Page 87 of Undertow
The room erupted in cheers.
Cara lifted her voice over the noise. “We’re in this together now. All of us.”
“Okay,” she repeated to herself.
Not a cover story anymore. A life. Still Carly Reid underneath it. Still a fugitive. Still carrying the thing she couldn’t tell anyone, not even the man whose hand she’d held on the back steps that morning.
But not alone. Not anymore.
Later, after the cheers had faded and the Honda had taken Piper on her first solo drive to the gas station and back and the bakery had emptied to its usual evening quiet, Cara found Gabe on the back steps. Same steps. Same railing. A different kind of evening.
He had two cups of coffee this time. He handed her one without a word.
"Cara Sweet isn't my real name." She hadn’t known she was going to say it until it was out. No preamble. No setup. Just the statement, dropped between them like a stone into still water.
Gabe took a sip of his coffee. Looked out toward the water.
"Yeah," he said. "I figured."
She turned to look at him. "What?"
"I've been a federal agent for a long time, Cara. You don't hand me a thin backstory and a brand-new driver's license and expect me not to do the math." He set the coffee down on the step between them. "I've had my suspicions since the day I met you."
"And you never—"
"Never what? Pushed you? Called a friend at the Bureau? Ran the name?" He shook his head. "Wasn't my story to read. If you want me to know it, you'll tell me. If not, fine. Either way, the person sitting next to me tonight is the person I've been sitting next to all along."
Heart pounding, Cara stared at him. It was more than she could have asked. But she had to be clear. He deserved that. "I might never be ready."
"That's okay."
"It might not be safe. For you. For any of this. There's—"
He turned toward her fully. "I'm not going anywhere. You take the time you need. If it's a month, it's a month. If it's ten years, it's ten years. I'll be right here either way."
She tried to answer. Nothing came.
He picked his coffee back up. Leaned his shoulder against hers. Didn’t ask for anything.
Cara closed her eyes. Lord, I want to believe him. I want to believe You can hold what I can’t carry yet. Give me faith for one more day. And the next one. And the next.
She wasn’t sure the day would come when she could give him the truth. Some doors, once you’d closed them hard enough for long enough, don’t open again. But she was going to try to trust that the door wasn’t hers alone to hold. That was new. That was going to have to be enough for tonight.
The woman who ran, learning to stand still.
Thank you so much for spending time in Haven Cove with Cara, Gabe, and the whole Sweet & Sawyer crew. Every time I return to this little coastal town, I fall a little more in love with these characters—their loyalty, their humor, their messy histories, and the way they keep choosing each other even when it would be easier not to.
By the end of Undertow, Cara and Gabe have finally started building something real together. Not just feelings they can’t ignore anymore, but a true partnership—one built on trust, faith, and the fragile hope that maybe the future doesn’t have to look like the past.
Of course, Haven Cove wouldn’t be Haven Cove without trouble arriving at the worst possible moment.
In Crosscurrent, trouble shows up after midnight.
Her name is Skye Reeves. She’s guarded, brilliant, and carrying secrets dangerous enough to put the entire town in the crosshairs of the Neptune Brotherhood—the shadowy criminal network Gabe has been chasing since the attack on his brother.
But the thing that unsettles Cara most isn’t the danger.
It’s how much Skye reminds her of herself.
Because Skye knows how to disappear. How to survive. How to trust absolutely no one.
When Neptune comes hunting, Cara and Gabe will have to decide whether protecting Skye is worth risking everything they’ve started building together.
I can’t wait for you to read what happens next.
See you back in Haven Cove…
Blessings—
—Edie
Continue the story in Crosscurrent.
