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“Wake up, Kylie, open your eyes,” she whispered as she leaned over her daughter’s face.
She blew into Kylie’s mouth and watched her chest rise. Again.Breathe, Bug, breathe.
Jon, his face intent and focused, started compressions again. On the third compression, Kylie gasped. Jon quickly rolled her to her side again, and more water ran from her mouth and nose. She began to cough and cry.
Tears filled Annie’s eyes, and she patted Kylie’s back. “Cough it up, honey. You’re okay. We’re on the beach.” She was barely aware of the others on the tour coming ashore and the guide rushing to help them.
“I’m a doctor—I’ve got her,” Jon told the guide, who tried to make him move away.
The guide nodded and corralled the rest of the onlookers away from the scene. “Everyone, give them some space. I’ll unpack lunch now. Come with me.” He looked back at them. “It was a garter snake. I turned it loose. It won’t bother her again.”
The sounds of the other people faded as Annie helped Kyliesit up. The more she coughed, the more color came back to her pale cheeks. Her blonde hair hung in wet strings around her face, and she shivered. Her teeth chattered, and her lips were nearly as blue as the sky.
“Let’s get that wet suit off and get her dry.” Jon lowered the zipper and began to peel the neoprene from Kylie’s shoulders.
Annie moved to help. The numbness encasing her began to fade, and she tugged the wet suit from Kylie’s waist and down off her legs until she was sitting on the sand in her swimsuit. She glanced around for a towel, and Jon had already retrieved one from another kayaker.
He rubbed Kylie briskly until her skin started to turn pink. The action brought more color to the little girl’s face, and the blue began to fade from her lips.
Jon stopped when he reached her neck. He peered closer at the marks on her clavicle. “There’s where the snake bit her.”
Kylie clasped herself and shuddered. “I told you it was a snake!” She cried again—huge, gulping sobs—and she threw herself against Annie.
Annie clasped Kylie’s shivering form and pulled her onto her lap. “It’s okay, honey. I’ve got you. You’re going to be just fine.”
Thanks to Jon.
Her gaze locked with his, and she tried to signal her love and gratitude to him with her eyes.Thank you, she mouthed.
His sea-glass green eyes were somber, and he gave a slight nod. Were those tears in his eyes too? She thought so. They’d both come so close to losing their daughter. Annie wouldn’t have wanted to go on if something had happened to Kylie. If not for Jon’s quick actions, the cold water could have carried her to the depths, and they never would have found her body.
Jon rose and went to their kayaks. He rummaged in the hold and removed a Michigan Tech sweatshirt that he brought over and yanked down over Kylie’s head.
She thrust her arms into the sleeves and sighed as the warmth enfolded her. “I’m so cold.” She held her hand over her eyes to shade them from the sun as she stared up at him. “You jumped in after me.”
“Well, I needed to make sure I had a chance to defeat my Yahtzee opponent.”
His grin went a little crooked, and she knew the incident had terrified him too. This little girl was his too. Kylie might not know it yet, but Jon loved her. He hadn’t tried to back away from her after the truth came out but had moved in to try to build a relationship with her. He was a good man. The best. She was blessed that he loved her.
Annie’s vision blurred again, and she pulled Kylie into a tight embrace. “Don’t ever do that again, okay? You’ve kayaked enough to know not to stand up.”
“Um, Mommy, it was Pressie! You couldn’t expect me to sit there and let it chew off my neck. You would have done something too.”
“It was a garter snake,” Jon said.
“All I knew was it was biting me. I didn’t think about how dangerous it was to jump up.” She struggled away from her mom and rose to her feet, though she wobbled a little at the movement. She flicked a skeptical stare up at Jon. “I know you like my mom. And maybe I’ll get used to it.”
“I’ll give you all the time you need. But it’s not just your mom I care about. I care about you too. I know it’s hard for you to believe that, but it’s true.”
She stared at him for a few long seconds and shrugged. “I’m hungry. Let’s eat.”
Annie wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh or cry. Kids were so resilient, but this day would give Annie nightmares for a long time. If Kylie hadn’t been here, she would have thrown her arms around Jon and kissed him.
Thank God he’d been there. Thank God, thank God.
Twelve
Michelle was sore from yesterday’s activity, but it had also given her new courage to try again. Sunrise was beaming over the treetops when she got onto her good knee again and inhaled the strengthening aroma of pine and fresh air. She could do this. She had to do this.
