A Promise Worth Remembering (Promises Collection) by Cyndi Faria Read Free Book Online Page B

sight of you. If I would have tranquilized him then, you wouldn’t be stuck in the river.”
    “Then why didn’t you wait?”
    “Because I needed you to see that I’m here to help you. That I care about you and what’s important to you. Your tigers. Your future. Us.”
    Us… All she’d ever wanted. “I can see that now. And I’ve been stuck, holding on to your memory for so long I’m not sure what to do with the real thing.”
    “Oh, Bailey… We’ll get through this.”
    She lowered her gaze to the fast-moving water she had to cross to reach the shore. Copper had jumped from the upper bank down onto the lower rock just fine, but leaping back up? “How can I get him back up there with you?”
    Tucker set down the gun and then kicked and kicked at the trespassing signpost until it toppled to the ground. He hoisted the four-by-four over his shoulder and returned to the water’s edge. Laying the board between the embankment and the rock, he bridged the space. “See, you need me.”
    Her heart fluttered. She needed him.
    “And, frankly, I need you.”
    Her lip bumped out and her eyes welled with tears. He needed her.
    “I know I let you down, but I had a good reason. You. To protect you. Still do.” Tucker stood on the end of the post and held out his hand. “I’m loyal, too. Like you, I want to believe there’s good in everyone, even when that doesn’t exist. And kindness. And hope. And a place where love fills a home, not abuse. Your arms, Bailey—the safest place I’ve ever known.”
    Her eyes widened and her lip quivered. She’d never felt safer than when wrapped in Tucker’s embrace. “I’m sorry. I’ve been a cowardly fool.”
    “I’m the fool, Bailey. But no longer. Let me be the man you deserve…the man you shared your dreams with once. Dreams that have become mine.”
    With one hand, she squeezed Copper’s mane. She’d judged Tucker too harshly about wanting to kill Copper. She needed to let go of judging others and see them for who they truly were. On the inside. Tucker was willing to risk his life to save her. She needed to trust someone. In believing she couldn’t trust another, she’d walled her heart like she’d walled Safe Haven. And the way her heart pounded like a caged tiger, she needed to embrace her childhood dreams—the future—instead of rejecting what she wanted from life. Love and Family. Tucker. A thriving preserve. A future that included them all.
    She stepped forward onto the four-by-four post—
    Her weakened ankle rolled, and she lurched to the side. On the way down, she dragged Copper with her and splashed into the river. The current clutched her with great watery arms and pulled her beneath the surface to the cobbled graveyard and dark undercurrent that sucked her down river.
    She drew a mouthful of water into her lungs and fought her way to the surface. To Copper. To Tucker.
    Copper clawed her leg. He used her body to climb to the surface and his weight pushed her under him.
    To the cobbled riverbed.
    Then the river’s darkness swallowed her and Copper slipped away.
    In great arcs and cupped palms, she fanned her arms through the current until she again gripped silken fur.
    A thick arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her upward.
    She kicked and used her one free arm to battle the river with Tucker. Together. To save Copper, they worked together.
    Tucker didn’t let go even as the pressure beat against their bodies and sent them downstream.
    Sunlight and fresh air left her blinking and gasping. Her thigh burned from Copper’s claw marks. Not gritty sand, but wet earth smooth as talcum cradled her body in softness. She coughed water until her eyes bulged and her stomach heaved. Seconds later, a body with wet fur landed beside her.
    She rolled to face Copper, breathing in the scent of wet cat fur.
    And Tucker? Giving Copper mouth to nose? On her side of the river?
    And shadows—four people. Raymond. The Warden. And two men, the men she and Tucker had