another one for dessert. I’ll make sure he gets some.”
“Okay.” She took the pie into the living room and turned on the Thanksgiving Day Parade, and for a few minutes she was the little girl Corinne had worked so hard to raise alone.
But she wasn’t that little girl anymore. She was almost a teenager, and Corinne had been so busy trying to be perfect, she’d forgotten how important it was to just “be.”
God and Gabe had given her a second chance yesterday evening. One way or another she wanted to make the very best of this new opportunity.