A Matter of Trust(50)

He glanced over at her, offered a wry smile. “Sorry, I’m not sure where that came from.”

But she wasn’t going to let him go, this glimpse of the Gage she’d known. “I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe until they found you.”

He met her eyes, nodded, his mouth a tight line. “That’s pretty much how I felt, except my world was black and frozen. And brutally quiet. I tried yelling but it just bounced back at me.” He blew out a breath. “And the cold . . . I’ve been cold before, but this cold—there was no escape. At least it helped mask my dislocated shoulder.”

“I remember the rescue team pulling you out. I wanted to go to the hospital, but . . .”

“Dylan.” He was quiet for so long she wasn’t sure he wasn’t done. Then . . . “I had something, you know? A life I loved, respect, a future. And you took that away—or at least I blamed you. I’ve spent the last three years, however, taking it apart. Replaying what people said in the hearing. Thinking about that night when Dylan and I fought. The fact is, I did tell Ramon that Dylan wasn’t good enough. And I realize that to you, it looked like I’d been reckless with Dylan’s life. But Dylan had already paid the chopper pilot, and he was going to ride Terminator Wall. I thought I could keep him from killing himself, and maybe that was arrogant, but the truth is, I was trying to help.”

“I know that now.”

His mouth tightened. “But I do know that I screwed everything up. I thought by doing the right thing, it would protect me, and him. But life doesn’t work that way. Doing what’s right comes at a cost. I just wasn’t ready for it.”

He looked at her then, and she had the unsettled feeling that he didn’t just mean his career.

As if he could read her mind, he swallowed, kept his gaze in hers. “Sometimes I go back to that night and think, what if I hadn’t gotten into that fight with Dylan? What if when I came back you were still there, and we had talked . . . I don’t know. Maybe it would have turned out differently.”

Huh? She stared at him in the light of his head lamp. “What are you talking about?”

He was sitting there, not looking at her, closing up his pack. “I’m not blaming anyone but myself, but I was a mess that night, and I thought we were friends.”

She couldn’t move. Hardly breathe. “Gage—I waited for you, but you’re the one who didn’t come back. We were friends,” she said softly. We could be again. Please.

His chest rose and fell. “Well, anyway. Just so you know, I didn’t leave you at the restaurant. I went back for you. I’m sorry it was too late.”

It’s not too late. The thought rose, filled her head, her chest. But it didn’t matter. It wasn’t up to her anymore.

“Get some sleep. Tomorrow we have to take Weeping Wall, then the Great White Throne. If we get up early enough—”

A great screech tore through the tent as the wind sheared down from the peak. It caught their enclave, shuddering the walls with gale-force winds. Ella screamed and hit the floor of the tent.

It began to slide.

She only barely sensed Gage rolling over, on top of her, pinning her down, his sleeping bag covering hers as he dug his knees into the snow foundation alongside of her. The wind roared, but his head came close to hers, his voice in her ear. “Shh. We’re fine. The tent will hold. Trust me.”

She did trust him. It was the world outside that had her coming unglued. She closed her eyes and didn’t even hesitate as she reached out and wrapped her hands around his wrists, burying her face in her jacket as the tent shuddered around them.





10


NO CALL FROM GAGE OR ELLA had Ty and the entire team on edge. Especially as the storm closed in around Mercy Falls and blew through the Flathead Valley just west of the park. And not just the team, but Brette, too, who curled up on the sofa, her hands around her waist, as if holding herself together.

Ty couldn’t help but feel sorry for her as the evening drew out. She watched the weather reports and jumped at every squawk of the EMS box that kept the team rotating out to help drivers out of ditches.

Kacey and Ben were still out on a call, this one involving a semi that had slid off the road. Pete had returned earlier, grabbed some soup, then headed back out to help his brother, Sam, on another call.

Only Jess had returned and stayed, joining Sierra and Chet, who were manning dispatch and occasionally trying to connect with Gage and Ella.

The storm howled around them outside, as well as in Ty’s head as he watched Jess talking to Brette, answering questions about the team.

No, she was mostly talking about Pete and his epic saves this summer.