Free Saving You by Jessie Evans Page A

things, but I’m guessing Lucy
is the kind who brings excellence to everything she does. I think
you made a good call, and I’ve got a feeling we’re going to hear
good news soon.”
    Jake sighed. “I hope so.”
    “ Come on,” Naomi said,
taking the empty thermos lid from his hands. “Strip and get into
bed. Let’s get this nap started.”
    One side of Jake’s mouth lifted as he
wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in for a tight
hug. “I love you. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
    “ You’ll never have to find
out,” Naomi said, kissing his scruffy cheek before wrapping her
arms around his chest and squeezing tight.
    Minutes later she had Jake tucked in and was
rubbing his bare shoulders, her hands sliding smoothly across his
warm flesh, sending the soothing smell of lavender floating through
the room. In typical Jake style, he was asleep in two minutes flat,
but Naomi continued to knead the knots from muscles, hoping her
touch would give him comfort, even in sleep.
    After she’d coaxed some of the stress from
his back, Naomi covered Jake with his blanket, set his alarm for
forty-five minutes—deciding to split the difference between what
Jake wanted and what Jamison had suggested—and tiptoed toward the
door to heat up the beanbag neck warmer in the microwave, snapping
off the light as she went.
    She paused in the doorway, glancing back at
the still, sleeping form of the man she loved, grateful that she
could be there for him. Against all odds, she and Jake had found
their way back to each other, and made a beautiful life and a
beautiful family together, with their precious baby girl and
another little boy on the way. They’d be adopting their son in the
fall, as soon as the birth mother delivered, and had already
started work on his nursery.
    A day ago, the future had been nothing but
bright, but Naomi had faith the sun would shine again. And she had
faith in Faith to do whatever it took to stay safe until she was
found.
    Still, Naomi took a moment, standing in the
semi-darkness with the smell of lavender in the air and Jake’s
measured breathing drifting to her ears to close her eyes and send
out another prayer. If she’d learned one thing this past year, it
was that there were two things you could never have too much
of—love and people praying for you.
    She knew the prayers and love of her family
and friends had lifted her out of the darkness after the loss of
her first daughter, Grace. Now, she hoped her love and prayer could
help do the same for Faith.

Chapter Nine
    Lucy twined her fingers tightly through
Brandon’s and scooted closer to him on the center boat seat,
keeping her eyes trained on the bank, doing her best not to show
how scared she was. The floodwater in the subdivision they’d left
behind twenty minutes ago had been moving swiftly, but it was
sluggish compared to the river’s rushing current.
    There was nothing little about the Little
Fork today. It was big and wide and overflowing its banks,
barreling to the south with a fury that had Neil clenching his jaw
as he steered their motorboat around one dangerous curve after
another. One wrong move—a bad read on the current, or a failure to
steer clear of the debris clogging parts of the river—was all it
would take to send all three of them tumbling overboard.
    They were wearing life vests, but that
didn’t mean they were safe. The last time there had been a flood
this bad fifteen people had died. One of them had been a rescue
worker wearing a life vest, with extensive training on how to stay
alive in emergency situations.
    Lucy had no training. She knew CPR and was
in reasonably good shape, but she wasn’t the strongest swimmer. If
she went overboard, she’d be at the mercy of the river until it
decided to spit her up on a bank somewhere.
    But even scarier than the chance of being
tossed from the boat was the possibility that she’d been wrong.
    When she had urged Neil to veer left—guiding
the boat