Free Wandering Heart (9781101561362) by Katherine Thomas; Spencer Kinkade, Katherine Spencer Page A

the current will weaken and you can swim to shore
.
    If I don’t get exhausted and drown first,
she thought.
If a storm doesn’t start up and a huge wave doesn’t push me under again
.
    Get a grip, Charlotte. Did you come this far in your life to just give up at a moment like this? What will happen to your family if you die now? Who will take care of them? What will happen to Lily? Think how much she’ll miss you.
    Thoughts of home and her family gave her a second wind. She would get through this. She’d get back to shore somehow or someone would see her. By now, she would be missed on the set. They would come looking for her and realize what had happened.
    Charlotte tried to comfort and encourage herself. “Be strong, Charlotte. You are loved,” she told herself, repeating the words she had heard in her head.
    T HE crew was due to return to the inn for lunch at one, but in the meantime, Judy had called, asking for hot coffee and tea down on the beach. Liza and Claire prepared two large percolators and a tray of donuts and more scones, and loaded it all in the back of Claire’s truck, so they could serve it tailgate fashion. Then they drove the short distance across the road and parked at the top of the stairway that led to the beach.
    Liza tried Judy Kramer’s phone but didn’t get an answer. “I’ll go down and let them know we’re here,” she told Claire.
    She started down the zigzagging flight of steps. The crew was nearby. She could see they weren’t filming. The rolling camera apparatus was empty and the stars were not around. Everyone looked in a bit of panic. But that seemed to be their usual mode, Liza thought.
    She saw Judy with her boss, Mike, and walked over. “I sent Zachdown there to look for her,” Judy was saying. “He walked at least a mile, to a jetty. He couldn’t find her anywhere.”
    “She couldn’t have just disappeared,” Mike insisted.
    “Maybe she’s hiding somewhere. Maybe she’s upset because I asked her to rethink the scene,” Liza heard Brad say.
    Nick stood by him, a towel slung around his neck. “Charlotte’s not like that, Brad. I’m really worried. What if she walked out on that jetty and fell in the water?”
    Liza felt her breath catch in her throat. They were talking about Charlotte. She was lost. Liza hung back, feeling this wasn’t the time to interrupt about coffee and tea.
    One of the cameramen was standing on a platform and scanning the horizon with a high-powered lens. “I see her,” he called out excitedly. “She’s out there, in the water. She must have been carried out by a wave.”
    Mike gasped. “Dear God. Get out there, what are you waiting for?” he screamed at the two lifeguards, but they had already grabbed their skiffs and raced into the pounding surf. They launched the skiffs and slipped onboard just past the breakers, then turned on a small outboard motor and plowed toward Charlotte. But the sea was rough and it was slow going for the small rescue boats.
    Liza ran over to Judy. “Have you dialed 911? There’s a harbor patrol that will come with a boat to rescue her.”
If they can get to her in time.
    “Good idea. I’ll do that.” Judy frantically hit the keys on her phone. Nick shed his shoes and shirt, preparing to swim out to Charlotte. Brad grabbed his arm. “Don’t be crazy, man. This isn’t an action film. Who’s going to rescue you?”
    “We can’t let her drown,” Nick shot back.
    “Don’t worry, we’ll get her,” Mike insisted, his eyes fixed on the lifeguards. “We have to.”
    Standing nearby, Judy finished her call to the emergency number and was practically crying. “Poor Charlotte. Oh, God. I hope she can hang on long enough for someone to get to her.”
    Liza touched her arm, not knowing what to say. She couldn’t see Charlotte out there at all.
    “Look, a boat!” called out the cameraman who was holding the telescopic lens. “It looks like it’s moving in her direction.”
    Everyone, including Liza,