Page 107 of Secrets of Sandpiper Shores: Spark of Truth
Relief crashed through her so hard she nearly sagged with it.
Then she saw his face again.
And understood that was not all of it.
“Where are Rad and Margo?” she asked.
“They went to get Willa and Ace and their group.” Holt’s voice had taken on a soft tone that June didn’t welcome at that moment.
The room tilted.
“What happened?” June gripped the edge of the counter.
Holt’s eyes softened in that way they always did when he was trying to steady her before saying something terrible.
And she hated that look.
She hated it because nothing good ever came after it.
“Grace got hold of Becky,” Holt said. “Willa went to call for help because the boat had already broken loose in the storm, and they were stranded on the island.”
June could feel her breathing change.
Too fast. Too shallow.
“While she was making the call…” Holt’s voice dropped. “A wave hit the dock and swept Willa off it.”
“No!” The scream tore out of her before she could stop it. “No!”
Her eyes filled with terrified tears so quickly that the whole room blurred.
“June—”
“No,” she said again, shaking her head wildly. “No, no…”
“Listen to me.” Holt caught her by the shoulders.
She could barely hear him over the roaring in her own ears.
“After shouting at Grace to get the kids to higher ground,” Holt told her, “she said Ace went in after Willa.”
June stared at him, tears trembling in her eyes, the world seeming to narrow to that one line, that one terrible image, that one impossible stretch of storm-dark water beyond the island where her daughter had disappeared and the man who loved her had dived in after her. And she clung to the small glimmer of hope.
