Autumn turned her head so they couldn’t see her blinking back the tears. Was he out there in the darkness, his muscles battling to keep his body afloat? He had to be. The alternative didn’t bear thinking about.
“You okay?” Jackson asked, rubbing her shoulder. “You’re shivering.”
“I just had something in my eye,” Autumn said, lifting her hand to wipe away the tear escaping down her cheek.
“Yeah, I had that problem earlier,” Jackson said, his voice thick. “Must be a lot of sand in the air.”
A car door slammed and Aiden Black walked along the beach, lifting his hand to greet them. He was wearing a fitted blue suit, with no tie, his white shirt unbuttoned at the collar. “I came straight from the airport,” he told them, his dark hair lifting in the breeze. “Are there any updates?”
The director of the Silver Sands Resort, and Brooke’s husband-to-be, Autumn knew Aiden and Griff had become friends over the past couple of years.
Breck shook his head. “Just what we messaged. They found his sweater in the water just up there.” He pointed along the rocky coast. “No sign of Griff or Sam, though. The coasties are still looking, and the fire department, too.” He glanced over at the group Lucas had joined.
“I’ve got three helicopters waiting for first light,” Aiden told them. “And I’ve called in every staff member I can get. We’ll find them.”
He sounded so sure as Autumn looked around at the somber faces surrounding her. Every one of them was here for Griff. If her heart didn’t ache so much, it would have warmed at the thought.
Autumn curled her arms around herself, breathing in the salt air. The sun hadn’t risen, but a halo of hazy light peeped over the craggy peaks of the mountains to the east, giving her hope that the daylight would be here soon. How long had Griff been in the water? Seven hours? Eight? Could he survive that long?
She felt more than useless, standing there, waiting for something to happen. For somebody to do something that would get the man she cared about safely home. She wanted him to be in her bed, his large body surrounding hers, his early-morning bristles scraping her skin as he kissed her.
Autumn looked up to see Lucas approaching their group, his face grim.
Jackson caught his gaze. “Has something happened?” he asked.
“We just got word from the Coast Guard. Two men were found down the shoreline. From their descriptions, it sounds like Griff and Sam.”
“From their descriptions?” Breck asked, his brows knitting together. “What does that mean? Are they okay?”
The heart that had swollen to twice its size felt like it was trying to force its way out of Autumn’s chest.
“I don’t know,” Lucas said, his voice full of angry confusion. “They’re in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. I’m heading there now if you want to come.”
“Which hospital?” Aiden asked.
“Silver City.”
Aiden nodded. “Okay, I’ll take my car,” he said to Lucas. “I can fit Breck, Jackson, and Autumn in. We’ll meet you there.”
20
“Are you okay?” Aiden asked as he pushed his foot down on the gas, his wheels spinning on the grass as the car lurched forward. Like Lucas on the drive to the cove, his jaw was tight, his eyes narrow as he steered the car toward the coastal road that led to the highway and the hospital twenty minutes away.
“Me?” Autumn asked, looking around to check who he was talking to.
“Yeah, you.” His lip quirked up. “You haven’t said a word since I got here.”
“I don’t know what to say,” she admitted. Or how to say it. “I don’t even know if I should be here. If he’d want me to come to the hospital.”
“He’ll want you,” Jackson said from the backseat. “I can guarantee that. If you weren’t here we’d never hear the end of it. So stop worrying.”
The sun was beginning to rise above the mountains, pale orange rays flooding the land between the foothills and the ocean. Aiden blinked as the road curved toward it, pulling down the visor to shield his eyes.
“He’ll be okay, right?” Breck said to nobody in particular. “He’s a strong guy. Nothing can hurt him.”
“He was okay when we surfed the scree,” Jackson said, and Breck let out a short laugh. “And when we dived off the cliffs for a dare.”
“We were kids then,” Breck murmured. “Invincible. Or we thought we were.”