Chapter 5: Rescued by the Rival

Thunder cracked overhead, dark clouds churning, the storm deafening.

Suddenly, my chest seized. My lungs wouldn’t work. The world spun. The taste of salt and rain filled my mouth. Sirens wailed somewhere, but they felt miles away. My face went numb. Just as I was about to lose consciousness, the whir of helicopter blades cut through the chaos.

The door swung open and a tall guy in a soaked designer suit stepped out, looking every bit the movie star—even pissed off.

It was Caleb Price.

He hurried over, scolding, “Really, Natalie? Out here in the middle of a hurricane? You trying to win a Darwin Award?”

I tried to answer, but everything went black. I collapsed into his arms.

When I woke up, I was in a hospital bed on Maple Heights Island.

My throat burned, and my chest ached with every breath. The antiseptic smell was sharp, but the blanket was heavy and warm.

Caleb handed me a cup of hot water, a sly smile playing on his lips.

“Awake, Miss Brooks?”

“Seven years with your childhood sweetheart, and he dumps you on the highway. You have an asthma attack, nearly die, and get rescued by me. No one’s got drama like you.”

I hesitated. Caleb still loved to tease me. The hospital room buzzed with rain outside, the blanket scratchy but comforting.

The first time I met Caleb was when I was eight, in the winter. My mom took me to Savannah for vacation. It was my birthday. She invited her best friend—Caleb’s mom—and their families to go ice skating.

They joked about us getting married someday, the kind of thing moms say when they’re too close.

I burst into tears the moment I heard it. I liked Ethan, not Caleb. He was the one I wanted.

Seeing me cry, Caleb laced up his skates, looking all aloof. “I don’t want to marry a little crybaby.”

Later, while skating, I lost the bracelet my mom made. I cried until my eyes hurt. After the rink closed, Caleb secretly searched the ice for two hours and found it—but ended up with a high fever, bedridden for days.

Snapping back, I blinked. “Caleb, how did you end up on Maple Heights?”

He zipped up his jacket, leaning against the window with that cool stare.

“Ethan’s wedding made the rounds in our circle. I figured you’d be crying again, so I came to check on you.”

“But this time, I didn’t come to laugh at you. I came to…”

He peeled an apple, then handed it to me, changing the subject.

“Natalie, you’d better mean what you said on Messenger. I, Caleb Price, don’t play pretend.”

As his fingers brushed mine, something in me dared to hope. Maybe, just maybe, heartbreak wasn’t the end of my story.