Warning Signs (Love Inspired Suspense) (18 page)

FIFTEEN

A
massive explosion echoed off the cliffs of Stepping Stones. Out at sea, flames touched the sky and forced Owen to push his borrowed speedboat to the max—forced him to push past his fear.

He jumped waves as though the boat had wings. Each vault into the air sent him soaring above the water, skimming the surface before clearing it again for another takeoff. Up and down it flew, zipping its way out to sea. Out to where Alec had taken Miriam to die.

Flames and smoke led the way. Owen prayed fervently for Miriam’s safety.
Please, God, protect her.
He didn’t cease until he approached the fiery scene.

He brought the throttle down to an idle where pieces of white wood and debris swayed around him. A burned chair bobbed in the water. He would know this scene anywhere.

All these pieces drifting in the undulating waters were the splintered wreckage of a boat collision.

Owen grabbed the radio speaker while scanning the water for survivors. “Mayday. Mayday. Mayday.” He swallowed hard. “I’m out about a half mile. There’s a single rock. It looks like Thibodaux collided with it. It’s a mess. I’m going in to look for survivors.”

Owen didn’t wait for a reply. He dived into the water, twisting in the depths to search in all directions. The murky water didn’t allow for clear viewing, and when his lungs burned, he had to come up for air.

The chug of a motor caught his attention. Had help arrived? He circled to confirm, but only saw the boat he’d come in on with a drenched Alec at the helm—directing the bow right at him.

Owen stroked toward the rock. His only recourse was to swim down. Just as he lifted his hands to do so, Owen saw bound hands shoot out of the water over by the rock.

Miriam!

Owen would never get to her before the boat struck him. His only choice was to go deep and pray she would be okay until he could reach her.

He lifted his hands in a streamlined position for a surface dive to rocket his body straight down. The motor of the boat echoed in his ears as it sped over him, its turbulence clouding his view with white water.

Owen swam in the direction he’d seen Miriam’s hands. He reached the rock and grabbed its slick sides as he searched under the water. His lungs seized with torturous pain. He needed to surface for air, so he shot up to refill his lungs.

The boat was nowhere in sight, its motor a far cry off in the distance. Owen circled around and around, looking for Miriam. He swam to the exact location she’d broken through before. Drawing in another lungful of air, he shot his body back down.

The water darkened, with no sight of Miriam. He twisted in every direction to find her. His lungs ached, but swimming back up would mean her death.

Something touched his back, and Owen whipped around to see a floating piece of rope sinking downward. Except rope didn’t sink...unless something dragged it down. Something like a body.

Owen made a grasp for the rope but came up empty-handed. He would need to swim down farther, and fast. He brought his arms up over his head again and bulleted down for another attempt at the rope. This time he saw the hands attached.

Knowing it was her, Owen kicked it into high gear. Water seeped into his lungs, but he sealed his lips tight to stop any more. He moved forward on no oxygen and felt as if he would explode at any second. The pressure inside his head and chest pulsated to a hypnotic rhythm as though it was lulling him to sleep. He couldn’t stay down any longer.

A different kind of pain swept through him. He could have thought it was the same kind of pain he’d experienced when he lost Rebecca, but that had been a pain of guilt.

The pain he felt now came from losing a piece of himself. As Miriam slipped farther away from him, she took his heart with her. He couldn’t deny it in this final moment. He had her heart, and she had his.

Owen had to try one more time.
God help me,
he pleaded inside his garbled mind on the fringe of unconsciousness. Owen might have pushed God’s help away before, but he called on it now, knowing he could do nothing without Him.

He kept his gaze on the taunting rope that had managed to escape his previous grasps. With determination to prevail in this third attempt, he swooped in, brushing the tips of his fingers across the frayed edge. His middle and forefinger pinched the rope enough to reach with his other hand to get a stronger grip.

With rope in hand, Owen reversed direction and made a direct line up to break through the water’s surface.

A loud sharp inhale echoed through his ears as clean fresh air found its way into his lungs. He yanked Miriam’s head above water, wrapping his arm beneath her chin. She lay utterly still and silent. Owen jiggled her jaw to try to get her to wake up. Her body jerked in his arms. He hoped that was a good sign.

He kept her face close to his as he pulled her up and onto the rock. As soon as he had her flat, he cleared her airway and gave her two full breaths. Her body jerked again. He rolled her over to expel the water she’d ingested. From behind, he rubbed her back until the spasms subsided.

Miriam moaned and curled an arm below her stomach. He could see she wanted to curl into a ball, but he couldn’t let her.

He turned her over onto her back. “No,” he signed in front of her face. “You could be going into shock. I need to keep you flat and get your legs raised. Understand?”

Miriam blinked her glassy eyes.

Owen moved his body down to her side and lifted her feet, using his legs as a prop. He went to town on the ropes, freeing her and rubbing the abrasions her bonds left behind. Their cold stiffness weighed in his hands. Their purpose weighed on his mind.

These hands were not only Miriam’s voice. They were her identity.

Owen bent his neck while lifting first her left palm and then her right to his lips. He placed a gentle kiss into the freezing-cold center of each of them. Over the backs of her hands, his gaze steadied on her, wanting her to understand that he loved every aspect of her, even her language.

Even her.

Yes, he loved her.

He let the truth sink in and then shine from his eyes.

Her throat convulsively swallowed a few times while wariness shot from her eyes. She didn’t trust him, and he didn’t blame her.

A motor off in the distance alerted Owen that help had arrived. He had so much to apologize to her for, but right now her safety was the most important thing.

“Help is coming,” he signed, knowing she couldn’t tell a boat approached them.

Her face remained guarded, but she lifted her hands to sign, “It was Alec. Alec killed Ben’s mother.”

“I know. It’s all over now. Apparently before she died, your grandmother told Frank and Len she believed you saw something that night that could settle a wrong. Frank brought you back here to see if it was true. I guess before he dies, he wants to tie this loose end up.”

Miriam’s pale face drained even further. Worry launched Owen into action, and he scooted up beside her. He lifted her head, exploring her face for signs of shock. She’d seemed fine a moment ago. He wasn’t sure what had happened.

Miriam pushed on his chest with all her might. “Off!” she yelled, as she had the first day they’d met.

He sprang back. “What’s wrong?”

A boat pulled up to the rock. Wes yelled from the wheel, “We got Alec. He didn’t get far. Everything okay here?” His voice trailed off when he noticed the turbulent climate.

Miriam gained her feet and gave the water a longing stare. She looked like she wanted to dive in and swim far away from him, but her shaking legs barely held her up.

“Why are you upset?” Owen asked her.

“I thought I’d earned this job.” Her hands smacked with intent. “Now you tell me I was only brought here to tie up loose ends? I was not hired for my skills, but only for my memories?”

Owen’s hands fumbled with no answer. But what could he say? He had been no better. He deserved her anger more than anyone. Could she ever forgive him?

“I guess you’re right, after all, Owen.” She spelled out his name with emphasis. “Deaf people can’t be principals for hearing schools. We’re just too disabled.” Miriam turned her back on him and climbed into Wes’s boat.

Owen had his answer.

SIXTEEN

M
iriam removed the framed diploma from her office wall. All the initials after her name, each meaning a different credential she’d once felt proud of earning, now seemed to be laughing at her.

In the end, the joke was on her.

She hadn’t earned the job of principal as she’d touted on more than one occasion. In fact, she didn’t need the diploma at all. She was hired by two old men who’d wanted her memories, not her qualifications.

Miriam slumped down on the edge of her desk. Well, her old desk, anyway. She thought how she’d believed she’d come to a place where her successes had been recognized in the hearing world. She traced the letters on her diploma, thinking of the words of her swim coach.
Get out there, Miriam, and show the world how smart you are.

Too bad Coach had neglected to tell her nobody cared.

Miriam’s office door opened. Nick entered and signed, “You ready? Sheriff Grant is here to escort us to the Sunday ferry.”

“Yes, I’m ready.” She dropped her diploma into the filled box beside her and stood, hefting it in her arms.

“Here, let me take it for you. It’s the least I can do.”

She shoved the box into his arms but only to negate his words. “No. You only misinterpreted me because you knew I was in danger and wanted me to leave the island before I got hurt. You thought it was the best thing to do when I wouldn’t notify the authorities and leave myself.”

Nick’s lips frowned over the box top. He’d already apologized for the umpteenth time, but remorse still reflected in his eyes. She wouldn’t let him carry this guilt around for the rest of his life.

“You’re forgiven, Nick. You had my best interest in mind. Like a true friend.” Miriam shook her head, thinking of all he’d done to protect her. “You even asked Stephanie out after you overheard a conversation between her and Alec you thought was suspicious.

“You suspected they were planning to hurt me for some reason and meant to stop it. You have nothing to feel guilty about. How were you to know it was so they could get rid of both me and Jerome? All I can think is Alec must have promised Stephanie a big portion of his inheritance when she married his son to get her to work with him.”

Nick winced at the mention of Alec’s big, beefy son, who hadn’t taken too kindly to Nick asking Stephanie out.

“I’m sorry they used you to get to me. I’m sorry they hurt you.” Miriam dropped her attention to the box, taking a deep breath before continuing. “I’m especially thankful to you for rescuing Owen from the pier the night Alec shot at him.” She hoped saying Owen’s name didn’t crumple her face the way it crumpled her chest.

Nick jutted his chin toward the door. “Someone’s knocking,” he mouthed over the box.

Miriam headed to open it. Her gaze dropped to meet the face of a little boy she would know anywhere. A boy she’d been talking to nearly every day on her videophone for two weeks.

“Cole!” She used his name sign in a fast and excited crank. She knelt to his level and enfolded him in her arms, practically squeezing the breath out of him. But it was okay, because he squeezed her just as hard. She released him so they could talk. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to register for school.” He hopped with excitement. His blue eyes shone at her with joy and adoration.

Miriam shied back and hoped she kept her smile in place. “On Stepping Stones Island?”

“Yes. Dad says he’s moving back to Maine, and I get to live with him again. We’re going to live here.”

She probably would have known Owen’s plans if she’d spoken to him these past two weeks. Or, more accurately, if she hadn’t avoided speaking to him. She’d ignored his constant phone calls and disconnected the doorbell from her lighting system. If he’d rung, she had no idea.

Hurt feelings and anger had kept her holed up in her house, not even able to come out to swim. The one day she’d tried, Owen had pulled up alongside her in his boat. She’d kept right on swimming and pretended he wasn’t there. If he said anything, he was wasting his breath. After Owen had pulled away, Miriam raced back to shore, forced to accept her swim season was officially over—along with a future with Owen. She blamed the salty water in her eyes on the ocean and not on the pain he’d caused by turning out to be like everyone else.

For the first time in her life, all Miriam wanted was to disappear from view. Never would she have believed she would actually choose to be hidden away. Perhaps she should have stayed in her mother’s closet.

Except she liked people too much. She craved being around them.

Which is why she was so grateful for the use of Owen’s videophone. Without it, she would have had no human contact for the two weeks she’d spent packing up her belongings. If she hadn’t enjoyed Cole’s company so much, she might have made the first ferry off the island last Sunday.

Miriam glanced at the clock on the wall. The one-and-only Sunday ferry would embark in forty-five minutes. To miss it would mean another week of isolation. But what could she say to explain her quick departure to the excited little boy standing in front of her?

“Wow! You’re moving here?” Her forced enthusiasm felt strained as the need to get off the island pressed in. The clock grabbed her attention again, and she thought the second hand seemed to pick up to a speed faster than her own hands.

“Yes. Dad has a new job here. He gets a new uniform. It’s green. I love green!”

“I know you do.” She peered over Cole’s shoulder into the empty hall. “Where is your dad? Did he bring you here?”

“Yes. He said he’d wait for me in the cafeteria. He said you didn’t want to talk to him. Why don’t you want to talk to him? Did he do something bad?”

Miriam swallowed hard, not wanting to tell this child that his father might never accept his deafness. Knowing how it felt to be rejected by her parents had her instead telling Cole, “It’s best if I go quietly, but I will always be there for you if you need to talk.”

“But where will you go? Your home is here.”

“Remember how you told me you were lonely at your grandparents’ house?”

“Yes, but now I’m going to have a new home with my dad.”

“That’s wonderful, but I want to have a home, too. With friends and a job I love. I had hoped Stepping Stones would be it, but it’s not.”

“I’m here now. I’m your friend.” Cole’s little hands signed such big and meaningful words before cupping her cheek. Miriam’s eyes closed to revel in the acceptance this child freely awarded her. For a brief moment she thought maybe things would get better and she could find the same acceptance from the islanders. But that had been her line of reasoning for almost a year.

She straightened her backbone and faced reality. “I still don’t have a job.” She pushed to her feet. “I didn’t really earn this job, and I don’t feel right keeping it.”

“Maybe you could get a new job.”

She smiled down at her little friend’s wide-eyed innocence. “I don’t think so, Cole. But I am still your friend.”

His little chest rose and fell. “Okay. But will you talk to my dad before you leave? He really wants to talk to you. He’s been practicing his sign language.”

Miriam studied the clock. Thirty-five minutes and counting. “Yes, I’ll come say goodbye, but only for a few minutes.” She supposed she could bear a farewell to Owen. Although remembering his words still pricked at her heart.

Cole encircled her hand with his small one. She willed her feet to move, eyeing the approaching cafeteria doors with dread. Miriam prepared herself to enter with a few deep breaths and perfect posture. She pulled the doors and jolted to a stop.

Not one seat was empty. No vacancies could be found on the long benches. Even the tables were being used for seats. Every islander on Stepping Stones had to be here. Miriam found the familiar faces of her students mixed in with the crowd and couldn’t believe they’d come to school on a Sunday.

But
why,
was the question on the tips of her fingers.

She searched the faces staring back at her. Up and down the rows, from side to side, then front to back. She froze when she found Owen standing at the back wall.

He knew when she found him. She could tell by the way his dimple popped out. The fact it popped out for her did funny things to her belly that made her nearly forget she had a boat to catch.

“What’s going on?” she signed with a little hesitancy.

Owen’s lips moved, but he was too far away. She figured he was translating her question when a few people nodded their understanding, which was good, because Nick had stayed behind in her office.

A woman and two men approached her from the front row. The woman pulled shaking hands from her suit coat pockets.

“I’m F-R-A-N.” She spelled out the letters with tight uncertain movements, looking at her fingers instead of at Miriam.

Miriam couldn’t take her eyes off the woman. “Hi, Fran.” Miriam smiled and watched the woman gain confidence to raise her hands again.

“We want you to go.” The signs were choppy, but the meaning was clear.

Heat scorched up Miriam’s neck. Her gaze darted around the room, unable to land on one person.

Fran’s hands waved in a flurry and she squinted across the room at Owen, who was showing her how to say
don’t.

Miriam now knew who was behind this assembly—and the signing.

“We
don’t
want you to go,” Fran reiterated with a little less choppiness. “You are a wonderful principal.” Fran stopped and squeezed her hands together along with her eyes. Obviously, she worked from memory. Miriam wanted to tell her she didn’t have to finish this. The sentiment was sweet but not needed.

Fran tapped her forehead, a gesture she probably thought would recall the signs. Miriam could only imagine the signs Owen had practiced with them. Things like, “we want you to stay” or “we’re lucky to have you” came to mind. All sweet things that only sugarcoated the awful pill she had to swallow.

Miriam tapped the woman’s hand and signed, “I think we should call it a day and end on good terms with bon voyage.” She forced a reassuring smile and nodded to Owen to translate.

At first she thought he would refuse, but an interpreter is supposed to be unbiased with no agenda of their own, and she reminded him of this by raising her eyebrows.

His lips moved, and his drawn face told her he might be translating her words, but he didn’t like what he had to say.

Fran grabbed Miriam’s hands, shaking her head with “Please stay” on her lips. Fran jerked back and signed, “Please stay. We want to be your friend.”

Air rushed from Miriam’s lungs. After eight months of waiting for someone to say that to her, she hadn’t thought it would ever happen. She curled her hands at her sides to stop from embarrassing herself more. How easy it would be to say, “I want to be your friend, too.”

Miriam speculated that Owen had put the people up to this.
But why?
she wondered, and looked to Owen for his reason.

Only he was gone. The wall he’d leaned against so cavalierly had been vacated. She hunted for his familiar face in the crowd while dampness nervously seeped from her palms. He wouldn’t leave her here alone with the whole town with no way to communicate, would he? After all she’d confided in him about her struggles to find her place—after she’d confided in him about her feelings for him? The name sign she’d given him had demonstrated his place in her heart. Just because she’d taken it back didn’t mean it wasn’t true. He had to know that. And yet he’d left her there to sink anyway.

But Miriam would not allow that. She would speak if she had to. “Thank you. That is...kind of you...but I think...it’s too late.”

All heads turned to the windows. Miriam followed their lead and found Owen eclipsed with the sunlight streaming in behind him. He hadn’t left her to fail alone as she’d thought. She exhaled in relief as her heart swelled and her hand reached out to him. The tips of her fingers came into her view and she quickly tucked her hand away, stunned to see how her body betrayed her.

“So what’s your answer?” he signed from his spot. “Will you stay?”

Miriam shrugged, still not sure staying would be the best choice for all. She knew her deafness made many uncomfortable, and even though Fran was trying to speak for everyone, there were people who didn’t feel the same way.

Owen addressed the crowd again, but he was still too far for her to read his lips.

A woman with puffy bleached hair stood up in the front row. Miriam recognized her as the outspoken gossipy hostess from the Underground Küchen. Her name was Tildy, if she remembered correctly. “Please stay,” she signed. “We want to be your friend.”

Miriam’s throat tightened.

Len Smith stood up behind Tildy and signed the same thing. Frank, who sat beside Len, followed suit. “Please stay. We want to be your friend. We’re sorry our selfish actions hurt you.”

Then the whole room stood up and everyone began speaking her language. Some people said the same thing; others said more.

A mom with a baby on her hip said she’d been teaching her baby some signs, too, and the baby had been less cranky because of it. One girl inched up to the steps and signed her name was Rachelle Thibodaux. Her eyes dull with sadness, she signed she was sorry for what her dad had done.

Her dad?

It hit Miriam that Rachelle was Alec’s daughter.

Miriam touched her hand to assure her there was no animosity between them. She told her the sins of the father were not hers to bear.

Owen translated her words with total agreement.

The pretty young lady asked how to say “thank you,” and Miriam brought the tips of her fingers to her mouth, then pulled her hand away for the simple sign of gratitude.

Rachelle mimicked with a smile. Her rich brown eyes sparkled with hope now.

Hope of a friendship between them, maybe?

* * *

When the room stilled and people took their seats again, Owen stood in front of her. During the commotion, he’d made his way up the aisle without her noticing. “So what’s your answer?” he signed.

“You did all this?” she asked with trembling hands and a heart so full of gratitude and love for this man. She wanted to believe with all her heart that he was different. But he’d already proven he wasn’t.