Rescue Me(43)
“That’s enough, Josh,” Sam said.
Willow could collapse with gratitude. Probably she should stop thinking about throwing herself into his arms, for Pete’s sake. “But is it safe to stay here?”
“I don’t know. I do know that we can’t climb up the embankment in this storm. I suppose I could try—”
“No!”
He frowned at her.
“I mean—like you said, exposure. Even if you miraculously made it to the road in this storm, we’re miles from Polebridge. The road is practically deserted this time of year. You’ll walk all night and not find help. Better to wait until morning, right? By then, Sierra will know we haven’t made it home and alert the team . . .”
Which only made his face pinch into a tight knot. “I didn’t get ahold of her, remember? They have no idea where we are.” He shook his head. “I should have left a message.”
Oh. Right.
Because Willow had decided to drag them to an uncharted hike. And now, when they didn’t come home, sure, parents would get worried, start wondering, and maybe even head into the park looking for them.
But they were thirty miles from where they said they’d be.
Willow grimaced, shaking her head.
“How’s your shoulder? Is it dislocated?”
“I don’t know.”
“Can you move it?”
She wanted to say yes, but when he reached out as if to touch it, she jerked away, held her arm to her body.
“Willow.”
“It’s no big deal.” Really, it wasn’t. Her shoulder was the least of their problems.
He ignored her and touched her shoulder, his thumbs pressing into the joint. She ground her jaw to keep from crying out as the pain speared down her arm, into her neck, through her body.
“I don’t think it’s dislocated. You might have torn a few ligaments, though.”
See, she was such a baby. “I told you I’m fine.”
“You will be.” He met her gaze with such compassion in his eyes—yep, hers welled up.
In fact, she hiccupped, and her breath trembled out in a cowardly sob. “I’m so sorry, Sam.”
It just wasn’t fair that she’d dragged him into this mess with her.
“For what?”
“For everything. For making you go on this trip, and for taking us to the Numa trail instead of turning around and going home, and for . . . singing. I can’t believe I thought singing was a good idea! I am so . . .” She shook her head, her hand over her eyes.
She couldn’t even mention the Other Thing, although that seemed so far down the list of her sins, it felt nearly incidental.
“Hey, Willow . . . Willow.” Sam touched her hand, pulling it down so her eyes met his. “You are not to blame for this accident.”
“Uh—” Josh started, and Sam gave him a look that suggested he might be the first one off the side of the cliff.
Then back to Willow, with a solemn look. “It was an accident, right?”
“Yeah. I guess.”
“And we’re okay.”
Mostly. For now. “I think so.”
“What was it that you were saying before? We just need a different perspective, right?”
She let out a breath.
“So, here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to climb out, see if I can somehow secure us into the rock with our climbing gear. We’ll all pile in the back, keep the weight away from the front driver’s side, and wait out the storm. Our body heat should keep us warm. Then, in the morning, we’ll see where we’re at, okay?”
“Yeah.”
“So . . . huddle up?”
“Yeah.”
And that’s when he wove his fingers through hers, solid, tight.
Calming.
She clasped her other hand over his, held on like a three-year-old. Oh, she was pitiful, but she didn’t care. She managed a tight smile.
He held her gaze, a resoluteness in his eyes, unflinching against her fear. “I’m going to get you home, Willow. All of you. I promise.”
Then he kissed her, sweetly, on her cheek, like he would a sister.
And for the first time since they’d left for their outing, she started to believe that maybe today wasn’t a complete disaster.
One wrong jostle and, frankly, they might topple right over the edge.
That thought, even more than the icy rain soaking Sam through, turned him cold.
If Willow knew the precarious nature of their situation, she’d unravel even more than she already had.
Not that he blamed her for crying—he sort of felt like crying himself. Because Sam had gotten a good look at their situation as he’d dangled from the mirror, fighting his icy, numb hands for a grip, and knew that they had just about perished.