A gust hit the canvas, and the force traveled down the pole like electricity.Her grip slipped.The pole swung wide, and she lunged after it, catching it just before it could crash into the railing.Her shoulder slammed into the wood, and pain shot down her arm.
“Cassidy!”Bryan’s voice was tight with strain.He was still holding the main rope, but she could see him starting to slide forward.
She gritted her teeth and pulled.One more step, then another.Her hands were slippery with rain and probably bleeding, but she didn’t let go, couldn’t let go.
The ring was right there.
She dropped to her knees and jammed the pole’s anchor clip toward the ring.It missed.She tried again, hands shaking, vision blurred by rain and effort.The clip caught the edge of the ring, slipped off, and caught again.
Click.
The pole locked into place, and the tension on that side of the tent immediately eased.She sagged against the railing, gasping for breath.
“The other side!”Bryan was already moving, rope still wrapped around his arm.“We need to get the other corner down!”
She wanted to tell him she needed a minute, that her arms felt like jelly, and her shoulder throbbed where she’d hit the railing.She wasn’t built for this kind of work, had never been built for it, and had spent her entire adult life in climate-controlled offices precisely to avoid moments like this.
Instead, she pushed herself to her feet and ran after him.
The second pole was even worse than the first.It had pulled completely free from its mooring and was dragging along the pier, gouging splinters from the wood.Bryan grabbed it first, and Cassidy threw herself at it a second later.Together, they wrestled it toward the nearest anchor point.
“On three!”Bryan shouted.“One, two?—”
They heaved.The pole moved maybe six inches.
“Again!”Bryan’s face was set with determination, and rain streamed down his cheeks.“One, two, three!”
This time it moved a foot.Then another.Her feet slipped, and she went down hard on one knee.Pain exploded up her leg, but she didn’t let go of the pole.Bryan braced himself against the railing and pulled, and slowly, inch by painful inch, they dragged the pole toward its anchor point.
The wind screamed.The canvas snapped.Her arms shook with exhaustion, and somewhere in the back of her mind, she registered that her expensive blazer was probably ruined, that her knee was bleeding, and she’d lost both her shoes and would have to walk back to the cottage barefoot.
None of it mattered.
The anchor point was three feet away, then two.Then Bryan was dropping down beside her, hands working to line up the clip with the ring.The pole bucked in their grip, fighting them, but they held on.
The clip caught.
Bryan twisted it into place and locked it down.The tension released all at once, and the tent settled with a final flutter of canvas.The poles held.The ropes held.Everything held.
She collapsed back against the railing.Her chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath.Rain poured down, plastering her hair to her face and turning her once-crisp blazer into a sodden mess.She was covered in grime, splinters, and probably her own blood, and she’d never been so exhausted in her entire life.
Next to her, Bryan sat with his head tipped back against the railing, eyes closed.His shirt was torn at one shoulder, and there was a scrape along his jaw she didn’t remember seeing before.He was breathing as hard as she was.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke.The rain continued to fall, and the wind continued to blow, but the tent stayed secured.They’d done it.
“You okay?”His voice was rough.
She looked down at her hands.They were scraped raw, with rope burns across both palms.Her knee throbbed where she’d hit the pier, and her shoulder wasn’t much better.She was soaked to the skin, barefoot, and probably looked like she’d been through a hurricane.
“I’m fine.”She started to laugh.She couldn’t help it.The absurdity of the situation hit her all at once, and laughter bubbled up despite the exhaustion.“I’m completely fine.”
He opened one eye to look at her.Then he started laughing too.Deep, genuine laughter that shook his shoulders and made him wince from the effort.
They sat there in the rain, laughing like idiots while the storm raged around them.
Finally, he pushed himself to his feet.He offered her a hand, and she took it without thinking.His grip was solid and warm, and he pulled her up with an ease that reminded her exactly how strong he was.
“Come on.”He gestured toward one of the boats at the end of the pier.“Let’s get out of this rain before we drown.”
